Russell was born and raised on the Central California Coast. Living only three-and-a-half hours from Disneyland, Russell was fortunate enough to get to visit Disneyland several times a year while growing up. From 1968 to 1980, he visited Disneyland over thirty-six times. After that, he only visited Disneyland once a year or so until the birth of his only child. In 1991 Russell met his future wife, and in 1993 they were married. She is also a big fan of Disneyland. They went to Disneyland twice before getting married. For their honeymoon, they went to Walt Disney World. It was the first trip for both of them. In 1995 they moved to Sacramento. They were then seven hours from Disneyland, making trips only once every few years. In 2000 they had their one and only child. Russell and his wife, wanting their child to share in the same joys of going to Disneyland as they had as children, starting taking her at age three. That year they took two trips and quickly bought annual passes and a stone marker in the Esplanade. They also discovered that to make the travel easier, they would go for one week trips rather than more frequent shorter trips. This lead to their twice-a-year trip schedule. In 2008 they all went to Walt Disney World for Russ and his wife’s fifteenth wedding anniversary. They are also fortunate enough to have several friends who are also Disney fans. They enjoy taking trips with friends and family, as well as trips by themselves. They have visited the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco and the Disney Studios in Burbank. They also enjoy participating in Disneyland events such as the Disneyland Half Marathon, D23 Expo and other D23 event, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (Walt Disney World), Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (Disneyland), Be Our Guest Dinner, and the Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet. They are Disneyland Annual Pass Holders, Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members, Walt Disney Family Museum members, Disney Stock Holders, and D23 members.