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It’s that time of year again when the
happiest place on Earth gets a little happier…and a helluva lot
gayer! On May 31 the highly anticipated
Orlando Gay Days
extravaganza begins, uniting a melting pot of gay subcultures
over dozens of events and parties.
What’s commonly referred to
Orlando
Gay Days has come a long way since its humble beginnings in
1991. It was in that fateful year that 3,000 gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender individuals took to the candy-coated
streets of the Magic Kingdom to “wear red and be seen,”
commencing what would become the fiercest and most inclusive gay
event in U.S. history. Over the past two decades, Gay Days has
swelled into a weeklong, citywide celebration of love, life,
sex, and everything G-A-Y. The rightwing protests have faded,
and with over 150,000 attendees, Gay Days and its spin-offs
offer events and parties catering to all crowds: muscle boys,
bears, crack heads, butch lesbians, fem lesbians, families,
pre-ops, post-ops, recovering alcoholics, sports fanatics,
straights, teens.
Orlando Gay Days centers on four
themed events— Orlando Wonderland,
Girls in Wonderland, Gay
Days, and Girls at Gay Days– alongside the double party pack
dubbed One Magical Weekend. In the most general sense, Orlando
Wonderland (markbakerevents.com) caters to scene queens, muscle
boys, circuit queens, fashionistas, and the general party crowd.
Girls in Wonderland (girlsinwonderland.com) accommodates the
female equivalent. Gay Days and Girls at Gay Days (gaydays.com;
girlsatgaydays.com) celebrate being gay and enjoying Disney,
focusing less on the wild party aspect and more on the pride
aspect.
Each of the four event sponsors offers
a host hotel, exhilarating pool parties, and a recommended
series of activities and excursions specific to their
demographic. Staying at a host hotel guarantees entry to popular
pool parties within the hotel (and free admission in most
cases). Make sure you choose the correct host hotel that
coincides with your ideas of Disney “fun!” This will prevent
disappointment and the blank faces of the multitudes that
previously thought there was only one host hotel during Gay
Disney weekend and chose the wrong one!
One Magical Weekend
Host Hotel: None
Full program and tickets:
www.onemagicalweekend.com
One Magical Weekend hosts two of the
weekend’s hottest events. First, Friday night’s RipTide at
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water park, which deserves the
superlative for the best and most arousing gay event in America.
Imagine an entire mega water park crammed with beautiful men in
Speedos, the sounds of world-renowned DJs, dance floors
of powdery sand, copious amounts of alcohol, and exhilarating
slides at your leisure! Those who haven’t been to the Typhoon
party since its circuit scene Beachball days will find
the party more inclusive and less pretentious than before.
Note that few of RipTide’s 6500 tickets remain and most likely
none will be available at the door.
On Sunday, One Magical Weekend also
hosts Drink Around the World and Retro T at Epcot© an
event that began in 2011. The first official LGBT event on
Disney property during regular park hours, this party features a
private Retro T dance within Epcot and a VIP area for watching
the nighttime light show, Illuminations.
Wonderland Orlando
Host Hotel: Buena Vista Palace
Full program and tickets:
www.markbakerevents.com
In the ultimate showcase of male
dominance, territoriality, superficiality, and courtship, tens
of thousands will gather for Wonderland Orlando. For a
first-timer, Wonderland Orlando undoubtedly results in sensory
overload—a plethora of hot men, scantily clad, hot and bothered,
ready to party. An ornate display of six packs, nine packs, and
the occasional beer can itself down the pants, the sensory
excess is physically inspirational for some and emotionally
destructive for others.
Wonderland Orlando officially begins
on Friday with its first of three “Liquid” pool parties. Guests
of the host hotel can pre-purchase tickets for the pool parties
at a great discount online. While Friday’s Liquid pool party is
a fun start to the weekend, it’s not as intense as the spectacle
on Saturday or Sunday. As the daylight grows stronger Saturday
and Sunday, the crowd gets wetter and filthier, multiplying like
Gremlins in the murky water, vying for space in sardine-packed
swimming pools and patios! Conveniently located on hotel
grounds, the Friday, Saturday and Sunday pool parties are the
easiest way to gain notches on your belt, inviting new friends
up to your room for cocktails and more (note: keep hefty
supplies of liquor, mixers, and condoms in your room).
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights
are headlined by major theme park events, which are then
followed by after-hours parties. While most of the Wonderland
crowd heads to RipTide on Friday night, some stay on-site at the
Buena Vista Palace for a special early session of “Tunnel,”
inspired by the renowned London club. Picking up where Arabian
Nights left off a few years back, the after-hours Tunnel party
is cast over a 25,000-square-foot main room with a
10,000-square-foot dance floor. On Saturday and Sundays, the
“Tunnel” party begins around 1 or 2am and rages until sunrise.
Saturday night’s BIG BANG party at
Universal Studios is a bit more hard-core, with the music and
talents of Brazilian DJ Ana Paula and DJ Isaac Escalante, for a
night of dancing and access to several of the theme park’s
rides. The mega circuit party madness continues Sunday night at
FASSCINATION at Hard Rock Live, ending the weekend to the sounds
of DJ Alain Jackinsky and DJ Paulo and spectacular displays of
dance and light.
Girls in Wonderland
Host Hotel: Marriott Courtyard and
Fairfield Inn @ Marriott Village
Full program and tickets:
www.girlsinwonderland.com
Over in Orlando’s Marriott Village,
the female demographic mirror the fun of Wonderland Orlando
through Girls in Wonderland at the Marriott Courtyard and
Fairfield Inn. They party to the same homo-thumping beats echoed
across town and strut the poolside runway in fashionable
two-pieces. Pool parties take place daily at the Courtyard
Marriott, though Sunday’s WONDERLAND POOL BASH tends to be the
most popular. All pool parties are free for host hotel guests.
The nighttime CLIMAX party on Friday takes place at Bongo’s
while Saturday’s 11th annual bash at the House of
Blues packs 2,500 women to the backdrop of a Carnival-themed
contemporary circus set aglow with seductive go-go girls and
mesmerizing sounds.
Gay Days and Girls at Gay Days
Host Hotel: Doubletree by Hilton
Orlando at SeaWorld
Full program and events:
www.gaydays.com and
www.girlsatgaydays.com
Though Wonderland Orlando may feel
like gay judgment days, this is only one event among many during
Gay Disney weekend. The original Gay Days itself is a place
where gays of all genders, shapes, sizes, and ages bask in the
gayness of the happiest place on Earth. Surely the original
intention of Orlando’s gayest week was not to conjure inner
demons of insecurity.
The host hotel for Gay Days and Girls
at Gay Days is the same – Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at
SeaWorld. However, the hotel is divided into a Men's Wing,
Women's Wing, and Bear's Wing. In addition, pool parties and
certain events are held in separate areas (all pool parties are
free to hotel guests). Beginning on Thursday, there are two pool
parties daily specifically for bears, an afternoon one and an
evening one, both taking place at the resort’s “Lakes pool.”
Girls also have pool parties twice daily, beginning on Thursday
night and lasting until Sunday night, taking place at the
resort’s “Key West pool.” For those in the Men’s Wing, the
twice-daily pool parties begin on Thursday and end Sunday eve at
the resort’s “Main Lagoon Pool.”
The Doubletree also hosts the Gay Days
Exposition. The expo itself is a fantastic way to collect lots
of cool goodies, to learn about what’s going on in Florida
(culturally, travel-wise, politically), and to meet some pretty
awesome people who work damn hard to make gay life better for
all of us. Each year booths distribute innovative and fun
marketing products.
The Gay Days/Girls at Gay Days crowd
divides time between socializing at pool parties, the
exposition, visiting the theme parks, seeing comedy shows, and
visiting local Orlando nightlife venues. The official theme park
lineup begins with Thursday at Animal Kingdom, followed by
Friday at Disney Hollywood Studios, Saturday at Magic Kingdom,
and Epcot on Sunday. It’s recommended to buy a multiday pass if
you wish to experience more than one theme park.
Saturday at the Magic Kingdom marks
the actual “Gay Day” where everyone wears red to commemorate
pride and the park fills to capacity early in the day. This is
probably the one day of the year you won’t rush to use a Fast
Pass. Standing in line is almost as fun as going on the rides.
The crowd is warm and welcoming, strong and united. Strangers
approach you. New friends are made. It’s a beautiful sight to
witness children from loving gay homes in a daylong safe haven.
Even most token straight couples with children who unknowingly
came to Magic Kingdom this fateful Saturday fall in love with
the “gay day.”
Around town, local venues get in on
the action and host outrageous parties! The Parliament House,
for example, continues its popular Gay Disney Weekend concert
series with Sonique on Friday night, Chaka Kahn Saturday (who’s
scheduled to perform “I Feel For You”, “I’m Every Woman”, and
“Ain’t Nobody”) and Mya on Sunday night. Each night, expect a
full house!
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