'The Disney Guy'
Bethlehem resident's dedication to DISNEY is more than SKIN DEEP
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His body is a temple, adorned with more than 1,100 Disney-based tattoos. His home is a monument, housing more than 15,000 Disney collectibles. His name is George Reiger. Better known as "The Disney Guy," this Bethlehem resident eats, sleeps and breathes Disney. "It's my life, my religion," he said. "I don't go nowhere but Disney, I don't do nothing but Disney." Backing that statement, Reiger claims to have visited Disney World more than 200 times, Disney Land more than 100 times, EuroDisney 28 times and TokyoDisney seven times. "I do the same exact thing every year. I go down, I walk around, I show off basically," Reiger said about his trips. Doesn't it get old? Reiger said not. "Every trip I kiss the ground as soon as I get there. To me it's like holy ground." It isn't necessary to follow Reiger around to observe his reverence of Disney. That becomes apparent just by looking at him. Practically every inch of his body is covered in tattoos honoring Walt Disney and his creations. "I have every Disney character there is," he said. Reiger started his collection of tattoos at the age of 18 with an inked rendition of Fantasia's Sorcerer Mickey. That one, and every one after it, has been done by Sam Snyder of Easton. In order to have Disney's copyrighted characters inked onto his body, Reiger had to obtain Disney's permission. He claims to be the only one in the world with such permission. It came with a few conditions. "There were stipulations of
Disney," Reiger said. "I cannot go to a tattoo parlor, I
cannot appear in a tattoo magazine and I can't make money off
this." |
Though he can't go to a tattoo parlor, Reiger can have additional tattoos done by Snyder and he does on a regular basis. There's a theme to where his tattoos are placed, with everything under the sea below his stomach, villains below his knees, rides above his knees, and certain character groups together in other locations. He has no tattoos above the neck or below the wrist because of his career as an amateur magician and illusionist. He will, however, make one exception when his bald spot clears completely, he said, filling in the spot with a tattooed silhouette of Mickey Mouse's head. Along with being an amateur magician and illusionist, Reiger is employed by the U.S. postal service. Roughly 85 percent of the money he makes from his two jobs, he claims, goes, in one form or another, to Disney. Aside from spending his money on trips to Disney vacation spots and tattoos, Reiger is continually enlarging his collection of Disney items. So where does he keep all of his Disney collectibles? In a Disney home, of course. Located roughly one mile from the intersection of Route 378 and Route 309 in Bethlehem, Reiger's Disney-themed home is the only one like it in the world, he said. It is entirely custom-made and houses the more than 15,000 Disney items he has collected. It serves as both a showcase for the items and as a monument to Disney. Not everything inside Reiger's home came from Disney, though. Many items, such as the doorknobs throughout his house, have been modified by Reiger. "If it can have ears, it'll have ears," he said about his decorating motif. Reiger has also learned to etch glass, make plastic copies of Disney collectibles and create stained glass items, among other things, as he decorated his home, since the cost of using all original items would have been exorbitant. Still, he estimates the value of his collection of original Disney items at roughly $800,000. |