2025 Super Bowl Parade at Disney World: Here’s How to Watch & Our Past Experiences
Walt Disney World will host the celebratory Super Bowl LIX parade on Monday afternoon. This covers what time & where you can see the cavalcade featuring MVP Jalen Hurts, viewing tips, and our past experiences watching Super Bowl parades at WDW and Disneyland. (Updated February 10, 2025.)
The players featured in the iconic “I’m going to Disney World [or Disneyland]” commercial are usually the ones to appear in the parade down Main Street. Whether that occurs at Magic Kingdom in Florida or Disneyland in California is dictated by the host site of the Super Bowl. There also have been multiple players featured in several parades when the Super Bowl is hosted in Los Angeles, Tampa, or Miami–probably due to the ease of the visit.
I would also imagine that home state teams are more likely to appear at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, as the case may be, when there’s a close call. For example, a Super Bowl in Houston featuring the Chargers could end up with a parade at Disneyland instead of Magic Kingdom. That’s just a guess, though. To the best of my knowledge, there haven’t been any examples of that dynamic in recent history.
February 10, 2025 Update: Super Bowl MVP quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles won a thrilling Super Bowl over the Kansas City Chiefs last night. Now Disney fans will have a chance to join the celebration with the most magical tradition in sports because as the confetti fell and joy filled the air at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday night, Hurts shouted the famous words: “I’m Going to Disney World!’’
Hurts made that proclamation on the field immediately after the big game, with Disney camera crews there to capture that memorable moment as confetti fell for the iconic Super Bowl commercial, which you can watch below:
The celebration is now heading to Walt Disney World. Hurts will be the star of a parade down Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom, complete with colorful floats and thousands of cheering fans and guests. Walt Disney World has officially confirmed that the Super Bowl parade will step off at 2:30 p.m. ET on Monday, February 10, 2025 in Magic Kingdom.
Hurts is the second Eagles player to celebrate an NFL championship at Walt Disney World, following fellow QB Nick Foles after Super Bowl LII. The tradition started back in 1987 with New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms being the first to say “I’m Going to Disney World” after winning the Super Bowl.
Over the years, many of the football’s greatest players have followed in those footsteps, as have other athletes…and Santa Claus. Here’s the nearly 4-decade history of this iconic catchphrase, which began during a Star Tours dinner party with Michael Eisner and George Lucas: Why Super Bowl Winners Say “I’m Going to Disney World!”
Hurts led the Eagles to victory against the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. The MVP threw two touchdowns passes and ran for another score. Hurts also set a new Super Bowl record for the most rushing yards by a quarterback with 72 yards on 11 carries. It was Eagles domination from start to finish, and an MVP performance that is truly worthy of a magical celebration at Walt Disney World.
It’s not always the case that such an advance announcement is made. Disney often doesn’t do anything to publicize the parade itself until after it actually happens.
Disney first teased the announcement with limited info via Instagram stories over the weekend, and then didn’t provide full details (park and time) about the parade until long after the Super Bowl ended and Hurts was named MVP. This is likely a calculated move. The company wants guests to show up for the parade so the publicity shots feature backgrounds full of fans. They also want as much free marketing via fan photos on social media as possible.
At the same point, this is happening in an operational theme park, most guests that day are not in the park for the Super Bowl parade, and Disney doesn’t want crushing crowds. It’s all about threading the needle–having huge guest turnout, but not crippling crowds.
Anyway, as for the 2025 Super Bowl parade on February 10, expect it to step off roughly 30 minutes or less before Festival of Fantasy. That parade has two showtimes on Monday: noon and 3pm. The Super Bowl pre-parade will step off between 2:30 and 2:45 pm, just before the second Festival of Fantasy. That’s what happened last time, and even with Disney announcing a time, keep in mind that it could be subject to change, or not occur right at 2:30 pm.
It’s important to keep in mind that “last time” was 5 years ago. A lot has changed since. And as you can see from our experience below, the parade route was absolute chaos then. If at all possible, Walt Disney World might want to have the celebratory Super Bowl pre-parade earlier in the day to reduce the crowds and congestion.
Even so, that may not be possible. That might be too early to get the winners at Walt Disney World to stage the parade, they might have other engagements, or scheduling may not otherwise allow for it. Although the whole “I’m going to Disney World” marketing campaign is a huge deal for Disney (and involves big bucks), not everything is within their control here. There are no guarantees with any of this.
The last time the Super Bowl champions appeared in a public-facing parade at Walt Disney World was in February 2020 when the Kansas City Chiefs also played and defeated the San Francisco 49ers. The Super Bowl that year was held in Miami and MVP Patrick Mahomes celebrated with a parade down Main Street in Magic Kingdom. We know this because we were there for it, and I told myself I’d never do this again (see below).
The following year, Mahomes and the Chiefs were back in Super Bowl LV, but the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated them at Raymond James Stadium. Following that victory, Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady and longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski turned to the TV cameras and said that iconic line: “I’m going to Disney World!” But they didn’t. At least, not immediately.
Gronk was there the following day, but backstage on a cavalcade float posing for photos. There was no parade due to COVID and the phased reopening. We know this because we were also there (there was nothing better to do at the time and I thought it’d be cool to catch a glimpse of Tom Brady in real life). Brady ended up doing a publicity visit to Walt Disney World a few months later, and I didn’t see him or Gronk.
Every year since, the Super Bowl parade has been at Disneyland. We went to yet another of these in 2022 after the hometown Los Angeles Rams celebrated their Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. I couldn’t pass up seeing former Detroit Lion Matthew Stafford, plus Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams. It was awesome, and after that, I told myself that I’d definitely do this again!
Last year, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes visited Disneyland following the team’s Super Bowl LVIII victory against the San Francisco 49ers. Kermit (non-derogatory) appeared in the victory parade yet again, surrounded by other characters.
If you do attempt to catch the celebratory Super Bowl pre-parade at Magic Kingdom on February 10, 2025, we would strongly recommend asking Cast Members for timing and other details before staking out your spot. Do not rely on Walt Disney World to publish this info because, as discussed above, they probably won’t. And don’t be afraid to ask more than once–sometimes Cast Members early in the day won’t have specifics, but details will firm up later.
If you want a front-row view of the parade, prepare to stake out your spot well over an hour in advance. If this does end up being a pre-parade before the second Festival of Fantasy, some guests will likely start lining Main Street immediately after the first Festival of Fantasy. When we did this before, even an hour ahead of time wasn’t enough.
For those willing to wait an absurd amount of time, the curb directly behind the flag pole facing Cinderella Castle is the best spot, assuming it’s not blocked off for film crews and Disney photographers. Rather than opting for the curbs lining Main Street, I’d recommend Town Square as a fallback option. The curb in front of Tony’s Town Square is a good option, as is the elevated patio above.
Personally, my favorite spot is the Main Street Train Station overlook, but that’s often also blocked off for VIPs. If it is, a good alternative is the ground directly below that. These areas all tend to fill up later than the curb along Main Street. For the Chiefs photos in this post, I was on the top level of the Train Station before moving to ground level (technically, the stairs leading down to ground level).
To each their own, but I’m also willing to be a bit farther away if I give myself a bit of elevation, as opposed to being three or four rows deep. You can’t control cameras, phones, or shoulder kids immediately in front of you–so having height and no one blocking you is a smart move.
Anyway, here’s my photo report from February 2020, documenting my contemporaneous experience (and photos) from the last Super Bowl pre-parade at Walt Disney World…
Hours after leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a dramatic victory in Super Bowl LIV, Mahomes headlined the celebratory parade, which was attended by a ton of Chiefs fans.
As a lifelong Detroit Lions fan, I’m more or less indifferent to the Chiefs. I can empathize with their fans, who have been denied a Super Bowl berth (let alone a championship) for so long. I think everyone assumed they’d win one back in the 1990s during the Elvis Grbac/Rich Gannon era, but they always came up short in the post-season after strong regular season showings.
Not quite the same as having your hopes dashed when Barry Sanders retired in his prime…or Megatron retired in his prime…or [insert one of the literal hundreds of ways it has been painful to be a Lions fan]. Still, I can recognize that the Chiefs organization and its fans deserved this.
Plus, I know there are a lot of Walt Disney World fans from Kansas Missouri, so we decided to head out to Magic Kingdom to see and photograph the Super Bowl parade.
This turned out to be one of my 5 worst ideas of the year. I know it’s only February, but I churn out some colossally bad ideas with regularity. It’s a talent, really. This being among the top/bottom five is really saying something.
Suffice to say, I won’t be doing this again until the Lions win the Super Bowl. The upside is that by the year 2085, I’ll have a hover-board to get above the crowds.
The Super Bowl parade always causes a spike in crowds at Magic Kingdom, but I’ve never seen anything like this. The parade route was among the most packed I’ve ever seen it–busier than most peak season holiday dates. I’d attribute that to a mix of the Chiefs fandom, the Super Bowl being in Miami, and this month simply being busier than normal.
It was fun to be part of the communal energy of the Chiefs fans, but it was also unpleasantly crowded. The elevated post-Super Bowl crowds could be felt throughout Magic Kingdom, not just along the parade route. After Patrick Mahomes, I was probably the second-least excited person to be there. (At least he was getting a fat payday out of it!)
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you attended the Super Bowl parade at Magic Kingdom in previous years? What was your experience? Something you’d never do again, or return to with glee? Or would it depend upon whether you’re a fan of the winning team? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts here? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Is there anywhere the parade was streamed?
It will be a sight to behold! A sea of Eagles green on Main Street, USA! E…A…G…L…E…S, Eagles!!!
GO BIRDS! I wore various Eagles shirts every day during my corporate trip to Orlando a few weeks ago, and it was fun to discover other Philly fans at both Universal and Disney World. They’d just beaten Tampa Bay when I was there, so lots of Eagles fans were out flying the flag.
I’d hazard a guess that there are more Eagles, Saints, Cowboys, Lions, Bills, and Chiefs fans at Walt Disney World on any given day than there are for any of the in-state teams.
That was our experience when we lived in Orlando (seeing team flags, attire, bumper stickers, etc. around our neighborhood) and mine in the parks whenever I wear Lions hats or shirts. Very few people at Walt Disney World are “from” Florida–same goes for the locals.
Go Birds!
Looks like there is an official announcement on the parks blog for those interested. Hurts will lead the parade at 2:30.
We were there in 2020 for Julian Edelman and Tom Brady. Had no idea the Super Bowl parade was “a thing.” That was the most crowded I’d ever seen a parade route and the park in general but it was great fun! The next year we made a point to be there for Patrick Mahomes. Very exciting but definitely didn’t feel quite as crowded as the year before. However, I know it’s all relative. Maybe our experience from the year before helped us find a better viewing spot and we zigged when others zagged.
We’re local and I can’t decide what time I should pull my kids from school for the parade. We live about 10 mins from Disney property. I definitely don’t want to rope drop, but also don’t want to miss it. I’m hoping if we get there a little before the first FoF parade, that will be early enough. My boys are really looking forward to seeing it! Go Eagles!
I think that should be more than enough time–unless the pre-parade ends up being before the first FoF.
I really doubt that, though. Even if WDW might want it, that’s such a tight timeline for the winning team. You could probably arrive around 1 pm and still be fine, so long as you don’t need a prime, front-row spot.
Have you ever met the real Megatron Calvin Johnson? He is a super nice guy and he retired in his prime because he didn’t want to wind up with dementia in his old age from being hit like a lot of old football players have. He uses his GT education now and is a very successful business man I hope he reads your blog and saw the photo of you and baby wearing your Megatron jerseys
I’ve never had a chance to meet him, but I’ve followed his post retirement career and continue to be impressed by him.
I love that the Lions have both him and Sanders back in the fold, and wish Johnson would do more in terms of commentary. He occasionally is on pre or post-game shows, and has good insights. He’d be a fantastic addition to one of the broadcasts.
I’m rooting for EAGLES!!!! Game is being played in my HOMETOWN of New Orleans!!!!.
city is Packed with fans. my BFF is working security at Hotel where Chiefs r staying.
I’m hoping for Barkley to b At DISNEY
Looking forward to seeing Saquon hoisting the MVP trophy saying he’s going to Disney World
As a lifelong, never wavering Lions fan, I’m afraid how much money I would spend if (when) the Lions go to the Super Bowl. Last year I was attending an event in Vegas and had a hotel room for the entire week – and the hosting group had a line for tickets. This year I was ready to spend serious money to be in the Super Dome. Our time is coming.
Halfway through the NFC Championship last year, Sarah asked if I wanted to go to the Super Bowl and said she was okay with it, not having a concept of how much tickets cost.
Suffice to say, I might take her up on the offer…but I fear what tickets would cost in the event of a Bills-Lions matchup. Lions games have already gotten so expensive in the last couple of years!
Lions v Bills Superbowl would have been a lot more exciting!
bears fan here. was also hoping for a bills-lions superbowl.
We were also there that day in 2021! I had taken my twin boys for a few days as a consolation prize for their 2020 Bar Mitzvah being cancelled. We saw a gathered crowd and waited a bit to see what we could see, but we were told Gronk was backstage so we gave up. It was a cool and cloudy day. Too bad we missed seeing you! You may be the bigger celebrity in our house!