BY ELAINE DE VALLE

 The international custody battle over Elian Gonzalez -- the 6-year-old rafter boy
 rescued on Thanksgiving Day -- will take a back seat today as the boy and his
 Miami relatives go to Walt Disney World.

 The family will drive up from Miami for a two-day excursion to end Monday at the
 theme park resort, a family spokesman said Saturday. They will spend Sunday
 night at one of the resort's many themed hotels.

 ``He wants to see Mickey Mouse,'' said Armando Gutierrez, the family
 spokesman. ``The whole family is excited. They just want the kid to be a kid for
 two days.''

 Elian, whose father wants him back in Cuba, was found clinging to an inner tube
 off Fort Lauderdale by two cousins fishing on Thanksgiving Day. The custody
 dispute between his Miami relatives and his father has turned into an international
 diplomatic incident between the United States and Cuba.

 For now, the Magic Kingdom will be his refuge.

 Gutierrez said he went to Orlando on Saturday to talk with Disney officials about
 security and limiting press access to only his arrival at the gates.

 He said the family would leave home about 5 a.m. and asked more than two
 dozen reporters outside the house Saturday evening -- reporters who have been
 shadowing the child everywhere -- to please let them go in privacy.

                     Copyright 1999 Miami Herald