Brazilian groups and summer crowd level

[ANG]

DH and I just got back from WDW yesterday. And the crowds were seriously not that bad. It was the first time we've gone in the summer. I guess we just braced ourselves for crowds but they just weren't there. Only two times did it feel overwhelming (waiting for Fantasmic and during Wishes). But we had no problems getting FPs and most rides/shows were no more than a 10 minute wait.

BUT, has anyone gone when there are TONS of Brazilian tour groups?! OMG it was so obnoxious!! They broke out in very loud chants like every 10 minutes, just mobs of them. I've never seen so many Disney security in one spot.

[MNNHFLTX]

Interesting....we've been discussing this issue in a related thread:

New Cast Members-Brazil (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=200056)

I take it you didn't notice any of the "liason" CM's doing anything to help the situation?

[MargaretMessler]

We didn't encounter any at WDW when we were there, but did have a few less than pleasant encounters on a side trip to Universal. Also one of the lifeguards at our resort pool was telling us they are none too pleasant to deal with in his position either.

[kcrc]

We just returned from a trip as well covering universal, sea world, the water parks, and some time at Disney. The tour groups were everywhere! and they were huge!! We would often sit somewhere to take a break only to suddenly be surrounded. Personal space was not an issue for them apparently. Agree with the comment about the chanting and cheering. I looked at my kids and said - remember what we think and feel seeing the way some of these groups act. Should we ever travel to another country, lets make a point to NOT have others feel the same way about us!

[gottaluvtink]

We were in WDW in January, and the tour groups were horrendous! I have never felt so miserable in Disney World. The line butting was at it's worst. I held a group of four behind me and my daughter because they went under the chain to jump the line on Everest. They were so rude bumping and pushing me and my daughter, but I was NOT letting them in front of me. When we got to the loading area, I informed the cast member and she took them off the ride! :thumbsup: I hope to never be there again when these South American tour groups are there. MISERABLE! RUDE! OBNOXIOUS!

[PrincessJadesMom]

We were in WDW in January, and the tour groups were horrendous! I have never felt so miserable in Disney World. The line butting was at it's worst. I held a group of four behind me and my daughter because they went under the chain to jump the line on Everest. They were so rude bumping and pushing me and my daughter, but I was NOT letting them in front of me. When we got to the loading area, I informed the cast member and she took them off the ride! :thumbsup: I hope to never be there again when these South American tour groups are there. MISERABLE! RUDE! OBNOXIOUS!

I absolutely agree! On our last trip there were huge groups of them in the parks and at our resort. They were incredibly rude! :rolleyes::mad:

[tink'72]

Funny this should come up...my family and I just returned and we have travelled in July in the past so we knew to expect the crowds, what I didn't expect were the how rude the tourist groups were. INCREDIBLY RUDE! They were horrendous. There would be the "leader" if you will and the "leader" would get into a line and then as the leader got closer to the ride or the entrance gate all of a sudden there were 20 people trying (and I emphasize trying) to cut in front. This was not happening, NOW I have no issue with someone in your party holding your spot in a line while someone in your party is using the rest room or the kids are slower or what not but 20 people cutting in line??? come on that was crazy! At one point we were standing watching the fireworks in MK next to a family with a toddler in the stroller and one group nearly plowed over the baby in the carriage it was nuts. The straw that broke the camels back for me was on July 4th they went through the parks screaming and chanting their national anthems. EVEN during the parade and the fireworks. COME ON if you are not going to show respect don't go. Leave room for the millions of American's who would have loved to spent the Fourth of July in WDW. Espcially for the people who were turned away that day because the park was at capacity.

[disneygeek87]

We were there in February and saw a ton of them then too. In line for Space Mountain they were chanting and clapping (not good in an enclosed area). At one point, a group was trying to dance and were asking the crowd for money. Management finally came over and told them they had to move on and couldn't do that anymore.

[tink'72]

OOOO I totally forgot to add that on Pirates they literally rocked the boat off of the track at the end of the ride. Security had to come to settle them down and get the boat back on the track.

[Mgcamp]

I just came back and didn't find the Brazilian tour group bad at all. I found the cheer and dance groups that take over the parks in the spring far worse. The groups from Brazil last week were fine and only a few times did I hear chanting etc. again a big improvement over the cheerleaders.

[K8screen]

We are going at the end of October. Is this a good or bad time for tour groups?

[DisneyGiant]

Interesting....we've been discussing this issue in a related thread:

New Cast Members-Brazil (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=200056)

I take it you didn't notice any of the "liason" CM's doing anything to help the situation?

I'm here this week. The only time I noticed the green shirt CMs was at the park entrance at the MK.

Some groups were really obnoxious, others were "ok."

If we didn't have to go in July due to kids' school schedules - we'd try to avoid these groups at all costs.

[MaxPower]

Last week, I did notice that there were MANY of the tour groups in all of the parks - and yes, there was the usual chanting, singing and clapping I could see that was annoying others.

Here is my suggestion:
For all youth groups - Brazilian, American, Cheerleading, etc - Disney should have a rule requiring that there be one adult present for every eight kids.

As others have pointed out, much of the "rude" behavior is actually "teenage" behavior.

Last week at Fantasmic!, a LARGE Brazilian group was lined up at the entrance an hour and a half before the show even started. They were standing at the rope waiting to get in - and of course, they got bored - which led to much singing and horseplay. At the front of this group was ONE woman ( holding their tour flag) who kept turning around and repeatedly saying "Por Favor" (Please) to nearly 200 teenagers who were ignoring her.

There simply need to be more adults and chaperones who understood like she did that they were being annoying to others. If Disney made some sort of rule requiring more adult supervision, I think it could help - and Disney would sell even more tickets which is what they care about in the first place. These groups are not going to stop coming - so there is no danger for Disney to require more adults come with them.

[DisneyDINK]

In an attempt to avoid the Brazillian groups in February of this year we decided to go during Carnival in Rio/Sao Paolo, etc. I figured, "What self respecting Brazillian wouldn't get back home in time for Carnival?" I was right, but what I didn't consider was all of the people from Lousiana who had that time off and go do Madri Gras at WDW. While there were some crowds the LSU and Saints fans while numerous were mostly polite and friendly.

I've gone in January and I saw a lot of the groups. To make your stay more pleasurable when you see one just go the other way. Gratefully it wasn't that bad when I went, but the horror stories are numerous.

I agree with all of the comments that these kids are vastly undersupervised and it would be cool if disney would require more adults per number of kids.

Please don't confuse the tour groups with many of the families from places like Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, even Brazil, etc. who are nice and I have had the pleasure of chatting with in lines, resorts, etc.

[mydisneygirls]

I've heard that they are not there so much at the end of August. Is this true?

[DisneyGiant]

So, someone in my family tonight commented that Disney World is now way off from Walt's vision in that he set out to create a place for FAMILIES to have fun & quality time - not for huge tour groups without their parents to parade around.... This observation was made as we just heard Walt say it himself (One Man's Dream).

Thoughts?

Ps- we were almost steamrolled by a stampede of them going into that pavilion they built in World Showcase for the year 2000 - you know the one kind of tucked away In the Canadian pavilion?

Do you think that is a Disney sponsored party of some sort? They were all out of "uniform" - dressed up.....

[#1donaldfan]

We are going in two weeks and hopefully there will be a lull in the groups !!:mickey:

[mcjaco]

^ We are too. I'm hoping for the same....actually I've never been at the beginning of August, so I'm not sure what to expect crowd wise. By the end of August, it's usually not bad.

I went to WDW as a Freshman in High School with the marching band, for a music celebration at EPCOT. We were told to break up into groups of eight to ten. We were also given a set of "rules" on how we were guests at the parks, and representing our school. Our behavior was a direct representation of that, and we should think about it before we did anything that might upset the paying park guests.

Of course that was 20 years ago....when manners were better in the good old USA, too.

[joonyer]

So, someone in my family tonight commented that Disney World is now way off from Walt's vision in that he set out to create a place for FAMILIES to have fun & quality time - not for huge tour groups without their parents to parade around.... This observation was made as we just heard Walt say it himself (One Man's Dream).

Thoughts?



Yes, the really big groups can be a pain in the neck when you are surrounded by them, and yes, Walt's vision for the original Disneyland was to create a fun park where families could enjoy the day together.

BUT, Walt was also pretty progressive ("Around here, we keep moving forward," etc.) and I cannot imagine him taking a position against other groups wanting to enjoy his creation.
What about school groups, bands, church groups, and even large family gatherings? I think Walt would welcome them all.

Could some of these groups be better behaved? Well of course, and it's not just the ones from other countries, I'm sure, that cause problems for the typical small family of 4 (like mine). We have been treated very rudely by groups of American teenagers on at least a couple of occasions. But we still have a great time visiting WDW. We don't let them spoil our fun!

[gottaluvtink]

I just know I have a much better experience when the South American groups are not there! No prejudices, just horrible experiences. My question is, does Disney market deals to these groups? It seems to me, if they are causing security and cast members so much more work, the solution would be to not make offers to huge groups. Just a thought.

[Quadstriker]

My question is, does Disney market deals to these groups? It seems to me, if they are causing security and cast members so much more work, the solution would be to not make offers to huge groups. Just a thought.

If it's in their financial interest (it is) they will continue to do it.

[MNNHFLTX]

So, someone in my family tonight commented that Disney World is now way off from Walt's vision in that he set out to create a place for FAMILIES to have fun & quality time - not for huge tour groups without their parents to parade around.... This observation was made as we just heard Walt say it himself (One Man's Dream).

Thoughts?
Sometimes I think people treat take what Walt said at the inception of Disneyland 58 years ago a little too religiously. True, having a place that a daddy could bring his young daughters was the inspiration for the park. But he was first and foremost a business man and his goal was to see the park succeed and grow. Otherwise he never would have decided to pursue a second park in Florida. He saw there was a market for it, came across the land and it all grew from there.



Here is my suggestion:
For all youth groups - Brazilian, American, Cheerleading, etc - Disney should have a rule requiring that there be one adult present for every eight kids.

There simply need to be more adults and chaperones who understood like she did that they were being annoying to others. If Disney made some sort of rule requiring more adult supervision, I think it could help - and Disney would sell even more tickets which is what they care about in the first place. These groups are not going to stop coming - so there is no danger for Disney to require more adults come with them.See, I think there is some question about that. If Disney were to require the tour companies to have a higher chaperone to teen ratio, the tour companies would pass that cost along to the parents of the kids. Because (from what I understand) these tours are very inexpensive right now, any increase could cause a drop in sales. That said, there's no reason for the company to totally sacrifice guest experience for the sake of revenue, not when their reputation is on the line. That could hurt the company in the long run. I think TPTB have to decide whether they want to be the Bloomingdale's or the Walmart of the theme park market, or somewhere in between.

I usually oppose broad generalizations being applied to a group of people here on the boards and I still do, in theory. Trouble is, so many people have the same negative experiences with the large tour groups (myself included) these days that it's hard to see the exceptions. I'm sure they're still out there, but very hard to see and rally behind.

[Tinksalot]

I just returned from Disney yesterday, and I really didn't notice too many problems with crowds or groups. I did see a group dressed in light green shirts, but they weren't loud at all. In fantasytland I did here some clapping and chanting, but it was nothing like I had experienced in the past. Hopefully, Disney has addressed this issue and it won't be a problem anymore.