Ben Woolridge, 36, from Leamington Spa, is at his happiest at Disney...
Finding my favourite spot in the crowd, I was shoulder to shoulder in a hoard of mouse ears.
‘We’ve got to get the best spot,’ I said to the group.
Something my dad, Craig, would tell me and my brother Craig, 35, when we were kids.
And the sweet spot was right between Cinderella Castle and Mainstreet – it gave you the best view of the cast and floats.
Watching Mickey and the gang parade through Magic Kingdom had captivated me since childhood.
I was blown away by the craftsmanship that went into building the floats – it looked more magic than mechanical.
And throughout my childhood, I was lucky enough to visit the Disney parks a few times with my family.
And while I loved the films, it was visiting the parks and making memories that got me hooked on Disney magic.
And as an adult, I continued chasing that feeling.
In 2015, I flew to Tokyo on a work trip.
‘I have to check out the Disney park,’ I’d told my partner, Richard.
Working hard for the most part, I had three days to check out Tokyo Disneyland. Having only ever been to Florida and Paris, I was looking forward to seeing something new.
And I fell in love with the park – the attention to detail was like no other.
They had a huge erupting volcano and a beautiful body of water surrounding it.
And when the Shanghai park opened in 2016, I had an idea.
What if I could visit all of the Disney parks?
What if I could visit all the parks?
As someone who loves a to-do list, I couldn’t get the idea out my head.
Visiting Orlando, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai, it wasn’t an easy task.
And unfortunately, my pockets were not very deep.
So, over the past eight years, I’ve squeezed Disney into any fami
