Tour Groups

[steve5]

Anyone who has been recently, did you notice if there were any large tour groups from other countries? I was wondering if there may have been a drop in these groups because of the economy (hope so). Last time we went in July these groups were somewhat annoying to say the least and seeing large groups (50 or more) all in the same colored shirt was a little disturbing.

[yasmina]

Just got back today . When we came back to the FQ on Sun., there was a large group of foreign teens. It was hard to tell what country they were from. The language sounded hispanc, but wasn't Spanish. I suspect that it was one of the infamous Brazilian tour groups. Their t-shirts appeared to be different colors for different ages, and labelled with what I assume was the company name, "Konik". I saw several of the leaders carrying the colored triangular flags.

I saw 3 tour busses in the parking lot, which means there were approx. 150 travellers. We never saw them in the parks, and never heard from them at the resort. On Mon. though, it was distressing to go to the food court at 8 AM for my morning coffee to find all of them crowded in! Since I wasn't trying to get food, it was no big deal.

[tdk316]

If anything there may be more foreign tour groups because our dollar has dropped so much in comparison to other currencies making this a very attractive time to visit the US.

[TikiLounger]

We took our first summer trip to Disney World last July. There are several reasons why we will never go in the summer again. One is the tour groups. We counted at least six different groups of teens. Normally, it wouldn't have phased us. They're just people at the parks whether they're together and wearing the same shirts, of if they're there individually. The problem with these particular groups was the rudeness and disrespect. Really, we were appalled. They were very loud, obnoxious, and inconsiderate. We saw many of them leaving or throwing their trash into the themed areas of queue lines...sometimes when there was a trash bin right next to them. They all arrived at a ride together, stood in line for fast passes and got directly into the stand-by line after. We saw them coming and..instantly...the wait times would double. Eventually, we figured it out. If we saw them at the gate of the park were were visiting for that day or if we spotted them off in the distance, we'd start walking very quickly to get to the ride of our choice before they did. LOL. It got a bit stressful, to say the least. Fortunately, we didn't stay at one of the resorts where they stayed. We were talking to a family in one of the queue lines who had a lot of trouble with them at their resort. I guess they were very noisy and the breakfast buffets were a nightmare. We only experienced them on that one trip...in the summer...but, from what I hear, it seems to be their time to visit. Honesty, I don't think the economy matters at all. They just visit Disney World...all together...during July.

[steve5]

I guess teens will be teens no matter where you go. I guess it is just something visual that I have a problem with. Seening that many people in one group and knowing that they are traveling in a wave instead of randomly like a normal crowd. We will just have to go with the flow.

[TikiLounger]

I guess teens will be teens no matter where you go. I guess it is just something visual that I have a problem with. Seening that many people in one group and knowing that they are traveling in a wave instead of randomly like a normal crowd. We will just have to go with the flow.

I know what you mean...I think this is one of the things that made us nervous when we saw them heading towards a ride. We tend not notice the hoards of differently dressed people, but a large mass of color moving in the same direction put us in panic mode! As far as the rudeness goes...yeah, kids will be kids..but...no one in charge seemed to be trying to keep an eye on them...ah, well...it is what it is, I guess.

[Imagineer1981]

Teens will be teens, but we must also remember they are from a different culture. I have been to China and Europe and must say each one has its own unique manners. In China, you have to physically fight your way out of an elevator and there is no such thing as personal space. The same probably holds true with the groups, they live in a culture that is different.

But the groups are definitely annoying!!!!

[steve5]

I guess it is interesting that you hear a lot about American tourists getting a bad reputation when they go abroad and do not respect the culture of the country they are in. You don't hear much about visitors to America getting that same bad vibe.

[#1donaldfan]

...we just got back this week and didn't see any large teen groups...I know the ones your talking about, been attacked by them in the past.....normally in July.......

...the only large group we saw was a group of LSU fans ...... !!

[Mom2princesses]

We just got back on Tuesday. We were there from 6/16 to 6/23. We did not see any tour groups in any of the parks or in our hotel. I heard that they really start up in July though.

[LudwigVonDrake]

I ran into lots of tour groups last July and expect to see them again next month...ugh!

[PirateLover]

We just got back and tour groups were everywhere, although they never posed a direct problem to us. We saw a few of the "Konik" groups that yasmina mentioned. The only time they really got in the way was when they took up over half of Main Street waiting for the parade.

[andreallybadeggs]

I will admit that a tidal wave of t-shirts and triangular flags in the parks can bump my blood pressure up as well. But...
having led several groups of American teens on tours w/in US and Europe I try to cut them some slack. I know that some of our kids got glared at when they really weren't behaving that badly, just needed to tone the volume down a bit.
It's their vacation and they are in WDW with their friends. Of course they are excited.
If some of the students really are acting inappropriately though I see nothing wrong with an adult (preferably a tall one with a scary voice) asking them firmly but politely to knock it off-- it's a universal thing that needs no translation. You might also say something to one of the leaders, all of whom speak English. But actually it was some of the leaders and not the kids that got me upset our last visit to DHS. Must have been for several groups combined, and they spread themselves out...one at each fast pass machine for RR coaster and proceeded to monopolize them for what must have been ten minutes while they got an outrageous number of fast passes. I've never seen anyone with such a huge stack of tickets. I stopped counting when the guy in front of me had used over 50 and looked to be about half done. Several of us complained to the CM there who, poor thing, was totally overwhelmed but finally did ask one of them to stop for awhile and let a few people go ahead. I suggested they reserve one machine for large groups but perhaps it isn't a problem that often?

[Dsnygirl]

I was there in January, and we had quite a few large tour groups from Brazil around while we were there.

I have to say, I didn't notice the kids to be unruly, although they were quite disruptive during Illuminations, esp. when Brazil would turn towards us on the globe.

The only real complaint I had, and this goes towards a word of advice for anyone who notices these groups staying at your resort --
if you are leaving a park at the end of the day, and you see a tour group from your resort heading towards the park entrance to leave -- RUN!!! Fast and furious, for your bus... otherwise, you will wait for hours. We had the unfort. experience of ending up at our bus stop at MK right after three of these groups got there -- and it was over an hour before we had a bus to take us to our resort. They just couldn't get the buses there fast enough!!

Oh, and also watch for the "do not disturb" signs to be moved all over the place... our room wasn't cleaned, apparently the mousekeeper saw a "do not disturb" sign on our door. Well, it wasn't from us - but our neighbors had put one on, and the teens had moved it... thus, they (our neighbors) were disturbed, and we, who wanted our room done, were skipped. When we called to ask about it, the front desk told us what was going on, as apparently they had gotten a lot of calls since the groups arrived.

[FLKatie912]

Just got back today . When we came back to the FQ on Sun., there was a large group of foreign teens. It was hard to tell what country they were from. The language sounded hispanc, but wasn't Spanish. I suspect that it was one of the infamous Brazilian tour groups. Their t-shirts appeared to be different colors for different ages, and labelled with what I assume was the company name, "Konik". I saw several of the leaders carrying the colored triangular flags.

I saw 3 tour busses in the parking lot, which means there were approx. 150 travellers. We never saw them in the parks, and never heard from them at the resort. On Mon. though, it was distressing to go to the food court at 8 AM for my morning coffee to find all of them crowded in! Since I wasn't trying to get food, it was no big deal.

Yes, I was in the parks from 6/16-6/23, and Monday we spent some time at the Studios, but not for long. We saw those "Konik" shirts, and because of past experiences, I thought to myself "at least they aren't chanting". We, of course, were starving and went to Backlot Express. We were around the Purple group of the Konik shirts. They were pretty quiet and respectful. They did leave their trash everywhere, but so do Americans. Of course, when they were leaving then the chanting began. We returned later that night for Fantasmic!and the 9:00 show had just ended and it was crazy how many different colors of that Konik shirt we saw exiting, and the amount of chanting was insane!

[KAJUNKING]

at which hotels do these groups typically stay?