So my wife has been bugging me to go to Disneyland in Anaheim all year, so off we go today on Black Friday because we thought that all the families would be raiding the Costcos, Wal-Marts and Best Buys for the rock-bottom deals.

I now would like to submit my recommendations on equipping oneself to survive a day at Disneyland. These are must-have items for your DSAK:

A pen or pencil to be certain to circle your exact location on the back of your parking receipt where you left your car (Goofy 5 D, for example). The parking structures are truly gargantuan there.

A hat with a bill and sunglasses. By the time you remember that the Christmas parade starts in 15 minutes, the only place left to sit will be with the intense California sun blazing down directly into your eyeballs.

5 layers of clothing for your upper body (a short sleeved t-shirt, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater with a turtle neck, and finally a warm coat). When you arrive early at D-land, it will be freezing cold (Note: Freezing cold to a Californian is anything below 50 degrees Fahrenheit). By the time you find your seat in the blazing sun for the Christmas parade in early afternoon, you will have had to progressively strip down to your short-sleeved t-shirt to keep from roasting.

Some bottled water. Actually, a lot of bottled water. This will eliminate the necessity of walking around asking all the park "castmembers" where the nearest water fountains are (only some of which operate with sufficient pressure to keep your mouth off the bubbler).

Some Disney "survival rations". You will immediately regret not having these when you find out that a medium-sized turkey sandwich costs $13 with a small side of baked beans, and a smallish hot-fudge sundae costs $7. Actually, the best dining option by far in the entire place is a bag of salt-water taffy for $2.

A small folding stool/sitting device. You will quickly find that all the park benches in the entire place are all taken by individuals waiting to watch the Christmas parade, and the only place left to sit is on top of a very skinny fence rail.

Earplugs. On your way to and from the park, you will undoubtedly ride in one of the trams, and the decibel level of the guy in the rear with the microphone instructing you not to exit the vehicle "until it comes to a complete stop" is just shy of 120 decibels, and no matter where you sit there will be a speaker directly over your head.

Comfortable hiking shoes. Disneyland is nothing if not people wandering around aimlessly over considerable distances looking for the entrance to this or that attraction, or meandering back and forth past each other in the long folded lines waiting to get into those attractions.

So equipped, you will probably have a passably enjoyable day (as I did) at D-land.

Oh, and not to be missed: by far the most impressive things about the whole place (to me, a baby boomer who remembers only being able to watch the very beginning of Disney's "Wonderful World of Color" show on Sunday nights because my mom and dad hustled us out of the house to go to Sunday night church services) were:

1) the stunning night-time view from in front of the larger-than-life statue (titled "Partners") of Walt Disney gripping the hand/paw of his little creation Mickey Mouse with the Sleeping Beauty Castle in the background dripping in spectacular Christmas lights, and

2) the completely breath-taking and magical original Abe Lincoln animatron show in the theater not too far from the entrance to the park. I believe this was in the park when it first opened, or nearly so. They must have upgraded the animatron figure of Lincoln, because, even though we were sitting front row center, when the curtain and lights went up and Lincoln began moving his fingers and then stood up from his chair and began looking around the crowd and talking, it was as though Abe Lincoln was standing there alive right before your eyes. Even his eye pupils appeared to be moving. Absolutely spine-tinglingly awesome.

Those two things alone were completely worth the $76 (or whatever it was) price of admission. Plus the $13 turkey sandwich.

Oh, and BTW, all the families were not at Costco, Wal-Mart, or Best Buy on Black Friday.