You Thought Your Disneyland Wait Was a Long One?

Anyone who doubts the loyalty of Disney fans should head to Disneyland on a New Year’s Eve. You’ll meet such devotees as Amanda Parsley, a University of Washington student who drove 20 straight hours from Seattle with her boyfriend for a three-day millennial visit to Anaheim, and was preparing for another 20-hour drive back.

Wearing a Disneyland souvenir shirt as she wandered the park, Parsley, 19, shot back an almost incredulous look when asked why she had traveled so far on such a tight schedule. “It’s supposed to be the happiest place on Earth,” she said, praising the Magic Kingdom’s no-alcohol policy. “It’s so cool--every single person here decided not to drink tonight.”

Parsley had planned her trip since last summer.

Doug Ward, 49, had planned his since 1976, when he attended Disneyland’s celebration of the nation’s bicentennial. Ward, of Show Low, Ariz., stood stroking his beard at 2:40 a.m. on New Year’s as he examined the Mickey’s All Stars jackets in a Main Street shop.

He had called repeatedly for years, asking if the Disneyland Hotel was booking rooms for New Year’s 2000. Finally, about four years ago, the answer was yes and Ward made reservations for himself and his two daughters. Like Parsley, he was spending three days in the park, and he said that for 24 years there had been no question where he would be when the millennium arrived.

“Back in ’76 I just loved the fireworks,” he said. “And I said, ‘When’s the next party?’ And this was it.”

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E. Scott Reckard covers tourism for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at scott.reckard@latimes.com.