Guest Column: Jeff Zaret
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Surprises Are Always Best When They Involve Disney Magic
By Jeff Zaret

October 8th, 2004 was a very special day for my dad, Greg Zaret. It was his 65th birthday. However October 7th, 2004 is a day that he will not soon forget. Let me back up, for you see I am getting ahead of myself. The week prior my son flew out to California for a two-week visit with Grandpa and Grandma. After a full week already of lots of activities my mom and dad took Drew to Disneyland and to California Adventure. What my son and dad knew was that they were going to be spending a fun filled day at the Disneyland Resort. What they did not know was that Lory, my girlfriend and I, were hopping on a 6 A.M. flight from Dayton, Ohio on our way to join them. My mother had been planning the surprise for almost 2 months so keeping it a secret from everyone was tough. On the day of the big surprise my mother, father and Drew hit California Adventure at full speed as soon as the park opened. Due to it being the off-season crowds were minimal and they were able to hit Tower of Terror, Soaring Over California and It’s a Bug’s Life before lunchtime. Our flight landed at 10:45 and we immediately headed for the park and got on the cell phone with my mom trying to coordinate everything. We met up with my mother while my father and son were in Bug’s Life. We instructed her to take them over to Ariel’s Grotto and their names would already be on the list. Lory and I ran over to the restaurant and put in a reservation for 3 (soon to be 5) and let the cast member know what we were up to. We then hid ourselves in the store across the walk from the Grotto. When my mom, dad and son approached the hostess and were waiting to be seated we walked up behind them and asked them if everything was all right with their visit so far. My dad and son were in complete shock. They had no clue; in fact they thought my mom didn’t even know that we were there. We then made our way into the restaurant where we all had a wonderful lunch with family and friends.

Greg and his new girlfriend

Jeff, Lory, Judy, Drew and Greg

After lunch we made our way over to Disneyland where upon entering the park I took my dad to guest relations on Main Street and informed the cast member that it was his 65th birthday. She presented him with a very special birthday sticker, which caused every cast member from that point on to wish him a very happy birthday. The rest of the day was filled with Disney magic and the enjoyment of being together as a family. Every thing was pretty normal until later that evening. As we made our way to find a spot for the 7 P.M. “Parade of Stars�? I noticed a double decker bus with a sign on the side that read “Guest Performers�?. I immediately approached the cast member and asked him how these people had been chosen. After talking with him for a few minutes and explaining to him about my dad’s birthday and the day that we were having so far he agreed to allow my son, my father and me to be part of the parade as well. After signing our releases and going back stage we learned our choreography. That’s right I said choreography. For you see we weren’t going to just ride in the parade we were learning an entire routine and we were going to dance through the whole parade. We were then put in our costumes. And I might add that we looked lovely in our tutus. They were going to have us dance with the elephants and the hippos. We very quickly learned our dance moves and it was show time. And for the next 40 minutes we were Disney performers.

Greg showing up the elephant on his big day