The Brazilian tour groups: is Disney taking action?

[Rachel S1321]

Has Disney ever thought about making a South American park? There has to be some money making potential there?

 

[Jahona]

We've had some run ins with the tour groups as well. We had just arrived/checked in then took our 3 year old daughter to DHS. We took her straight to Toy Story Mania ride. We had been in line for 40 minutes when a huge crowd came pushing through our line without warning. Knocking my daughter down and trampling over her! She had scrapes and bruises all over! We had to leave the line because she needed band-aids for her knees. We did get a fast pass to go back on but nothing was done to the group who had a few people waiting in line and then the rest of the group just joins them. Cutting all the other people waiting in line. This line cutting happened a few times while we were on our vacation. And it happens in a very aggressive way. It is dangerous and rude. And they always got on and off the ride before us. This was 2012 so I don't know if this has changed since then.

I saw a tour group push their way through the line last year and I did my best Gandalf impersonation while a friend waved down a CM. The CM had them all take a side exit and get to the back of the line. This was only a pack of 20 kids so it was only a partial tour group. I can understand the single individual meeting friends in line. I'll admit I've done it once or twice, but a large group pushing their way through a single file line is to much.

 

[thomas998]

Comparing babies that have almost no control over their emotions and teenagers that have full control over their annoying behavior.......yeah, not exactly apples to apples there.....

No babies have no control over their emotions, but the parents of those crying babies have complete control... the ability to take them back to their hotel room, to change their diaper, to feed them... a myriad of things to eliminate the crying but most are simply too selfish to care about other having to hear it or the baby that is clearly suffering and crying out for help... So yeah it is apple to oranges... The chanting teenagers aren't signaling anyone about selfish parents neglecting their baby... the baby is.

 

[Ulysses McGill]

Has Disney ever thought about making a South American park? There has to be some money making potential there?

I can't imagine they have. The economic divide between rich and poor is pretty wide throughout most of the continent, and the upper portion of society has plenty of disposable income to afford travel expenses. So they're not going to cut off a major stream of longer-term on property stays.

Plus, space would be a major problem because a proper infrastructure for something of a major theme park's magnitude wouldn't be easy to acquire and develop.

 

[aw14]

No babies have no control over their emotions, but the parents of those crying babies have complete control... the ability to take them back to their hotel room, to change their diaper, to feed them... a myriad of things to eliminate the crying but most are simply too selfish to care about other having to hear it or the baby that is clearly suffering and crying out for help... So yeah it is apple to oranges... The chanting teenagers aren't signaling anyone about selfish parents neglecting their baby... the baby is.

If you cannot see the differences between rowdy teenagers and a baby that is either hungry, needs a diaper change, etc... I don't know what to tell you.

The teenagers do have some semblance of control over themselves, and should behave in an appropriate manner.

In terms of the baby, yes, the parents "should" do something, but you are assuming they haven't already.

I personally find it far less intrusive if there is a baby crying than a pack of rowdy teens. Bear in mind, I work in a High School with some rowdy teens.

 

[POLY LOVER]

there are a lot of generalizations being made here on this subject.

 

[officialtom]

During our trip last January 2015, we only really noticed the tour groups one evening after a day at DHS. We got to the bus stop for POR only to find that it was overflowing with a loud, obnoxious, yelling, screaming, and chanting tour group (or maybe more than one group). There were only two chaperones within sight, and they were both clearly flirting with the girls in the group and passing around a phone watching a video or something. They filled an entire bus, and then we got stuck on a second bus that they three-quarter filled. They proceeded to chant the whole drive to POR despite the driver asking them to please be respectful. The worst parts for me were that none of them offered their seats to elderly people who were forced to stand, and they didn't stop chanting even though there were clearly exhausted toddlers trying to sleep on their mothers' laps. I brushed it off, mostly, because the rest of the trip was so great.

Courtesy and respect simply cannot be optional.

 

[Michaelson]

Last February we watched several of those groups walking the park in a downpour. Never saw such a bunch of glum faced, wet, and QUIET kids in all my life! LOL! Seriously, though, I'll have to say compared to our trip back in 2014 (February) to this February, they were a lot quieter. I truly HOPE WDW folks are taking this in hand, like the now banned selfie stick crowd, sometimes too much of a good thing really messes things up for everyone around them.

 

[nelsonj3]

Has anyone ever been to the water parks when the tour groups are in there?

I have, and was shocked to see 100+ teenage girls, more than half who were donning thong bikinis. Which I understand, outside of the U.S. that's just how many female beachgoers dress and it's truly not a big deal to anyone inside their home country. That said, if I were about 15-18 years younger, that might have been the best part of the trip, but now I'm seeing these things through the lens of "When I have kids, how do I explain something like this?"

They weren't acting inappropriate or crazy or anything, but I really wasn't expecting it. Although there were a lot of very peeved women staring at their husbands a lot as if to say, "I dare you to look."

In addition to the visuals, however, there was about a 90 minute wait for the really giant slide at Blizzard Beach (forgot the name of it). Actually all the lines were so long that we gave up and left after only about 40 minutes in the park and came back a few months later before the weather cooled off.

I was actually at Typhoon Lagoon once when one of the groups was there, and some of the girls decided that they didn't want to wait to change in the dressing room... No really!! Luckily, some cast members and some of their group leaders put a stop to it pretty quickly, but it definitely caused a commotion around the locker area for some unsuspecting guests.

I think you're right though; this is more of a cultural issue. Americans are generally more reserved about nudity and skimpy clothing than other countries. However, groups coming here should be educated on these differences and should be taught to respect our differences just like Americans need to respect cultural norms in other countries. (I was very embarrassed last Summer when a group of American Teenagers started causing a scene on one of the main streets in Vienna, Austria by pushing each other around and being really loud as if they were at a football game. People were staring for sure...)

 

[POLY LOVER]

Since there may be a language gap and to avoid confrontation, why not give people a yellow card they can hold up when they feel there has been a violation.
The groups can identify with that , meaning a foul has been made on your sensibilities.

 

[xoAli]

Has Disney ever thought about making a South American park? There has to be some money making potential there?

I can't imagine they have. The economic divide between rich and poor is pretty wide throughout most of the continent, and the upper portion of society has plenty of disposable income to afford travel expenses. So they're not going to cut off a major stream of longer-term on property stays.

Plus, space would be a major problem because a proper infrastructure for something of a major theme park's magnitude wouldn't be easy to acquire and develop.

Actually, there was talks about making a park/attraction for the cruise line in Central America a few years ago.

 

[Ulysses McGill]

Actually, there was talks about making a park/attraction for the cruise line in Central America a few years ago.

Wow. Never read/heard anything about that. Would love to hear more about it. Although that's doubly interesting since you're saying it was a DCL thing.

 

[righttrack]

Canadian group seated awaiting Fantasmic. You might get annoyed at their constant chants of "Sorry"

 

[G00fyDad]

Canadian group seated awaiting Fantasmic. You might get annoyed at their constant chants of "Sorry"

It's pronounced "sow-ry".

 

[brb1006]

Canadian group seated awaiting Fantasmic. You might get annoyed at their constant chants of "Sorry"

Now I want to see footage of them.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I was actually at Typhoon Lagoon once when one of the groups was there, and some of the girls decided that they didn't want to wait to change in the dressing room... No really!! Luckily, some cast members and some of their group leaders put a stop to it pretty quickly, but it definitely caused a commotion around the locker area for some unsuspecting guests.

I think you're right though; this is more of a cultural issue. Americans are generally more reserved about nudity and skimpy clothing than other countries. However, groups coming here should be educated on these differences and should be taught to respect our differences just like Americans need to respect cultural norms in other countries. (I was very embarrassed last Summer when a group of American Teenagers started causing a scene on one of the main streets in Vienna, Austria by pushing each other around and being really loud as if they were at a football game. People were staring for sure...)

Especially when you realize that we get all kinds of crap when we go to other countries and do something socially wrong. Then it's those damn Americans that are rude and obnoxious. However, god forbid that someone tell someone coming here that what they are doing is wrong and needs to stop. Once again, it's those damn Americans.

 

[nelsonj3]

Especially when you realize that we get all kinds of crap when we go to other countries and do something socially wrong. Then it's those damn Americans that are rude and obnoxious. However, god forbid that someone tell someone coming here that what they are doing is wrong and needs to stop. Once again, it's those damn Americans.

I think we're too nice sometimes... lol. I had a great discussion with some people from Belgium in a Biergarten in Munich last summer. They love Americans, and they seem to think that our biggest flaw is that we allow everyone to walk all over us sometimes so that we can be perceived as "politically correct" and "open-minded." I thought that was an interesting assessment.

 

[Matt_Black]

Yeah, I've heard that too. Or how we ask how someone is doing instead of just saying hi and wishing them a pleasant day- some people find that off-putting.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

That's the thing though- if you're visiting another country, you should familiarize yourself with at least some of the customs and etiquette.

Oh I agree fully.

 

[righttrack]

I have nothing against the groups. I just feel the format of WDW does not fit large groups staying so closely together. The only thing that annoys me about the groups, and frankly it's the size of the group and age more than it is their nationality, is the chants and cheers. The sights, sounds and experiences themselves should be enough without treating them like kids on a long car ride. It's almost like they are playing license plate bingo going through the parks. Enjoy what's around you!