As workplaces go, Disney World has its advantages.

It's bigger, brighter, bouncier than most factories. It brings the possibility of an ice cream cone, a hug or a teacup ride.

And Kelly Ripa finds lots of work there. She started going to the "Super Soap Weekends" when they started in 1996. Now she has her sixth turn as co-host of the "Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade."

The parade has been on Disney-owned ABC for 24 years. It airs Christmas morning, with Ripa and Regis Philbin in Disney World and Ryan Seacrest at Disneyland. There will be the parade and performances, many taped in advance.

This one starts with a "Dancing With the Stars" number, then often has singers. There's one veteran (Patti LaBelle) and lots of young people (Josh Groban, Katharine McPhee, Jessica Simpson). Some (Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu and all of the Jonas Brothers) are still teenagers.

"You sort of see a trend like that every few years," says Ripa, 37. "I remember when I was a teenager, it was Debbie Gibson and Tiffany and the Jets."

Still, these current ones — many on Disney shows or with a record label — may be different. "They are very industry-savvy ... and it seems like you have to be a triple threat these days."

That combination — sing, dance and act — is required of Bleu and Hudgens and other "High School Musical" stars. It's also required of Cyrus; at 15, she stars in "Hannah Montana" and has big-money concerts.

"I started when I was 19," Ripa says. "But I was on a soap ('All My Children'). I wasn't juggling an empire."

In a way, she and Miley have similar roots. Ripa's father and Cyrus' paternal grandfather were longtime labor-union officials who then were elected to public office. Ron Cyrus became a Kentucky legislator; Joe Ripa is a county selectman in New Jersey.

"He's turning 70, and he goes to work every day," Kelly says.

That's an ethic she's followed. In her 17 years of show business, Ripa says, she's taken one sick day. "What finally convinced me was when my dad — who's never had a sick day in his life — told me to."

Neither parent was in show business, she says, but both encouraged her.

"My mother was painfully shy, growing up," Ripa says. "She didn't want me to be as introverted as she was."

So there were ballet lessons at 3. If the goal was to raise an extrovert, they sort of overachieved. In her day job ("Live With Regis and Kelly") Ripa seems eternally at ease.

For the Ripa family, the Disney World trips also started early. Kelly was 1 when the park opened and figures she made her first trip there about two years later.

"I still remember the smell of gardenias, because we stayed at the Polynesian Village," she says. "It's Hawai'i, but without the jet lag."

She and her husband, actor Mark Consuelos, took their first child to the 'Soap Weekends."

"We have video of Michael when he was like 6 months old, jumping out of his seat because he was so excited."

Now they bring all three of their children, ages 10, 6 and 4. When possible, they bring more.

"Last year, my parents had all the grandkids there," Ripa says. "I looked back at my dad, who was so emotional about it.

"He was sort of crying. Then I'm crying. The Disney people are all concerned: 'They're not having a magical time. Why aren't you being magical?' "

Tears stopped, fun resumed. And now Ripa will be back to do it again.

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