Jeff Reitz in his pleased place.

Jeff Reitz

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Jeff Reitz

Jeff Reitz in his pleased place.

Jeff Reitz

Today’s primary character has, nicely, seen plenty of primary characters previously decade.

A California man not too long ago set a Guinness World Record for many consecutive visits to the Disneyland theme park — with 2,995 straight days of visits. That breaks all the way down to eight years, three months, and 13 days. And sure, it took some dedication. He coordinated the visits round dinner plans, work duties and journey.

Who is he? Jeff Reitz lives about half-hour from Disneyland, in Huntington Beach, Calif. He was on the theme park on New Year’s Day 2012 when he and his mates seen an commercial for an “extra Disney Day.” It was an occasion celebrating Feb. 29, the extra day arising that bissextile year.

• “We were joking around, ‘How could it be an extra day if you didn’t use the others?'” Reitz informed NPR. So they got down to use all the opposite days too. They had been unemployed on the time, so this was a chance to do one thing optimistic with their time as an alternative of dwelling on their scenario, he mentioned.
• “We could still do job hunting in the morning or night, and [we] got exercise,” he mentioned. “And you were always networking because you never knew who you were talking to.”
• Once they reached their purpose of visiting the park all three hundred and sixty six days, he simply stored going.

That’s one cool character.

Jeff Reitz

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Jeff Reitz

How did he stick with it? That first 12 months, Reitz was in a position to go to the park each day with an annual go that his household gifted him in December 2011. He later acquired a job at a medical heart and started buying his personal passes.

• To him, the each day visits had been a continuing supply of pleasure.
• “It was my gym. It was my happy hour. It was entertainment all in one package,” he mentioned. “You know, instead of paying for a separate membership for doing lots of different things, it was all in one package with my annual pass.”
• Reitz mentioned that, in the beginning, the annual go would value round $500. In the later years, it was $1,400. “So for me, going every day, even at the end, was only about $3.50 a day,” Reitz mentioned. “So about the same as someone going to buy a cup of coffee.”
• He additionally began utilizing the hashtag #Disney366 on social media to document his journey. He mentioned it was an informal factor at first, but it surely then developed into his “persona.”

There’s magic within the air.

Jeff Reitz

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Jeff Reitz

What occurred to his streak? Reitz mentioned his final day on the park was March 13, 2020 — the final day earlier than the theme park closed because of the pandemic. He was 5 days away from reaching the three,000 mark. And sure, it was Friday the thirteenth.

• To Reitz, although, being pressured to cease together with the remainder of the nation was higher than the choice. He says that ending his visits at an arbitrary spherical quantity, on a day when different individuals had been nonetheless visiting the park, would have most likely introduced some FOMO.
• He hasn’t gone again since that day, and whereas he desires to return sooner or later, he would not have concrete plans but. 
• He mentioned he did not have any dangerous emotions towards Disney, though he mentioned he wasn’t a fan of the brand new Magic Key annual go system that started throughout the pandemic and requires reservations earlier than visits. “For me, personally, I didn’t like the idea that — I could go every day before whenever I wanted, whereas now you have to make reservations,” he mentioned.
• In the meantime, he has changed his Disneyland visits with catching up on reveals, going to concert events or hikes, and spending time along with his girlfriend. 

Reitz along with his mates, Walt and Mickey.

Jeff Reitz

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Jeff Reitz

His recommendation for Disneyland first-timers:

1. Bring the most important dose of your endurance. “No matter what, you’re gonna be around a lot of people. It’s not gonna be just you and your friends and family that are close to you. There’s a lot of different people, a lot of different attitudes, cultures, and everything, so you want to be ready for it.”
2. Bring a battery to cost your telephone. “Now you also want to have the app on your phone in order to see the wait times for the various shows and attractions, or to even order your food before you go to get it.”

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