Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo and others all part of Disneyland’s Magical ‘Sports Legends Club’

AS BOSTON AREA students, teachers, and parents alike from Melrose to Milton and Dorchester to Danvers count down the remaining days until February’s annual school break, many are already packing their bags; looking forward to a much needed one week reprieve from what has been a frigid New England winter so far in 2026.

It’s true that many families will be off to the sunny resorts of Aruba, Mexico, Florida and other beachside locations, but some parents -the ones raising among the country’s most gifted young athletes- will be checking in at a different kind of resort. One that, over the years, has become a secret ‘dream vacation’ and subtle stomping ground for the biggest and best professional athletes in the world.

Disneyland in California.

The month of February especially is a busy time for athletes of all ages coming to Disneyland. Most recently the newly crowned Super Bowl LX champion Seattle Seahawks rolled through on Monday, February 9th -just one day after defeating our New England Patriots, 29-13, to become NFL champions.

But even as people cheered the Seahawks float as it waved and wovened down MAIN ST, USA; you could tell this visit was much more than a simple celebration. Super Bowl MVP Eustace Walker III, Sam Darnold and Mickey Mouse could be seen planning and pointing at which rides and attractions they were going to tackle in hopes of further sharpening their athletic skills.

1987 Super Bowl MVP QB Phil Simms of the New York Giants is widely credited with sparking the Disneyland/NFL player relationship, but he is far from the most famous QB to touchdown on the Disneyland campus during February break.

Tom Brady, Pat Mahomes, Eli Manning and other NFL legends have all taken the journey to Anaheim, joining the fraternity of athletes leaving their iconic marks at Disneyland.

Brady, ever the intellectual assassin, used his time at the park deciphering which Disney characters were real and which ones were ordinary people disguised in costume. Manning, meanwhile, challenged his wife Abby to take a whirl with him on the Astro Orbiter.

When Real Madrid global phenom and Portugal soccer sensation Cristiano Ronaldo first heard Disneyland was a secretive and magical dream spot for athletes, he was a little hesitant to believe it. Then girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez really wanted to go however, and although Ronaldo thought she might just want to be taking pictures the whole time, he was intrigued to see why athletes of all ages were giving Disneyland mad props.

Taking the ‘hush-hush’ part quite literally, Ronaldo arrived at Disneyland in 2016 in full disguise -sporting a wig, baseball cap, oversized sunglasses and drawn out hoodie- concealing his identity. If there indeed was a secret code among athletes at Disneyland, he was certainly not going to be the one blowing it.

After feeling the adrenaline of Disneyland’s various themed roller coaster rides though -a thrill that has been compared to scoring a big goal in the World Cup- even the great Cristiano Ronaldo had a hard time containing himself.

It is said among Disney lore, before exiting the park that day Ronaldo shed his disguise with a high leap, a mid-air turn, and a wide-armed landing, accompanied by his signature loud shout of “SIII” (Spanish for “Yes”) thus officially introducing Disneyland to his iconic celebration dance.

One of the many beauties of Disneyland -and with its parade celebrations down MAIN ST USA- is that you don’t have to be a Super Bowl MVP champion to capture that magical feeling as an athlete. Many collegiate and HS teams have been aboard Disneyland’s championship floats; and in 2004 three Pop Warner football teams went for the ride of a lifetime as Disneyland celebrated each of them advancing to the youth football national championship.

Ofcourse, Disneyland’s grand daddy parade of them all though, remains their celebration of the hometown 2002 Anaheim Angels winning the World Series. The greatest achievement in the history of Mickey Mouse’s favorite team.