The Disneyland die-hard who set the Guinness World Record for most consecutive daily visits to the “Happiest Place on Earth” said Saturday that he has no plans to make another run at 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 new annual pass system that would make beating his personal best even more of a financial investment — and also less fun.
In addition to being more costly — the most expensive pass now runs $1,599 — the new system now has blackout dates and requires reservations to visit the park.
“The idea of having to make a reservation, that right there was a big downer,” Reitz told The Post Saturday. “I’d go over there after work and you know, maybe grab a bite to eat, you know, enjoy some rides, or shows … It was nice being able to just pop in at will.”
Reitz, a former Air Force firefighter who currently works as an administrator at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach, said that he managed to afford thousands 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 every single day, 365 or 366 days, it brought it down to about $3.50 a day,” he said. “How many people go to Starbucks and spend more than that on a cup of coffee daily?”
During his eight-plus years of being a regular theme park fixture, Reitz estimated that he’s forked over more than $100,000 to the House of Mouse between admission and parking, as well as food and souvenirs like shirts and collectible tiki mugs.
Since ending his streak, Reitz has returned to some of his interests that pre-dated his daily trips to Disneyland, including hiking local mountains and scuba diving off Redondo Beach or down in the San Diego area.
His girlfriend, Karen Bell, added that since her Disney prince is no longer committed to daily theme park visits, the couple has been able to take longer trips and vacations together.
“We have time to go take those overnight trips, weekend trips, go to concerts and whatever, wherever,” Bell, 46, said. “It doesn’t have to be within a day’s drive of Disney, so that ‘normal life,’ that’s something we can do.”
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