California man visited Disneyland every day for 8 years: now he holds a world record

The Disney craze prompted California resident Jeff Reitz to visit the company's world-renowned theme park in Anaheim daily for eight years, three months and 13 days. Thanks to this achievement, he got into the Guinness Book of Records. TheGuardian.

Photo: IStock

As a result, a 50-year-old man from nearby Huntington Beach has earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for making the most consecutive visits to Disneyland, officials announced last week.

Reitz was "really shocked" when he received a call from Guinness about the record he had set. “It was just unexpected how it all happened,” he said.

As Reitz said, being unemployed in 2012, he began visiting Disneyland daily. He had an annual membership that was given to him so that he could get out of the house, play sports and take his mind off the monotony of a job search.

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The visits lifted his spirits, and before he knew it, he had been visiting the park for two months in a row. On its 60th day, Disneyland hosted a 24-hour event celebrating 2012 as a leap year. There, Reitz met with a reporter who was covering the event, according to the Guinness website.

The reporter began following the social media posts that Reitz posted at the beginning of each of his Disneyland trips, and eventually the journalist wrote an article about a Mickey Mouse fan that got a lot of attention.

Following the media attention, Reitz became recognized by other guests who asked for his autograph or for a photo with them. He wondered how long he could visit the park without a break. So he researched if there was a Guinness World Record for the most consecutive visits to Disneyland.

There was no such record. But when he realized that he might have to pay the organization to officially record his feat, Reitz said he stopped thinking about it.

He ended up visiting Disneyland for 2995 consecutive days before the Covid-19 pandemic forced the park to close for over a year, effective March 14, 2020.

Visits to Disneyland for almost 3000 days in a row required a huge amount of planning from Reitz once he got the job back. He had to go to the park early in the morning, late in the evening or in between work. And he had to decide whether he would make himself a sandwich to eat there, or fork out for food prepared by the park staff.

It is unlikely that anyone will ever challenge Reitz's record again. After reopening after the pandemic, the park now requires visitors to make reservations in advance to avoid crowds. Not everyone who wants to reserve a ticket can get one, and the new annual passes also block several dates in December for ticket holders, all of which is essentially a guarantee of Reitz's record.

And if suddenly you decide to repeat the achievement of Reitz, then be prepared to shell out at least $ 218 for Tickets for 2996 days of daily attendance.

Guinness, in fact, acknowledged all these factors, announcing on February 21 that he decided to secure Reitz in his list of record holders.

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At one point, Disneyland gave him a gift basket and a certificate declaring him an honorary citizen of the park. The park also gave him a birthday dinner and gifted him with a special backpack as he continued to increase his streak of non-stop visiting.

Reitz no longer has an annual Disneyland membership, but he still attends occasionally. He told the Guinness World Records website that he already knew what he wanted to do when he had his next chance to go to the theme park, which this year marks the 100th anniversary of Disney's founding.

“I think,” Reitz said, “it would be great fun to come back with my Guinness World Record certificate to take photos where I earned it – Disneyland.”

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