Post-Party

We have survived another High Holidays of Gaydom in Central Florida: Gay Days. In past years, I've arranged this to be the last few days of vacation. This year, I specifically took off Thursday and Friday. I've already written a preliminary report, but here's the remainder of the rundown:

Thursday

Dan and I began our celebrating by shopping. Go figure. Not all that glamorous, though: this was "we're off on the same day, so we need basic stuff for the house" kind of shopping. We did, though, meet Jorge for a swing through the "Gay Days Expo" and drinks poolside at the Hotel Royal Plaza.
Nighttime brought Dance Party Number One. As Dewayne mentioned, it was insane in there — "there" being Mannequins Dance Palace at Pleasure Island. In nine years of attending Gay Days evenings at PI, I don't think I have ever seen it that busy. I was on the dance floor from roughly 9:00 until sometime past 1:15, with brief bio- or beverage-breaks. I didn't even try to go out onto the Waterfront — a wise move, apparently, as Chris A. found himself stranded outside by 11:30, unable to return inside except to close out his bar tab. Note to management: listen to the Cast Members who have worked every Gay Day in your club — they remember what works and what doesn't, even if you are to new to know. Like converting one women's restroom to a men's restroom, as they used to do. That would have helped. A lot.

Friday

Slept late, then headed out to Disney-MGM Studios to people-watch and ride the new Tower of Terror. Ran into Jorge, Ron, and Rob (and two other guys from up North) briefly, and made plans to meet for dinner.
This year's (un)official Calendar of Events left a void on Friday night (only one $85-per-head party at Hard Rock Live — not our cup of tea), so we ate a very pleasant dinner on the balcony at Bongos, and then caught a show at Adventurer's Club. Jorge & co. headed over for a Comedy Warehouse show (and, we learned later, more dancing at Mannequins), while Dan and I hung back for a bit. I'm glad we did. One of the female improv entertainers was being visibly distracted by (in her words) "the amount of muscle in the room." She kept talking about how everyone was here for "the weekend," as opposed to just here for "the weekend." The biggest laugh was when she slipped up and called it "gay weekend," paused, and then said, "how is it we can have all this sexual innuendo but everyone panics if I say <stage whisper>GAY? </stage whisper>"

Saturday

Up early for Magic Kingdom! We met everyone at 9 outside the gates. We ended up as a party of 10, the largest group in which I've ever toured the Park. We had done most of the big rides by 2:30, and everyone actually left before the parade, even though the impending rain storm never really let loose. It seemed the Park was slower than it had been in years past.
A nice long disco-nap, small dinner, and back to PI for Dance Party Number Two. Driving to PI, the traffic trying to turn into Beach Ball at Typhoon Lagoon was backed up half a mile. Mannequins was nowhere near as crazy as Thursday — in fact, they probably didn't really need the Waterfront open. Not that we minded actually being able to get around the club, though! (And, as much as we missed Jorge & co. — they opted for Beach Ball — I will reserve comment on Jorge's whistle.) Unfortunately, they learned a lot of lessons from Thursday too late, like removing all the stools (and replacing many with extra trash bins), and placing an extra bar outside the club. Having too many competing events has finally taken its toll on PI, methinks. Of course, on the grander scheme of things, the other two big Saturday parties were both at other Disney venues, so maybe it doesn't matter all that much.

Sunday

Another sleep-late day. When Dan and I did leave the house at 1:15, we headed to lunch at P.F. Chang's, and then did a brief round of shopping at Mo'lenia, which was even more "mo" then usual. (Sidebar note: It was easy to tell the gay men from the straight ones at Chang's. The gay ones were those who, after opening the establishment�s smoked-glass front doors, closed them instead of leaving them propped open. This was appreciated by at least one particular diner — me " who was facing the doors, as well as the greeters, who kept having to go over and close the doors.)
Finally, Tea Dance at Full Moon Saloon (Dance Party Number Three). I have never seen the 'Moon that busy, either. No parking available, so we parked at Ben B.'s house a few blocks away and walked over with him. By the time we left at 9, it was so crowded one could barely walk through the bar to leave.

A fun weekend, and it wasn't completely impossible to get up in time for work this morning, as I'd feared. Why do I do it? Hard to say; maybe questioning why I find it fun would be to remove the fun of it somehow?