After deafeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58, Patrick Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP
Patrick Mahomes, you and the Kansas City Chiefs have just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to do next?
We already know what's next. He's going to Disneyland ... again.
The quarterback won his third Super Bowl MVP award on Sunday after guiding the Chiefs to a 25-22 overtime win against the San Francisco 49ers. That means a third trip to the happiest place on earth.
The Disney tradition continued with Mahomes shooting the "What's Next?" commercial on the field after his latest Super Bowl victory. That's followed by a trip to the theme park in Anaheim to take part in the Main Street USA parade on Monday afternoon.
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Here's what to know about the Happiest Commercial on Earth and how it all started.
Who first said, ‘I’m going to Disneyland/Disney World?'
New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms was the first player featured in Disney's "What's Next?" commercial after he was named MVP of Super Bowl XXI in 1987.
The commercial shows highlights of Simms from the Giants' 39-20 win over the Denver Broncos as the "When You Wish Upon a Star" theme plays. Then comes the famous question from an off-screen narrator.
"Phil Simms, you have just won the Super Bowl. What are you doing next?"
"I'm gonna go to Disney World," Simms replies while making his way to the on-field celebration.
Because of the postgame chaos, and the urgency to complete the commercial so it can air shortly after the celebration, three NFL Films camera crews are sent onto the field to get the shot for the commercial, according to the Los Angeles Times. Players are asked to look into the camera and repeat the lines multiple times, using both Disneyland and Disney World, with the commercial that airs varying in parts of the country depending on proximity to the California and Orlando theme parks.
“I said Disney World and Disneyland, and they said, ‘Do it again!’ I said, ‘How many times do I gotta do this?’" Simms told the Los Angeles Times. "I didn’t say it meanly, but it was like, I want to shake some hands and enjoy this moment.”
Simms told USA TODAY he was paid $50,000 to do the commercial, and Disney paid for his family's trip to the park.
But he didn't get his parade until just last year with some help from fellow Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.
Who starred in the 2023 Disneyland ad?
When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.
That was certainly the case for Mahomes. As a 17-year-old junior at Whitehouse High School in Texas, he tweeted, "I bet it feels amazing to be the quarterback who says 'I'm going to Disney World' after winning the Super Bowl #Qbs."
He now knows exactly how it feels, having done so multiple times.
Mahomes made his first honorary trip to a Disney theme park in 2020 after leading the Chiefs to a 31-20 win over the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
He booked his next Disney trip in 2023 after being named MVP in the Chiefs' 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Mahomes became the sixth player to win multiple Super Bowl MVP awards, but only the third to make multiple Disney trips as Super Bowl MVP. Tom Brady was named Super Bowl MVP five times and has made the most subsequent Disney trips. Eli Manning of the Giants won two Super Bowl MVPs in the "What's Next?" era.
Joe Montana of the 49ers won three Super Bowl MVP awards in his career, but two were before the Disney tradition began in 1987.
