Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Gay Days & Disney


The 2010 Gay Days are not far off, taking place this year June 1-7. What is different is that since Pleasure Island clubs are no longer there, not as many events take place on Disney property anymore. In fact, the official hotel this year is over at the Doubletree Hotel on International Drive. Sure, there are still the popular Gay Day events at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. And yes, there is going to be a pool party at Typhoon Lagoon this year. But if you look at the event list you'll see that most of the pool parties, comedy shows and the film festival are all over at the hotel on I-Drive. No disrespect to the DJ's listed to spin, but I've never heard of any of them.

OneMightyWeekend this year appears to have been replaced with OneMightyReunion. Their event actually does take place on Disney property at the Buena Vista Palace June 4-7. So far the listing is just for pool parties at the hotel. I'm not familiar with any of the DJ's on their list either.

With the economy in the tank, apparently no repeat of World Vibe Orlando (which got cancelled last year) or Gay Day Reborn, the last dance club event ever at Motion. (See blog photos last June)

It's not likely that Gay Days will ever completely disassociate itself from Disney but there is a gap that is widening. Pleasure Island was a huge draw to stay at DTD hotels. My recollection of the 2009 advertising for Gay Days is that they still listed the clubs, not realizing they had been closed the prior September. I have my doubts that Celebrate Tonight is going to have the same pulling power.

8 comments:

EasyEddy said...

Posting begs the question KingBob,.....are you gay?? It's OK, you can come out of the closet on your own blog.....many are eagerly waiting your response with baited breath.....

KingBob said...

No, I'm not. But this Blog covers many aspects of Pleasure Island and local clubbing options.

Joe said...

Man, they would make a KILLING if they opened Mannequins Dance Palace for a first Thursday in June "Summer Kick Off Party" (and advertised it well in advance)...

Oh well, the new "family-friendly" PI seems to be making lots of money, right?
Oh, wait...

KingBob said...

I agree, but unfortunately it's not possible to reopen Mannequins since the lighting and sound systems were long ago stripped out. Motion appears to be the only former club that is more-or-less ready to go. Oh yes, they could make a ton of money having Motion open each night. Not only for Gay Days, but throughout the summer too! But they won't, as that would be admitting a mistake.

Anonymous said...

Motion was open last gaydays for those who knew about it. It was a semi private event, right? I would have went just to be on PI property again and feel the PI energy once more..... :(

KingBob said...

Yes, if you look back on my 6/7/09 entry, you can see the last pics that I ever took inside a PI club. The event promoter invited me in to take pictures but I was there right after it opened and hardly anyone was in there yet. Since it was 9 months post the closure, it was a great feeling be in there! It was a private rental as far as Disney was concerned but it was a public event in that the public could buy tickets.

Anonymous said...

About time to revisit that Mannequins reunion again. :)

KingBob said...

Anonymous, you are so RIGHT. Summer is coming, need to consider something like that again. My Blog article for Saturday should stir some memories!