Brazilian Tour Groups...in NEW YORK???

[bee]

First, I apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum for this. I don't know that there is an exactly correct fit so I went with this one, and if it would be better somewhere else please move it, mods.

Yesterday my wife and I were having dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. Everything was going normally until we happened to look out the window and saw...a Brazilian tour group of about 30 teenagers walking up 9th Avenue! I wish I had taken a photo but I was in disbelief and could barely process what was happening! All the trappings were there: the adult guides, the flags, the matching t-shirts...which inexplicably had MICKEY MOUSE on them and said something about "Disney Turismo!"

They looked like they just walked out of Epcot and into the city! So we are wondering...is there a portal between WDW and New York? If so, where is it and how do we use it?? This would make living with a Disney addiction so much easier! Have you seen similar tour groups in places other than theme parks? And most importantly, what are they doing here? It would be one thing if they were wearing matching shirts that said "Tour to New York" or even "Tour to the US" or something...but they specifically had Mickey!

 

[Winter]

They're Brazilian tour groups. They can do anything.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Maybe they went to Disney for the first part of their vacation ( thats why they had Mickey shirts) , then the second half of their vacation was to go on to tour New York... or the other way around. Fortunately I have never seen a Brazilian tour group here in Maine so I dont have to suffer with their antics until I hit WDW. Guess Maine is too chilly for them.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

A lot of WDW tour group itineraries include shopping excursions to New York and Miami.

The Tour Groups are mostly not your everyday, random kids on a high school excursion. They are South America's rich kids, the kind who get a $10k holiday to WDW + shopping excursion for their 15th birthday.

 

[BuddyThomas]

I've actually been meaning to post about this. I work on the corner of 57th and 5th in NYC and these groups are everywhere this summer, with the flags and Mickey Mouse tee shirts and everything. I've worked here for over 15 years and I have never seen this before. They clog the sidewalks just standing in these endless groups, clueless that people might actually have to get to work or catch a train. They chant. They scream. They wave selfie sticks all over the place. They are going to get me sent to Rikers Island if they don't go away soon. Arghhhh.

 

[MinnieM123]

I've actually been meaning to post about this. I work on the corner of 57th and 5th in NYC and these groups are everywhere this summer, with the flags and Mickey Mouse tee shirts and everything. I've worked here for over 15 years and I have never seen this before. They clog the sidewalks just standing in these endless groups, clueless that people might actually have to get to work or catch a train. They chant. They scream. They wave selfie sticks all over the place. They are going to get me sent to Rikers Island if they don't go away soon. Arghhhh.

Remember, patience is a virtue . . .

Any time I've visited Midtown, it's always been a madhouse of pedestrians and streets full of traffic. I can't even imagine adding to that, some (large) groups of visitors standing around, blocking sidewalks, etc. Now, how they can be oblivious of the fact that the pace is fast in any major, metropolitan city, is beyond my comprehension. I really don't care where any of these large groups originate from, but their chaperones need to educate them about some of the customs and courtesies of walking around in a large city.

 

[bee]

I've actually been meaning to post about this. I work on the corner of 57th and 5th in NYC and these groups are everywhere this summer, with the flags and Mickey Mouse tee shirts and everything. I've worked here for over 15 years and I have never seen this before. They clog the sidewalks just standing in these endless groups, clueless that people might actually have to get to work or catch a train. They chant. They scream. They wave selfie sticks all over the place. They are going to get me sent to Rikers Island if they don't go away soon. Arghhhh.

I'm glad I'm not the only one to have noticed and to have thought it strange! I mean, I studied abroad and did group tours with other college-age kids, and I know we were obnoxious and very loud by local standards...at least we didn't wear Mickey shirts though! And we were all there for educational purposes, not for vacation!