Gay Days questions

[beebles]

I have been told by others who have been there at that time, unless you mind the "explanations" to "questions" from your children, that it is a great time to go to the park because most (NOT ALL) of the gay couples do not have children. Therefore, it should be less crowded in the kiddie sections. I have never been there myself, though, at that time.

 

[Chuck S]

The event calendars are so extensive that there is no way everyone will be at the same place at the same time. The claim of 40,000 - 100,000 attendees was making me a little nervous. 100,000 people will make ANYTHING crowded.

And, truthfully, Mom & I have been going to the GayDay parks the last few years. The crowds at them, except for Saturday, actually seem light. And it is much easier to negotiate her wheelchair through a crowd with a lower child to adult ratio. I don't go to the special events, they are way overpriced IMO.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I have been told by others who have been there at that time, unless you mind the "explanations" to "questions" from your children, that it is a great time to go to the park because most (NOT ALL) of the gay couples do not have children. Therefore, it should be less crowded in the kiddie sections. I have never been there myself, though, at that time.

DS9 has been around gay couples his whole life. Not a problem. He tends to ask more questions about protesters and legislation than about gay couples. He understands "gay", he doesn't get "discrimination". But we don't spend much time in the kiddie sections because DS isn't interested in the kiddie stuff! If we are able to go in June he will want to go on Expedition Everest (even though he HATED RnRC!), he'll want to do all the Star Wars weekend stuff, he'll want to ride BTMRR as many times as humanly possible.

We do pretty well getting to the parks early, so that should help. We'll use FP's and have some good touring plans. If the park we pick is elbow to elbow we can hop.

My one friend raised his eyebrows at me when I said we were thinking of going for Gay Days, but he is single and more of a party boy. We won't be dancing the night away at PI, which is what I think came to his mind.

 

[dan-tot]

I heard there is usally 100,000 people go. That right there would stop me from going even at IOA. I have a problem with ALOT of people in small spaces. I get frustrated when I can't get to where I am going by being stopped in my progress. I am good most of the time but you get crowds that close down the park, thats when I have the potential of my little problem.

Dan-tot

 

[ECurto]

Very cute.

Aww thanks you two. Hey ive never been to "gay days". I don’t do heat, so Disney in the summer is a no. lol I think the founder of this website did an article on it. It was good reading. I think making separate days only separates you, so I’m not sure id go anyway. Although it would be nice to be affectionate at my favorite place in the world, without the fear... And to avoid controversy by "affectionate" I mean holding hands on a ride, or while watch fireworks, or a parade. Not frenching on main street. lol I don’t wanna see anybody do that.

As for kiddies... I have 13 nephews and neices. I can say they have always just understood that uncle eric and uncle kirk are a couple. And that love is love, not defined by gender. I think kids need to be exposed to all aspects of life. But again, if what I heard of last years gay days is ture, then maybe dont expose them to that. Keep in mind theres good and bad in all groups of humans. Dont judge the mass by the few.

P.s. Hey JackSkellingtonsGirl... Here is my post about our Halloween vaca. I think you will like my costume... My post

 

[Disneynutbsv]

Hey, you two are a cute couple

Yes, I agree! I love your black & white pic as your avatar

 

[bytheblood]

"the gays" i dunno, that should make me angry. But in stead it made me laugh.

Hmm - me thinks if you get angry, you are too sensitive.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Thanks for the link! I do like your costume very much! We really enjoyed our October trip.

We have never been to Gay Days, either. We are not fans of heat OR crowds, but the letter from the school board threatening me with a truancy conviction has made me see we should at least TRY to go when school is out. I read Pete's essay and thought it was brilliant. It also showed how naive I can be. The "ugly underbelly" are aspects I never would have considered. But I think those behaviors are more likely to be evident around the host hotel, Pleasure Island, and offsite bars. La Nouba isn't showing when we are planning to go so we probably won't even go to DTD.

My hairdresser and I were talking about Gay Day at the State Fair last time I saw him. He said he thinks it is a stupid concept - he is who he is and he doesn't need a special day to commemorate it. He also said there is always some Bubba who shows up and makes trouble, either because he didn't know it was Gay Day OR because he did. He also said he understands the thinking behind it, he would just prefer to go another day.

We are less than 48 hours from the long-awaited "bid for vacation" at DH's workplace. By Monday afternoon we will know whether we will be experiencing Gay Days firsthand or not!

 

[Minnie's Mate]

We have been twice during Gay Days; my younger son's birthday is June 3 and we have celebrated it at WDW twice in his 5 years. We have avoided the crowds by following the schedule at gaydays.com and simply choosing a different park than indicated on the schedule. Based on the photos on their web site, you would notice the difference simply by the sea of red shirts. Even by choosing alternate parks and by choosing to hang out by the pool at our resort, we still saw a few folks, both guys and gals, in red shirts. We saw nothing offensive in any of their behavior; however, we did see an occasional tee shirt with a phrase that was "less than prime-time material" on it. As was said by others, you see much worse on "Bubbas" all over the place. You will see questionable taste in every group.

If you are worried about crowdes, I would just avoid the two parks on gaydays.com's schedule for Saturday and Sunday and go to MK on Thursday or Friday instead.

 

[goodferry]

We also went over Gay Days, it was two years ago. We did go to MK on Saturday, but we got there very early because we has a PS with Cinderella. We found the crowds to me EXTREMELY light until about 1:00, then it started to get packed and we went to MGM.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Unfortunately the bid process did not go well for us, so we aren't going to be able to go to WDW at the end of May.

I was very disappointed and sad on Monday, but I am starting to make peace with it and get on with planning for August.

I know we would have LOVED being there for Gay Days, Star Wars weekends, Flower & Garden festival, etc. We can always hope for 2007! Thanks for all of your replies!

 

[thelionqueen]

I just noticed that we will be @ the World during that week. No flames please, just questions.

I am going with children, I know a shock @ WDW, and am wondering about public displays of affection.

Honestly, I have nothing against other lifestyles, nor do I particularly support them. That said, we are a strict Roman Catholic family, and all the men in our family are "robust" for lack of a better term. There is no question to any men in our family that you behave like a "manly" man and the femininity of a male is completely foreign to my children.

I know it is out there, and it doesn't bother me, but I don't want my children to see something that, to us, is never witnessed.

OK, now I tried my hardest not to offend anyone (although I'm sure I did) and ask the tough question. Enough beating around the bush...is there a lot of public displays of affection during gay days? Specifically, kissing, hugging and holding hands? Is it something that we should avoid if I am worried about it?

Hope I asked this sensitively and not to offend. Just trying to protect our families personal lifestyle and expectations.
thanks!

 

[CheshireVal]

I just noticed that we will be @ the World during that week. No flames please, just questions.

I am going with children, I know a shock @ WDW, and am wondering about public displays of affection.

Honestly, I have nothing against other lifestyles, nor do I particularly support them. That said, we are a strict Roman Catholic family, and all the men in our family are "robust" for lack of a better term. There is no question to any men in our family that you behave like a "manly" man and the femininity of a male is completely foreign to my children.

I know it is out there, and it doesn't bother me, but I don't want my children to see something that, to us, is never witnessed.

OK, now I tried my hardest not to offend anyone (although I'm sure I did) and ask the tough question. Enough beating around the bush...is there a lot of public displays of affection during gay days? Specifically, kissing, hugging and holding hands? Is it something that we should avoid if I am worried about it?

Hope I asked this sensitively and not to offend. Just trying to protect our families personal lifestyle and expectations.
thanks!

Well, I can see how this would be offensive. If you want to shelter your children from displays of affection that they wouldn't witness otherwise (?), then you'd better not go to WDW at any time of the year.

I'm surprised they don't see same-sex couples holding hands at the local mall, though. I really don't understand how you intend on sheltering your kids from this forever, but, it's your business, so I'll leave it at that.

 

[thelionqueen]

can't you? I tried as much as possible to state that I was trying not to offend, 1st reply, offended.

I do not agree personally with alternative lifestyles, that does NOT mean that I am offended or otherwise. It is just not for me. Just like a traditional lifestyle is not for you. Can't you understand that people have individual tastes and concerns and not take it as a personal attack?

That said, I am not trying to shelter my children, I just do not think that public displays of affection are appropriate for children; man/woman, man/man, woman/woman. I personally (let me stress personally) do not think it is appropriate to see kissing or overly obvious displays of affection in public.

That said, holding hands between a man/woman is "normal" for my children (let me stress "normal" in quotation marks for a reason, this is directly at our personal opinions..not bashing) holding hands between man/man, woman/woman to our children is not normally observed.

At some point, my children will be exposed to alternative lifestyles of others, and I will deal with that when it comes. I would rather not tackle it at WDW, is my point. And no, I do not see public displays of affection at our local mall (at least not yet) so my kids have not been exposed there either.

My sister in law is a lesbian, and is perfectly happy. I couldn't care less what she does or with whom, as long as she is happy. She also chose Personally, not to expose my children to her lifestyle. When she feels it appropriate, she will tactfully explain to them what she chose as a lifestyle, and I feel completely OK that she will do it wonderfully. She understands how others feel and respects their opininons and beliefs as we do hers. Maybe everyone could try this.

That said, I am sure there are gay and lesbian couples that agree and disagree with what I am attempting to achieve. This is America, you can agree and disagree. Just don't attack and assume everyone is out to get you, some are just trying to live life the best way they know how. No flames, no offense intended, just talk and questions..that's it

 

[LukenDC]

If you are worried that your children will see same-sex couples at WDW, then it is probably not a good idea to take them during a week in which thousands of gays and lesbians will be visiting. That said, I was very impressed with Disney's diversity when I visited in September. The Disney staff and guests represent the richness of our world year round and that includes gays and lesbians.

 

[Leighannapb]

If you are worried that your children will see same-sex couples at WDW, then it is probably not a good idea to take them during a week in which thousands of gays and lesbians will be visiting.

I agree with this. Also.....

That said, I am not trying to shelter my children, I just do not think that public displays of affection are appropriate for children; man/woman, man/man, woman/woman. I personally (let me stress personally) do not think it is appropriate to see kissing or overly obvious displays of affection in public.

If this is the case then you should avoid Disney completely because you will see it. Dh and I gave each other a long hug and a passionate kiss in Fantasyland much to the delight (and embarrassment) of our four children. You will see people dressed in ways that you probably don't think are appropriate either. I don't think that Disney is a place you would be comfortable in.

 

[ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

I hate butting in these threads but I think its unfair to tell someone not to goto Disney because they might feel uncomfortable. Even though there are public displays of affection like ANY other public place in America, it is still a family place and anyone/everyone is welcome. You won't see anything in Disney that you won't see anywhere else, infact Disney will try its best to keep it cleaner and safer than anywhere else in the world.

If you're afraid of exposing your children to other lifestyles because its not the appropriate time than use your head, gay days is not the best time of the year. You can go either when its not so crowded and not worry about having to see many people doing whatever it maybe youre afraid of your children seeing. Or, you can go during the busiest time of the year where there are so many people that it'll be hard to just pick out anyone and worry about what theyre doing.

Personally, We've done during Gay Days last year, and it was really fun. We avoided MK on saturday like the plague because it was soooooooooo busy but Epcot and MGM were wonderful, we were hopping on rides in less than 10 minutes. Would we do it again? We're planning on it

 

[CheshireVal]

Just don't attack and assume everyone is out to get you, some are just trying to live life the best way they know how. No flames, no offense intended, just talk and questions..that's it

I'm not gay--that's not why I was offended. But I just find the whole idea of not wanting your kids to see something "they wouldn't see otherwise" to be a bit naive. Definitely don't go during Gay Days if you're really concerned about it. My point was if you're so against it that you don't want your child to ever see any homosexual couples at all, anywhere, then there probably aren't many "safe" places to go!

 

[salmoneous]

I know this is a serious issue, and I know thelionqueen is sharing her genuine feelings and concerns. But I can't help but see the comedy in her post. Manly men and the Magic Kingdom??

A park overseen by Tinkerbelle? Or about the most effeminate mouse you'll ever meet? Don't get me started on Peter Pan. And about that pink ribbon Eeyore wears....

It's a park full of fairies and princesses and about the wussiest collection of male characters you will ever see. The closest thing to a manly man is a duck that walks around with no pants.

It's just not the Manliest Place on Earth...'

 

[bicker]

If you're afraid of exposing your children to other lifestyles because its not the appropriate time than use your head, gay days is not the best time of the year.

The problem with this line of reasoning is that it isn't operational for folks who don't know about Gay Days until they arrive at WDW. Therefore, with regard to WDW and also in general, folks should expect to encounter other folks doing (legal) things in public that are in line with those lifestyles on occasion, and en masse in certain cases.