gay day, and how is it really? with my MOM?

[tuckerkeys]

i am taking a surprise trip w/ my mom and 2 yo son in 2 weeks! it happens to fall over gay day weekend. i can just see the look on my mothers face when she realizes what's going on...although i could care less about the whole thing, i am just wondering if we really should avoid the MK on june 4 like i've read on other threads....i know my son is too young to realize what's going on to ask questions, and i don't give a hoot who does what when...but my mom is one of those women, can i say busybody nosey ol' lady, who would be one of those people who say "OH-MY-GOD look at that! " in her best fran dresher voice at the top of her lungs...all the while trying to sneak a picture to tell the ladies at home ALL the DETAILS.... i was thinking of NOT telling her what was going on and just act like all was normal. BUT she is a whip sometimes when it comes to situations like this . i can just see her asking, in a rather loud voice "why is everybody wearing RED?" better yet, she'd march right up to someone & ASK them, "So what's with the red?" and embarres me to death! so what is gay day really like and should we really avoid the MK? i really don't want to as it is my sons favorite park....... help!

 

[WDSearcher]

I would avoid MK on June 4 if for no other reason than it will be incredibly crowded! But if you choose to go there that day, your Mom probably won't notice anything if you don't mention it to her. Most people don't notice much about Gay Days until someone points it out. Go to gaydays.com to see the schedule of events (so that you don't find yourself at the castle during the big "gathering" that they do at some point during the day), but otherwise, just enjoy your day.

June 4 will be the only day where there are huge crowds at MK, so it's not like you need to leave it off your list for your whole trip.

 

[Brian Noble]

Perhaps you are not giving your mom enough credit. I had similar suspicions of my mom, until a close family friend came out, and she took it completely in stride.

 

[flamom]

I just checked gaydays.com and saw the last day is june 5th and they will be in epcot which is the day we will be in epcot so now i'm really worried about how crowded it will be.the fact that they are gay doesn't bother me i may have to do some explaining to my husband though,lol.

 

[tommygirl79]

All I will say is this - you WILL notice a difference than the usual crowd should you go on this day (or any other during Gay Days). There is a quite noticable difference in the straight/gay ratio on these days. Not saying anything anti-gay here, just saying that you will notice just because of the number of couples and such...

I would avoid it like the plague due to the crowds...it's CRAZY!!!

 

[Sorcerer Figment]

Before this becomes yet another flame war, I just want to commend everyone for treating all humans with respect and dignity. One thing you should keep in mind is that there are actually two competing schedules GayDay.com GayDayS.com. But let me assure you it is entirely possible to plan to avoid the crowds from both groups if you so desire. Have a great vacation!

 

[Chuck S]

The crowds, even at the designated Gay Day parks, are normal for the season. The MK on ANY Saturday is packed. For most of the other parks, you'll probably notice more same-sex couples...but nothing over the top, even at MK. At MK you will notice a lot of red shirts.

...she'd march right up to someone & ASK them, "So what's with the red?" ...

LOL... that wouldn't bother me in the least. My own Mom, who is in a wheelchair, was answering the same type of question posed by an international tourist while we were waiting for the parade in the w/c area. Once the tourist "got it" (I guess "gay" didn't translate, Mom finally said "homosexual"), the tourist said "Oh", got a somewhat startled expression, looked at me in my red shirt, then went back to chatting with Mom...no biggie.

 

[rowmac2000]

i am taking a surprise trip w/ my mom and 2 yo son in 2 weeks! it happens to fall over gay day weekend. i can just see the look on my mothers face when she realizes what's going on...although i could care less about the whole thing, i am just wondering if we really should avoid the MK on june 4 like i've read on other threads....i know my son is too young to realize what's going on to ask questions, and i don't give a hoot who does what when...but my mom is one of those women, can i say busybody nosey ol' lady, who would be one of those people who say "OH-MY-GOD look at that! " in her best fran dresher voice at the top of her lungs...all the while trying to sneak a picture to tell the ladies at home ALL the DETAILS.... i was thinking of NOT telling her what was going on and just act like all was normal. BUT she is a whip sometimes when it comes to situations like this . i can just see her asking, in a rather loud voice "why is everybody wearing RED?" better yet, she'd march right up to someone & ASK them, "So what's with the red?" and embarres me to death! so what is gay day really like and should we really avoid the MK? i really don't want to as it is my sons favorite park....... help!

Just FYI - there are 2 organizations going on at that time:

GAY DAYS - May 31 - June 5 - they will be at MK on June 4th

GAY DAY - June 1 - June 6 - they will be at MK on June 5th

I believe that MK on June 5th will be the one more crowded - eventhough that average Saturday crowd on Sat. is also crowded...

 

[The Dark Dancer]

Me and my mom will be at MK those days, also. I'm 13 and it's just me & my mom.....How crowdwed do ya'll think it'll be?

 

[Georgieut]

i am taking a surprise trip w/ my mom and 2 yo son in 2 weeks! it happens to fall over gay day weekend. i can just see the look on my mothers face when she realizes what's going on...although i could care less about the whole thing, i am just wondering if we really should avoid the MK on june 4 like i've read on other threads....i know my son is too young to realize what's going on to ask questions, and i don't give a hoot who does what when...but my mom is one of those women, can i say busybody nosey ol' lady, who would be one of those people who say "OH-MY-GOD look at that! " in her best fran dresher voice at the top of her lungs...all the while trying to sneak a picture to tell the ladies at home ALL the DETAILS.... i was thinking of NOT telling her what was going on and just act like all was normal. BUT she is a whip sometimes when it comes to situations like this . i can just see her asking, in a rather loud voice "why is everybody wearing RED?" better yet, she'd march right up to someone & ASK them, "So what's with the red?" and embarres me to death! so what is gay day really like and should we really avoid the MK? i really don't want to as it is my sons favorite park....... help!

I told my mom about the gay days going on during our first visit. Needless to say she didn't freak out or anything but not sure how 77 yr old grandma will take it. For me that's part of life no biggie. I didn't realize the 2 different organizations though so my plan is MK on Friday so hopefully crowds shouldn't be horrific. But going to Epcot on Sunday that ran on one organizations day, but oh well. Ya got to do what ya got to do. Disney or no Disney I vote for Disney. Yeah 2 weeks tomorrow. I don't count the day we leave do you all?

Love the boards

 

[Disney_Freak56]

I have been at WDW during Gay Days in the past. I was with my daughter, sister and her two young boys.

Our experience was that it was not any different than a normal vacation for us. We did hit the Magic Kingdom on Saturday because we wanted to see SpectroMagic and it was a little "enlightening" but we didn't see anything that embarassed any of us or made the boys ask questions. We just saw a lot of folks enjoying themselves and having a good time and just in general being themselves without anyone judging them -- the same thing everyone else wants when they are on a trip to WDW.

Throughout the week, we saw same sex couples holding hands, but that was the extent of any kind of "affection" that we saw.

Would I go back again during this same time? Sure. It was a great time to go -- the weather was great and it was nice to hit the Parks before some of the schools in the US are even out.

 

[JLTraveling]

In all honesty, gay day is really no big deal. I've been on gay day many times...sometimes intentionally to support my gay friends, often because I didn't think about it. The parks are no more crowded than on any other day during that season, it's really just that "gay day" has been built up through rumor and internet gossip to be a huge, crowded mess...so people go in with that expectation. And the large portion of people wearing red shirts may make the crowd "look" bigger. But honestly, I don't see any reason to avoid gay day. It's just not the big deal that it's been made out to be.

 

[LukenDC]

Go ahead, take your mom. I bet that the guys will love her! She sounds like fun.

 

[flamom]

well i'm so looking forward to going to epcot june5th, if it's crowded it's crowded.and like another poster said i'm sure that MK will be much more crowded. we will be having dinner at LeCellier for the first time so I'm really looking forward to it.and any day in disneyworld is a good day as far as i'm concerned.

 

[TrickyFish]

Just as an added FYI: you can search Gay Days on this site and find many other threads with the info you might be looking for.

I was there last year, and honestly, I didn't think there was much of a crowd problem at all. MUCH worse the next day when it wasn't Gay Days.

 

[2minny]

This concerns me, because we're going to avoid the gay day parks, which probably means the other parks will be packed with people trying to avoid the gay day parks. I looked up both organizations and it looks like june 2 is either ak or mgm, june 3rd is epcot and mgm, june 4this mgm and typhoon lagoon, june 5 mk and june 6 ak.....this could be crazy!

 

[Mister Disney]

This concerns me, because we're going to avoid the gay day parks, which probably means the other parks will be packed with people trying to avoid the gay day parks. I looked up both organizations and it looks like june 2 is either ak or mgm, june 3rd is epcot and mgm, june 4this mgm and typhoon lagoon, june 5 mk and june 6 ak.....this could be crazy!

Trust me....even as a gay man...I don't always follow those schedules that are printed. I am on vacation and plan to do what I want when I want not based on anyone else's schedule. I suggest everyone should do the same.

Typically the parks will be crowd, the normal crowd for this time of year. So if you are looking for less crowds, thats a toss up in terms of which parks to go to. If you are trying to stay clear of the "gay" element, then you'll be out of luck, because I am not alone in my belief that all people gay and straight will be at the parks all different days next week.

I just wish everyone SAFE travels & a super vacation and if you see us in our RED shirts, with our LIME green Mickeys on our backpack, SAY HELLO FROM DIS!!!!

 

[2minny]

have you been during non gay-day June times...is it more crowded than usual since it's a convention-type week or just the typical june crowds?

 

[Mister Disney]

sorry I haven't....my trips to DIsney typically are around Easter, Gay Day in June and a long weekend at Christmas. I am sure others though on the board might have some info. All that I have read though about it from people that have been at other times in June is that it is just the normal heavy crowd levels of the time of year.

sorry I don't have more info for you!

 

[sk!mom]

We were there last year at this time and one other time. I would avoid MK on Saturday only because of the crowds. I always avoid MK on Saturday, if possible.

We met lots of friendly people but saw nothing offensive. We have no problem with our children being aware of the differences in families and the world they live in so they did not give a second glance to anything other than some interesting slogans on some of the shirts. Maybe you should let your mother know ahead of time so that she doesn't embarrass you if that is a possibility.