Getting to Disneyland
Cars approaching Disneyland enter the parking lot from Harbor Boulevard after paralleling the Monorail, many coming off of the I-5 Santa Ana Freeway, which is only three lanes in each direction. The Global Van Lines building, sitting on Disney property just off to the side of the freeway, is as much an indication to children that they're getting close to Disneyland as is spotting the majestic Matterhorn.

Harbor Boulevard is really tacky, with a cacophony of restaurants, hotels, and tourist spots vying for attention in a mess of utilities and competing signs. There’s a miniature golf place under the power lines, a run-down movie theater, and the Grand Hotel, a name that was appropriate at some time in the seemingly distant past. Across a side street from that, there’s Melodyland, which was a theater at one time, but now features theatrical preachers and televangelists. On the western side of the street is the Disneyland Monorail and the still-new giant Disneyland marquee - complete with six flags, fiber optics, and an electronic message display.

From the electronic message, we can see that Disneyland is open today from 8am to 1am, a common operating schedule in the summer.

After passing through the toll plaza, we drive into the massive 100+ acre parking area, a sea of blacktop broken by power line towers and the monorail beam, as it heads towards the Disneyland Hotel. Cones and parking attendants direct us to the parking section where the cars are being parked at the moment – they are named after various Disney characters, including Chip (not the cup), Eeyore, Flower, Kanga, King Louie, Owl, Pinocchio, Robin Hood, Thumper, and Winnie the Pooh.

This is where Disney's California Adventure Park, Downtown Disney, and the Grand Californian Hotel will later be, but they are nowhere to be seen. They aren't even whispered rumors among Disney fans or Anaheim officials. Off to the left (west), across West Street, there's the Disneyland Hotel, which Disney didn't own until just a few years ago, and just south of that, there's the Emerald of Anaheim. Oops, I mean the Disneyland Pan Pacific Hotel, an even more recent acquisition.

If we’re early enough to park close, we can walk to the Main Entrance. Otherwise, we’ll hop on five-sectioned blue and yellow parking lot tram that will drop us off near the picnic area. Directly north of the all of the parking cars is the Disneyland Main Entrance. The monorail beam overhead follows the curve of the entrance, which is marked first with a series of ticket booths with two windows each, then the familiar turnstiles behind them, all sitting on a smooth red surface (consisting of large square slabs), known as the Red Carpet.

Before the guests even get into the park, they have a soft glossy little full-color booklet that says:

Click here for a much larger version of this picture

It has an overall map of the park inside, along with pages for each section of the park, locating and describing the services, attraction, shopping, and food venues. There were at least two editions, the first with a depiction of Pluto on the cover, and the other with Mickey and Minnie on the cover.

The guests also have a glossy "Disneyland Today" handout that touts entertainment. Inside the pamphlet is section of a page that promotes the following "passport" prices:

Click here for a much larger version of this picture

= = =

1 Magic Day: $25.50 ($20.50 for ages 3-11, 2 and under free)
2 Magic Days: $46.00 ($36.75)
3 Magic Days: $66.50 ($53.25)
A Summer Night Passport good through September 9 and valid nightly after 5pm is $75.00 ($60 for children), with $10.00 for Summer Parking.
Disneyland Annual Passport (includes free parking) $165.00 ($130.00)

= = =

By the time the holiday season (and the Very Merry Christmas Parade) roll around, the prices will be raised:
1 Magic Day: $27.50 ($22.50 for ages 3-11, 2 and under free)
2 Magic Days: $50.00 ($41.00)
3 Magic Days: $72.50 ($59.50)
Disneyland Annual Passport: $180.00 ($145.00)
Disneyland Seasonal Passport (Good Sunday through Friday, September through May except for December 25-31): $95.00 ($80.00) with parking an additional $15.00.
Senior Fun Passport (one-day admission, Sunday through Friday, September through June, ages 60+): $22.00.