Advice on how to handle tour groups

[DfromATX]

We were just there a couple of weeks ago and surprisingly, it wasn't that bad! We didn't notice ANY Brazilians. I said this in another post, but we guessed they were busy with the Olympics. We only noticed a couple of tour groups - we think from Argentina. One time in the line for EE they started to chant and the cast member actually shushed them and they stayed quiet. It was kind of nice.

P.S. - I really worried about it before our trip. Since we went at one of the worst times (mid July), I worried about the tour groups, the heat, the wait times - even the broken down rides, but you know what? Everything was great!

 

[mouse_luv]

We were just there a couple of weeks ago and surprisingly, it wasn't that bad! We didn't notice ANY Brazilians. I said this in another post, but we guessed they were busy with the Olympics. We only noticed a couple of tour groups - we think from Argentina. One time in the line for EE they started to chant and the cast member actually shushed them and they stayed quiet. It was kind of nice.

P.S. - I really worried about it before our trip. Since we went at one of the worst times (mid July), I worried about the tour groups, the heat, the wait times - even the broken down rides, but you know what? Everything was great!

The Brazilian economy took a dump with the Olympics and everything going on so there's less of them at WDW. You more than likely saw the Argentinians and they aren't as bad as the Brazilians but if it's me I just avoid them all lol! My fave foreigners in the parks are those from the UK and Canadians.

 

[glvsav37]

this is going to sound stupid, but I bet there are a handful of major South American tour group companies that come to WDW. And if they are tours, I'm sure they keep to a pretty set schedule. I bet if someone wanted to do the leg work, you might find a pattern or schedule that they keep and you can go the reverse of that. i.e on Tuesday they are in MK, so you go to AK? I'm sure you won't avoid them completely, but I wonder if there was a schedule you could build that would avoid most.

IDK..just a thought.

 

[DfromATX]

The Brazilian economy took a dump with the Olympics and everything going on so there's less of them at WDW. You more than likely saw the Argentinians and they aren't as bad as the Brazilians but if it's me I just avoid them all lol! My fave foreigners in the parks are those from the UK and Canadians.

I didn't know about their economy, but I think you are right. It was so much different than the last time we went in July. We enjoy talking to people from different places. My beef with the tour groups is just that there are so many!

 

[DfromATX]

this is going to sound stupid, but I bet there are a handful of major South American tour group companies that come to WDW. And if they are tours, I'm sure they keep to a pretty set schedule. I bet if someone wanted to do the leg work, you might find a pattern or schedule that they keep and you can go the reverse of that. i.e on Tuesday they are in MK, so you go to AK? I'm sure you won't avoid them completely, but I wonder if there was a schedule you could build that would avoid most.

IDK..just a thought.

I'm sure there's some kind of rhyme or reason to their madness.

 

[mouse_luv]

only encountered them once... right before IROE. My party stood by our viewing for the show for about 2 hours, and about 30 minutes before the show started, about 100 Kids pushed through right in front of us, ruining our ENTIRE view of the show. But i would not have it, me being pretty short, had to stand on a planter to even see the show.

If one of you would have went over and grabbed a CM and explained to them they would have had the group move immediately.

 

[LAKid53]

South American tour groups - the ones with hundreds of teenagers - visit WDW in January (summer break) and July (winter break). Have visited several times both months and found that July crowds are worse than January. But since the Brazilian economy took a dump (not because of the Olympics, but because of other factors, like the rest of the planet), I doubt we will see the levels experienced in the past. Sadly, thanks to Brexit, we won't be graced with as many UK visitors as in the past. The Brits need to teach WDW visitors (including us Yanks) how to queue. Nicely. Because they do.

 

[Mickey5150]

The only time it's been bad for me is when I was on that one boat ride and there were kids from all different countries singing non stop the entire ride. What was really messed up is that they were all singing the same song and in all different languages. Worst still is that they are there every time I go on the ride, it's as if they are following me. Why is this world so small?

 

[BrianV]

The only time it's been bad for me is when I was on that one boat ride and there were kids from all different countries singing non stop the entire ride. What was really messed up is that they were all singing the same song and in all different languages. Worst still is that they are there every time I go on the ride, it's as if they are following me. Why is this world so small?

Best comment of the thread!

 

[thomas998]

So I don't want this to be a thread about picking on South American tour groups but....I'm going in July. It's the only time I can go this year and its the first time I'm going during the dreaded South American tour group time. I've read up in it and I have to be honest I'm a little scared. I finally got my husband to go back to DWorld after refusing to go for a decade and I don't want this ruining our trip. So I just want some constructive advice.

We have lived in foreign countries and have traveled. We understand culture differences exist that even us Americans are not immune to being rude and making faux pauxs in other countries. We also realize that kids are kids and that noise and obnoxiousness will happen when large groups of them get together. I myself was once a very obnoxious young person.

However, if there is chanting and yelling going on during the parades, fireworks or shows I will be VERY upset. I don't care if they do it on the bus or in the parks but if I can't hear the shows I might forget MY manners. I don't want to do that and ruin my trip. I heard that a parade had to be cancelled a couple of years ago because of chanting. Can someone confirm that this is true? I also heard that DWorld is cracking down on it this behavior and that some have noticed that there is less chanting and improved behavior. I certainly hope this is true and again just want confirmation.

The other thing I am concerned about is line cutting. We also paid money to go to DWorld and now with the new FastPass system we have to go through an abnormal amount of time pre-planning just to make sure to get to things we want to do. So if I see a bunch of line cutting I will have an issue with it. Please tell me they are cracking down on this behavior too. I heard a rumor that they are getting rid of the double FastPass sensors. I heard that they are only keeping the one Fast Pass sensor at the entrance to the FP line. If this is true they are easily going to have line cutting going on no matter what country they are from. That will make me VERY unhappy as well. Can anyone respond with some facts on this?

We've been there when they were there on a couple of trips. To ease your mind, I can tell you that we never heard them chanting while the fireworks or parades were going on, they tended to do it more when they were either in line waiting for a ride or moving in a group from some place to another.... As for line cutting, I've experienced it more from non-group South Americans than I have from any tour groups. I had one instance where a small group tried to move past me to join another group... I simply didn't let them pass and that was the end of it. Now when you are talking visitors from South America (families not groups) that is where I have had the biggest problems. Based on their spanish and accents the ones that stand out are almost always from Argentina. I suspect the reason you get more issues from the families from South America is that if they are wealthy enough to bring the whole family to Disney they tend to be the elitist snobs that think they are better than anyone else... The tour groups tend to be made up of kids that aren't from the real wealthy families so they don't have the same attitude of entitlement.

As for Disney doing anything to crack down on bad behavior... Don't hold your breath, in my experience they pretty much turn a blind eye to everything because they are all afraid a guest will complain and they will get in trouble.

 

[Gutterbuddy]

Waiting in line for soaring we had a tour group behind us. Very loud which I understand but kept pushing up on us. Stepped on our kids etc.. Also, after a wait to go on space mountain one had to record the ride on her phone so we basically had a headlight. Ruined it for us.

 

[DfromATX]

Waiting in line for soaring we had a tour group behind us. Very loud which I understand but kept pushing up on us. Stepped on our kids etc.. Also, after a wait to go on space mountain one had to record the ride on her phone so we basically had a headlight. Ruined it for us.

Did you say anything to them or at least give them an evil look?

 

[Gutterbuddy]

Did you say anything to them or at least give them an evil look?

Didn't say anything at soaring I think they could tell I wasn't happy. My son and I both yelled to shut light off at space mountain a number of times but they didn't.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

Never been in July, but I have been in January (the other tour group month). Seems like there are always some sort of large groups, whether it be Brazilians, cheerleaders, peewee footballers, etc. The thing they all have in common is that they don't move very fast and are easily identifiable. If we ever see a group in the area we are headed, we just call an audible and go in another direction. That has always worked for us.

 

[righttrack]

I think the kids and the groups are as good as they are run. If the kids are happy, then all is great. If the group is poorly managed and the kids don't get to go on a lot, they get bored. They do their chants and cheers in queues mostly and while waiting outside and trying to gather the group.

They're teenage kids, get them in a large group, no matter the culture, make them stay together and they're going to act up occasionally. What I never understand about these groups is that they tour WDW like you'd tour the Grand Canyon. The kids should be allowed to disperse and enjoy the park with their friends and meet back at a set time and place. These aren't babies, they are juniors/seniors in high school age.

 

[LongLiveTheKing]

Waiting in line for soaring we had a tour group behind us. Very loud which I understand but kept pushing up on us. Stepped on our kids etc.. Also, after a wait to go on space mountain one had to record the ride on her phone so we basically had a headlight. Ruined it for us.

There is a special circle of hell for people who use flashes in rides.

 

[Timeshark]

Honestly, they are more of a problem for the cast members then the other tourists. They WILL step on/push you out of their way, argue with you if you even try to ask them to do something for you (like move over), and cause a lot of noise and mess anywhere they go. I avoid them like the plague. Hope you aren't behind them in line for a character or ride, they are likely to cause an issue that makes the wait shoot up.

 

[LindsaySue2]

Hey it's been awhile since I checked in here but I am happy to announce that there was no trouble at all. We were always going in the opposite direction of the big groups and they didn't seem to be terribly loud or disruptive when we encountered them. I heard that Disney cracked down on some of the tour groups because of the negative behavior in the past and that it's much improved. So I don't know if the rumors were exaggerated or if Disney just put a smack down on some of the troublemakers. Either way we saw no issues at all.

 

[mouse_luv]

Hey it's been awhile since I checked in here but I am happy to announce that there was no trouble at all. We were always going in the opposite direction of the big groups and they didn't seem to be terribly loud or disruptive when we encountered them. I heard that Disney cracked down on some of the tour groups because of the negative behavior in the past and that it's much improved. So I don't know if the rumors were exaggerated or if Disney just put a smack down on some of the troublemakers. Either way we saw no issues at all.

Probably because the groups that were mostly there with you were from Argentina and tend to be more chill than the Brazilian groups who didn't leave home much if at all this year because of the Rio Olympics. Glad you had a nice trip.