One of the most frequent questions I get about any of my series is the exact location of Vasily Korsokovach’s condominium in Anaheim, California. While it’s a topic I’ve addressed many, many times here on the blog, I always smile when it comes up for it allows me — for at least a few minutes — to wax poetic about one of my favorite topics, that being Walt Disney’s original theme park. It’s not an accident that Vasily is in love with the place; he gets that directly from me. I was of the generation who begged their parents to subscribe to the original version of the Disney channel, and then watched, enthralled, as it showed EPCOT being built; a business trip to Orlando many years later provided me the chance to visit Walt Disney World for the very first time. While I’ve been fortunate enough to visit a fair number of times since, I’ve never forgotten the experience of being exposed to the magic of the parks that first time, creating — and cementing, perhaps — a lifetime love for all things from the House of Mouse.

(And before you ask, no, I am not on their payroll; not for lack of trying, though. The stack of rejection letters I received from Disney is only slightly smaller than those from publishers that passed on my early manuscripts.)

After my wife and I relocated to Arizona, and once I had accrued enough vacation time, we made our first sojourn out to Anaheim; it happened to be just a few months ahead of the second park opening, so (without actually planning it that way), we managed to experience Disneyland nearly as it had existed for its first forty-five years. My best friend moved to California not long afterward, giving us an excellent excuse for regular visits (both to them, and, of course, the park), and that, oddly enough, led to the creation of a tradition we have observed for years when the Fourth of July appears on the calendar.

I don’t quite remember how it started, but I think we happened to be visiting my friend and her family over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend and had tickets for the park. This would have been back in the Fastpass days, a dark time when you couldn’t entirely script your visit and were therefore often forced to wait in a ride queue to kill time before your pass for a different ride could be used. Pre-smart phones, that meant you often wound up in conversation with the people around you as the line slowly — ever so slowly — snaked toward the prize at the end.

It was during one of those long waits — probably on a hot day — when we started talking about favorite holiday movies; I don’t entirely recall who joked about Die Hard being a Christmas movie, but I do remember using the same logic to quip that Independence Day — a massive blockbuster from 1996 — certainly fit the bill for the Fourth. To my surprise, my friend agreed, and then dropped the mic by telling us she had the DVD back at their apartment. That was the first time we gathered as a group to watch Independence Day; nearly every year since, we’ve figured out a way to continue the tradition, first alternating locations and then, at one point, using the “watch with a friend” feature Amazon once offered.

When the sequel appeared in 2016, we gleefully started a double feature; the years when we are in California, we always watch after being in the park, sandwiching the movies between the traditional barbecue and fireworks. On the occasions when they are with us in Arizona, we make a day of it, watching the first movie in the morning and then the sequel after lunch, then wrap the day with whatever fireworks we can find; often, it’s A Capitol Fourth on PBS, though during the pandemic, Disney actually live streamed their fireworks from Magic Kingdom — a true treat. We couldn’t be together in person this year, but that didn’t stop us from an afternoon double feature, synched up as best as we could with a flurry of text messages; the running commentary was half the fun, especially now that my friend’s youngest has her first smart phone. And since it’s never too early, we’re already plotting how we want to do it next year.

For that is how you keep favorite traditions alive.