[Question] Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

[Vagabond]

According to the Gay Days website, "Gay Day at Disneyland" is scheduled for Friday, Oct 5, Elsewhere on the website it says:

"The first Gay Days Anaheim in 1998 attracted about 2,500 people. Today the event attracts over 30,000 guests to the Disneyland Resort each year!"

When we planned our trip to Disneyland for this same week, we didn't know it would coincide with Gay Day. I was delighted to see that Touring Plans Crowd Calendar was predicting light crowds on Friday (2.5/10). There is also a Mickey's Halloween Party that day, so I assumed the light number might be due to fewer people wanting to pay full price on a day that closes early.

But if the Gay Days website is correct about 30,000 attendees, wouldn't that make for a very crowded day? Also, since the Gay Days website lists the event as being 8AM - midnight, I'm assuming the group is attending the Halloween Party too.

I'm not trying to rehash the previous thread about Gay Days. I have no apprehension of going to Disneyland with my daughter on Gay Day (in fact, I look forward to it). I'm just trying to get a sense of what to expect with regard to crowd size - very for planning which days to visit popular ride, etc.

[ttintagel]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

The GD web site may be counting the number of people who attend the whole event, a lot of which happens outside the parks.

[Sambo]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

The two times I went on Gay Days weekend, there was a barely noticable increase in attendance. It was noticable to me because we were there days before and after, so we saw there was a bump. Was it a huge increase? No. Not nearly as crowded as just about any single day during the Summer months.

I think, based on my experience attending on a Halloween Party day, that there are somewhat fewer regular guests on that day because of the shorter hours. Many, like we were on one of the days, would be attending the party later, so it made no difference to us. One thing for certain - the attendance at DCA went up that night...

[swampymarsh]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

The GD web site may be counting the number of people who attend the whole event, a lot of which happens outside the parks.

That's exactly what happens. Take the 30,000 divide it by the 3 days of the event and it's down to 10,000 per day, or say it's 5,000 on Friday, 10,000 on Saturday and 15,000 on Sunday. Plus this year it's on a Holiday weekend so the 30K should go up, but many will go for Monday the 4th day.

Then take the 15,000 who come on Sunday put them in the parks with 75,000 other guests and they don't make a big addition, especially since of the 15,000 attendees many would make up part of the 75,000 if there wasn't a special event because they are DLR fans to start with. When I've been it was just because I wanted to go to the parks that weekend, so the only difference was I wore a red shirt.

Like Sambo said, you notice the group but it doesn't make it feel much worse. Especially if you aren't around thier meeting places like thier photo at the Mark Twain.

[dictionary]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

Funny my dd went and said it was crammed packed. I would expect an increase in attendance to at least an 8 level. Look at touring plans, I imagine they have historical attendance data on this.

[swampymarsh]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

Funny my dd went and said it was crammed packed. I would expect an increase in attendance to at least an 8 level. Look at touring plans, I imagine they have historical attendance data on this.

Well it's on a weekend every year, the day isn't quiet to begin with. If it's a TP 8, it wouldn't be shocking since it won't be under 7 anyway.

[Schvinga]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

Please allow me to set the record straight as this entire post begins with bad information. The Gay Days website says that Gay Days weekend is October 5-7, (not Friday Oct. 5 as the original post states). The designated day in Disneyland park is Saturday, Oct. 6. Yes, it gets VERY crowded and no, 30,000 is NOT the number spread out over three days, that is Disneyland's estimate for attendeees at Disneyland on the Saturday of the weekend.

[Vagabond]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

Schvinga, thanks for setting the record straight. I did make an error in my original post.

• Gay Days Anaheim weekend is Oct 5-7.
• 10/5 - Fri: All GD events are scheduled in Disney Hotels or Downtown Disney Clubs
• 10/6 - Sat: Gay Day at Disneyland
• 10/7 - Sun: Gay Day at DCA

No mention of attending Mickey's Halloween Party on Friday night (10/5). As there are other GD events that evening, I don't imagine there will be too much spill over affect on the crowd size of the party.

The BT crowd predictions make more sense given these dates, with 10/5 predicted 2.5, 10/6 predicted 6.8, and 10/7 (DCA) predicted 8.0. Maybe they already factored in Gay Days, only 10/6 seems a bit low for a weekend + GD.

[Poisonedapples]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

i never seen it too overly crowded for GD at DL.. i think it's average. i mean yeah it might be hot. but it so cal!

[tomrules1955]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

never noticed a difference except the amount fo red shirts

[DisneyIPresume]

Re: Gay Days: What to expect with regard to crowd size

You need to determine when the CHOC Walk is being held. On almost all of the recent Gay Days the CHOC Walk has been held early in the morning on the Saturday of Gay Days. If this is the case this year the park could be quite crowded as you not only have the Gay Day participants but also the CHOC Walk participants on top of that.