The Gayest Place on Earth

On June 6, 1999, Joe and I went to our first Gay Day at the Magic Kingdom and it was truly magical. There were so many gay people there I was seeing red for days afterward! So here's what we thought about it and what we will and will not do next year. Believe it or not, not everything planed for Gay Day(s) is great.

First off we will probably not go for the whole week again. The organizers have set aside special days for all of the other Disney and non-Disney (like Universal) parks. We went to each of the Disney Parks on the designated day. Although there were plenty of us there, it was kind of a letdown and it in no way compared to the Magic Kingdom on Saturday. I think arriving in Orlando on Thursday (so you can make it to Mannequins that night) is fine.

There were a lot of parties planed, and we didn't make it any of them. We waited 'till we got to Orlando on Wednesday to purchase any tickets because we didn't know our exact plans. This was kind of a bummer. When we went to the Hospitality Suite at the Doubletree we were told that purchasing tickets there were not advanced purchase. Well, needless to say, instead of telling them we would purchase at the door later, since there was no incentive to buy immediately, (and we weren't sure we wanted to go) we bought two $60 tickets to 'One Mighty Party'. I wanted to go because it was at Disney Studios (after it closed to regular people which is usually a good thing, but in this case I think the party had more focus than actually being in the park, in other words it could have been held anywhere). So on Saturday night we had to schlep over to the Studios and sell the tickets (this was actually easy. I also thought, because sometimes our numbers are low, that buying the tickets and going to as many events as we can, would help keep sponsors (you know, 'money talks' sort of thing). But I was wrong, it was packed, no problem with 'counts' here). Other events that I would like to try next year are the BBQ at Fort Wilderness and Beach Ball at Typhoon Lagoon.

The second best thing to being in the Magic Kingdom on Saturday is Mannequins on Thursday night! It may be a little crowded but it is well worth it. There are so many people on the Mannequins' rotating dance floor you can't dance. But that's OK, because you're there for the fun and to see all those hot guys (they opened a deck area outside also to help alleviate the crowd). Although we didn't go to Mannequins any other day, I think it's supposed to be really good all week, and next year we will try one of the other days!

Saturday was a blast. All day we passed gay couples holding hands and gay groups just having fun. It was so cool. Sometime I felt like we were the majority in the park that day! I didn't see any confrontation and no protesters. Although I did overhear one Baptist woman complain to her friend about us at the Lion King show in Animal Kingdom.

 The other thing I would do is stay at an official hotel. Although we saw a few people at our hotel (Disney's Yacht and Beach Club) it would've been nice to go to the hotel bar after a long day and talk with others about the day. (although I don't know how crowded the bars at the official hotels are, there might have been a better chance at seeing gay people there).

See GayDay.Com or GayDays.Com for for more information!