My Favorite Father's Day

Hi,

As I mentioned before, I enjoy doing things for other people more than having them done for me.

With Father's Day coming up next month, it occurred to me that you may be thinking about how to celebrate the holiday with your Dad. I thought that you might get some ideas if I shared with you my favorite Father's Day . . . and described how I pulled it off on a tiny budget.

I had just finished my freshman year in college a few weeks earlier and was home in San Bernardino for the summer. I had earned a scholarship that covered almost all of my tuition that was paid for by my Dad's employer, the Santa Fe Railway. They had kindly helped me also by giving me a job for the summer this year . . . earning a lot more than I could have on my own. For comparison purposes, a job at McDonald's (yes, we had McDonald's . . . they were started in San Bernardino) paid 70% less per hour.

Then I got a big break. I was offered an even higher paying job at the railroad to start the day after Father's Day. But I had to work for free for several days to qualify for the job . . . including Father's Day!

I was torn. I really wanted the better job. I knew my Dad was really proud of me for having gotten a chance to do this work. But I also wanted to be with my Dad and honor him on Father's Day. In fact, I had been planning to do so for months . . . having invested over $7 in a pair of tickets at Dodger Stadium for a key game that afternoon. We both loved baseball, and we both adored the Dodgers.

Dad was great about it. He said I should skip Father's Day and we could go to another ball game. I tossed and turned for several nights, unable to sleep very well.

At the end, I made my decision . . . I would go to the game with Dad! Relieved that I had made this hard decision, I shared my decision with my boss at the railroad. He told me not to come back if I didn't take this job. They wouldn't be able to help me find another one.

Now, I felt like I had really put my foot in it. I didn't want to hurt my Dad's position at his job, and I needed the money.

But having told Dad we were going to the game, I decided to stick with my decision.

The day dawned bright and sunny and mild. We had a nice breakfast that Mom prepared and headed off to the game. I had a little extra money so I also bought gas for Dad and paid for the parking. That brought my expenses to over ten dollars. Wow! At the game, I also bought Dodger dogs and soft drinks . . . so the final cost soared to over thirteen dollars.

We had a ball. I felt proud of myself, and Dad could see how much I really loved him. From that day onward, we were even closer than ever before.

In subsequent years, we repeated that outing many times . . . going to other Dodger games . . . and even lots of Super Bowls (I'll write about how to attend Super Bowls inexpensively another time).

I wish I had had more decisions like that one . . . because I made the right choice.

How did my summer employment work out? Well, I didn't make much money that summer. So I looked for a better job with more hours when I got back to school. As a result, I started working for the university alumni magazine . . . a job that helped launch my successful business career. So I was rewarded twice. God was good to me.

If you've had great Father's Day experiences either as a daughter or son . . . or as a Father, please share them with me. I'm very likely to be able to use them in future articles for magazines . . . or possibly even in Live Better than a Billionaire on Five Dollars Extra a Day.

Enjoy Father's Day!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Why I Decided to Write Live Better than a Billionaire on Five Dollars Extra a Day

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