The Disneyland Today handout promotes the first Disneyland Pigskin Classic college football game, scheduled for August 26.

Guests are also handed a glossy leaflet touting savings at the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose in nearby Long Beach, where a special "Voyage to 1939" event is taking place. This is a result of Disney getting that operation as part of the deal to acquire the Disneyland Hotel – and the right to build "Disney" lodging in southern California - just a couple of years ago.

Despite the listing of Annual Passports in Disneyland Today, they aren't something a lot of people know about. Word of mouth seems to be the most effective way of promoting them. I know I convinced more than one person waiting in the same line as me to buy one. The "annual passholder culture" is more of an underground thing, with the only perk other than admission and parking being a quarterly newsletter mailed home.

American Express is the official credit card of Disneyland, so have it handy for those purchases. If you want an ATM, well, there's a Bank of America Versateller west of the Main Entrance.

Vending carts are so few they are actually listed in the Souvenir Guide. There are popcorn wagons, churro carts, and ice cream carts, but no cotton candy stands.

Refreshments are not allowed on attractions or in interior waiting areas.

Designated recycling "trash" cans do not dot the lands.

There is no FastPass anywhere in Disneyland. Everyone simply waits their turn in person as they arrive and attraction, unless they have some physical condition that precludes that. The Americans With Disabilities Act hasn't yet caused waiting areas to accommodate wheelchairs.

Disneyland is celebrating "35 Years of Magic".

The turnstiles area is actually adorned with special 35th Anniversary decorations, because everyone passing through the turnstile is issued a “ticket�? from a machine. Each ticket has a Disney character on it, and most say “Sorry, No Win�?. Fewer are marked to issue a cloisonné pin or some other minor prize, like a box of popcorn, to the lucky guest. Fewer still actually send the guest to the gift-giving Dream Machine, which we'll get to later.

There are four locomotives that operate on the Disneyland Railroad, usually three at any one time on a busy day. Seeing one pull into the Main Street station and smelling that familiar smell has always been a sign that you've arrived at the park, though not too long ago the railroad took a break during Splash Mountain construction.

Once we’re through the turnstiles, things seems to appear much as they will in mid-2006, although without any 50th Anniversary Mickey heads everywhere, much less gold, and with smooth red surfaces instead of paving stones. Actually, most of the park has colored, smooth slurry-covered walkways instead of paving stones or textured concrete. Cast members are their costumes are different, too. The park nurses even wear those old-fashioned nurse headpieces. The cast seems thinner, younger, and there's not a mustache to be seen on them. In fact, it was news when the longtime "Captain" of the Queen Mary was supposedly sent "overboard" because of his mustache.

There are plenty of cast members around who worked under Walt Disney himself, most of who have a story to tell about encountering him. A few cast members have actually been at Disneyland since the beginning.

The cast is also separated by gender in many cases: Men on Jungle Cruise, women on Storybookland Canal Boats, for example. That’s the way it’s always been, and I’m sure that’s the way it will always be.

Speaking of cast members, no cast member anywhere is wearing a pin trading lanyard. In fact, pin trading and merchandise locations dedicated to selling pins don't exist in the park. Some of the stores have a few pins, but pins are so rare it wouldn't be all that much trouble or costly to buy every single release that Disney sells in the park.