Brazil's tour groups

[Scar]

... I'm not sure about that theory of their seasons being opposite...

Do you believe the world is flat too? J/K

[SoccerMom]

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]

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.

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

[DisneyBunch]

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.
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]

Do these groups attend Disney all of june-august, or are they mainly there for part of July+

[Daisy712]

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]

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

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Tekneek]

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]

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]

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]

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.