The Disneyland die-hard who set the Guinness World Record for many consecutive every day visits to the “Happiest Place on Earth” said Saturday that he has no plans to make one other run on the theme park challenge.
Jeff Reitz, 50, of Huntington Beach, California, said that after visiting 2,995 times between Jan. 1, 2012, and March 13, 2020, when the pandemic broke his streak, Disney installed a recent annual pass system that may make beating his personal best much more of a financial investment — and likewise less fun.
Along with being more costly — the costliest pass now runs $1,599 — the brand new system now has blackout dates and requires reservations to go to the park.
“The concept of getting to make a reservation, that right there was a giant downer,” Reitz told The Post Saturday. “I’d go over there after work and you already know, possibly grab a bite to eat, you already know, enjoy some rides, or shows … It was nice having the ability to just pop in at will.”
Reitz, a former Air Force firefighter who currently works as an administrator on the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach, said that he managed to afford 1000’s of visits to the park over eight-plus years by purchasing annual passes, with costs peaking at $1,399 for the now-retired Signature Plus Pass.
“For me going each day, 365 or three hundred and sixty six days, it brought it all the way down to about $3.50 a day,” he said. “How many individuals go to Starbucks and spend greater than that on a cup of coffee every day?”
During his eight-plus years of being a daily theme park fixture, Reitz estimated that he’s forked over greater than $100,000 to the House of Mouse between admission and parking, in addition to food and souvenirs like shirts and collectible tiki mugs.
Since ending his streak, Reitz has returned to a few of his interests that pre-dated his every day trips to Disneyland, including climbing local mountains and scuba diving off Redondo Beach or down within the San Diego area.
His girlfriend, Karen Bell, added that since her Disney prince isn’t any longer committed to every day theme park visits, the couple has been capable of take longer trips and vacations together.
“We’ve time to go take those overnight trips, weekend trips, go to live shows and whatever, wherever,” Bell, 46, said. “It doesn’t need to be inside a day’s drive of Disney, in order that ‘normal life,’ that’s something we will do.”
