Well...first a bit of socio-political commentary...
Today was the official "unofficial" Gay Day at the Magic Kingdom. If you can see the animated banner I made for this post, it's by way of saying that some dumb-ass whack-job group spent $7000 to hire a plane to drag a banner across the sky to "warn" people that today was Gay Day. I felt that it would have been appropriate for there to be a second plane with a banner reading "FABULOUS!" to follow the first...
Anyway. Gay Day at Magic Kingdom came and went. Contrary to the nut-jobs' predictions, Armageddon did not occur...again. Gay and Straight families shared the parks and rides. Surprisingly, no heterosexual marriages were destroyed, no previously straight toddlers expressed an interest in bestiality. Same sex couples were observed to be holding hands while a distinct lack of fireballs rained from the sky. Occasionally, loving kisses of affection were were shared and the earth completely failed to open up and swallow anyone.
At the end of the day, everyone left the park exactly the way they entered. Although more than a few left with a new, enlightened view of reality.
And now to the pictures!
We arrived in the park and got on the express Monorail to the Magic Kingdom! Woohoo! Quick start!
Then the monorail broke down and we had to take the Ferry. However oddly appropriate that might be, it took an extra 30 minutes. But since we got all the big rides in last week, we decided that today would be very, very relaxed. So we didn't care.
We arrived just as the first train of the day did.
If you are a gay person attending Gay Days, the notion is to wear a red shirt so that others can "recognize" you. The Three Of We wore our shirts that we has specially ordered for the day.
(They Mean Exactly What You Think They Mean)
We started off in Fantasyland and rode every ride. Rather than try to detail everything, here's a few pictorial highlights:
(Um...Some People Have Misconstrued the Meaning of "Fantasyland")
(REALLY Misconstrued...)
(Five Points for Consistency!)
We then took the family through It's A Small World...with predictable results....
(It's So Cute...)
(... and Whimsical)
("OH MY GAWD!! MAKE IT STOP!!! PLEEEEASE MAKE IT STOP!)
Actually, they'd toned down the music quite a bit and it wasn't nearly as painful as it had been. It was actually pretty nice.
A few Hidden Mickeys were located.
We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride...
Which is where Garry said:
"I'm gonna dip myself in Honey and Throw Myself to the Bears!"
And speaking of bears.....they were out in force today!
As I mentioned, red shirts is the way you know....and you can get a glimpse from those two photos just how many red shirts there were in the park. There was much fun. At 1pm, everyone who was anyone and who was able, met at....The Country BEAR Jamboree...
Imagine, if you dare, a huge room full of red shirts, and red-shirted bears, doing the Hokey-Pokey, etc.
Elsewhere, YMCA was performed... Yes, it's not an "official" Disney event, but they certainly played to their audience of the day...
Back in Pikesville, Garry has a big Eeyore doll that he sleeps with. But he has to leave it at home when we travel. On this trip, Russell found a smaller "travel-sized" doll and bought it for him. We got on the People Mover...and it broke down. So Garry used that time to take a nap with his new best friend...
At some point in the day, an official park photographer took a picture of Damian in his fabulous pink leopard-spotted ears and said, "You're likely to be on the castle tonight." So we stayed all night to see the show (and to record it). Damian was busy with the video taping, but the family says they saw him! Woot! I'm famous....for all of 7 seconds...)
Still, we watched the electric parade, the castle video (which is still amazing), and the fireworks.
And with that, dear readers, I'm afraid to say this may be the last entry for this vacation blog. Tomorrow we spend our last few hours at the Universal Studios Islands of Adventure park, visiting the non-Harry Potter areas. (Although there will undoubtedly be visits to Hogwarts once again....)
I may do a follow-up post with some pictures from tomorrow's day. But we've got to pack up all our treasures and get out of the room early.
So...thanks for following along. We'll be back home soon!
