Line Free isn’t a new version of FASTPASS; it’s an entirely new system. Guests who have a Line Free RFID wristband will be able to enter any attraction — Star Tours, Space Mountain, Peter Pan, Dumbo, or anything else — without waiting in line. This isn’t a separate line or a single rider line, but a guarantee that when you want to ride, there will be no line at all! Just walk on — no waiting!

The wristband will work for food locations as well. Want a churro? There’s no line. Popcorn? No line. Dinner at the Blue Bayou? Just walk on in and your food is already at the table, waiting for you. Character autographs are equally easy to get; show your wristband, step in front of the other guests, and get Alice’s autograph while the curses of the less privileged roll off your back like river water off a feral duck. When the program leaves beta and becomes generally available, it will even work for park entry, retail locations, parades, hotel rooms, and restrooms! Even posted park hours won’t apply!

There is no way to sign up for the Line Free beta ahead of time. For one day only, randomly selected annual passholders will be invited to participate in the test when they enter Disneyland park. If you visit the park but are not invited to participate, we suggest that you exit the park (do not get a hand stamp!) and re-enter, showing your valid annual pass again. Repeat until you are selected. You may get some funny looks from cast members at the gate and/or be questioned by security, but believe us — if you follow these instructions, you won’t be waiting in line for any attractions!

At the time we took this picture, the attraction was closed (which is why there are grumpy and/or crying children stomping through the foreground), but the older picture shows it in happier days, filled with laughing children and with a train passing through. Sharp-eyed readers may even be able to catch a glimpse of one of the old topiary hedgehogs in the flowerbed (which are no longer produced, since they are too difficult to cultivate and were often “borrowed” by mischievous guests).

We hope you’ve enjoyed this photo tour through Disneyland history. Thanks for visiting the past with us!

Next up: Nothing

…is one of only a very few that we have of Fantasyland. It’s very difficult to match up photos of the original Fantasyland with today’s Fantasyland, since the current version was a completely new design and construction, made necessary when the original Fantasyland was packed up and moved to Disneyworld’s Magic Kingdom.

Next up: One last little thing

The old picture was taken during a dark, dark time in Disneyland history when management was unwilling to spend more money on park upkeep than was absolutely necessary and the bulk of the park’s electricity came from a dynamo powered by Walt Disney spinning in his grave. Paint is chipped, the Mickey clock is showing the wrong time, and look at how drab and faded everything looks when compared to the bright, beautiful, whimsical Toontown of today!

Thank goodness those days are long gone and we can have pride in our park again!

Next up: Kind of a dumb one

Sadly, most of those advertisements and props for the original show are no longer there. But even though the original Golden Horseshoe Review has moved into the history books, the Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show…

…has taken its place as a beloved Frontierland mainstay. What’s particularly nice about this photo is that you can see one of the current performers at the left in the current photo, and in the central picture see what he looked like in his younger days!

Next up: Toon in tomorrow!

…that’s been cooking for several decades, and the captain’s quarters…

…which teach us that we should never try to take a heavily backlit picture of a photo printed on cheap paper with a home photo printer while standing in a dark room using a consumer-grade digital camera. But we bet a real sailor would have known that already!

Next up: All that glitters

It hasn’t changed a lick over the years — at least not on the outside. Things are a little more interesting below decks, though, and we’ll have something to say about that tomorrow.

Next up: Something to say something about

…has been waving to park guests for almost half a century. He waves to passing boats, turns to wave at passing trains, then turns to wave at passing boats again. Observant guests will notice that he can only can turn in a clockwise direction, which explains why he is programmed to only switch from his “train” to his “boat” position when nobody is looking.

Next up: The gem of the ocean

You can’t see it because the old photo is in the way, but at the time this was taken, a huge crane was disassembling Big Thunder Mountain’s titular mountain so that it could be taken backstage for refurbishment.

Next up:Howdy!

The tree itself has changed little over the years (as a petrified tree, it no longer blooms, grows, or bears fruit), but Frontierland has certainly changed around it. In the background, you can just make out Rainbow Ridge, the town that served as an entrance to the beloved Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland Attraction (which later served as inspiration for Fantasyland’s Alice in Wonderland attraction).

Next up: The sound of thunder