by Chris Lucas
Guest Column
DisneyBizJournal.com
January 25, 2024
On this day, in 1987, the very first “I’m going to Disney World!” ad was created.
This iconic advertising campaign is officially called "What's Next?" It was first launched right after Super Bowl XXI, which was played between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on January 25, 1987. The Giants won the game 39-20.
Giants quarterback Phil Simms, the game’s MVP, was asked as he was running off the field following the victory: “Hey, Phil Simms, you just won the Super Bowl, what are you going to do next?”
His answer, “I'm gonna go to Disney World!” was said with a big grin.
It seemed like an impromptu response. In reality, the line was scripted for Simms. He was paid $75,000 for it. John Elway, the quarterback of the Broncos, was given the line and the money, too, just in case.
The ad, which featured a montage of Phil Simms’ heroics in the game, underscored by “When You Wish Upon a Star” and finishing with fireworks over Cinderella Castle, began airing just a few hours after the Super Bowl.
It was a smash hit. Almost instantly the line “I'm going to Disney World!” became a national catchphrase. It was an indelible part of the pop culture landscape, soon parodied on TV shows and movies and imitated in other advertisements.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner gives credit to his wife, Jane, for the idea. She claims to have come up with it after overhearing a friend who had just completed a difficult task reply, “I'm going to Disneyland!” when asked what they were going to do next.
In addition to Super Bowl winners, Disney produced “What's Next?” commercials with champions from other sports, as well as with Santa Claus, college graduates at commencement, and American Idol winners.
Disney ran the spots for 17 consecutive Super Bowls until 2005, when they decided to focus their marketing campaign in other directions. The public outcry after the cancellation convinced Disney to return to the spots.
They did a pre-game commercial in 2006 with members of both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks, who played in Super Bowl XL, practicing how they would say the line if they won. (The real honor eventually went to the Steelers' Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis.)
The ads stick mostly to football now, and often feature more than one athlete (they also have them say two lines, “I'm going to Disney World” and “I'm going to Disneyland” for commercials specific to both coasts), but they almost never fail to bring the same lump in the throat they did when first aired, over three decades ago. It’s a tradition that people - even non-football fans - look forward to every year.
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Chris Lucas is the author of Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond.
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