My visit to Guest Relations

I know there has been plenty of discussion around here about the South American tour groups, but I thought I would share the experience I had yesterday since it is the first time I felt the need to stop at Guest Relations regarding the behavior.

I was at AK with my wife and children (17,14, and 9). My 17 yo is currently in a wheel chair due to breaking his foot in 3 places less than 2 weeks before vacation. (Fortunately, he does not require surgery, but that could easily change if he puts any pressure on it.) Coming out of FotLK, we were literally swarmed by a group from Brasil (The tour company name in this case is Kontik). There must have been close to 200 of them and the tour guides were actually encouraging poor behavior. Two things pushed me over the edge. The first was when several of them actually began jumping over my 17 year olds broken foot in order to get in front of us (yes, he was still in the wheel chair at the time, but that didn't seem to matter to them.) The second thing was looking down and and seeing several small children grabbing at their parents with fear in their eyes. I wasn't overly worried about my two younger kids. They have been in many large crowds and can handle the experience, but small children should never be as afraid in Disney as some of them appeared.

Anyway, I stopped by Guest Relations to let them know what happened. I'm sure they hear it all day, but figured it wouldn't hurt to add one more and to possibly add a slightly different perspective...

Due to the need to rent a wheel chair for this trip, I learned that Disney is partnered with certain rental companies. My suggestion to the CM at Guest Relations was for Disney to partner with a few tour operators, certify them, and even train the tour guides. Maybe the CM was humoring me, but he told me that Disney is considering options for dealing with the problem groups and is even considering going so far as to ban certain operators. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if anything happens...

 

[ddrongowski]

Nothing will happen. That is my .02

 

[AndyS2992]

Unfortunately Disney won't do anything. The tour groups bring in too much money and that is all they care about

 

[ddbowdoin]

too much $$$$$$

nothing will be done

 

[michaelnyc]

i sadly agree, do not think they will do anything
we even changed the time of year we go on vacation to avoid them

 

[mousehockey37]

Since you said it was Kontik, I looked up their website: This is the schedule day-to-day for them, if it's not translated, just hit the button to do it, it hopefully is in English, also just click on the picture of Mickey if it doesn't take you directly to the itinerary:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://www.kontikjovem.com.br/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkontik%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D667

Maybe, since you found the actual tour company, if Disney doesn't get the hint and do something, maybe it's time to start going to the source with your pictures, videos and complaints. Let THEM see what THEIR groups are doing in a foreign land, that might do something in the long run if enough people do it.

 

[farrellbarrel]

When I went in Jan 09 it was AWFUL. Its been 4 years, and nothing has changed. I hope something does, because it ruins others vacations.

 

[SnowFire]

Unfortunately Disney won't do anything. The tour groups bring in too much money and that is all they care about

Unfortunately, I agree. ...but I still felt the need to complain.

 

[SnowFire]

Since you said it was Kontik, I looked up their website: This is the schedule day-to-day for them, if it's not translated, just hit the button to do it, it hopefully is in English, also just click on the picture of Mickey if it doesn't take you directly to the itinerary:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://www.kontikjovem.com.br/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkontik%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D667

Maybe, since you found the actual tour company, if Disney doesn't get the hint and do something, maybe it's time to start going to the source with your pictures, videos and complaints. Let THEM see what THEIR groups are doing in a foreign land, that might do something in the long run if enough people do it.

Thank you SO much for this link. I never thought to look on their site for a tour plan. We are adjusting our remaining days so that we can avoid "the swarm."

I might try contacting the company, but I think they already know what is going on. This group had an actual video team with high-end video cameras recording what they were doing. The behavior seemed to actually get a bit worse when they were on camera.

 

[mousehockey37]

Thank you SO much for this link. I never thought to look on their site for a tour plan. We are adjusting our remaining days so that we can avoid "the swarm."

I might try contacting the company, but I think they already know what is going on. This group had an actual video team with high-end video cameras recording what they were doing. The behavior seemed to actually get a bit worse when they were on camera.

Well, remember, when anything like that is taped, it's going to be for promotional use. They could take 24/7 video for the 18 days or whatever it is that they are in the US and they'll take snips here and there to compile their video to sell the next year's trips. So the unruly behavior and such is more than likely edited out and deleted forever.

Now if you can capture your own video, where there video cameras are not running and submit that, who knows what may happen. I'd love to see someone get a reply from one of those tour companies and see what it says.

 

[hull327]

Can't remember the exact name of the tour group but it was definitely a group from Brasil back during the first week of October '12. I get on the Tower of Terror with my 9 year old daughter and the rest of the cart is this group. They're screaming and acting like hooligans before we even got on the ride (when you're waiting at the bottom of the elevator in the basement). During the Twilight Zone TV show part they're screaming and the guide (assumably as he was the only adult with the group of teens) was laughing along with them...

Fortunately this episode was the only issue I had for the week but that was enough.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

Unfortunately, I agree. ...but I still felt the need to complain.

I'm glad you did. Because if no one ever complains, then there's no problem, right? Every little bit helps.

I'm glad your son wasn't injured further by these jerks jumping over his foot- that's incredibly dangerous not only for your son, but for the idiots who were doing it.

I was asked to do a survey for Epcot on my first day (and time!!) there and after a real crap experience on one ride, the overall vibe of the park... I really let them have it on the survey.

I don't care if no one reads it, or if one person reads it, or if a hundred people do. Maybe one of those people will take it to a higher up and let them know about it. Its ALWAYS a good idea to let a company know when somethings wrong- be it Disney or Target, or Walmart or Toys R Us. The more complaints they get about something, the more likely they are to do something about it.

Even if they don't necessarily do anything about the tour group, maybe they'll register the companys name for future reference.

(btw, the ride experience was Maelstrom, and apparently it recently got a little maintanence and isnt having half the issues it was when I was there- and got ill due to all the mold and mildew. I guess enough people complained about it and someone finally worked on the ride?)

 

[Zman-ks]

too much $$$$$$

nothing will be done

This.