Hear me out on this...

[rosiep]

Thanks for the pic comment...I wasn't worried. Hunny doesn't like thunder storms - so being caught in the China pavallion was interesting. I always have rain gear with me - the worst is I would get wet. No worries!



now stop exaggerating it has been as low as 91...really. Now try walking around Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom with a backpack. eeewwww.

Dry heat, wet heat - it is still heat. ok - one more thing - add "personal power surges" to this....EEEEWWWW!

Do you get surges too??? They stink don't they?????

 

[Mad-Jasper]

Explaining what? A bunch of people wearing red shirts enjoying the parks? It's not like you are going to see a bunch of people making out and groping eachother...

Unfortunately, my family saw quite a few gay couples making out near the Peter Pan ride at MK. Not only that, obscene tattoos and t-shirts that read "Spitters are Quitters" were somewhat prevalent amongst the gay attendees.

We planned our vacation during this time well aware of GayDays and thought nothing of it. Our experience at the other parks were normal. Magic Kingdom was an exception. It seems that a good number of gay attendees were more interested in making a political statement rather than enjoying the MK.

Case in point.

Dozens and dozens of t-shirts read (paraphrased):

Parking - $12
Ticket at Magic Kingdom - $63
Scaring straight people standing in line to get into Magic Kingdom - Priceless.

I doubt I could have worn attire making a similar statement concerning gays... nor would I have desired too.

 

[wallyb]

Unfortunately, my family saw quite a few gay couples making out near the Peter Pan ride at MK. Not only that, obscene tattoos and t-shirts that read "Spitters are Quitters" were somewhat prevalent amongst the gay attendees.

We planned our vacation during this time well aware of GayDays and thought nothing of it. Our experience at the other parks were normal. Magic Kingdom was an exception. It seems that a good number of gay attendees were more interested in making a political statement rather than enjoying the MK.

Case in point.

Dozens and dozens of t-shirts read (paraphrased):

Parking - $12
Ticket at Magic Kingdom - $63
Scaring straight people standing in line to get into Magic Kingdom - Priceless.

I doubt I could have worn attire making a similar statement concerning gays... nor would I have desired too.

WOW - I'm sorry to hear this.
I'm not the most "correct" person - but there's a Time and a Place.
MK with little kids around - Not cool.

Can I just add I don't get the "let's antagonize the straight people." thing.
Way to get accepted. NOT!

 

[rpmdfw]

More gay couples "making out" on Gay Day than you'd see straight teenagers making out on a normal Saturday?

Maybe, but somehow I doubt it. Some of those teenagers get REALLY into it, too.

Yeah, a few of the shirts may be a bit much. But again, worse than what's seen on any normal day? Do you know how many French Connection United Kingdom we see when we're at the parks? And I know it's a clever twist, but every time you look at it, you think you're seeing the F word.

Was the behavior more upsetting and prevalent than usual, or was it more NOTICEABLE because of who was doing it?

Because I was there, and didn't see anything worse than a normal day. Granted, I couldn't see everything that happened every minute, but I don't think it's fair to impose a double standard that we shouldn't be allowed to behave the same (good or bad) as straight folks do.

 

[Mad-Jasper]

More gay couples "making out" on Gay Day than you'd see straight teenagers making out on a normal Saturday?

Maybe, but somehow I doubt it. Some of those teenagers get REALLY into it, too.

Honestly, after over 30 combined days of visits, including Spring Break 3 years in a row, I've only witnessed one innappropriate display of affection and it was dealt with promptly.

Yeah, a few of the shirts may be a bit much. But again, worse than what's seen on any normal day? Do you know how many French Connection United Kingdom we see when we're at the parks? And I know it's a clever twist, but every time you look at it, you think you're seeing the F word.

Was the behavior more upsetting and prevalent than usual, or was it more NOTICEABLE because of who was doing it?

You raise a valid point but I think I am (and probably most other people) are more likely to notice innappropriate behavior when the people doing so are making a point to be visible.

Because I was there, and didn't see anything worse than a normal day. Granted, I couldn't see everything that happened every minute, but I don't think it's fair to impose a double standard that we shouldn't be allowed to behave the same (good or bad) as straight folks do.

We were at MK from 5:00 PM until 9:30 PM. By far, most of the offending behavior/attire/tattoos was seen in Fantasyland (go figure!?).

And I completely agree that's unfair to impose a double standard.

I'm really curious to know why such behavior was so prevalent at MK and completely absent from AK, EPCOT, and HS.

 

[Mad-Jasper]

WOW - I'm sorry to hear this.
I'm not the most "correct" person - but there's a Time and a Place.
MK with little kids around - Not cool.

Can I just add I don't get the "let's antagonize the straight people." thing.
Way to get accepted. NOT!

I not here to indict all gay people based on the behavior of a relatively small percentage of people at a single park on a single given day, but I think anyone attending MK during GayDays is entitled to my experience.

 

[rpmdfw]

Honestly, after over 30 combined days of visits, including Spring Break 3 years in a row, I've only witnessed one innappropriate display of affection and it was dealt with promptly.



You raise a valid point but I think I am (and probably most other people) are more likely to notice innappropriate behavior when the people doing so are making a point to be visible.



We were at MK from 5:00 PM until 9:30 PM. By far, most of the offending behavior/attire/tattoos was seen in Fantasyland (go figure!?).

And I completely agree that's unfair to impose a double standard.

I'm really curious to know why such behavior was so prevalent at MK and completely absent from AK, EPCOT, and HS.

As I was unable to make it to any of the other parks besides MK this year, I can't speak to whether or why the behavior was different.

We also left the park at parade time, so have no idea what went on after the parade this year, (though my experience is that the Gay Day crowds thin out considerably after the parade, but this year may have been the exception to that.)

The thing about Gay Day at the Magic Kingdom is that it's the BIG DAY, and you get a lot of people who only do that one park, and it tends to get bigger crowds. Bigger crowds, means more incidents of questionable taste. (as it does on a normal day with bigger crowds.) That's my guess as to why you noticed more there than anywhere else.

Thank you for not wanting to impose a double standard on us. I also ask that you not judge all of us on the behavior of a few, any more than you'd want to be judged on the behavior of, say, everyone that lives in your town. My experience was that the crowds were very well behaved, if a bit excited. I'm sorry if your experience was less positive.

 

[wallyb]

but I think anyone attending MK during GayDays is entitled to my experience.

I don't follow

 

[Mad-Jasper]

I don't follow

Entitled to know my experience at MK. Parents (including gay parents) may want to avoid offensive attire/behavior.

 

[rpmdfw]

Entitled to know my experience at MK. Parents (including gay parents) may want to avoid offensive attire/behavior.

If you want to avoid offensive attire/behavior entirely, you have to stay in your home and never leave. And then don't turn on the televsion. It's impossible to get away from entirely.

I still don't think it was any more prevalent at MK on Gay Day than normal. I live here. I see MUCH worse on a normal park day than I saw at Gay Day.

But my experience wasn't the same as yours. Couldn't possibly be, because we're coming from different perspectives.

Again, I'm sorry that your experience was less positive than mine.

 

[wallyb]

Entitled to know my experience at MK. Parents (including gay parents) may want to avoid offensive attire/behavior.

I've seen some low cut jeans with the underwear (or thong) sticking out -
I thought were kinda offensive. Actually more yuck

 

[Mad-Jasper]

If you want to avoid offensive attire/behavior entirely, you have to stay in your home and never leave. And then don't turn on the televsion. It's impossible to get away from entirely.

I'm sorry that you seem aggrevated with my post. There is a certain amount of offense that I expect to face daily. In my experience at Disney (a culmative 30+ days) I only once experienced the type of behavior that I experienced at MK and that straight couple was dealt with promptly.

I still don't think it was any more prevalent at MK on Gay Day than normal. I live here. I see MUCH worse on a normal park day than I saw at Gay Day.

But my experience wasn't the same as yours. Couldn't possibly be, because we're coming from different perspectives.

Maybe I was more inclined to notice the behavior because of the couples making out near Peter Pan irratated me... maybe it was t-shirts that compounded the situation... maybe it could be that some gay couples wanted to make a political statement, effectively holding up a flashing neon sign saying, "I'm gay and that gives me an excuse to behave as I so desire"... maybe it's because your more accustomed to gay people than I am, or it's a combination of all things above.

I can only speak from my experience and my experience was less positive than yours on that given day and would have been had it been StraightDays and I witnessed the same kind of behavior. I no more support straight's antoganizing gays than gays antoganizing straights.

Again, I'm sorry that your experience was less positive than mine.

Unless you were one of the ones I mentioned, there is absolutely no need for you to apologize.

 

[rpmdfw]

I'm sorry that you seem aggrevated with my post.

Not aggrevated at all. Just sharing my experience as a contrast to you sharing yours. Again, my perspective is different, so any parents who read both of our posts, can make a decision based on what they hear from both sides.

Unless you were one of the ones I mentioned, there is absolutely no need for you to apologize.

I wasn't apologizing, I meant that I feel empathy for your having had a less than exemplary experience, in the same way I would say "sorry you lost your job" or something similar.

I do hope that other than your experiences Saturday night, your Disney vacation went very well!

 

[wallyb]

"... maybe it's because your more accustomed to gay people than I am, ...

Seems like your starting to paint with a "broad brush" here.
Sorry for your bad experience.
All gay people don't act or think the same.
I'm not going to venture as to why some of them did whatever.
Hope you have a better time the next time you go.

 

[rosiep]

Has our original poster (of this thread) ever come back to post of his experience? Did anyone meet with them while they were at Disney? I don't want to be suspicious but I find that I am.

And as for Mad Jasper experience...I hope you don't let a few bad apples influence your opinions on a whole group. I have seen plenty of PDA's and offensive clothing at Disney anD elsewhere on all sorts of people. I never think to myself that's teenagers for you or that's such and such segment of the population..not I think: What can that person be thinking???? Hope that's how you feel too.

 

[PghLybrt]

You know I have never went to Disney once without experiencing offensive behavior. Never once was is gay related. It has always been straight families. I guess its perspective.



Also, not to excuse the shirt (although I do like it..... ) but I can understand where they are coming from by wearing it. We live everyday differently than straight people. Any one who says differently is full of ...well...
The experience to be totally free is exhilarating. That’s why I love gay cruises, I can be me. I wonder to my girlfriend all the time what that feeling must be like to have everyday of your life. I will never know. I bet for them Gay Days at Disney is a little piece of that, they are the normal ones in the crowd.

 

[hematite153]

I would also like to express my empathy that you had an experience that wasn't what you wished.

I doubt I could have worn attire making a similar statement concerning gays... nor would I have desired too.

Entitled to know my experience at MK. Parents (including gay parents) may want to avoid offensive attire/behavior.

Unfortunately, in order to avoid offensive behaviour I believe that one would have to avoid wdw everyday (and many other places as well).

Every single time I have been to wdw I have seen at least one t-shirt (usually on a whole family) that is aggressively gay-bashing. On one occasion a family's shirts actually said to kill gay people--and I saw that family several times in multiple parks. Nobody does anything about those t-shirts.

I've also seen at least one inappropriate PDA every day I've spent at the parks. I've learned to look the other way. And, as a person who works in schools, I'm here to tell you that they happen there too. I'd use it as a pedagogical moment and talk to my kids about appropriate behaviours and how they don't have to do something just because someone else is doing it. JMHO.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Every single time I have been to wdw I have seen at least one t-shirt (usually on a whole family) that is aggressively gay-bashing.

And I don't recall seeing any churches on the nightly news with huge signs saying "God Hates Straights!"

For my entire life, I have stood in line at amusement parks, watching young teenage straight kids sucking face, and have myself felt very uncomfortable even holding my partners hand. Maybe your visit to the MK on gay days gives you just a little perspective of what it's like on our side of the street....

Hope your vacation was great other than the offensive T-shirts and actions.

 

[InfernoGirl]

Has our original poster (of this thread) ever come back to post of his experience? Did anyone meet with them while they were at Disney? I don't want to be suspicious but I find that I am.

Actually we made it back and with our 5 yr old son's upcoming surgery this Wednesday, we haven't been in the posting mood .

I (InfernoGirl) was dissapointed that I didn't see more red shirts. I think that I only noticed 2 gay couples and sure that there were more unnoticable. But our focus wasn't on scoping out you all, it was on the kids

I was very surprised about the attendance at the parks. We hardly had any waiting in the lines, at all the parks. Overall, we had a good time and relaxed.

I see this thread has been hacked several times, oh well, it otherwise wouldn't have been interesting.

As for Mr InfernoGirl, I will let him post his thoughts.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Overall, we had a good time and relaxed.

Hope your son's surgery comes out OK!