Ronnie, Mickey Mark Disneyland Milestone : Theme park: For a $50,000 donation to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the former President joined celebrities for Magic Kingdom’s 35th birthday party.

Mickey Mouse was joined on stage at Disneyland by another familiar face Thursday, as former President Ronald Reagan took part in festivities launching the park’s 35th anniversary year.

Reagan, Robert Cummings and Art Linkletter were hosts of the live TV broadcast of the park’s opening on July 17, 1955. Linkletter and Cummings were also on hand Thursday, along with other celebrities who were there for the 1955 opening: Fess Parker, Gale Storm, Alan Young and several of the original Mouseketeers.

All were paraded on stage during a morning “rededication” of the park in front of the Disneyland Railroad’s Main Street Station. The Disneyland folks, masters of the splashy press bash, put on a show for the banks of still and video cameras that included dancers in sequined costumes, fireworks and showers of confetti.

Clips of ABC-TV’s live coverage of the 1955 opening were projected on a video screen, including one segment that drew laughs from the assembled members of the press as Linkletter told the future President: “We have lots to do. Get busy.” The final clip showed Walt Disney giving the park’s dedication.

Reagan called Disneyland “one of America’s treasures” in a short speech in which he also paid homage to the park’s founder.

To top off the morning ceremony, Reagan and Disney chairman Michael Eisner tugged on two ropes that lowered the drawbridge of a shimmering cutout of Sleeping Beauty Castle, releasing a stream of doves that circled the crowd.

Later, Reagan sat in the lead car of the park’s new “Party Gras” parade, waving to the crowd lining Main Street, U.S.A., as confetti fell from the rooftops. His vehicle, a vintage fire engine, was flanked by Secret Service agents on foot.

The day also included a press conference with Eisner and other Disney officials, a premiere performance of the live stage show “One Man’s Dream” and the unveiling of the “Dream Machine,” which will dispense gifts to Disneyland guests this year.

During the press briefing, Eisner declined to discuss plans for a major park expansion. Another briefing is scheduled today, during which the Disney chief executive officer is expected to detail the 10-year project, which is reported to include several new rides and two new theme areas: Mickey’s Birthday Land and a partial reproduction of the studio-tour attraction at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Disneyland has hit upon park birthdays as a way of drawing crowds in years with no new attractions to promote, with each successive five-year anniversary celebration becoming more elaborate.

This year, prize giveaways include everything from commemorative posters, coins and buttons to automobiles--one car each day. “One Man’s Dream,” a live stage production that salutes Walt Disney, is taking over the Videopolis stage. “The Great American State Fair” returns in the fall.

“Party Gras,” the newest Disneyland parade, features large character balloons and dancers in colorful Mardi Gras-style costumes. The parade stops for six minutes as the Buster Poindexter hit “Hot, Hot, Hot” is played and audience members are invited into the street for a conga line.

Times do change: Fans may recall that when Poindexter (alter ego of former New York Doll David Johansen) played the Magic Kingdom in 1988, park security quickly broke up any attempts at his traditional “Hot, Hot, Hot” conga line.

Reagan, who made headlines when he charged a Japanese media conglomerate $2 million for appearances in Japan last October, got Disneyland to give $50,000 to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation in exchange for his appearance Thursday.