A man who practically lived in the house of mouse for eight years is being recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for a magical feat.
Jeff Reitz, of California, earned the world record of most consecutive visits to Disneyland after taking daily visits to the park over the last eight years, three months and 13 days, totalling 2,995 visits overall.
Reitz had been visiting the park daily since early 2012. When Disneyland's newly announced "Leap Day 24-hour event," where people could visit the park for 24 hours each Feb. 29, he and his friends jokingly said they would continue the streak since they were out of work and wanted to make the time they had a positive experience.
“It helped to get us out and put a positive mindset, log exercise with all the steps taken, and always networking since you never knew who you would meet," Reitz said in an interview with the Guinness World Records.
The now-50-year-old's visit on that Leap Day turned out to be his 60th consecutive visit, and by July 1 he made it to his 183rd trip. At that point, he began to get attention from new outlets intrigued by his story.
Through the daily trips, Reitz became friendly with the staff, and started to become a celebrity to other visitors who had heard of his story and seen his Instagram videos documenting each visit.
He broke the record, and had plans to make his 3,000th consecutive visit, but his streak came to a halt in March 2020 when the park shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he has yet to make his return to the park, Reitz says he plans to go back soon to celebrate his feat at the place where it all began.
“I have not set a return date yet, but now I think it would be really fun to return with my Guinness World Records title certificate to get pictures where I earned it — inside Disneyland,” he said.
