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happy day
07-11-2010, 09:33 AM
Any one who has been in Disney this last June and now July, are the tour groups as large as usual, and which hotels do these groups usually stay?

Daisy712
07-11-2010, 09:49 AM
We were there last mid-June. We didn't see any groups at Pop Century.

Altair
07-11-2010, 10:36 AM
Their summer is our winter, so the tour groups are less in June and July.

Rekenna
07-11-2010, 10:50 AM
I read on another site about the large Brazillian tour groups-the thread was titled Billions of Brazillians. I do not have first hand experience with this, but the comments on the thread describe the large groups as very rude and cutting in line mulitple times. Doesn't sound fun.:(

DizneyRox
07-11-2010, 11:07 AM
Their summer is our winter, so the tour groups are less in June and July.

Really? There are less now than usual? Glad I come in the summer then. There are a bunch here now, not any noisier or ruder than I remember. Actually pretty well behaved than prior years.

honeebee86
07-11-2010, 11:08 AM
Having been to both AK and MK just this past Thursday I can tell you what I observed. At AK I noticed about 2 large groups made up of about 40 or so. At Mk there were 2-3 smaller groups of about 20 or so. The only thing that is hard is that they try to keep everyone together so when you have one cut you off on the street another 20-40 will follow. I don't think they are rude, they are just high school aged students with that same attitude most high school students have. Also, a lot do not speak English so I am sure they feel uncomfortable as well.

honeebee86
07-11-2010, 11:11 AM
oh and as for them cutting into lines, i didn't notice anything like that but have on previous visits years before. They do have some wait in line and then the rest join when the line gets closer to the attraction. And yes it is annoying when all of a sudden you have 15 people making their way to the front of the line. But to me it is no different that families who have one person wait and then the rest join them at the front.

Tekneek
07-11-2010, 12:40 PM
Nothing wrong with people holding spots for another family member with young children, in my opinion, but holding spots for a dozen or more teenage-or-older people is excessive and exploitative. Touring with a large group should not be twisted into a self-made variation of the fast pass.

Daisy712
07-11-2010, 01:05 PM
Nothing wrong with people holding spots for another family member with young children, in my opinion, but holding spots for a dozen or more teenage-or-older people is excessive and exploitative. Touring with a large group should not be twisted into a self-made variation of the fast pass.

I agree. I hate seeing people push through the lines to get to their party. Completely different story when they have small children in tow. You never know when a little one will need a potty break.

honeebee86
07-11-2010, 01:18 PM
I agree with the young children, I was referring to families who do this with teenagers or other adult family members.

JPL
07-11-2010, 01:25 PM
The best startegy for dealing with any large tour group is to reverse your direction they usually flow through the park in one direction so head in the opposite direction they are and you will be fine. If you see a large group heading towards a stand-by line skip that attraction and come back to it.

BluewaterBrad
07-11-2010, 02:41 PM
We have never had a problem with any "group"! Last I remember I live in America. Quit complaining. Just another post for people to complain. Very SAD INDEED!!! Yes, I expect a pm from a mod that says I just overstepped my bounds. Unbelievable.:mickey:

MushuGrl
07-11-2010, 03:00 PM
We noticed alot of them when we went back in January. I too read some other threads about said groups and actually feared for my vacation - even going as far as changing resorts.

However I have to say none of the things I was "warned" about happened. I would just make sure, if I saw them heading toward a ride, I would chose a different ride (mainly because I knew ride time about about to shoot straight up.) But then again I tended to do that anyway if I saw a large group of anybody going toward one attraction.

Dickson Thunder
07-11-2010, 03:14 PM
When we last went in July 2007, on one occassion at Soarin, part of a tour group that got ahead of their party let us pass on by in line instead of the back-end trying to cut in front of us. We also saw a couple of groups at Animal Kingdom with no problems either. We go back in 6 days and actually hope to see a couple of groups to liven things up!

:cool:

SandmanGStefani24
07-11-2010, 03:45 PM
We have never had a problem with any "group"! Last I remember I live in America. Quit complaining. Just another post for people to complain. Very SAD INDEED!!! Yes, I expect a pm from a mod that says I just overstepped my bounds. Unbelievable.:mickey:

I think you've overreacted a bit here...I don't think this is any different than asking about Pop Warner or Cheerleader groups. It's not who they are or where they are from, it's simply about large groups of individuals singing, chanting, or cheering loudly. (all 3 groups I mentioned do that, it doesnt matter where the kids are from...) Also, it can cause logjams on rides or at restaurants. I don't think any member of Intercot would be thinking anything negative simply because of where they are from. Tour groups, nothing more.

Off my :soapbox: now...and back to topic...
Pop warner and cheerleading weeks are posted online, so can this info maybe be found as well?

Daisy'sMom
07-11-2010, 06:23 PM
I don't know where the tour groups are from nor do I care. I have seen the worse and the best of them at Disney. I have seen them steal, and yet I have seen them stop and try to placate a crying child. But then again, no matter where you are, you will find the same thing. Good and bad.
:mickey:

Disney1977
07-11-2010, 07:00 PM
We ran into the Brazilian Tour Groups for one day of our January 2009 vacation. They did cut the lines and monopolize the fast pass machines. Tour leaders would take up all the fast pass machines at a particular attraction and feed hundreds of cards through.

It was really annoying and rude IMHO.

5togetherWDW
07-11-2010, 08:08 PM
Last July (2009) there were MANY tour groups of teens chanting loudly in Portuguese. I believe they were Brazilian. We were there mid-July. One night we were waiting in the tight pathway for Fantasmic with at least 5 different groups. They were enjoying themselves by trying to outdo one another (yelling, cheering, chanting, etc).
One of the nearby teens told me that it is tradition - they always come to the US for their break. She said it is the most fun when many groups land in the same park. From what she said, I had the impression that July was their annual break time.
Generally, they seemed friendly enough teens -- but it was a bit much when trapped in the middle of the group waiting to get into the theater. On the other hand, they ended up doing a pretty good pre-show for us all once we were in our seats.

BigThunderFan
07-12-2010, 07:34 AM
I agree, they can really make the wait at Fantasmic! a lot more fun with their singing/chanting. On Small World or Pirates, not so much fun though... Kind of ruins it for us.

madhatterrules
07-12-2010, 08:26 AM
I was actually assalted by a member of the group. My husband, my best friend, our 2 children and myself were waiting in line at Soaring. It was a LONG line and we were still very close to the entrance when the 2 girls, age 6, said they needed to use the bathroom. I saw a CM and asked if it would be OK if I got out of line to take them to the restroom and rejoin my husband & friend. They said it was OK, as the bathroom was visible from where we were in line. As I was taking them out of the line, the group from Brazil was very rude and would not let us get through, they kept shoving us. We finally made it out and then on our way back had no problem until we reached that group again. They actuall all linked arms and blocked the entire width of the line. When we tried to go through them they hit the girls in the head with their elbows. I told them we needed to get back to my husband who was sitting in a wheel chair waiting for us. As we agin tried to pass through a woman punched me in the back of the head with both her fists! I was so shocked and started yelling for help. Other guests helped me get back to my husband; with 2 crying children. There was no CM to be found until we got up closer to the boarding area of the ride; I told them that I had just been assalted and they said "let me guess; it was one of the people from Brazil. We've been having problems with them all day, you are the 3rd person that's been hit" They told me that there was suppossed to be a WDW employee with them to help avoid any problems and they were going to ask them to leave but I needed to understand it was part of their culture. I have friends from all over the world and many different cultures and no one I know thinks its an acceptable thing to do to anyone. I think if Disney knows there are problems with large groups then they should be addressed immediately and always have an employee with them who can help control any situations. It was the only time I've had a bad time in WDW.:soapbox:

TikiLounger
07-12-2010, 09:15 AM
Wow...I can't understand why, just because it's part of their culture, they're allowed to get away with it. Especially in a very crowded place where it can become dangerous to other guests very quickly. Sorry but, while sometimes behavior that is "it's part of their culture" can be expected or forgiven, it's not an excuse in situations like madhatterrules'. That being said, we were in the parks in July 2008 and we experienced the "tour group" thing first hand. It was annoying to be cut in line, beaten to the fast pass machines, sung to in every queue line (yes, a little is fun...a lot gets old fast), and pushed and shoved through buffet lines. My daughter (she was 16 at the time) was getting pretty upset in the queue line of the ToT. Some of the Brazillian girls were staring at her and talking behind their hands. It was very obvious that they were talking about her. She naturally assumed (because sadly, it's part of OUR culture for teen girls to be...well...a little mean and gossipy about one another) that they were making fun of her. This went on for quite a while. We told DD to just forget about it and ignore, which she tried to do. Then? one of the girls in question tapped her on the shoulder and said, "We just want to tell you how pretty you are. We've been looking at you and talking about it. We all wish we looked like you." The girl was very sweet and seemed genuine. It was a good lesson for my daughter on several different levels.

happy day
07-12-2010, 09:54 AM
what hotels do these large groups usually stay?

southerngirl
07-12-2010, 12:58 PM
I've never encountered the groups at any of the Disney hotels, but I've encountered plenty of them at the parks, both in the summer and in December. Two years ago in December, we had a situation where I was trying to get FastPasses at Peter Pan one morning for my DH and me. Two of the tour group leaders were monopolizing both of the machines, with about 40 park passes each. They caused a massive line, and it took me over 15 minutes to get our passes. A CM was standing right there and did nothing to help! IMHO, either Disney should assign large tour groups (of any type) someone to help guide through the parks, or they should at least make sure that they don't monopolize all of the FP machines, cause massive delays, etc.

Scar
07-12-2010, 01:56 PM
Two of the tour group leaders were monopolizing both of the machines, with about 40 park passes each. They caused a massive line, and it took me over 15 minutes to get our passes. Certainly, the line would have been much more massive with 80 more people standing in it getting 1 pass each.


A CM was standing right there and did nothing to help! When you say "help" do you mean the group leader didn't know how to use the machine and the CM just stood there without showing them how?

DizneyRox
07-12-2010, 02:37 PM
what hotels do these large groups usually stay?Im pretty sure it's a lot of off-site. Value would be my next guess. I've never run across them at a hotel.

Also the alternative to the group leader getting many fast passes is ALL of them getting in line as well. Either way, those behind them are going to wait, it's no different than 10 families in front of you.

I would rather Disney leave well enough alone on this one, otherwise abuse (multiple fast passes, etc) will happen. Then need to work within the same system everyone else uses.

ransam
07-12-2010, 02:42 PM
I hate to say it, but while it *****, what is the CM/Disney suppose to do, not allow big groups in? tell them not to sing? while the leaders are getting the fast passes, would it be ok if everyone just got in line by themselves? or are they not allowed to use fast passes becasue they are in a big group. Remember. Fast passes can only be used one at a time, so if they are monoplizing Peter Pan w/ fast passes, then go on Small World, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, then go back to PP later. Just seems that if a large group is all together, they are easier to avoid....disney is a huge place. Just go do something that they aren't.

Daisy'sMom
07-12-2010, 04:16 PM
OMG Madhatterrules, that is disgusting. These people should have been removed from the park and never allowed to reenter. If that happened to anyone in my family, I would be calling 911 on my cell and filing an assault charge.

TheVBs
07-12-2010, 04:31 PM
OMG Madhatterrules, that is disgusting. These people should have been removed from the park and never allowed to reenter. If that happened to anyone in my family, I would be calling 911 on my cell and filing an assault charge.

I agree. Getting physical is unacceptable and illegal. It doesn't matter where you're from, what your culture is like or whether you're with a group or not. I'm really sorry that happened to you and your kids Madhatterrules. I would have had the CM phone the police.

madhatterrules
07-12-2010, 09:27 PM
I was shocked more than anything and my head was throbbing. I was more concerned about getting the kids calmed down and making sure my husband was OK. I was told they were asking them to leave the park since I was the
3rd victem they heard about. It should never happen and especially at Disney.

I'm hoping they've since made some guidelines for the CM's as to what to do if any groups get out of hand.

crazypoohbear
07-12-2010, 10:31 PM
They told me that there was suppossed to be a WDW employee with them to help avoid any problems and they were going to ask them to leave but I needed to understand it was part of their culture. I have friends from all over the world and many different cultures and no one I know thinks its an acceptable thing to do to anyone. I think if Disney knows there are problems with large groups then they should be addressed immediately and always have an employee with them who can help control any situations. It was the only time I've had a bad time in WDW.:soapbox:

I would have told the CM to call the police because I was pressing charges immediately. because that is part of MY culture!
There is no acceptable culture that allows abuse to take place.
There are cameras all over disney for security reasons, Disney could have checked the tapes and found the persons who assaulted you and pressed charges.
I'm sorry you had to experience this.

Love of Disney
07-12-2010, 11:27 PM
When we have gone during July in the past, we had some staying at the All Star Resorts, POP, and Coronado Springs. Maybe it depends on how much Mommy & Daddy are willing to spend :D We were told two years ago by a Disney Cast Member that the All Star resorts are the most popular with the tour groups. Good luck with things... We never go in July anymore due to these groups.
:cool:

Cinderella7299
07-14-2010, 03:12 PM
We were just there for two nights, June 30th and July 1. We stayed at POFQ and as far as I could tell, we were almost entirely surrounded by a very large tour group. There were 10 full size charter buses to accommodate them. With the exception of the cheering/singing, they were otherwise fine. They were normal teens, running around in and out of each others rooms, sitting in the hallways...etc. They were nice enough, would smile when we passed them, and quieted down very well about 10ish at night, we never even heard them leave in the mornings. We could have easily requested to be moved to a different area of the hotel, but never really saw the need. We did not go into the parks at all, so I can't say if there were other groups besides the one at our hotel.

:mickey: Ginny Lynne

CaptSmee
07-14-2010, 08:59 PM
we always have seen them in Jan. this year we saw them in June. we have never seen them in the fall (sept, oct, or nov). they have never posed a problem either.

Marymouse2003
07-17-2010, 02:05 AM
We unfortunately were knocked around by a large group of girls, with locked arms,chanting/singing as they trampled on us and others as we sat in the Handicap area near the castle for the MVMCP parade. They actually just did whatever they wanted and I'd never witnessed this b4. No idea where they were staying, but this happened in Dec and I sure understand wanting to file charges. My DM almost fell down and the same for several other ppl. They were Brazilian, which isn't the point, other that it seems from reading other posts, seems like a trend, but to me, you wld have to be almost blind NOT to see the danger of this behavior.:mad:

happy day
07-17-2010, 07:39 AM
I don't understand why Disney allows this behavior at their parks. Since it is not all the tour groups that act this way, they should stop those that do. ALso, with large groups they should speak to the leaders of the behavior too.

Polynesian Dweller
07-17-2010, 02:43 PM
You know, living in a tourist area and doing business here, as well as frequenting Niagara Falls I can say that the ethnicity doesn't really matter. Tour groups are tour groups. They get off buses and dominate the turnstiles and attractions anywhere simply by numbers alone.

I have seen every thing mentioned in this thread here and in Niagara from tour groups from many nationalities. Name the nationality, including Canadian and American tour groups and I can relate similar storie.

Tour groups travel as a group and act as a group and push others out of the way. They will get in your way, and if they are not of your culture they will act differently than you (tour groups tend to conserve their culture because they spend all their time with people from their culture). Its difficult for the individual tourist to cope with tour groups that are on a schedule.

Hospitality operators (I'm one) try to manage this for everyone's benefit but 60 people travelling together will get in the way of others and until laws let us discriminate its not feasible to say no tour groups can enter your property, you will lose the lawsuit from the tour operator.

JPL has it correctly, the best advice is to go the other way when you see a tour group arrive and enjoy some other attraction.

Melanie
07-17-2010, 08:32 PM
JPL has it correctly, the best advice is to go the other way when you see a tour group arrive and enjoy some other attraction.

Great advice, but almost impossible to follow today. We went to both AK and MK, and there were numerous groups (from Brazil) at both parks. And some of them had upwards of 200 people per group! Overall I didn't see any terrible behavior, but just the numbers were overwhelming nonetheless.

SandmanGStefani24
07-18-2010, 01:30 PM
thats crazy! i dont understand why they have to stay in one group. if they were very young, like elementary school age i'd understand.

when i went on a trip with my high school, we were instructed to break up into groups of no more than 6 and we were dropped off at the transportation center so we could go to whatever park we wanted. nobody got left out, and all us kids were distributed evenly. oddly enough we never ran into another kid from our class the rest of the day. (and there were almost 300 of us.) Maybe someone should pass along this tip to the Brazilian tour managers...

PirateLover
07-18-2010, 01:49 PM
Are the "Kontik" groups the Brazilian ones? If so we have seen them on every trip we've been on in May/June. Never saw them in December so I'm not sure about that theory of their seasons being opposite... Anyway, we've never really had a problem with it, other than the sheer amazement as they pass by. One group was so huge they occupied almost the whole Tomorrowland Bridge when they were crossing!!! We've never been on a ride at the same time as them. We did witness the Fastpass thing once on our past trip. We had a few minutes before we could get our next pass and so we camped out by Splash Mountain FP machines. Up comes a leader with about 30 cards. He gets his passes and goes back to the group only to find, HE MISSED ONE! So he comes back and is trying to explain it to the CM, who then tells him he's just going to have to put them all back in again to see which one he missed! However the machines were pretty crowded so the CM saw common sense and just gave him one extra one.

maxrebo77
07-18-2010, 02:25 PM
no kidding. They know they are going. disney knows they are coming. Make a plan and have some rules. we always just went the other direction. You don't just get to swarm the place. and hitting someone?

Scar
07-18-2010, 03:53 PM
... I'm not sure about that theory of their seasons being opposite...Do you believe the world is flat too? ;) J/K

SoccerMom
07-18-2010, 05:00 PM
Just got back today... the brazialian tour groups were at Disney in force!! While many of the individuals were pleasant and blended in to the parks, it's when they get together in mass that the problems happen - a group of about 100 stood at the fast pass for soaring, but they were too early and were not permitted to enter but no one else could get around them. It took security to direct current fast pass holders to the entrance and then these kids were angry that we got to pass them. The thing about the groups that irritates me is the chanting because they always pick a closed in area to chant and the noise is just unbearable. We stayed at POR Riverside and we had 2 groups staying there. The only problem was at breakfast (if we didn't go early) and on the extended park nights - they had their own transportation but took Disney transportation on those nights.

I was talking to a cast member who said that one of the biggest tour groups from Brazil and Argentina were now banned from disney property including the parks due to their behavior in the parks and the way they left their hotel rooms.

And to the person who said just go the opposite direction, last week, there were so many groups that no matter where you went, they were there. It was a crowded week anyway, but without the tour groups, it would have been noticeably quieter.

PirateLover
07-18-2010, 05:41 PM
Do you believe the world is flat too? ;) J/K

Haha, I should've specified. What I meant was that I don't think the opposite season thing really affects their travel patterns. :blush:;)

Also what is it about Soarin' that brings out the bad behavior in these groups! Random.

DisneyBunch
07-18-2010, 07:13 PM
thats crazy! i dont understand why they have to stay in one group. if they were very young, like elementary school age i'd understand.

The last time that we went to WDW in July was 2002, and the Brazilian tour groups were there then too. One thing that we did observe on multiple occasions was large tour groups going on a ride with narration (Living with the Land) and the language by Disney was in Portugese instead of English. This probably isn't the only reason that they stick together, but I am sure that it is part of it. :confused:
I would imagine that if the tour groups were comprised of 60 Japanese kids, or 60 Italian kids, or 60 American kids, the behavior of the group would be about the same.....like a bunch of teenagers without Mom and Dad. I have seen rude behavior by many nationalities at WDW, both in groups, in families, and by individuals. No one should have to tolerate it, but it is certainly not exclusive to the Brazilian groups. I think that Disney does its best to control the groups, but they can only go so far. In reality, what more can WDW do?

happy day
07-18-2010, 08:02 PM
Do these groups attend Disney all of june-august, or are they mainly there for part of July+

Daisy712
07-28-2010, 09:40 PM
Just got back today. Our trip was from 7/21-7/28. The parks were packed with tour groups, especially Hollywood Studios. We attempted to go there 3 different days, and we the waits for the rides were crazy. They closed the single rider lines because when you have 160 people in one group, there is never a need for a single rider. Also, the restaurants had no seating, CS and TS since the groups all dine at once. I would reconsider going in July. The kids were generally behaved. It was just extremely crowded.

MississippiDisneyFreak
07-29-2010, 09:34 AM
We encountered these groups once or twice and the problem we had was one person would wait in line at an attraction and they had a walkie talkie, when it was almost time to board they would call on their walkie talkie and a large group would come running up and cut in front of everyone:mad:

Also, as far as assault being part of someone's culture...that doesn't ring true with me, assault is assault anywhere, they should have been thrown out....

LudwigVonDrake
07-29-2010, 12:42 PM
I just came back from WDW a couple of weeks ago and the tour groups were out in full force. I will say that, at least in my dealings, they were better behaved than in the past.

BritCody
07-30-2010, 08:07 AM
We were at WDW 7-16 to 7-25. We stayed at POFQ and didn't encounter any tour groups at the resort. However the parks was a different story altogether. We saw 4 to 5 groups a day at all of the parks. Some of the groups were pretty massive. A lot of the time the groups would start chanting and it is very disturbing. We were at the loading area or POTC and two big groups started chanting, it was very,very loud and after a few moments one of the cast members finally motioned for them to stop. But my biggest complaint is that the groups would just sit down on the sidewalk and street and when you plop down 40 plus people it takes up a lot of space and it really congest traffic flow. My father is in a wheelchair and it is difficult enough to navigate the parks with the traffic and then you have 40 plus people just laying and sitting all over the place including in the rampway for wheelchairs and strollers.

Just before our trip to Disney my daughter went with a tour group to Germany and she told me that her tour group leader stressed that they were not permitted to chant or be loud in any manner and they had to be respectful at all times of the German people as my daughter and her group were foreigners in Germany. To bad some of these tour groups leaders visiting Disney don't take the same approach.

Gator
08-01-2010, 07:06 PM
I remember seeing them on my December trips, but they never caused any trouble. Then again, I never interacted with them directly. I only saw them en masse at Fantasmic, where they sang for half an hour before the show. The crowd seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.

tinkerbelle75
08-01-2010, 10:51 PM
We were the last week of January/1st week of February and there were literally thousands from Brazil. We just went the opposite direction and never had a problem. I did speak to one of the group leaders at the hotel (POR) who told me it was, in fact, their Summer.

happy day
08-02-2010, 07:41 AM
I went from july 21-28. There were tour groups. I took the advice of many on avoiding these groups. I found the most at studios. I didn't find it to bad as long as I watched and tried to avoid the major groups. Thank you for all the advice.

eandrsmom
08-02-2010, 08:39 AM
I don't know if their rudeness is culturally accepted, or that they're just being teenagers, but I can assure you that had I been physically assaulted, I would have called the police. I don't care what the nationality of the person may be, you don't have the right to physically harm someone. Also, we were in Disney a few years ago during Mardi Gras, there were numerous Brazilians there during that time. On a few occasions, several teens tried to get into line in front of us to catch up with their friends. I would not let them pass in front of me. Like the above poster said, small children are one thing, but large groups of teens are something totally different. Disney should have a policy that is given out to the directors of these tour groups, explaining proper ediquette. That way, it can be presented to the qroups prior to them entering the parks. I think this would be good for any large group, not just those from Brazil.

DisneyBunch
08-02-2010, 09:32 AM
Just got back (7/23/10-8/01/10) and we saw multiple tour groups. I am not disputing what happened to others, but I have to say, all of the tour groups were the best behaved that I have ever seen them while visiting WDW. We didn't even experience any of the "group chanting" that we have during past visits.:mickey:

Tekneek
08-02-2010, 01:59 PM
We were down there from 7/26 - 7/30. While we saw a lot of them, they were no more rude than anybody else. Honestly, we experienced far more rude behavior from good ol' Americans than from the kids in the international tour groups.

Granny Jill A
08-02-2010, 02:44 PM
My first trip to WDW was in July, and we encountered large groups from Brazil and Argentina. Whenever we saw a group led by someone holding a flag, we headed the other way.

Americans are chided for their behavior in other countries, but visitors to our shores are not held to the same standard. We must be aware at all times what is rude and what is accepted behavior. Turn about is fair play. The tour organizers should make it clear to everyone what is acceptable and what is not.

Scar
08-02-2010, 03:10 PM
Americans are chided for their behavior in other countries, but visitors to our shores are not held to the same standard.I don't know, sounds like some pretty good chiding going on here.

Melanie
08-02-2010, 03:54 PM
I can happily report that we've been in every park except Epcot since Saturday, and not one tour group in sight. I guess it truly is a "July" thing.