Welcome to the In YOUR Face (That’s what she said.) Pre Trip Report! SURPRISE TRIP!

[SnowandMittens]

Welcome to the In YOUR Face (That’s what she said.) Trip Report!
The title is inspired by the star of this trip report, my little sister Sage.

Unfortunately watching The Office with a 9 year old has led to the remark “In YOUR Face” and being said at inappropriate (or appropriate depending on which comment was made) times, in public, and often in multiples. She doesn’t really get the later of the two comments, and is bewildered when she suddenly has a very funny “That’s what she said.” comment. Really, it’s priceless.

So here’s the cast:

Me, Snow, 23, and in college. I’m poorer than an Art Major living in corporate America. Oh, wait. That is me. I’m a Creative Writing major, and soon to be a Communications major. I’m planning on doing the College Program with Disney as my communications internship, grabbing a professional internship after school, and moving to FL or California, hopefully to work with my favorite company. (They had me when they told me their mission statement was “To Make People Happy”)

My Dbf, 24, Ryan. He’s still in college and has (finally) decided to become a Fire Fighter! Whoo! We’ve been dating for about 5 years (in Feb!) and this will be our third time to Disney World together. He’s a little weary about the large amount of people we have going this time, but like I told him, if it gets to be too much, we’re a large enough group that he can go off into a single rider line for a little bit to feed the need for speed!

My Mommy, 50 something, Bonnie. My mommy is going! Yay! She totally had to be talked into this trip. We get along, mostly, but we both have VERY stubborn personalities and we both HAVE to be right. I’m just a little quicker with the arguments and it’s gotten to the point where she just rolls her eyes and ignores me. I asked my Dad how best to diffuse arguments with her and he just said to buy her a drink! Hahaha! I’m really hoping this trip will bring us closer. We had a horrible time when I turned 18 and assumed I was an adult, and she had a horrible time letting me go. It really stunk all around, but at least this trip will help show her that I can be her friend as well as be her daughter.

My Sister, 21, Leeza. She’s in college on a swimming scholarship and thrilled to death she’s beating me to graduation. I was weary about bringing her along because she’s as bull headed as my mom and I combined… and she’s whiny. Hahaha! What Leeza wants, Leeza gets! She’s matured a lot since college and it’s like having my best friend back. I think her boyfriend mellowed her out a little, and that’s why I’m excited to interdouce…

Her Boyfriend, 22, PJ. I think PJ is awesome. He’s a little quiet, but he’s pretty funny. He let’s my sister boss him around, so I think she gets it out of her system! He totally picks his battles, and when he does, he wins. He hasn’t been on a real vacation…. EVER! His parent’s idea of vacation was camping in Michigan, so he’s very excited to sleep in a real bed. I just want to see the look on his face when we go into the World Showcase in Epcot, he’s a history major and a total nerd like me, and combine that with drinking around the world, and expect to hear some gold old pirate shanties being sung!

THE STAR
My youngest sister, Sage, age 9 (and ¾)
My little sister Sage is (don’t tell) my favorite sister. She’s AMAZING! This trip is all about HER. She loves Hannah Montana (despite my best efforts) the color blue, and I’m trying to get her into Tinkerbell (my favorite!). She has been to Disney World, once, when she wasn’t even 5 yet. She really doesn’t remember anything at all. She is the one person in my family who was interested when I was planning my Disney World that would sit and listen to me. And all of you Disers know what I’m talking about. She sat and wanted to know what days for which parks and what did we ride, and what order, and where did we stay/eat/sleep etc…​

 

[SnowandMittens]

Now some back story:

This past September, our family (My Dad, My Mom, Me, Leeza, Zoie (The 18 year old sister!) , and Sage) took our first REAL family vacation to California. And guess what my Disney freak butt wanted to do?

Oh yeah, California Adventure!

I totally wanted to see what the heck everyone was complaining about before they totally re-did the park (Cars Land! I can’t WAIT!). We grew up in California and moved when Sage was about 1 years old, so California Adventure was still being built in the parking lot. We were spoiled little girls that got Disney Land annual passes every year from Santa, so going back to Disney Land was really emotional for everyone.

California Adventure, eh, not so much.

I was really the ONLY person who had any interest in seeing the new Disney park. Everyone else in my family (except Sage! Are you seeing a pattern here?) wanted to go to Knott’s Berry Farm.

Now, yes, I did miss out on Knotts, but Cedar Fair (the same people who run Cedar Point, the mega rollercoaster theme park in Ohio) had taken over Knotts and it basically turned into a slightly themed Cedar Point.

So my Mom, Sage, and I went to California Adventure, and Leeza, Zoie, and my Dad went to Knott’s.

Now Sage, geeze, that girl is me in 9 year old form. I surprised her then with a meal at Ariel’s Grotto, which is the Princess Dinner for all of you who don’t know. She was THRILLED with the idea… the Princesses, eh, not so much. The only cool princess we had come to the table was Sleeping Beauty (I was shocked that Cinderella, Sage’s favorite, was so… well, DULL. The girl had the personality of a wet mop.) Well, we left the princess meal less than impressed, and that’s why there is an absence of those on this trip.

Ok, now that you know the ancestry of the family, what the heck is up with this trip?

Well, first off, I wanted to go back to Disney World.

After this last Jan, spending 10 nights at Pop (and having some really random Mousekeeper that totally stole our blanket off of one of the double beds) I just wanted more out of Disney World. I was missing it like nuts, and had to deal with the “Honey, we’ll go next January… if we can.”

Oh! The “if we can”. That stewed around in my brain until it became “nope, we ARE going.”

And then the dining… oh! The free dining!

Free dining pushed this little pet project of mine over the edge. You all know you’ve been there… hypothetically pricing Disney vacations… at the GF, and the AKL, at a mod or a value, or the blanket stealing POP…. And that’s what I was doing… crunching numbers, checking airline flights, and BAM free dining.

Well, now all I needed was an excuse to get us down there…

Hmmm… what could Ryan NOT say no to? He could say no to me, but could he say no to a little sweet funny nine year old?

Who’s birthday HAPPENED to be in September?

“Ha!” I thought, “IN YOUR FACE!”

And so… THE BIRTHDAY TRIP WAS BORN!​