Jan 2014 - Brazilian Tour groups / general vibe for crowds?

[jglori]

We were there Jan 13-22nd and while we saw quite a few tour groups, there were no concerns about their behaviors. I had read about it on here and was worried but we found those warnings unnecessary.

We did try to get in front of larger groups but other than that we didn't pay much attention.

 

[jdcthree]

I've always felt the hype about tour groups overblown. (racism?) I've been many times and never had any more problems with these tour groups than any other group. With those qualifiers, this Jan had no problems with any tour groups.

We saw some minor rude behavior, but it was, as usual, Americans: flash photos on dark rides! Dropping trash on ground! Folks who should know enough to say, "excuse me" periodically! Folks grumbling about minor waits. That sort of thing.

Mostly when we hear the tour groups say or do anything they are simply expressing enthusiasm! In years past, we've periodically heard folks cheering maybe while waiting for a parade to start- that sort of thing. Or like a group of girls cheering poolside- oh wait, that was also AMERICAN teenagers. Nope no problems.

So "hype" about tour groups = racism in your book, but what you just said about Americans is just the truth as you see it. Got it.

 

[disneyfanlincoln]

Here now, the big tour groups appear to be not as big this year! No issues to report, parks appear more crowded last couple of days but that could be down to the weather cold last week and in the 80s now. Fast pass has worked quite well I've been surprised, only issue for me is scanning the magic bands during EMH takes forever and hand held scanners don't seem to work most of the time leading to queues, remains a great time to visit.

 

[Art 1]

I saw a group of them Sunday at Epcot, loud and obnoxious as usuall. I go the other way when I see them.

 

[Cyrano]

Folks denigrating ANY nationality is not allowed. Please to see that the majority of the posts have stayed respectful

 

[vault19dweller]

Again thank you all so much for providing these reports – its great to get the info straight from the horse's mouth as it were.

Honestly all I could find online about tour groups were not-so-great things so I just had to ask to verify if this was correct or not.

The reports back are amazing, guess they get a worse rep than they deserve.

I've always felt the hype about tour groups overblown. (racism?)

Honestly I believe that there are more good people than bad people throughout the world (just the bad tends to get reported on more) and that no matter where you are there are bound to be a few not-so-well behaved people.

I’ve already been making statements like "I was prepared to have some not-so-magical experiences (any places that has such a high number of visitors is bound to have a few bad eggs in there regardless of where they're from) and "To be honest I don't have an issue with groups or where anyone's from" along with me not minding groups or the chanting.
Please don’t try to bring racism to this thread, that’s the last thing in the world on my mind (as per above previous statements)

The only reason I was asking is because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of reports for this situation being so negative and I was unable to find anything contradicting it – thus I needed to check if all those reports were correct or not

 

[akl432]

I was there from Jan 18-26, 2014. This was my second time visiting in mid-January. The Brazilian tour groups were much quieter and well-behaved than my January 2011 trip. I didn't have any issues at all this time, whereas in January 2011, there was a lot of the loud chanting, line-cutting, and rudeness described on these boards. This trip, I had no complaints at all. All groups were polite and seemed well-behaved.

Maybe due to prior guest complaints, Disney is speaking with them and their leaders beforehand, reminding them of the expected behavior?

 

[surferdave]

I suspect the problem has always been too few handlers looking out after too many teenagers in the case of these tour groups, both foreign and domestic. Maybe a benefit of the new Fastpass+ system (and if so maybe the only point of the whole matter from my perspective) is that a single person can no longer look out after a massive throng of them, running about the park with a two inch thick stack of cards to stick in the old Fastpass machines. Maybe now to manage their visits they have to have one person to manage a smaller number in order to have any flexibility on MM+, and a side effect is better behaved and managed tour groups roaming in smaller numbers.

 

[Eeee-va]

There were quite a few tour groups at the end of January. Overall they didn't bother me any more than any other large group of people would have. I don't like crowds so I don't particularly like when any large group is nearby, but they didn't cause us any real trouble at Disney. There was one time when they made navigating the food court tricky, but that was again just because it was a large group of people, not anything to do with their age or nationality. My worst food court experiences didn't involve tour groups at all (just large crowds of non-tour groups trying to get food with lines that barely moved).

But we visited Universal one day and some members of tour groups did some shoving/cutting/crowding/stepping on feet (generally with no apologies). That wasn't pleasant but I imagine it is not unusual for groups of teenage girls anywhere. There was also loud chanting and singing in queues (which I assume is cultural). I'd assume these groups were also visiting WDW as well; the ones shoving us in line to get into the park certainly were, as they had dining plan cups. So I don't know if Disney is cracking down on them more, if fewer handlers came to Universal, or if they were just more obvious (or more together?) at Universal, since the park was absolutely dead due to the day we chose and the fact that it was a high of around 51 and rainy. Either way, after we ditched them after the first ride, they were only a minor annoyance throughout the day.

(It was so cold that at one point we saw one of the handlers buried himself in an avalanche of backpacks his group had left at the entrance to a ride!)

The Disney parks felt a little more crowded than I expected (people in the walkways), but wait times for rides were mostly low, I assume due to the season and maybe the weather. INSIDE the park, the crowds felt relaxed and easygoing. In the food courts and in line for the buses, some people lost their temper.

If crowds and tour groups are your only concerns, I wouldn't worry a bit about January...I think the lower crowds probably just make the tour groups more visible.

Now, the weather in January is another story, but I guess you can get good or bad weather almost any time of year. My travel companion grew up in Orlando and was still floored by the fact that we went through basically 4 days of cold and rain in a row...it wasn't quite what I'd expected, either. (This year January was also peak flu season, and we both came down with something within an hour of each other, halfway through the trip.)

So to me, tour groups would be the least of my worries for a January trip. But if the cold never bothered you anyway and you don't mind the refurbishments, I'd consider it a perfect time to go.

 

[vault19dweller]

Thanks for that amazing response Eeee-va (PS: love the username)

Honestly exactly what I was after! Peoples actual & recent experiences (and view) and whether or not all those other reports are still true.

I’m kind of like you in the not-liking-crowds factor.
I do understand I’m choosing to go to probably the most popular theme parks in the world and am expecting there to be some form of crowds but was hoping going on January would combat that a little (the phased crowd restrictions spoken about during high season did freak me out though!)

Good point that maybe the tour groups seem to stand out more possibly because it is a lower crowd season overall, it would make since then for big groups of people are more notable.

I was a little surprised to read about how cold it was! I’ve always imagined Florida to be at least a little warm even in winter, personally I’m used to hot dry weather!! ( I know, very silly of me)
But, having said that, I would chose the cold over the heat... last time I was at DisneyLand it was toasty (~ 95 with no clouds) and I found running around the park and standing in all the out-door lines with the sun beating down all day was so draining, uncomfortable, and still got sunburnt even with sunscreen... Not only that but when its cold you can rug-up & get warm (theres only so much you can do when its hot to try to cool down)

And, I honestly totally forgot about flu season. I think I’ll still stick with Jan, but guess we’ll have to be more careful than normal with hand sanitizers and such!

 

[middlesista]

We were there January 16-22. The parks felt kindof crowded to me, but waits for rides were very low, so it only made a difference in walking around. Never had any issues with large tour groups - except there were a few times where a handful of girls from a tour group would decide to lay down and take a group nap. They were always off to the side of the walkways, but it was a little odd......

We also encountered folks suddenly plopping down and sitting in pathways - did not see any nappers however. Daughter was in DTD and saw a group sitting in the middle of a store and when the case member asked them to please move one person got very huffy and refused. The cast member asked multiple times and my daughter said the cast member was very polite. The person from the group then found another cast member and began talking to her in Spanish. Finally after they mentioned calling security the group moved along.

 

[Eeee-va]

Thanks for that amazing response Eeee-va (PS: love the username)...I was a little surprised to read about how cold it was! I’ve always imagined Florida to be at least a little warm even in winter, personally I’m used to hot dry weather!! ( I know, very silly of me)
But, having said that, I would chose the cold over the heat... last time I was at DisneyLand it was toasty (~ 95 with no clouds) and I found running around the park and standing in all the out-door lines with the sun beating down all day was so draining, uncomfortable, and still got sunburnt even with sunscreen... Not only that but when its cold you can rug-up & get warm (theres only so much you can do when its hot to try to cool down)

And, I honestly totally forgot about flu season. I think I’ll still stick with Jan, but guess we’ll have to be more careful than normal with hand sanitizers and such!

Thank you! Yes, we were both a bit surprised at the cold. (And worse, the weather reports were consistently wrong! Which was nice when they predicted tons of rain on Monday and we just got a sprinkle, but less nice when we were holding out for a nice warm, dry Friday that turned out wetter and almost as cold as Thursday.)

I'm with you that I would take cold over warm (though cold/wet is an awful combination). But my poor friend was miserable because she detests the cold, so in retrospect, I should've taken into account the possibility that she'd be cold and miserable when planning the trip. I'm not sure she would've done this trip at all if we hadn't gone in super-low-price season, and I'm not sure I want to go during miserable heat/hurricane season (the only other season that was in my budget for a week-long on-site trip like ours). If we go again, we'll probably do a shorter trip and possibly stay on-site, but that probably won't be for several years. I did have fun but there aren't many things there I feel I missed or need to do again.

If I were going again, I'd start a vitamin C regimen before the trip, and take more care not to get chilled. My friend was very vigilant with the hand sanitizer and I was pretty good with it. But she forgot her vitamin C and she thinks that's why she got sick. Whatever it was, I came down with it about 1-2 hours after she did (after a couple very cold nights), so I'm guessing we picked it up the same place, wherever it was.

 

[tarak]

OP, are you mostly concerned about the parks, or the resort behavior as well? We just came back from a week in January and had no issues with the few tour groups we saw. However, I understand the experiences of others staying at the same resorts as the tour groups are vastly different.

 

[vault19dweller]

@ Eeee-va: I hadn't even thought of starting the vitamin C / flu prevention regimen before the trip! That's a brilliant idea
Will get something organized to go the month before, during, and the month after just to make sure!
Last time I was at Disneyland (even though it was hot) I still managed to come down with something in the last few days, which meant the first week for my following 2 week international vacation was gone - stuck in bed, going through the tissues like no tomorrow, and literally took a week to get over. Not fun and definitely don't want to do that again!

Will make sure I pack jackets, maybe even a coat?
(Do you think it would it be worth bringing a coat & storing it in a locker at the parks; instead of lugging it around or having to do a 1 hour return trip to the resort to get it? Or would that be an unnecessary cost if we have hoodys, gloves & scarf in my bag?)


@ tarak: we’re planning on spending 13 days at the world, 10 of which will be at the parks, and we'll be staying at POR - so I guess we're looking at both the parks and the resorts.

 

[Cottager]

I've always felt the hype about tour groups overblown. (racism?)

Just to help you out with an example so you have an idea of what people are referring to, here's a group in the waiting area for Mickey's Philharmagic: http://youtu.be/6OCy7vIgYfs