International Tour Group season about to begin

[Figments Friend]

Yet another reason to not visit WDW during the peak summer months.

Honestly, why do people visit during that time of year anyway besides the obvious ..kids being out of school?

It is hot, the airfare/gas prices are at their highest..hotel rates are high...the Parks are crowded....dining reservations are nutty....and tour groups.
Just WHY..?

Save your money...and your sanity. Visit off-season.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Wait a second... Were the cheerleaders girls? Get out of here you sexist pig!

See how completely stupid that is?

That is possibly the best retort I've ever seen to the argument that it should be racist to be firmly opposed to South American Tour Groups.

 

[Fractal514]

We encountered the foreign tour groups in January during our last trip. I was prepared for far worse than I saw. I find them annoying, but not trip-ruiningly disruptive. The video shown in this thread doesn't seem bad at all to me. A few seconds of noise as they pass and then that's that. What I can't stand are when anyone maintains a constant disruption, takes over a whole area, or gets physical in any way. Also, I found that some of the folks in the groups we saw were well aware of how annoying others in the group were.

 

[bubbles1812]

We were at Pop too! Horrible! We had to eat meals either hours before or after normal which was just fine, I mean part of vacation is being flexible to make it fun but I watched one of the "fifteen" spit in her friends cup because they were fighting over the line to get to the soft drinks. Then we (of course) were a few people behind the group leader at the fastpass line at Everest and he took his pennant/flag thing and tapped the man in front of him on the shoulder with the flag and made a motion for him to move out of the way... however the man in front was putting in his tickets for the fastpass. He couldnt wait for the man to put in his kids THREE passes but he was about to hold up the line for 10 minutes at least! I am usually SOOOOOO understanding of cultural differences and I know queuing up for things is not a norm in all countries and can be kind of a free for all. American's are called "horrible" tourist because they cant respect the native countries culture but I discovered on this trip we are not alone! We plan on generations of trips ahead and this past trip has seriously tipped us in favor of DVC! I love the idea of a convenience fee! I realize Disney feels like "oh well if its a large group or lots of families we fill the resort anyway!" However, its not the same! At least with a hundred families you are going to have a hundred schedules and different directions to head of in. With a large group you are booking the food court, busses, and fastpass lines for a serious amount of traffic at once!

Ugh. The fifteen groups are the worst. I was there in February and I've never had a more unpleasant ride on Space Mountain. I don't kind some yelling/wooing/screaming on the ride but they started screaming even before the ride started and didnt stop even after the ride came to a stop. And it wasnt a "we are having fun" scream. It sounded like they were trying to see who could sound more like they were being murdered. I'm going be honest... Teenage girls in large groups suck. And this coming from someone who was once a teenage girl

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Yet another reason to not visit WDW during the peak summer months.

Honestly, why do people visit during that time of year anyway besides the obvious ..kids being out of school?

It is hot, the airfare/gas prices are at their highest..hotel rates are high...the Parks are crowded....dining reservations are nutty....and tour groups.
Just WHY..?

Save your money...and your sanity. Visit off-season.

For me it's because my conference is then and discounted rooms at the Dolphin, free park tickets and 75% off flights is just too good a deal to pass up.

 

[G00fyDad]

WDW should house the tour groups in the same hotel and offer fun seminars on proper park behavior..

They wouldn't get the point. They'd just think it was a comedy show.

 

[backinaction]

I have stayed at the all-stars when pop warner are there and yes they are noisy and run around late at night but they are angels compared to staying with the South American tour groups. How they get away with their antics is unbelievable, blatantly stealing items from stalls in magic kindgom, pushing little infants out of the way, chanting and just blocking pathways etc.

They are so bad that I would holiday somewhere else than visit wdw when they are around.

Didn't they have to ask a group of about 100 pop warner football players to leave Disney property a few years back because there was a massive fight at one of the all star hotels? I find the pop warner parents to be way worse then the tour groups ( They would basically get wasted every night at the bar and let their children run around the hotel harassing people till all hours of the night). I would take the Brazilian tour group at my hotel any day over the pop warner group.

 

[G00fyDad]

Didn't they have to ask a group of about 100 pop warner football players to leave Disney property a few years back because there was a massive fight at one of the all star hotels? I find the pop warner parents to be way worse then the tour groups ( They would basically get wasted every night at the bar and let their children run around the hotel harassing people till all hours of the night). I would take the Brazilian tour group at my hotel any day over the pop warner group.

Both groups are bad.

 

[blm07]

How about they charge that same fee to American pop warner sports/cheerleading groups and American high school senior class trips too.

FINE WITH ME! They are all extremely annoying in their own ways. Don't care if "that's what teenagers of any race would do if they are unsupervised" they all are annoying, pushy, loud and all that. And the cheerleader moms... even brattier. *barf*

 

[LucyK]

Not that it matters much but the 15's were from Argentina.

I'm Brazilian and I feel your pain. I was there in February (not in a group, hold your rocks) and the 15's groups were out of control. Chanting, screaming, clogging walkways... I usually tried to outrun them for fastpasses and turned the other way when I saw them. It's all about them during Fantasmic, they would scream and ruin the pre-show experience of everyone around them.

I'd never visited with a group and I always advise people against it, I even tell them how bad Americans are thinking about Brazilians tourists because of the tour groups.

 

[tsaintc]

Yet another reason to not visit WDW during the peak summer months.

Honestly, why do people visit during that time of year anyway besides the obvious ..kids being out of school?

It is hot, the airfare/gas prices are at their highest..hotel rates are high...the Parks are crowded....dining reservations are nutty....and tour groups.
Just WHY..?

Save your money...and your sanity. Visit off-season.

Unfortunately, my children refuse to miss any school time for a vacation. Off-season is not an option for us. In all honesty, we love the summer weather in FLA. Other than a few small issues, our experiences have not been ruined by the tour groups (during the past 15+ trips during the peak tour group season).

 

[KatMaria]

They haven't been that bad this year, the school groups have been worse than ever (and cheerleaders).

 

[RunnerEd]

I encountered a group very up close during the marathon a couple of years ago. They were strolling across the course at DHS instead of moving quickly like the CM told them. I gave a couple of them an object lesson in the difference between American Football and that stuff they call football in the 3rd world; American football is a violent collision sport! They got trucked! I wasn't trying to do so and it couldn't be avoided.

I have often wondered what would happen if someone ran through the group and took the little flag from the guide and yelled follow me and sprinted to the park exit....

 

[1disneydood]

Going June 8-16. :/
I'm a licensed French Quarter tour guide. ALWAYS blame the group, not the guide. It's impossible to control over 25 preoccupied minds on vacation. Esp if they get to drinking. I often have to treat my groups like children who wont listen. My job is so fun, lol. But if I knew Portuguese I bet I could get them in line. My tours act appropriate or I make them leave.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Groups of teens are annoying EVERYWHERE. I live just outside of Washington DC and every spring there are hordes of preteens and teenagers taking school trips to the capital to see thing they could care less about at least at Disney they get some rides. Nothing like a group of bored 13 year olds spending a couple days staring at buildings and statues to get them in a great mood.

 

[DJMoore2011]

I have often wondered what would happen if someone ran through the group and took the little flag from the guide and yelled follow me and sprinted to the park exit....

Would love to see a video of this.

 

[fillerup]

"International Tour Group season about to begin"

GREAT - where can I buy my license, and what's the daily limit?

Well done.

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

Not that it matters much but the 15's were from Argentina.

I'm Brazilian and I feel your pain. I was there in February (not in a group, hold your rocks) and the 15's groups were out of control. Chanting, screaming, clogging walkways... I usually tried to outrun them for fastpasses and turned the other way when I saw them. It's all about them during Fantasmic, they would scream and ruin the pre-show experience of everyone around them.

I'd never visited with a group and I always advise people against it, I even tell them how bad Americans are thinking about Brazilians tourists because of the tour groups.

It does matter.......at least to me it does. I've been to DC and Boston as a chaperone with my kids for school trips and the Fifteen group made every other group combined seem rational (and the Boston trip was with 5th graders).

 

[Mickey_777]

I've never been during the Tour Group season but earlier this month, we found ourselves amidst the "Florida Elementary/Middle School field trip group" season. They were annoying at times. Not too bad though. But the best thing is they were out of the parks by 4pm to get back home. Best part.

 

[1disneydood]

"International Tour Group season about to begin"

GREAT - where can I buy my license, and what's the daily limit?

lol well not sure about Orlando, but here in New Orleans it costs about $200 first time through the taxicab bureau, fed background check, drug screen, proving you can speak English, write a paragraph why you'd be a good guide, and a 100 question written test much of which has nothing to do with the French Quarter ghost tour I give. Legal limit down here is 28 guests per tour and its illegal to give any tours for profit w/o the license. Then there's rules to make the group follow which is the not so fun part.