Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Family Fun Night at Disneyland - May 25, 1978
Here's an interesting ticket. On the surface it seems like the basic private party ticket. A quick Google search on Studio One and The Tavern Guild reveals this wasn't your average Family Fun Night! I wonder if the folks at Disneyland knew what these folks were about? Maybe, it is the Happiest Place on Earth ya know!
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7 comments:
Wow! If only they had gotten Sylvester to perform on the prow of The Mark Twain – now that would have been something special indeed! Lol!
This is pretty interesting from a history standpoint; you would expect an outwardly conservative place like Disneyland to sweep gay people under the rug, especially on "Family Fun Night", and in 1978!
I happened to be there for that night and it was incredible being the First gay night at Disneyland. I still have my pink ticket. My understanding is that contracts were signed and paid for and then Disney found out that Studio One and the Tavern Guild was an all gay nightclub organization and tried to get out of it but couldn't. People (gays) were waving their tickets from car windows on the fwy as you got closer to Disneyland.
Yes, Disneyland tried to cancel the "Tavern Guild" once they realized it was representing gay bars in Southern California. It was an exhilarating evening. But when the Tomorrowland Stage became packed with people dancing and the plaza in front, the management turned off the lights and music, and the stage hydraulically went into the "down position" so gays were not allowed to dance. Some folks booed but others kept on "dancing" throughout the park. The Space Mountain atrium was filled with gay people waiting in line and everyone started singing the song by Michael Zagger Band ..."ooh, ooh, let's all chant!" which echoed loudly to everyones delight. Poppers were passed up and down the line of people waiting to board Space Mountain. : )
Hi everyone! I am working on my dissertation at the moment, and would love to hear more about this event from those of you who were in attendance. If anyone manages to find this comment and is interested in chatting, feel free to email me at:
bryand@nevada.unr.edu
Also I apologize in advance if this comment violates a Blog rule!
This was a private event. I was there. Most of the cast members had a blast. It led the way for Disney to welcome the future “gay days”, however, I believe, an unofficial event.
I believe that the Disneyland Employees were "warned" ahead of this event and told the "cast members" that they didn't have to work that night if they didn't want to. But, turns out many many of them specifically wanted to work that night and they had a blast. The guests were all very enthusiastic and sang along on all the attractions/rides. The queues were very "cruisy" going back and forth in the lines.
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