Disney Parks welcome 2 billionth guest

This morning at 9:02 AM Pacific, Disneyland welcomed 12-year old Emmalee Mason of Colorado Springs, Colorado as the honorary 2 billionth guest to visit a Disney Park. Emmalee was immediately met with streamers, celebratory music, and a whole slew of congratulatory characters,

and was then brought to the park's floral Mickey for a special ceremony, at which she received a giant golden key and a lifetime pass for her and her family — all ten of them — to all eleven Disney Parks around the world.

In commenting on the day’s ceremony, Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, stated: “This is truly a highlight of our continuing global 50th anniversary celebration. The world over families use words like ‘magical,’ ‘dreams,’ ‘wonder,’ and ‘imagination’ to describe our five destination resorts around the world and now thanks to Emmalee, our honorary two-billionth guest, we can add the word “Wow!”

Throughout the day Emmalee received a private photo session with her family and Mickey Mouse, an exclusive tour of Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure Park, a special ride on the Matterhorn Bobsleds with Mickey, and was feted as Grand Marshal of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary parade.

“WOW! I’m in shock . . . I’m so happy!” exclaimed Emmalee. “I am just so surprised . . . I didn’t think that I would be the 2 billionth guest . . . this kind of stuff never happens to me!”

“Two-billion guests means two-billion lifetime memories that have been made and shared with friends and families at Disney Parks around the world,” said Rasulo. “A visit to a Disney theme park, whether in California, Florida, Japan, France or China, remains a vibrant and universally embraced experience passed from generation to generation.”