Saturday, October 06, 2007

10th Annual Gay Days Anaheim - Day 1

Editor's Note: For a change of pace, all photography in this day's entry is by Jason and Jarrod, who saw things from a slightly different angle.

Tim and I joined pals Jason & Jarrod for the 10th Annual Gay Days Weekend at the Disneyland Resort. This annual tradition, as you may or may not know, is where thousands of members of the LGBT community, as well as supportive straight friends, don red shirts and transform the Happiest Place on Earth into the gayest place on Earth (not that it isn't already the gayest place on earth during the other 364 days of the year, or anything). :)

After getting soaked on Splash Mountain. (10/06/07)
After getting soaked on Splash Mountain. (10/06/07)

We went last year, which was also when we renewed our annual passes. As luck would have it, the 2007 Gay Days was still within our one-year annual pass window. As Southern California annual passholders, that meant we had discounted admission Saturday, and free admission Sunday.

Tim enjoys the parade. (10/06/07)
Tim enjoys the parade. (10/06/07)

We met Jason and Jarrod at the park Saturday around 11:00 a.m. Just getting to the parking structure, we saw lines of cars waiting outside. We knew it was going to be crowded that day.

James tries to get Ariel's attention. (10/06/07)
James tries to get Ariel's attention. (10/06/07)

By the time we got to the tram, we found Jason and Jarrod wearing the cutest (read: gayest) hats. Jarrod wore a miniature Scorcerer's Apprentice Hat. Jason, on the other hand, was decked out in Princess Fiona Ogress ears from Shrek. I know, wrong animation group, but Jason made it work!

Jarrod and Tim on Autopia. (10/06/07)
Jarrod and Tim on Autopia. (10/06/07)

As packed as the place was that day, I was surprised that we did keep running into people we knew (especially Jason and Jarrod, who are much more social than Tim and I). At various times, we hooked up with other people, like Jarrod's ex Robert, who was there with several people.

Jarrod checks out Toontown. (10/06/07)
Jarrod checks out Toontown. (10/06/07)

Despite the crowds, we did manage to hit up most of the E Ticket rides. The Haunted Mansion Holiday. Splash Mountain (where we got soaked). Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Space Mountain. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Star Tours (Jarrod and James only). Autopia. Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. The only major ones we skipped were Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (which we rode last week) and Indiana Jones, which was closed every time we were in that part of the park.

The gang ride the Toontown fire truck. (10/06/07)
The gang ride the Toontown fire truck. (10/06/07)

We also joined the sea of red shirts for the group photo at the Festival Arena, as well as for Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams. And of course, we didn't miss the bear jamboree at the Hungry Bear Restaurant.

Jason & Jarrod attempt to pull the sword out of the stone. (10/06/07)
Jason & Jarrod attempt to pull the sword out of the stone. (10/06/07)

By the time 7:00 p.m. came around, we were wiped! So we headed to dinner outside the park, after which we went back to our place where Jason and Jarrod crashed for the night (they live in Ventura, after all). It was a long day, but a fun day.

Click here to see what we did on Day 2.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, sounds like you guys had fun. Love Jarrod's little blue headband thingy. Very cool! It's really hilarious that there is a Bear Jamboree @ The Hungry Bear Restaurant. I'm sure Walt would be spinning in his cryogenic chamber if he knew that, but it's very cool of Disney to support this!