Gabrielle Russon
What happens after you win a championship? You go to Disney World!
Seminole County’s Lake Mary baseball team is getting a Magic Kingdom parade this week. The Lake Mary All-Stars beat Chinese Taipei 2-1, becoming the first Florida little league team to win the World Series out of 24 teams that reached the series over the years.
The Disney parade down Main Street, U.S.A., starts at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to media reports.
Sports and Disney have a long-standing and iconic association. After he won the Super Bowl last year, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes uttered the catch phrase: “I’m going to Disneyland!”
“The campaign started after Super Bowl XXI in 1987, when New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms was named the MVP and shouted the famous phrase,” according to Disney’s parks blog.
After Lake Mary’s victory, Gov. Ron DeSantis — who played on a team that advanced to the Little League World Series quarterfinals in 1991 — gave a shoutout on social media.
“Congratulations to the 2024 Little League World Series Champions, the Lake Mary All-Stars. First Florida team in history to win it all in Williamsport!” he wrote on X.
Sunday’s game attracted 5.4 million viewers and went down to a game-clinching bunt.
“It was the greatest feeling ever,” said Lake Mary’s Lathan Norton, who scored the winning run, according to WKMG, which covered their championship journey in Pennsylvania. “I still haven’t had time to let it all sink in, but it feels like the most amazing thing ever.”
The Disney World parade is just the start of the celebration in Central Florida.
Lake Mary is hosting its own parade at 10 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a block party at Central Park. The festivities sound epic, according to city officials.
“Kids get to ride in convertible corvettes, and from what I hear monster trucks, we’ll have mascots from theme parks and major sporting organizations across Central Florida,” parks director Bryan Nipe told WKMG.
