Disneyland Paris to host "Magical Pride" LGBT event

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Disneyland Paris to host "Magical Pride" LGBT event

Post by Gaybutton »

'Magical Pride': Disney to host its first official LGBTQ pride event this year

While Gay Days has long been an unofficial tradition at Disney parks in the U.S., Disneyland Paris will host the company’s first official LGBTQ pride event.

By Tim Fitzsimons

February 1, 2019

Disneyland Paris will host an official pride event on June 1, becoming the first Disney theme park to ever officially host such an LGBTQ event.

“Diversity and equality are strong values at Disneyland Paris, and each year, we host millions of visitors regardless of their origins, gender or sexual orientation," a spokesperson for The Walt Disney Company told NBC News. "We are committed to fostering a welcoming environment for all of our Guests where magic is for everyone.”

The event, "Magical Pride," first started in 2014 as an unofficial event at the European park, but starting this year, the annual celebration has been taken over by The Walt Disney Company, according to Nathan Tunnah, a travel consultant at Greatdays Travel Ltd., which helped organize the unofficial “Magical Pride” event.

“Last year, Disney decided to make it a signature event, because they saw how popular it is becoming,” Tunnah said.

Selected rides will be open from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. for this year’s late-night “Magical Pride” event, and it will feature character meet-and-greets, musical performances and a pride-themed “diversity parade,” Tunnah said.

Disney’s American parks are known for their annual “Gay Days,” unofficial gatherings of LGBTQ people at Disney parks. Gay Days started in the early 1990s, with just a few thousand LGBTQ attendees wearing red shirts for visibility. This year’s Gay Days event in Orlando runs from Aug. 13 to 19 and is billed as “Orlando’s largest LGBTQ vacation event.” Gay Days Anaheim, at Disneyland in California, takes place from Oct. 4-6.

Since Gay Days events are unofficial, Disney employees do not treat them any differently than other days (but that did not stop the Southern Baptist Convention and other conservative religious groups from boycotting the The Walt Disney Company between 1996 and 2005, as NBC News has previously reported).

With "Magical Pride" now being run by Disney, Tunnah said he expects even more people from across Europe to attend the annual celebration.

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out ... nt-n965396
fountainhall

Re: Disneyland Paris to host "Magical Pride" LGBT event

Post by fountainhall »

I could never work out why Disney chose a venue outside Paris for its European Park. The weather is lousy for much of the year, the French were known not to be thrilled at adopting US "cultural" ideas and the French people themselves were mostly against it. Spain seemed the obvious location and the Spanish wanted it. I guess French subsidies won out. The reason stated by Disney at the time was that Paris was so much closer to the centre of the huge potential European market.

Yet attendance during the first years was pretty dire. Now with Eurostar and other high speed trains bringing millions to their doorstep, the Park is generating profits despite its present run down state and Disney is about to invest US$2.5 billion to upgrade it. I wonder if the decision on location would have been different if the present plethora of low cost air carriers could have been foreseen.

It's great that it is hosting its first LGBT event. But checking reviews, for the time being it seems to remain one of the least ideal Disney Parks to visit. Tokyo doesn't have the greatest weather either, but its Disneyworld is fantastic - and I have taken friends around it half a dozen times. It is always packed. It also led the way in hosting the country's first gay "wedding" in 2012.
Given its family-friendly reputation based on predictable banality and mainstream entertainment, Disneyworld’s edgy venture into the business of gay weddings is a symbolic victory of sorts even though the government doesn’t recognize such unions. Japan may enjoy a vibrant tradition of homosexuality, but polite Japanese society tends to avoid the subject rather than embrace it.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/20 ... FZ33S2Q0UQ

The new Shanghai Park is the largest and gets very good reviews. It welcomed 11 million visitors in its first year.

The one to avoid is Kong Kong. It is tiny and only to be visited if you have no other options. As the 1997 economic crisis hit Hong Kong and caused the worst recession since World War 2, the government was desperate to get Disney to sign a deal. It basically threw money at Disney until it agreed to build the Park. That subsidy amounted to US$740 million. Located on Lantau Island not far from the airport, it opened in 2005 to a lot of negative criticism and has consistently lost money. It's hard to find financial results but the total so far is at least US$300 million. Even so, the government is about to throw another $750 million to Disney to expand the size of the Park.

Needless to say, neither Hong Kong nor Shanghai host any LGBT events.
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