Brazilian Tour Groups 101

[jc040404]

On the topic.. We went up to WDW yesterday for the day. When I saw those large groups, I thought of all I'd read on here and was terrified. There were sooo many! I was shocked to see that they weren't an issue at all during our day. Yesterday was actually the best time we'd ever had at WDW! I found them polite and well behaved. We had girls coming running over to tell our 13 month old how cute he was on three different occassions. I didn't see anyone behaving anything like I'd read on here really, except for some chanting a couple times. Honestly, how terrible is that though? I did feel a little bad for those looking for a spot during parades though!

 

[Bunch24]

We just returned from our first-ever summer trip to WDW and I have to be honest, I was fearing the BTGs based on the comments I've read here.

I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. We ran across probably 6-7 different BTGs throughout our trip (seemed like they were following the same plan as us ). Other than the occasional five or six kids jumping into line at the last minute to meet their friends, we didn't encounter any problems. And matter of fact, the cutting in line is certainly not a BTG thing only, I saw tons of big families sending one person into line while the others went use restroom/fill water bottles/take breaks only to join the waiting person in line right before the ride.

We did hear some chanting, but I liked it. I thought it passed the time when we were in those 20-30 minute lines. I didn't experience any rudeness. In fact, most of the groups that were either in front of us or behind us in line played with our kids in line.

I guess the one negative and it's not so much to do with the BTG, it's just mathematics, is that a ride that has a 10-minute wait posted can quickly become a 40-minute wait if you get there right as a BTG is entering the queue. But when you add 40-50 people to queue that had only 40 to begin, that's going to happen. Eventually, we would just bypass that ride, go ride something else in the area, then return 30 minutes later to see the wait time had gone back down to 10 minutes again.

I think they probably get a bad rap on these boards because they're not American and they don't speak English (or at least don't speak it as their primary language). But I'd imagine they're no different than any other tour group you'd see at WDW, be it Pop Warner or Brazilian. We managed to have a fantastic, magical trip, despite the big, bad BTGs invading the parks.

 

[tink22]

The groups have been much more considerate this year. We have had several of them and the tour leaders are very polite and accommodating with other Guests and Cast Members. There are of course some that will be rude or pushy or what have you. But I think this year is a significant difference from past years.
I don't think anyone needs to be afraid of the large groups but don't completely shrug off their reputation either (what you read about them on the boards has got nothing to do with them not being American trust me). Just because you were here this year and had no troubles (which is great!), in previous years some groups were just as bad as you've heard. Take it all with a grain of salt and consider yourselves lucky if you went this year and encountered them for the first time. Hopefully this will be a trend for years to come. If only other large groups that visit would be able to change their impact on Disney parks, Cast and Guests, the World would be a happy place.

 

[nerdyone]

we've taken both of Brazilian au pairs to Disney and both of them have informed us that the majority of the tour groups do speak English but choose not to.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

I believe it was last year that someone posted a very useful reply to a similar forum topic. They had some very helpful phrases that you could learn (Portuguese) that would be helpful, if you ran into a group that pleaded the "no English" excuse for butting in line, etc.
I cannot believe that anyone would assume when they see a long line waiting, that they could just take all their group to wherever a couple of them were, way ahead in the line. Pushing and shoving are way different from just chanting.
If they have fast passes, then they do deserve to go in the fast pass line, but if I were behind them and couldn't get to the line before them, I'd use my fast pass later.
If anyone knows a few useful phrases, it might be helpful to print them out. And I certainly don't mean anything offensive!! But I've seen comments on here from people who did speak Portuguese and used that ability to speak to some of them and the group was totally taken aback.

 

[hookedonears]

Obviously, things must have changed since we swore we'd never go back during July ever again. The Brazilian tour groups must now be going through some sort of training before coming to WDW each year. Understanding Spanish wouldn't have helped you understand them. They speak Portuguese.

 

[CRUIZEN MAMMA]

My family and I were at Epcot Saturday, This was my son's and my first visit ever to Epcot ,my dh had not been in 25 yrs.I had only 1 problem with the tour group and that involved the "leader" and fast passes. She was getting FP for more than 40 people for Soarin and holding up the line considerably. My husband got into a much longer line while I waited for her to finish and He was able to get the FP before me- I think Disney needs a special FP for tour Groups to use so that their not tying up the kiosks that way.

 

[haleofafamily]

Obviously, things must have changed since we swore we'd never go back during July ever again. The Brazilian tour groups must now be going through some sort of training before coming to WDW each year. Understanding Spanish wouldn't have helped you understand them. They speak Portuguese.

I've been to Brazil and gone to school with many kids from Brazil and my understanding is that half of Brazil speaks Spanish and half Portuguese. Is that correct?

Also Portuguese and Spanish are very similar. At the school I attended the kids that spoke either language were able to communicate very easily due to the similarities.

 

[BabyCrazyKCmommy]

I agree with most of the comments on here we were at Disney from July 11-18th and ran into the "flag ppl" on most days, I found they were pretty good for being kids. The chanting did get a bit anoying but I only wish that I had half of their energy touring the parks that they did The only time it got bad was during Spectromagic parade in which they took up most of main street early by sending a few to hold down their spots with all the backpacks lined up on the street.

 

[PrincessMama605]

Hey!!! Good to find someone from Brazil here! I'm Brazilian too, and I was a tour guide some years ago. Took those HUGE groups to WDW in July... (I was the FLAG LADY...) They drove me nuts and I gave up being a tour guide. LOL

Well, you are absolutely RIGHT!!! Generalization will not work at all...

First of all, I completely understand your feelings. You have no idea how hard it was to try to control those kids for 15 days, usually taking the blame and listening to lots of complaints as if I had done horrible things. And many of them were not interested in WDW at all, didn't want to do anything except going on thrill rides, singing, dating, and partying (far away from their parents, what a great opportunity! LOL). It was a very frustrating experience to me.

However, there are some points I would like to clarify:

"English is a mandatory subject in private schools in Brazil starting at a very young age and is seriously drilled into students and taught for a few years (its entirely different than the horrendous second-language teaching in the U.S.)."

Yes, English is mandatory, but NOBODY learns anything at school. Classes are poor, students don't really want to learn, and the syllabus doesn't include much more than numbers, colors, the verb to Be and some very basic vocabulary. (just like the horrendous second-language teaching in the U.S.) I am an English teacher myself. I don't work in regular schools, I teach Brazilian adults how to speak English. I work for a Language School.

"In the Latin American culture, it's traditional for girls to celebrate their 15th birthday with a big party. From what I understand, in Brazil, the kids take a special trip instead of the party."

Yes, that's true. We have the special party, but it is very common for girls to have both the trip and the party. Some middle class (or even lower middle-class) families save money for years to send their 15-year-old girls to WDW. They often prefer the trip instead of the party. It's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.
Fell free to ask more questions, if you are interested in trying to understand the BTG, ok? I'll be glad to answer!

Anyway, it's great to be here!

Thank you for posting a different perspective. I wouldn't expect a group of 15 yo girls on what is probably a once in a lifetime trip to WDW to act like angels, they're teens. I have seen a few BTG's on past trips but they are pretty easy to avoid. Not really that big of an annoyance.

 

[JUJU814]

I've been to Brazil and gone to school with many kids from Brazil and my understanding is that half of Brazil speaks Spanish and half Portuguese. Is that correct?

.

No, the is incorrect. Brazil is a Portuguese speaking country. (just verified this with my Brazilian nanny sitting next to me) Also, the Portuguese they speak is different than that of Portugal.

 

[Buckeye Princess]

Perhaps one reason for the reputation of the Brazilian tour groups is that they are really only there for vacation. Often other teen groups are there for a sports or music event, thus they have scheduled "work times" that keep them from going wild all night. I used to travel to Disney for field hockey. My group had several teams as part of a club so we were about 100 girls traveling together. We trained in Orlando prior to going to a national tournament in West Palm since we had girls from all over the US. We were up very early each morning to train, then would go to Disney in the afternoons/early evenings. We never stayed up late since we knew we had to perform well, and during the day we had enough energy to go to the parks, but not enough for loud crazy antics.

 

[marlonbraga]

Hello!

I read this forum sometimes, and this is my very first post in here...

Let me introduce myself, pretty quickly... I am brazilian from Rio de Janeiro, I am 30 years old, work in an airline and I've been in WDW 3 times, and going my 4th time in november/2009. I also have a website about Orlando and Disney World (in portuguese, for brazilian - viagemlegal.com ).

I would like to give my perspective, that I think might help this thread...

I work for a big brazilian airlines as a flight attendant in international routes. I must say that more than 50% of the flight attendants DON'T speak english. And I am talking about flight attendants.

Someone say that english is mandatory in school in here. It is correct. But as a brazilian english teacher have said here before... Nobody actually learns anything at all in scholl. Usually, people can barely conjugate the TO BE verb. Although, many 15 y/o teens attend to a language school, where they can actually learn some english. SO... Not ALL brazilian teens can speak english, but I would guess that most of them can.

It seems strange to me the idea of a teen that can speak english to pretend that can't... That is because most of them like to show that they "can speak a foreign language". Its an oportunity indeed. Perhaps, some of them have a good theoric basis, but when they actually have to speak with natives (americans, britishes), things look harder than in class.

In relation to spanish/portuguese. Brazil speaks portuguese only. Although, they are different languages, they SOUND pretty similiar... So a clever brazilian can understand SOME spanish, just by guessing the words... The accent might help or not.. To me, for example, is harder to understand the spanish from Cuba than to Argentina... (but that is me).

So, if you need to talk to a brazilian that can't speak english... I believe you should try some spanish. He may or maynot understand you.

If you guys need to know some usefull sentenses in portuguese, I will be glad to help. Just ask!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Hey!!! Good to find someone from Brazil here! I'm Brazilian too, and I was a tour guide some years ago. Took those HUGE groups to WDW in July... (I was the FLAG LADY...) They drove me nuts and I gave up being a tour guide. LOL

Well, you are absolutely RIGHT!!! Generalization will not work at all...

First of all, I completely understand your feelings. You have no idea how hard it was to try to control those kids for 15 days, usually taking the blame and listening to lots of complaints as if I had done horrible things. And many of them were not interested in WDW at all, didn't want to do anything except going on thrill rides, singing, dating, and partying (far away from their parents, what a great opportunity! LOL). It was a very frustrating experience to me.

However, there are some points I would like to clarify:

"English is a mandatory subject in private schools in Brazil starting at a very young age and is seriously drilled into students and taught for a few years (its entirely different than the horrendous second-language teaching in the U.S.)."

Yes, English is mandatory, but NOBODY learns anything at school. Classes are poor, students don't really want to learn, and the syllabus doesn't include much more than numbers, colors, the verb to Be and some very basic vocabulary. (just like the horrendous second-language teaching in the U.S.) I am an English teacher myself. I don't work in regular schools, I teach Brazilian adults how to speak English. I work for a Language School.

"In the Latin American culture, it's traditional for girls to celebrate their 15th birthday with a big party. From what I understand, in Brazil, the kids take a special trip instead of the party."

Yes, that's true. We have the special party, but it is very common for girls to have both the trip and the party. Some middle class (or even lower middle-class) families save money for years to send their 15-year-old girls to WDW. They often prefer the trip instead of the party. It's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.

Fell free to ask more questions, if you are interested in trying to understand the BTG, ok? I'll be glad to answer!

Anyway, it's great to be here!

not a question but a comment...

HI!!! glad to see you here! I am glad you can answer some questions & clear some mis-understandings up.. now get your bottom up here to FL and tour Disney with me... I promise you will not have to hold a flag.. well maybe just one very large one in front of the Castle at the Magic Kingdom...

 

[talfonso]

I'm renewing my Seasonal Pass in a few days, and according to the offer, I get 15 months for the price of 12! An extra 3 months free - that encompasses one extra season when the turismos (That defines both Argentinean and the all too familiar Brazilian tour groups, mind you!) roll around! Heck, I developed a naturally acquired immunity to them! Despite the fact that renewing my Seasonal Pass means three extra months of turismo chaos, bring them on!

 

[tndisneyfan]

Just curious, what do they chant? And why do they chant?

 

[vettechick99]

I went this past July and it was the first time I'd been there with the groups. I did not find them all to be pleasant and fun. I had to shoo several off my chair at Blizzard Beach. I asked nicely the first time and they just kept sitting on it...with me in it! Maybe it's their culture to not have personal space, or they were just oblivious. Or maybe just teenagers?

We never saw chants...that would be very annoying.

Other times they were cutting, or just being loud. It's like a few bad apples spoil the bunch and I do think the CMs need to take more control. Teenagers will do what they can get away with. Doesn't matter the nationality or culture.

I will avoid July in the future (or whenever they go).

 

[talfonso]

I'm renewing my Seasonal Pass in a few days, and according to the offer, I get 15 months for the price of 12! An extra 3 months free - that encompasses one extra season when the turismos (That defines both Argentinean and the all too familiar Brazilian tour groups, mind you!) roll around! Heck, I developed a naturally acquired immunity to them! Despite the fact that renewing my Seasonal Pass means three extra months of turismo chaos, bring them on!

Oh, and here's a Hubpage on the topic, and it also includes the argentinean ones as well!

http://hubpages.com/hub/turismo

 

[Anelise]

I believe it was last year that someone posted a very useful reply to a similar forum topic. They had some very helpful phrases that you could learn (Portuguese) that would be helpful, if you ran into a group that pleaded the "no English" excuse for butting in line, etc.

If anyone knows a few useful phrases, it might be helpful to print them out. And I certainly don't mean anything offensive!! But I've seen comments on here from people who did speak Portuguese and used that ability to speak to some of them and the group was totally taken aback.

That was me!! I did post a few phrases in portuguese and how to pronounce them! I don't remember what they were, but I'd be glad to help again!

I'm brazilian too, from Rio de Janeiro, and I live here but visit WDW whenever I can!! Maybe I can add a diferent point of view.. I WAS part of one of the Brazilian Tour Groups about 4 years ago! I went in january-2006 to celebrate my 15th birthday,and like another brazilian said, this happens a lot around here.

It was a regular tour group, 50 teens, a few parents with kids and two (YES, ONLY TWO) chaperones. We stayed off site but would spend the whole day at the parks. We did make some noise at the hotel, but we had the whole floor to ourselves. If it was not like that, i'm sure we would have kept it low. Most of the teens could speak english, some very well and others just the basics. But a few couldn't speak english AT ALL. I recall one boy that couldn't speak a single word in english and got picked on the Indiana Jones show. It was hilarious!!

About the chanting...I have no idea what you are talking about!! I don't remember singing or seing anyone sing at the parks.. maybe at the bus going to the parks, but we were alone and weren't disturbing anyone but ourselves! Maybe they sing football anthems or popular brazilians songs.. I don't know!

There was no cutting lines either. I knew most part of the group and we were all very polite. We did take a lot of space during the parades, but no one would "save" them for us, we had to get there early, sit down and wait. And there was no pushing kids or strollers to get better places!

But the fastpass is really an issue. The guides do get 50 fastpasses at one time. They stay with everyone's tickets all day so they won't get lost. They hand them out when everyone's entering the park, then get them back and use them to get the fastpasses.


I'm going to WDW late january/early February 2010, and I'll avoid the brazilian tour groups just as I would avoid any big group in WDW. I'll try not to get behind them in lines or fastpass machines, for the obvious reasons. But I won't fear them or consider that my vacation is ruined just because the groups are there! And if they are being rude, impolite or yelling all the time.. I'll just politely yell back and tell them to shut up!! kidding!!


If you have any questions, feel free to ask!!

And to all the brazilians, it's good to see I'm not the only one here

 

[blondinkaya]

So, if you need to talk to a brazilian that can't speak english... I believe you should try some spanish. He may or maynot understand you.

I find these statements very interesting. I do know "American Portuguese" is different than "European Portuguese." I lived in the Azores for two years. The Portuguese folks I worked with told me that speaking Spanish over there is offensive to them. They never told me why, though. Is it because of the conflicts with Spain? Is that why Brazil might be more accepting of it?

Also, to me, Portuguese looks like Spanish but sounds more like French. I took both of those languages in high school (along with Latin, and then became a Russian linguist -- can you tell I like languages? Yep, I'm such a nerd!), and I definitely had more of a problem with Portuguese than I did with Spanish. It was much easier for me to read than to speak.

All I remember now, since it's been years since I was over there, is "Obrigado."