Beware of the Bears!
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 10:27 pm
The first Saturday in June is always Gay Day at the Magic Kingdom. It's not a normal day, but that's what I like about it. Half the guests are wearing red, and all have come looking for a good time. Guests who can't handle this much reality are put in vans and shipped off to other -- presumably less gay -- parks.
I'm not sure this qualifies as a stupid trick, but after due consideration (and confirmation my supervision didn't hear it), I think it was pretty funny:
As a conductor on the WDW Railroad, I have to give live safety warnings at each station. Because my department is very big on "performance theming," I try to match my speil to the station.
While at Main Street, I simply ask that young guests be seated in the middle of the seat. (Unlike the Disneyland RR, the WDW RR has benches that run crossways, very much like the Main Street Trolleys.) Frontierland is easy, as it's not possible to be too country. Trust me, I've tried.
At Frontierland, I usually say, "If you got any younuns under the age of seven, stuff 'em in the middle of the seat where the bears can't get 'em." While this normally elicits no response at all, it was not the right phrase to use on Gay Day, and the train erupted into laughter.
"Stop that gigglin' pardners, I'm talkin' about real bears, the ones all covered with fur!" More laughter.
"Now see here, them bears can get real nasty when they're riled up!" More laughter yet.
I finally admitted defeat and sent us on our way with the observation, "Some folks have a real queer way of lookin' at things." I count myself lucky nobody fell off the train while laughing so hard.
(If you don't get the joke, ask a gay friend. If you don't have a gay friend, make one.)
I'm not sure this qualifies as a stupid trick, but after due consideration (and confirmation my supervision didn't hear it), I think it was pretty funny:
As a conductor on the WDW Railroad, I have to give live safety warnings at each station. Because my department is very big on "performance theming," I try to match my speil to the station.
While at Main Street, I simply ask that young guests be seated in the middle of the seat. (Unlike the Disneyland RR, the WDW RR has benches that run crossways, very much like the Main Street Trolleys.) Frontierland is easy, as it's not possible to be too country. Trust me, I've tried.
At Frontierland, I usually say, "If you got any younuns under the age of seven, stuff 'em in the middle of the seat where the bears can't get 'em." While this normally elicits no response at all, it was not the right phrase to use on Gay Day, and the train erupted into laughter.
"Stop that gigglin' pardners, I'm talkin' about real bears, the ones all covered with fur!" More laughter.
"Now see here, them bears can get real nasty when they're riled up!" More laughter yet.
I finally admitted defeat and sent us on our way with the observation, "Some folks have a real queer way of lookin' at things." I count myself lucky nobody fell off the train while laughing so hard.
(If you don't get the joke, ask a gay friend. If you don't have a gay friend, make one.)