Gay Week???????????

[Pat_Elliott]

Originally posted by Ratpack
Samirella,
I agree with you. I have seen lots of heterosexuals wearing inappropriate clothing but nothing like what we saw at our local park. They wore shirts with pictures displaying body parts and acts that should not be pubicly displayed. Anyway, I think we are getting away from the OP questions.

Ratpack,

I for one hear you. I saw things at a Gay Pride Day at Great Adventure (NJ) that suggested to me the participants not only didn't care about anyone else, they were intentionally out to see if they could make people uncomfortable. If I were writing this on a Great Adventure BBS, my post would be much different and probably get me flamed.

But with regards to the OP, I see a much different climate in Disney. I'm not sure whether it's just a better crowd than other places, whether they respect the family climate of Disney, or whatever. This may sound elitist, but it cost a lot of money to get to Orlando. I think a "Gay Day" at Disney is just going to be a more educated and responsible crew. Responsible people don't Gay-Bash. And responsible people that are Gay don't go to a public place wearing T-shirts reflecting sexual acts.

I'm happy to say that while I can't make other people comfortable with homosexuality, I can speak from experience that the Disney Gay Days are pretty low key with regard to "lewd clothing and behavior."

I hope we've all helped the OPster.

Pat

 

[Chuck S]

I doubt you'll have much of a problem, even if you go to MK on Saturday - unless guys wearing read shirts if offensive to you. However, I do recommend avoiding MK on Saturday because of the huge crowds. I wouldn't worry about inapproriate behavior, or the crowds at any other park on the schedule. Many of us travel with our parents, children, biological family members to WDW. I, personally, have been there with my Mom, who is now almost 80 yo, the last several years and plan on attending again this year. I've have not personally seen anything I would consider inappropriate for confrontational.

I also would NOT consider Pleasure Island, a night club district with drinking and adults, appropriate for kids after 8pm anytime of year, no matter who is there.

 

[Pat_Elliott]

I also would NOT consider Pleasure Island, a night club district with drinking and adults, appropriate for kids after 8pm anytime of year, no matter who is there. [/B]

That's a different can of worms, one that folks have different, strong opinions on. I think you'd find a lot of good parents like taking their kids to PI. Having seen PI at various times, I'd be more hesitant to take kids on Saturday June the 7th than sometime the following week. The behavior does, in my opinion, disintigrate a bit.

 

[Chuck S]

I, personally, would NOT want a child in any nightclub/bar district - Disney or not. I did not imply folks that take their kids their are BAD parents, but inappropriate behavior is certainly more likely to be mixed with alcohol - ANYWHERE - ANYTIME.

 

[photobob]

I have been during Gay Week the previous two trips and it was a nonfactor and I was taking elementary and middle school age kids. Like other posters before wrote they have a schedule at gaydays.com. I did know what the schedules were ahead of time and chose to go to other parks that day. The big day is the first Saturday in June at MK and makes that park very crowded that day. In the past Disney had EE at all the parks on that day to encourage people to visit the other parks and hopefully relieve the MK crowds.

 

[nativetxn]

I was there during this week last year. I saw a lot of people who seemed to be having fun. I didn't see any behavior that I thought didn't belong in a Disney park.

I think you can find objectionable behavior in a place like WDW or anywhere else if you look for it. Objectionable behavior on the part of heterosexuals and homosexuals, heck objectionable behavior on the part of <i>asexuals</i>. Sexual preference does not determine if a person is well mannered, prone to public displays of affection or has exhibitionist tendencies. Nor does sexual preference have anything to do with determining if a person's behavior is socially acceptable. Some public behaviors are objectionable, no matter who is behaving in that manner, no matter what their sexual orientation may be.

Okay. This is a very emotional topic. Let's all try to remain respectful and keep the discussion to this particular event at WDW only. If you have a story to share about something that occurred in Calcutta or Oregon or NJ feel free to post about it on the community board.

I believe the topic of the original post was:

Originally posted by jillz
Just found out the week we will be there is gay week??? Does any one know anything about this particular time...we will be there with our kids husbands etc... i could care less if someone is gay but do we have to have a gay week??? I never heard of straight week...Just wondering if it will be overwhelmingly gay and if we will feel out of place...

Carry on (oops, poor choice of words)

 

[mmounsey]

Our last park day is that first Saturday, and I intend to hit MGM/MK and anything else that day, gay or not.

I'll leave my opinion on Gay Days out of this post, but whether you are hetero or not, I don't think that Disney is an appropriate place for major PDA anyways.

I am going for the Magic, not to make out with my DH.

There, I'm done.

 

[angey77]

I happened to be at DW the same week as Gay Week last year and to tell you the truth, I did not see much out of the ordinary. As previous posters stated, I avoid MK like the plague on Saturdays anyway, so I didn't see the grand gathering. But other instances were fine. Case in point, I was helping two guys in WWTBAM and one of them got in the hot seat! I was clueless until he announced to the audience he was with his partner (and they were cute too! argh).
The only time I saw blatant expressions of sexuality was in PI, but homosexual or heterosexual, you see that in ANY bar. In fact, I had more fun dancing with all the hottie guys knowing they weren't looking for more!
Funny story too.....we were leaving EPCOT and a British man was boarding the monorail with us was all upset and his wife was dying laughing. All I kept hearing him say was "I'm going back to the resort NOW! How was I supposed to know not to wear a red shirt?" Turns out he got hit on a couple of times and wasn't too happy...lol.

 

[mmounsey]

Originally posted by angey77
Funny story too.....we were leaving EPCOT and a British man was boarding the monorail with us was all upset and his wife was dying laughing. All I kept hearing him say was "I'm going back to the resort NOW! How was I supposed to know not to wear a red shirt?" Turns out he got hit on a couple of times and wasn't too happy...lol.

That is a great story!

Wasn't going to post anymore on this thread, but I saw that you're from Slidell, hey neighbor (literally!)

 

[zyezye]

Rest assured, there are at least 10% of park visitors on ANY day that are gay, lesbian and bisexual at the parks.
Gay Day is just like any other day at the parks and folks are just enjoying more gay/lesbians in the community. It wouldn't effect your enjoyment of vacation in any way.

 

[DisneyVillain]

Originally posted by jillz
Just found out the week we will be there is gay week??? Does any one know anything about this particular time...we will be there with our kids husbands etc... i could care less if someone is gay but do we have to have a gay week??? I never heard of straight week...Just wondering if it will be overwhelmingly gay and if we will feel out of place...

Other than Saturday at MK and some nights at PI, there isn't any problem with being there during that time. I think that many of the gays are there to socialize and/or party, and will not visit the parks other than MK on Saturday. So, while you will see gay couples in the rest of the world, it won't cause huge crowds.

On the other hand, if you have a problem with seeing same-sex couples, stay home that week. There will be gay couples wherever you go in the World during Gay Days. They will be behaving the same as straight couples. (Actually, they may be somewhat less likely than heterosexuals to be making public displays of affection because they may be used to being persecuted for being gay.)

So in summary, if seeing same-sex couples holding hands or hugging bothers you, stay home that week. If it bothers you to have a gay couple sitting at the next table at dinner, stay home that week. If it bothers you to see a gay couple swimming in the hotel pool, stay home that week.

Personally, my family doesn't have any problem with being there that week. We have been there before, and we will be there this year.

 

[disneyfreak1]

I work for a school board and can't access the gaydays.com website. Can someone tell me when the days start? I'm not concerned about being around gay people, but I am concerned about the crowds. I will be in the parks on Friday, June 6th and Saturday, June 7th (my 40th birthday). Which parks should I do on these days?

 

[Pat_Elliott]

Originally posted by disneyfreak1
I will be in the parks on Friday, June 6th and Saturday, June 7th (my 40th birthday). Which parks should I do on these days?

The full schedule:

Thursday: AK
Friday: MGM
Saturday: MK
Sunday: EPCOT

The only really nasty one is Saturday. I'll be going to Epcot on Sunday (although that doesn't seem to apply to you), we've done this every year. I think the participants are too burned out from all-night parties Saturday to really attack the park Sunday. MGM may be bad on Friday (I think there may be a Star Wars event, too). So avoid MGM Friday, MK Saturday and you'll avoid the major crowds.

Am I the only one that avoids MK on Saturday no matter what time of year?

Pat

 

[disneyfreak1]

Thanks for the info, Pat. Since we live in Florida, we usually do weekend trips, so it's not unusual for us to go to MK on Saturdays. I usually don't have a problem with the crowds, but it sounds like Sat., June 7th is going to be EXTREMELY crowded. Anyone else have suggestions about which parks to do on which days? I think I'll do Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom on Friday, June 6th. Then, do MGM and Epcot on Saturday, June 7th. Is that what you would do, Pat?

Pam

 

[Pat_Elliott]

It's been our habit to do MGM and Epcot on the same day over two or three days, rather than devoting a full day to one park. This is mainly because we enjoy riding the Friendship. Plus if we don't hop, we feel like we've wasted the full value of our passes. I mean, what's a hopper without hopping?

I think you'll find MGM placid on Sunday. With EE at MK and Gay Day at Epcot, I'm assuming that MGM crowds will be very managable. We'll probably bop over for a while on Sunday. But as for Gay Day at Epcot, this will be my fifth (sixth?) Gay Day at Epcot, and I just haven't seen it as a factor in the crowds. I think part of this is the fact that Epcot is big enough to handle most any crowd. But also, as previously mentioned, the Gay Day crowds, at least most of them, go to MK all day and then to any one of a numerous planned events as well as small parties all night. I think Sunday is a day of major burn out for them.

As for MK, I've often wondered how other people face Saturdays. I've been jaded. I go twice a year, once in June for business, and usually stay at the YC and stick to the convention-planned events at Epcot and MGM. I don't think I've stepped foot in MK during the summer in six years. We also go in September/October as a family, and to me the crowds are so low that when you venture into MK on Saturday, it's a bit of system-shock. Heck, we didn't use fast pass last September in MK on Wednesday. Everything, including Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, were five minute waits to walkons. You know you're spoiled when you think half an hour is too long to wait!

Pat

 

[Pat_Elliott]

I'm sorry, I said Sunday. I meant Saturday for MGM and Epcot! Know that Epcot will be the mellower of the two on the 7th. The Star Wars Weekend is in play, and that Saturday I think the fella that played Chewbaca is going to be there. That could have an affect. Although from what I've seen (granted it was limited) of the Star Wars events, most of the "extra crowd" caused by it tends to matriculate towards the event, and away from the rest of the park. Die hards, you know?

Pat