8 Unofficial Special Event Days at Disney

While there are plenty of official special event days at Disney theme parks to let you meet like-minded people, they don't cater to every niche audience. So several groups have taken matters into their own hands and organized unofficial Disney event days. Here are a few you might want to attend (or avoid).

1. Dapper Day – February 20, 2011 (2012 TBA)

[Image courtesy of DapperDay.com.]

When the “Imagineers” were planning Disneyland in the 1950s, the concept artists always envisioned families at the park dressed in their Sunday best – men wore suits, women wore skirts, and kids were seen running to the next attraction in dress shoes. The idea was that Disneyland was high-class entertainment; like a night at the theater, you wouldn't wear just anything to a day at Disneyland. (Of course if you've ever been to the park, you'll know that most people are dressed like they're going to the gym, not the opera.)

In an effort to bring back the original vision of the artists, designer Justin Jorgensen created Dapper Day, which asked that guests come to Disneyland dressed in mid-20th Century semi-formal attire. Considering 2011 was the first year, a small but respectable group of about 30 people dressed for the occasion. They looked like extras in Mad Men. The Dappers hung out at appropriately old timey locations like Main Street and the Mark Twain Riverboat before settling in at the Golden Vine Winery. Recently, Jorgensen said he's thinking about adding a second Dapper Day this summer, as well as expanding the event to Disney World.

2. Gay Days – May 31–June 6, 2011 & September 30–October 2, 2011

In 1991, Orlando native Doug Swallow thought it would be fun to get some of his fellow gay friends together for a day at Disney World. Thinking others might want to join them, he decided to open it up to anyone in the gay community, with the stipulation that they “wear red and be seen.” News of the event spread through the community quickly, but Swallow was still only expecting 15 or 20 people to show up. Instead, on June 1, 1991, around 1,500 gays and lesbians attended the very first “Gay Day.”

Today, “Gay Days” fills an entire week in June, and has also expanded to Disneyland for the first weekend of October. With upwards of 150,000 people in red shirts from all over the world in Orlando, and around 30,000 for the weekend in Anaheim, Gay Days have become a true vacation destination for those in the LGBT community. Both events naturally include trips to the park, but there are parties hosted in the hotels, restaurants, bars, and other non-Disney tourist destinations in the area, helping bring in an estimated $100 million to Orlando's economy every year.

3. Star Wars Day – June 26, 2011

If you're a Star Wars fan, you're probably well aware of Disney's Star Wars Weekends that take place every year in May and June. There's a parade that includes Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and Stormtroopers, and plenty of other fun things to do, all inspired by a story from a galaxy far, far away.

Unfortunately, for fans living in California, Star Wars Weekends are only at Disney World, not Disneyland. In protest, a group got together in 2005 and started their own Star Wars Day at Disneyland. While fanboys and girls won't get to meet Darth Vader (no costumes are allowed in the park), they can proudly wear their favorite Star Wars t-shirts to show their solidarity and meet up for lunch at the Pizza Port. There's a group photo at 2:00 in front of Cinderella's Castle (a popular fan day destination). To commemorate your attendance, there's an official Star Wars Day t-shirt for sale, with all proceeds going to The American Cancer Society.

4. Harry Potter Day – November 6, 2011

For 2010's “Potter at the Park,” fans were split into houses and then ventured out on a park-wide scavenger hunt, filled with characters dressed in appropriately Potterish clothes who helped the teams along the way. The first team to find all the “horcruxes” won a special medallion emblazoned with the event's logo – a Disneyfication of the Death Eater tattoo. If you can't make it to Disneyland in November, the group also has “Potter Lite” days as well. [Image courtesy of Harry Potter Day at Disneyland!]

5. Raver Day – June 11, 2011 (Winter 2011 TBA)

Raves might have hit their peak in popularity a while ago, but there's still a dedicated culture out there that loves to dress in colorful clothes, collect “kandi” bracelets, and dance the night away amidst the neon shine of glowsticks. Since the late-1990s, ravers have been gathering at Disneyland for the occasional Raver Day, but it was never a very organized event. That is until 2001, when a small group of fans calling themselves “Magic in the Making” took over promotion, helping to expand the event to two days - one in the spring and another in the winter – with attendance now reaching over 1,000 people for each day.

6. Bats Day – May 6-8, 2011

The idea of Goth fans at the Happiest Place on Earth might seem like a contradiction, but Bats Day, the annual meeting of Goth and Industrial fans, has been happening at Disney World since 1999. Started by a few Goth night clubs, the first Bats Day only had about 80 people in attendance, but it now welcomes over 1,000 black-clad fans every year. The one-day event has since been extended into a full weekend's worth of dark fun in and out of the park, including a Black Market (a place to buy spooky stuff), and, new for 2011, a costume ball where guests are required to dress as the recently departed.

7. TRON Fan Day – April 8, 2012

The newest unofficial day is TRON Fan Day, the first of which was held on April 10, 2010. Created by the folks over at pop culture news site Nuke the Fridge, the event was created to celebrate the release of TRON:Legacy on Blu-ray/DVD. Users wore “Flynn Lives” t-shirts, carried Identity Discs, and posed for a few group shots in front of Cinderella's Castle and the new ElecTRONica dance club. There's already one in the works for 2012, so hop on the grid and book your plane tickets now. [Image courtesy of Dave Lucchesi.]

8. Yippy Day – August 6, 1970

While these unofficial Disney Days generally go off without a hitch, August 6, 1970, didn't go quite so smoothly. On that day, 300 Yippies — members of the Youth International Party, a radical branch of the anti-Vietnam War movement — converged on Disneyland to “liberate Minne Mouse,” as well as protest the park's longstanding, unwritten policy against letting long-haired people inside (a policy that had, ironically, been quietly relaxed shortly before the day of the invasion).

Still, the group caused a small amount of trouble by climbing on some of the displays and smoking pot at concerts. The Yippies also took over Tom Sawyer's Island, where they reportedly raised the Viet Cong flag (other reports say it was the Yippies' “New Nation” flag), before passing around joints to celebrate their “victory.” [Image courtesy of BrandTech News.]

The Yippies also infiltrated the parade on Main Street, singing a song about Ho Chi Minh, which was quickly drowned out when everyone else started to sing “God Bless America.” By this time, people who were not part of the invasion started to get fed up – and fought back. Reportedly, many Yippies were hit with purses, cameras, and good old fashioned fists, as park-goers became frustrated that their vacation was being ruined. During a scuffle, a park security guard was injured, and that was the last straw; to protect everyone, the park officials played their trump card.

Because Disneyland administrators knew about the invasion in advance, hundreds of police officers from Anaheim and the surrounding county were already at the park that day, hiding in the back lot behind Main Street, equipped with batons, helmets, and riot shields. On request, the police came streaming out into the park to get things under control. Many of the Yippies scattered, so the only thing the police could do was shut the park down five hours early and clear it out section by section.

Shortly after, the “No Long Hair” policy was reinstated.
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Have you ever been to an unofficial fan day at Disney? Do you know of one that we missed? Tell us about it in the comments below!