Attendees can enjoy kick-off parties, dinner shows, pool nights and drag events before donning red and going on some roller coasters.Ī big part of the original aim was to show the ‘normal’ side of the gay community.
It’s not just about going to Disney World there are pre-event parties in Gay Orlando for days beforehand. Now over 150,000 people attend every year and it’s become a massive, weekend-long event. On that first weekend, there were 3000 people it was almost a flash mob, before flash mobs were a thing. They chose to all wear red – not the rainbow colors usually associated with Pride and other LGBT events – in order to ‘blend in’ rather than stand out. It all started in 1991 when a group of friends organized an unofficial event in Disney World on a June weekend.