Who First Said “I’m Going to Disney World” after Winning the Big Game?
Who first said “I’m Going to Disney World” after winning the Big Game, I hear you ask? Well, that’s exactly what we’ll be telling you in this guide. The options include Doug Williams, Jerry Rice, Phil Simms and Troy Aikman, but only one of them is the correct answer. And while we’re at it, we’ll also cover the history of the phrase and how it became so ubiquitous.
Who First Said “I am Going to Disney World” after Winning the Big Game?
The phrase “I’m going to Disney World!” has become a popular phrase to say after winning a big game or competition, but who was the first person to say it in that context (as asked by the Disney 100 TikTok quiz)? I say it this way, because the first person to say the famous slogan was apparently Jeana Yeager, who co-piloted the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world with Dick Rutan. She said it during a dinner with Michael Eisner, then CEO and of the Walt Disney Company. But the first person to say it on the pitch after winning a big game? That was Phil Simms, the New York Giants quarterback at Super Bowl XXI.
- Doug Williams
- Jerry Rice
- Phil Simms
- Troy Aikman
And there you go, that’s the answer to the question of who first said “I am Going to Disney World” after winning the Big Game in the Disney 100 TikTok quiz. The funny thing is that apparently Disney approached both quarterbacks, promising them $75,000 to say the slogan. Phil Simms and the Giants came out victorious, said the thing, and the rest is history. The slogan has since been used in advertising many, many times; so much so that it became common parlance. You might not even know that it’s all a result of marketing. It’s not an organic meme by any stretch of the imagination, but that just goes to show you how pervasive and sneaky marketing can be.
Actually, it was Dick Rutan who said, “I’m going to Disneyland.”
Fry told ABC that in Eisner’s 1998 memoir, Work In Progress, the former CEO and his wife were having dinner with Star Wars creator, George Lucas, and the first people to fly around the world without stopping, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager.
“It was late and the conversation hit a lull as we waited for our food,” Eisner wrote. “So I asked Dick and Jeana, ‘Well, now that you’ve accomplished the pinnacle of your aspirations, what could you possibly do next?’ Rutan responded, without hesitation, ‘I’m going to Disneyland’ And of course I go, ‘Wow, that’s cool! You made the right choice.’ But my wife interjects: ‘You know, that’s a good slogan.'”