On Friday evening, my mom called.

“Do you have a Disneyland annual pass?”

“Yeah,” I told her.

“Okay, good. We’re taking Papá Chepe and Mamá Toni to Disneyland on Sunday with your tía Martha, she has a pass. Do you want to go?”

“Hmmm, my pass isn’t good on Sunday, we’ll have to pay. Let me think about it.”

Sean was down to go and it seemed worth the expense to spend a day at Disneyland with my grandparents. I don’t know who came up with the idea to take my grandparents to Disneyland. Maybe after dinner on Thursday, tía Martha was talking about how her pass expires soon and she planned to go on Sunday. My mom might have chimed in that she had some free park hopper passes. Either way, plans came together to take my grandparents to Disneyland for the first time in 35 years.

Late Sunday morning, Sean and I headed down to Anaheim. My parents and the rest of the family were already there, waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion. After upgrading our passes we entered Disneyland and briefly enjoyed the brass band playing Christmas carols on Main Street.

We easily found the family, all 9 of them, outside the Haunted Mansion. With Sean and I, our group grew to 11. We rode the Disneyland Railroad over to It’s A Small World where we waited a bit in the wheelchair accessible line. While there, my cousin Nancy and two of her friends joined us. We were now 14 people.

My grandparents can still walk, but can’t handle a whole day at Disneyland. We bypassed some lines because of the chairs. As one might expect, they didn’t get on any roller coasters or rides with lots of shaking and jolting. They mainly took it easy watching shows and doing the slow/calm rides. It’s A Small World was perfect for them. We filled a whole boat with our group and enjoyed a ride around the world.

Afterward, the group split up for a few hours. The parents, grandparents tía Marth and tío Pancho staked out a good spot along the Christmas Fantasy Parade route. The younger crew went off to Tomorrowland for some non-elderly friendly rides. In a few hours, we got through Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters, the Matterhorn and Indiana Jones.

We joined the parents/grandparents for a late lunch at the Hungry Bear restaurant. I suggested riding the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh since it was calm and adjacent to the restaurant. Half the group sat out that ride, but waited for us to head over to Mark Twain Riverboat.

Tió Pancho and tía Martha stayed on the lower deck of the Riverboat with Papá Chepe and Mamá Toni. Everyone else climbed up a level or two. While snapping some photos on the top level with my parents, the riverboat pilot asked Sean and I if we’d like to go up to the wheelhouse. I immediately answered yes and grabbed my parents who were on the same level. We passed through the tiny pilot’s quarters and up into equally small wheelhouse.

In my many previous trips to Disneyland, I’ve always passed up the Mark Twain Riverboat. I don’t even remember going on it as a kid. Jesse, the pilot who invited us up, let us ring the bell and blow the whistle. As we circled Tom Sawyer Island, we talked about working at Disneyland and my mom told Jesse the trip was special because we’d brought along her 91- and 88-year old parents. Before we left, we signed the guestbook and snapped more photos. If you ever get invited up to the wheelhouse, go! It’s quite the treat and you’ll feel like you’re in on the secret Disneyland.

We stayed in Frontierland for Big Thunder Mountain (sans grandparents) and the Tiki Room. We also took advantage of the short line for Buzz Lightyear once again. This time, we took the grandparents. I’m not sure how well they did in the game. The group split up a second time. The grandparents, tía Martha and tío Pancho stayed at Disneyland to relax and stake out a good spot for watching the fireworks.

The parents and cousins headed over to California Adventures to enjoy some rides before it closed at 9. We left my parents at the World of Color line (they had fast passes) and then headed over to California Screaming and Midway Mania. Our group kept getting smaller, but it was still fun. We watched a little bit of the World of Color show before deciding to leave California Adventure. The cousins and friends returned to Disneyland to meet up with their parents and watch the fireworks show.

Sean and I took the monorail from Downtown Disney back to the Tomorrowland to use our Star Tours fast passes. Even with the pass, we still waited a while. We ate dinner in New Orleans Square, did the Haunted Mansion and watched Fantasmic. It wasn’t even 11, but we were ready to go home. It was a long day, even if we did show up at noon.

I’m really glad I took my mom up on the invitation. I see my cousins often, but this is the first time I’ve gone to Disneyland with them. It was also fun to see the grandparents and parents enjoy Disneyland. It might have been tough trying to organize and please everyone and navigate the wheelchairs around crowd and strollers, but it was well worth it. I don’t think I’ll get many more opportunities like this.

Thanks to Sean for letting me borrow several of his photos… not like I asked.