Have you ever experienced anything neg at WDW?

[RickinNYC]

A number of my friends have asked me how Joe and I can go to WDW all the time when it's "clearly for traditional families only." Some have even considered that the both of us have gotten "looks" or any kind of problems.

Well, I'm happy to say in all the trips we've made to Disney, we've never experienced a single situation that might make us uncomfortable or unwanted. Cast members and fellow guests alike have always been great. Granted, they might not know that Joe and I are in fact a couple, but I imagine most do. And if anyone did have any ill will, they kept it to themselves.

We've never received so much as a glance or whisper, let alone anything untoward of any kind. I'm constantly trying to convey how great WDW is for a vacation destination choice for families of all types. I truly believe it is!

Thoughts? Gimme some good ammo to convince our friends that they should join us on one of our Mickey jaunts!

[LukenDC]

Last September my BF and I spent nine days at WDW and did not encounter any problems at all. Every cast member we encountered was friendly and welcoming and we noted that there are many gay/lesbian cast members at WDW. The guests were perfectly pleasant too.

[Rence]

No problems at all, ever at WDW.

At Disneyland we had an incident where in fact we were made to feel more welcome. It was a busy day and we were in a very long queue for Gadget's Go Coaster. We were about halfway through when a male cast member on the ride platform started shouting "Sir" "Sir" and pointing in our area.

We suddenly realized that he was pointing at my partner. When he got my partner's attention, he pointed at his neck and said "Glad to see the colors on display at Disneyland" and then gave a big thumbs up. We then realized that my partner was wearing his pride rings necklace and the CM had noticed us out in the crowd and wanted to give us a special howdy.

[RickinNYC]

Actually, Joe had to remind me of one moment two years ago while checking in that a cast member made a little joke about not putting us in a room with a king size bed. Apparently she thought we were buddies just traveling together. I tried to make light of the situation and assured her that request was indeed valid. I laughed but did feel a little burn of embarrassment. Certainly not enough to make me think poorly of the girl, nor enough to insult us in any way.

[LJC1861]

On our last trip this past Christmas I noticed a rainbow Mickey Icon pin. Needless to say I bought 4 of them....2 for us and 2 for another WDW loving lesbian couple that we are good friends with. Lisa and I wore ours around all week and got nothing but positive comments on them from CM's and guests alike. I complimented a woman on a hat she was wearing and she winked at me and replied..."nice pin!" The pin started many conversations with CM's and helped identify us as a couple.....which is a nice treat in WDW.

As ofr other times, we have never experienced anything negative. Granted, we only occasionally hold hands and almost never engage in other public displays of affection, but it is usually clearly evident that we are a couple. Interestingly enough though, we do occasionally get mistaken for sisters or twins....we do look a bit alike. At any rate, WDW is one of our favorite places and we do feel comfortable being ourselves.

Linda

[buckylarue]

My partner and I have been going to both DL and WDW regularly since I first dragged him there in 1977, and in all those trips, I can only recall one occasion where we heard a negative comment. We were staying at POR, waiting at the bus stop to head to the MK, when a family walked by and the mother made some comment about "Why do THOSE people have to come here and ruin it for everyone?" Before we could even process it, this very prim and proper looking 70-ish year old woman sitting next to us on the park bench told her, "You'd better get used to it, because we're EVERYWHERE!" It shut the woman up, and we had a nice conversation with the woman, who was a retired schoolteacher there with her partner. We have had many friendly comments from cast members, all of whom seem to be able to tell that we are a couple...

[TheButlerDiditt]

We've never had any problems either. All the cast members are so friendly and the guests are always too much in a world of their own to probably notice us anyway.

A little OT, the only time I ever felt uncomfortable was when we were at Innoventions in Epcot waiting to play some sort of escape-the-housefire game and an unattended 12ish year old boy kept talking to us. Seriously, even though we didn't pursue any conversation with him, he wouldn't stop telling us everything from how many times he'd been through the game to what he wanted to be when he grew up. I kept waiting for his parents/guardians to show up and yank him away thinking god-knows-what WE were trying to do to him. Fortunately for us, unfortunately for him, they never did. Even though he was incredibly annoying, I felt really bad for the kid. It seemed as if his parents didn't care about him at all.

[SanFranciscan]

Originally Posted by RickinNYC

Actually, Joe had to remind me of one moment two years ago while checking in that a cast member made a little joke about not putting us in a room with a king size bed. Apparently she thought we were buddies just traveling together. I tried to make light of the situation and assured her that request was indeed valid. I laughed but did feel a little burn of embarrassment. Certainly not enough to make me think poorly of the girl, nor enough to insult us in any way.

It is doubtful that she meant to be offensive. While working as a photographer at the Giants games in San Francisco, I took a picture of two female baseball fans and heard one say to the other "This is our first picture as a couple." She then glanced my way as I was walking away with a look that said "Ooops! Did you hear that?" Yes, and that was fine with me because I knew that I had a sure sale on the Giants' web site.

[RJPoste]

My partner and I have been many times and never had any problems.

We even bought a DVC time share together with no questions asked.

[weezyree]

Originally Posted by RickinNYC

Actually, Joe had to remind me of one moment two years ago while checking in that a cast member made a little joke about not putting us in a room with a king size bed. Apparently she thought we were buddies just traveling together. I tried to make light of the situation and assured her that request was indeed valid. I laughed but did feel a little burn of embarrassment. Certainly not enough to make me think poorly of the girl, nor enough to insult us in any way.

Now that would be awkward!!! I am a straight, married woman and had a similar incident happen to me.

I had stayed in a room with an Army buddy in LA and the clerk assumed we were a couple. We missed our connecting flight to Korea which was the last of the day.

The USO put us up for the night and we agreed to save THEM money by sharing a room. The clerk at the hotel (not the USO-DODT was still in force at that time) said she would put us in a single room with a double bed 'If that was okay'?? If not, she would check for a king size bed!! LOL....we were flattered and simply stated we need two double beds.

Maybe it was just an LA thing...Oh, and that was my first and only experience with an earthquake!!!

We see several gay and lesbian couples at Disney and why not share in the happiness of the place with everyone. There are several different folks of ethinicities, inter-racial couples, young adults in large groups, the Trek-ies, old couples, young couples, singles, and several different religious folks there!!

We just finished a four night on the Dream and there was a minister that insisted upon wearing his collar at dinner, several Islamic women in traditional coverings, Jewish men with their full beards and those that dress with barely anything!!!

Those that do have a problem and keep their comments to themselves deserve a kudos and those that want to make a scene should be sent to the Evil Queen!!!!...off with their heads!!!

Encourage them to go. Have fun and marvel in the fun and excitement of Disney!!!

[rainbowboy74]

I have never experienced a bad situation or felt uncomfortable at WDW. I have always been treated with the same respect as any other visiting guest and/or couple. I have only checked in once with my BF back in 2003. We were an obvious couple and we were proud of it and let it show. I am not a fan of gigantic PDA, but at the same time, that goes towards both gay and straight couples. Holding hands, winks, and smiles, others always knew we were a couple. This was also my first Disney experience, so my good will and constance giddiness, gave off that impression as well. I happen to be wearing my rainbow Canadian flag pin one day, and I was stopped by quite a few CM's and other vacationing guests, with whom we shared a couple of nice dinners with.

On a later trip I was always put on the stage at the Hoop Dee Doo dinner by my best travel mate Penny, where you might have seen the picture of me wearing a tutu in her post "This is so cool!". I was uncomfortable at first and nervous, but then I'm like whatever, I'm at Disney, noone really knows me and I'm going to give myself a magical moment .. and that I did. It was alot of fun, and I was received quite well by loud cheers and ovations. I was also stopped by many people outside, saying what a good job I had done. I have to admit that thanks to Penny, I had a great time and something that I will always remember.

Next time I plan on going again with Sean, I want the king size bed and a bottle of champagne too ..... After all, I'm at the greatest place on earth!

[tmli]

TLPL,

I just wanted to say congratulations on your upcoming nuptials and have a great honeymoon!! Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, unfortunately there will be jerks like the guy in the restaurant no matter where you go and with who. Last year I had my son in a wheelchair in DTD when a little 3 yr old ran right into us...the father started yelling at me to get my "gimp kid the f home where he belonged".

Enjoy your honeymoon, for every mean judgemental straight person there are a 1000 of us kind ones who understand that we all just want the same thing--love and happiness.

[Princesca]

Originally Posted by tmli

Last year I had my son in a wheelchair in DTD when a little 3 yr old ran right into us...the father started yelling at me to get my "gimp kid the f home where he belonged".

There really aren't words for how this story makes me feel.

[puertorican00676]

We never had a bad moment at Disney. We even went for a honeymoon dinner at California Grill and stated it was our honeymoon and they bent backwards to make our dinner special! our table was next to the window overlooking the castle and our table had glitter castles and mickeys on the table and even the server offered us champaign to toast and celebrate! It was AWESOME! watching the firework at our table listening to the music of the show was so incredible and the food was amazing. Like everything, we have heard people say nasty thing but its more a thing of social class than sexual orientation. We never have encountered a cast member that has made us feel strange or bad. We just love it!

[BenKling]

The positive response at WDW was one of the reasons why my boyfriend and I decided to go here for our vacation in a few weeks. It's a place where you can get away from the real world and not worry about stuff so much.

I totally need a rainbow Mickey pin...