ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — It seems like a dream as flighty as Tinkerbell and as quirky as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
Yet a Southern California couple have passed the halfway mark in their quest to visit Disneyland every day this year.
"We joke around that we're here more than the cast members are," Jeff Reitz said Tuesday.
Reitz,
39, of Huntington Beach, and Tonya Mickesh, 45, of Lake Forest were
both unemployed when she came up with the idea of becoming Magic Kingdom
marathoners, Reitz said.
As annual passholders, they could go to
the Anaheim theme park and its adjoining California Adventure as often
as they wished. So they decided to go all 366 days in the leap year,
beginning on New Year's Day.
The idea was to "put a smile on our faces instead of sitting at home and being bummed out about being out of work," Reitz said.
A Disneyland pass that would grant a visitor access every day of the year costs $649, according to the park's website.
Mickesh
now has a full-time job but Reitz said she still joins him in the
evenings. They celebrated her birthday there this past weekend and on
Sunday passed day 183 — the halfway mark.
Time again, the couple
have strolled down Main Street, goggled at the fireworks and laughed at
quips on the Jungle Cruise. They often meet up with park-loving friends
and have even given directions to lost tourists, Reitz said in a
telephone interview.
"I still get a charge," he said.
"I've
been going in the afternoon and evening," Reitz said. "Last night I was
just going to go for three or four hours and I ended up shutting the
park down."
His favorite ride is the Matterhorn Bobsleds, although he said new cars are a tighter squeeze for his 6-foot-2 frame.
"I joke around that I basically have to fold my knees over my ears," he said.
Reitz
said he still finds out new things about the Disneyland and California
Adventure parks. He hasn't even eaten at all the restaurants. Although
he has had temporary jobs, the former Air Force firefighter and
administrative office worker is currently unemployed and Reitz said he
cannot afford some of the fancier fare, such as the $22 cheeseburgers at
the Carthay Circle Restaurant.
Reitz said he needs to find
employment, though, to afford a new annual pass at a higher price when
his current pass expires on Dec. 11.
His dream job, he said, would be working at Disneyland. But for now, he's happy being a constant visitor.
"We
are fortunate to have such ardent fans and happy to be such an
important part of Tonya and Jeff's lives," Disneyland Resort spokeswoman
Suzi Brown said in an email to The Associated Press.
___
Information from: The Orange County Register
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
In this Sunday, July 1, 2012, photo, Jeff Reitz and Tonya Mickesh pose for a picture at the halfway point, day 183, in their mission to visit Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., every day this year.
