South American Tour groups

[Minnie4me]

Hi All,

I keep hearing about how many South American tour group swarm in on Disney during July.

What effect do they have on resort restaurants such as Boma, Ohana, Cape May etc?

I may take the DW on a trip there in a couple of weeks. We don't do the parks (usually), we like to resort, restaurant, and bar hop.

Thanks!
Randy

[TheDuckRocks]

The only time I ever recall them being a problem at the resort dining venues was one trip that we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and are very, very large group of them were staying there also. On 2 mornings our timing for breakfast and then catching a bus to the parks must have been the same. The food court was a zoo. The second time we saw that we would be having a problem again we just walked over to the French Quarter and none of them were to be seen there. Thinking back other than that I can't remember ever seeing them at all in the resort restaurants.

[#1donaldfan]

From my experiences with them, the parks are typically the only problem area's with them. I have yet to EVER see them at a resort. My luck I guess !! If you're not parking hopping I'd say you're fine !!

[buzznwoodysmom]

We were in Disney last July and I was very concerned about this. We ran into several groups and not one of those groups had a negative impact on our trip. They were all very polite. We had a huge group behind us in line for Everest that started chanting. Many guests, including us, rolled eyes and moaned. The group gave a very short chant and that was it. It was not a big deal at all. We saw them at many parks, but never had any issues with any of them.

Also in Feb. we ran into a massive tour group in AK. They were chanting a bit, but mostly just having fun. They took up the entire walkway to Dinosaur, but we simply turned the other way, did a few other attractions, then returned to Dino about an hour later and they had completely cleared out. Again, nothing about this group bothered us or affected our trip.

This is not to say that there aren't groups out there that do have a negative impact on other guests. We just didn't encounter any of that on our trips, thankfully!

[Melanie]

Regarding dining, I've never encountered any groups at the TS restaurants. Food courts are another story.

Previously being a local and encountering these groups more than I wished, I'll never plan a future extended vacation in January or July/August when they are around. They can be quite overwhelming for me personally. It all depends on your demeanor and willingness to put up with things. As I've gotten older, things like this bother me more and more. Not proud of it, but it is what it is.

[LudwigVonDrake]

It's usually in the parks that you encounter and deal with them.

[WDWCrazyKaren]

I agree with the previous posters. You will find them bombarding the food courts at their resorts, but I've never run into a single group at TS restaurants. You should be just fine!

[stephicakes]

We were at BC last week and never saw them once at the resort, including Cape May. We also ate at 'Ohana and they were not there either. We only encountered them in the parks and they were always well-behaved from our experience. We overheard some of their chaperones talking in WS and they mentioned it was their "free time" so we only saw them in groups of 2-3 kids... never big drones in the restaurants there.

You should be fine - enjoy!

[AgentC]

Same here. I have never run into a tour group at a table service restaurant.

[Niecyboo]

We were at the parks last Sunday and I saw something interesting that also might help. We were doing "Living with the Land" and having lunch at Sunshine Seasons when I notcied a lot of activity at Garden Grill (which isn't open for lunch). They had the whole restaurant filled with one of the Brazilian groups (very easy to spot when they are all wearing the same T-shirt and it's not your first encounter with them that day). LOL. It makes sense that they book an unused restaurant for the whole group. The sure did fill the place! I didn't see any characters so it was probably just a chartered lunch.