A few weeks ago, the Bethwood and Orange Patch sites published a story about the underdog Amity Pop Warner cheerleaders and their improbable climb to the top of the, well,  pyramid. These 7^th and 8^th grade girls had little more than "heart" to start, according to their coach, Robin Norko, but each time they went to a competition they surprised everyone with their success, including themselves.

Their trip to Orlando ended today with a real Disney twist – the underdogs, only a handful of whom had any real experience before this year, took the national title in their division early today.

Braving record cold temperatures in usually warm Orlando, the girls practiced on-site for two days before today's competition. According to Pop Warner President Richard Photos, he and the girls hoped for a top-five place, but admitted that having made it to the nationals was already more than they had dreamed of.

Photos said they announced the winners starting with fifth place, which was the most the Amity cheerleaders ever could have hoped for, and when another team took the spot, they were feeling slightly dejected. Then fourth place was named, and spirits sagged even lower . . . they were sure they were out of the running. When the third place winners turned out to be the team that had beaten Amity at regionals, well, all hope was gone. Then second place, and the girls were already beginning to console each other when . . .

"It was unbelievable," Photos said. "I just couldn't stop crying. People were coming up to me, complete strangers, telling me how amazing our girls were. I'm in shock, really."

The news quickly spread to Amity via Twitter and Facebook.

Shortly after 1 p.m. today the one-liners started flying.

"We did it," texted cheerleader Gianna LoSchiavo.

Brenda D'Astous, an Orange mom, updated her world via Facebook: "The girls won first place national champions!!"

Victoria Petro relayed, "We really pulled it together and put everything else aside. It felt great walking off the floor."

Gabrielle DiGello texted: "It felt phenomenal to get off the mat and feel that good about our performance. We really accomplished a lot from the beginning of the season. We really pulled it together."

Caroline DelVecchio wrote: "This is probably the last time we were performing together as junior midgets, since half of us are going to high school and we were determined to make the last one the best we possibly could be!"

Sophia Daskalon related several hours later what it felt like when they were convinced they hadn't placed: "Well, at first, I was almost in tears . . . we were already screaming . . . the feeling was almost like being in a dream . . . the screaming and cheering . . . and people jumping and hugging behind you . . .  but your team didn't place  . . . and the second he said the 'A' of Amity for first place, from our point of view, time almost stopped, making things seem slow and unreal. I started crying along with the rest of my team and found my legs shaking so bad I had to sit down."

When the Super Bowl is over, the reporter on the field always asks the winning quarterback, "What are you going to do now?" and the answer is inevitably, "We're going to Disney!!"

The Amity Pop Warner Cheerleaders can now say, "Been there, done that." Disney was good to them, but they truly earned their reward.

As of early this evening, Photos was still teary-eyed.

"This really is the Disney movie," he said. "Amazing . . . just amazing."

Over the next few days, the cheerleaders will straggle home. They will get a hero's welcome when they return to school, and then life will slowly go back to normal. But inside, they will never be the same; so very few ever earn a title of National Champion. It's a win they will carry in their special "hearts" that drove them to the top, for the rest of their lives.