I've always enjoyed doing things for other people more than I have enjoyed being the one who receives a wonderful experience. When my parent's 50th wedding anniversary was upcoming, I realized that this day presented a special opportunity with the family could be together and would enjoy each other's presence immensely.
My parents were married on December 13, 1942 in Las Vegas. My wife, children and I lived in the Boston area while my parents, sister and her son lived in San Bernardino, California. So, at a minimum, I had to find a way to move one part or the other of the family to the other coast. We decided to take the New Englanders to California to enjoy the good weather.
I asked my parents what they would like to do, and they said we should do something inexpensive that the whole family could enjoy. Since our daughter was then 6, we quickly agreed that Disneyland was a good choice for the day. Everyone had an annual passport so there would be no charge for entering the park for the day.
I got on the telephone and talked with anyone I could reach about how to create a special day at Disneyland. Everyone told me the same thing: It couldn't be done. They don't do anything special for people celebrating wedding anniversaries at Disneyland, but some things could be arranged for the Disneyland Hotel.
With the help of the catering department at the hotel, we soon had a room reserved, a menu, a multiple-layer wedding cake (of the sort my parents had never had) and Minnie Mouse as an invited guest.
But I wasn't satisfied. Through a contact I had made in the Disney organization during a consulting assignment, I spoke with an assistant at Disney University and told her about my plans. She said that I should call the security people at Disneyland and describe my problem. She kindly gave me the name and telephone number of who to contact.
On the telephone, I was soon speaking with a take-charge man who clearly knew what he was doing. He said he would be delighted to help my parents have a special day. He asked me to tell him about my mom and dad, and he said he would take care of everything. We just needed to report to security once we were in the park at the appointed time.
On the appointed day to leave, a blizzard unexpectedly hit New England. The Boston airport was closed. The Providence airport was closed. The Hartford airport was closed. The closest open airport was in New York City. We found out by telephone that there was just the right number of seats leaving New York in five hours . . . but no more for days. Could we get to New York in time? We had a crazy trip. I totally spun the car out twice, once having to be rescued by a Jeep with a winch out of a ditch. Totally exhausted from the terror off the drive, we just made the flight.
Once in California, it seemed worth it. The sky was blue, the air was warm and the flowers were blooming. We all stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and looked forward to my parents' special day, December 13, 1992.
We kicked off the festivities at the Disneyland Hotel where we were joined by my Dad's sister and her husband. While our daughter danced with Minnie, the rest of us enjoyed a fine meal, lots of cake and took an enormous number of photographs.
Afterwards, we headed over to Disneyland where several surprises awaited.
Once inside of Town Hall, a security guard with an ear piece escorted us to the Main Street train station. The train pulled up . . . and we entered Lily Belle, Walt Disney's private railway car, for a trip around the park. My Dad had worked for the Santa Fe Railway until his retirement, and Santa Fe had been an original sponsor of the train . . . so this meant a lot to Dad. On the table in the coach, there was a photograph of the whole family signed by each of us inside of a frame donated by Disneyland. We had arranged to send that out ahead so it could be smuggled onto the car before we boarded. Dad just beamed.
After our trip around the Magic Kingdom, the train stopped at the Frontierland station where another security agent awaited us. He told us funny stories while he walked us to the Pepsi Playhouse where reserved seats for the next show awaited us. This show was Dad's favorite activity in the park. He thought the skit was very funny. But what he didn't know was that Mom and he were to be part of the show! The cast had been tipped off and led the audience in serenading Mom and Dad. Dad even ended up with a bright red lipstick kiss on his forehead while an actress pretended to steal Dad from Mom.
After the show, another security agent led us off towards Main Street. Upon arrival, we found that there were reserved seats for all of us. We were the official party to review the parade, another family favorite. Mom and Dad didn't stop smiling all day . . . or for the rest of the time we were there with them.
Afterwards, I sent a nice thank you note to the Disney people. I would have gone to thank my host that day . . . but it was his day off.
In all of the years I have been going to Disneyland (which is now almost 50), I've never met anyone . . . billionaire or not . . . who was given the keys to the Magic Kingdom in such a personalized and wonderful way. Thank you, wonderful Disney people!
Now, how much did this amazing event cost? Less than you might expect. Our costs were for travel to and from the East (which we would have done anyway . . . so that didn't count . . . but we did have very cheap tickets), a night at the Disneyland hotel (where we would have stayed anyway . . . so that didn't count ), a lunch at the Disneyland hotel (including the huge cake), and Minnie Mouse (who is not a cheap date). In today's dollars, we spent about $400 over what it would have cost to simply take everyone out for a comparable meal in a regular restaurant. At five dollars a day extra for everyone who came, this was an eight-day budget. Not too shabby!
How much extra did the Disneyland part cost? Not a cent! And that was the best part of the day. We used our annual passes and Disneyland didn't charge for the extra help. Wasn't that nice?
If we had been on a limited budget, we could have skipped the Disneyland Hotel part and just done the park adventures.
"How was that possible?" Simple, I asked Disneyland to do things that didn't affect their costs or budget. Lily Belle had to be taken out every so often and run around the park so that it would operate well. We were doing a "maintenance" run. The security people were going to be there keeping an eye on security anyway. And the picture frame was one that they had left over from some other event. They, in return, didn't ask us to spend any extra money either . . . and Disneyland personnel are not allowed to accept tips (or believe me, I would have given a large one).
Afterwards, I thought about all of the millions of people who would enjoy having a similar custom event at little or no additional cost. Perhaps I should write a book about how they could.
And that was the beginning of planning this book . . . over 12 years ago.
Donald Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge
Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell
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