July and tour groups...

[prfctlyximprct]

My trip is in 13 days (wahoo!!!) but I keep seeing on twitter and YouTube things about the South American tour groups being there in full force in July. Does anyone have any tips for dealing with this?? Is this necessarily true?? I know Disney recently changed the age of younger kids that can be admitted with an adult, has that helped at all??

Am I freaking out for nothing??

 

[englanddg]

My trip is in 13 days (wahoo!!!) but I keep seeing on twitter and YouTube things about the South American tour groups being there in full force in July. Does anyone have any tips for dealing with this?? Is this necessarily true?? I know Disney recently changed the age of younger kids that can be admitted with an adult, has that helped at all??

Am I freaking out for nothing??

Yes, you are.

But, if you are truly concerned, may I suggest you pack a cattle prod?

They are also useful for overzealous scooters and slow moving overweight families that decide to take up the whole walkway.

<kidding>

 

[Tuvalu]

Yes, there will be a lot of tour groups there. The majority will be made up of teens (with 2-3 tour operators per group) so the new Disney policy does not apply to them.

Be patient, have fun and when you see a large group headed to one particular attraction, go and do something else.

 

[luv]

The tour groups are there a lot more than they used to be, but July has tour groups.

They have honestly gotten MUCH better than they used to be. They do still yell a lot as they wander through the parks - kind of like kids at summer camp - but the pushing, shoving and cutting are much better. I have not been, nor have I seen anyone else, pushed in at least a year or two.

If you attempted to go the other way every time you encountered a group, you'd be like a pinball, bouncing around, lol, and never get anywhere. So learn to live with them.

They aren't going away.

 

[Figgy1]

My trip is in 13 days (wahoo!!!) but I keep seeing on twitter and YouTube things about the South American tour groups being there in full force in July. Does anyone have any tips for dealing with this?? Is this necessarily true?? I know Disney recently changed the age of younger kids that can be admitted with an adult, has that helped at all??

Am I freaking out for nothing??

Yes, just smile and nod. Walk around them as they move slowly and like a tight herd of cattle. Yes mostly for nothing.

 

[real mad hatter]

Ok..Here's my take on this...Five vacations since 2004 ..All in July...South American Tour groups..They go one way,I go the other..It's a bit like my Scottish song " Loch Lomond "... "You take the high road,and I'll take the low road,and I'll be in Scotland before Ye." Trust me it works every time..If I see 200 of them heading for Splash Mountain..I turn right and head for Haunted Mansion and when I come out of HM,I pass them heading for Splash as their all heading for HM..Olay.Olay.Olay.Olay..

 

[disney1077]

I always go in July and yes they are everyway, it will be kind of hard to avoid them. I wont lie some of them can be a little obnoxious. The best thing to do is just ignore them and enjoy your vacation.

 

[Hot Lava]

Learn some key words/phrases in Portuguese:
Hello
Goodbye
Yes
No
No cutting in line!

Perhaps some profanity? That depends on you comfort level of using it in English.

 

[Mr.Skunkape]

Do not worry about things that you have no control over. Do your own thing and I hope you have fun.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

We also always go in July, but have not really had any bad encounters with tour groups. We are DVC members, so we don't have to worry about them at the resort. We also tend to eat at table service restaurants which they do not frequent.

 

[KatMaria]

They have just began arriving at the parks this week, so they are here and are probably going to be here until end of August. Just get to the parks early, they tend to sleep in till about 12 and then hit the parks full force. If you see one going one way, go the other way and try something else. I personally just avoid going where ever they are going and just go early so by the time I get my fastpasses and first few rides in, they are just starting the day. And yes, there will be a ton of them out there so just be prepared and be ready to deal with them if you have to.