Most long-time Disneyland patrons have a favorite or must-visit attractions inside the Anaheim theme park.
For some, it’s the “atmosphere, landscaping [and] theming” of New Orleans Square, with its beignets and jazz music or the “adventure in every scene” of Pirates of the Caribbean ride or even the “corny skipper jokes” of the Jungle Cruise.
For Pico Rivera’s Frank Rodriguez, it was a bench along Disneyland’s famed Main Street U.S.A. where, for more than two decades, his daughters say, he lived out his motto, “every day is my best day.”
The “porch potato,” as he became affectionately called by family and friends, found joy in greeting guests daily along the theme park’s crowded thoroughfare until his passing last summer.
Disneyland recently honored the super fan, as reported by the Orange County Register, with a plaque bearing his catch phrase on the bench he occupied.
His daughters spoke to The Times about what the honor meant to them and why their father was deserving.
Frank Rodriguez, known as Disneyland’s “porch potato,” was honored by the park with a memorial plaque on the bench where he greeted visitors for decades.
(Courtesy of Andrea Rodriguez Jereb)
The park placed a memorial plaque earlier this month bearing Rodriguez’s motto on the bench at the storefront facade dubbed the Palm Parlor, along with an engraving from the fictional New Century Historical Society, a nod to archivist Dave Smith’s Main Street tribute window.
A plaque commemorating a parkgoer is a break from tradition at the Happiest Place on Earth. Previously dedicated plaques highlight historical venues like Walt Disney’s apartment and the horse-drawn streetcars of his native Marceline, Mo.
This most recent effort is “part of our focus to connect guests with the history and heritage of Disneyland during the 70th anniversary celebration,” Disneyland Resort spokesperson Jessica Jakary said in an email.
“We had a special opportunity to memorialize Frank Rodriguez’s motto with a plaque to encourage guests visiting the porch to have their best day,” Jakary said.
Frank Rodriguez with one of his big rigs in the 1980s.
(Courtesy of Andrea Rodriguez Jereb)
Daughter Andrea Rodriguez Jereb, who lives in Sonoma, called her father “the most humblest of men.”
Rodriguez, who passed away in August at 79, was a polio survivor and Pico Rivera native who operated tow trucks and big rigs for over three decades.
He was known, however, to scores of Disney fans as the friendly face, typically wearing Dodgers gear or even a “Mayor of Main Street” sash, who waved and greeted visitors daily.
“My dad is a social guy who loved talking to people and just wanting to make sure people were happy and positive and enjoying themselves,” Jereb said. “He would enjoy a cup of coffee and that porch was his mainstay.”
Jereb said her father had his favorite Disneyland haunts — riding the railroad attractions and the Mark Twain riverboat — but nothing gave him more joy than chatting with guests and workers.
“The VIP tour guides would include a mention of him on their routes,” Jereb said.
Even future Disney chief executive Josh D’Amaro wrote an Instagram memorial post, saying he felt “lucky to have spent time on the porch with him on our 70th anniversary.”
Both daughters are a bit flummoxed as to the genesis of their father’s passion.
“Honestly, visiting Disneyland was just something he started doing,” said daughter Amanda Rodriguez, who lives in Pomona. “He came often with my kids and chatted with cast members and found friends and people who regularly hung out there, so he hung out there.”
Rodriguez’s family reached out to Disneyland shortly after his death to inform the park that they and several friends were celebrating his memory on what would have been his 80th birthday on Aug. 20.
“Disneyland was incredible,” Amanda Rodriguez said. “They gave us a special tour and we visited Walt Disney’s apartment all because of my dad. I met so many of his cast member friends.”
While strolling on the tour, a family member commented, “Wouldn’t it be nice if he was honored,” Amanda Rodriguez said. “And one cast member said that my father was missed and that something would happen.”
That something was the plaque, or as Amanda Rodriguez noted, “a recognition to a man who believed in being kind and having friendly conversations.”
(Uncredited / Associated Press)
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(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / For The Times)
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