Disney - get control of these groups of teens that CHEER and YELL their way through the parks!

[Moonwolf]

This argument always seems to inevitably end up with people calling each other racist, but I don't see complaining about the rude behavior of tour groups as racist.

I think it's how one talks about it whether it's racist or not. If they are describing a specific situation with a group (like I encountered a group from x chanting in the park) I have no problem with the race being mentioned because it was an actual event and it can be used to understand a the situation.

On the other hand if someone is describing a general problem (like I hate groups chanting in the parks) I am more uncomfortable with it being narrowed down to a specific nationality/race because not only is that stereotyping that group and putting a bad mark on everyone that comes from that country even if some are perfectly polite but it's also something that <i>isn't</i> just happening with people from only one nation. While there may be a country that has more frequent offenders by saying something (like I hate x groups chanting in the park) does that mean that groups from the rest of the world are fine even if they are displaying the same behavior? I doubt that it what someone means but that's the connotation given when you specify a particular group when describing a general problem.

 

[larryz]

I think it's how one talks about it whether it's racist or not. If they are describing a specific situation with a group (like I encountered a group from x chanting in the park) I have no problem with the race being mentioned because it was an actual event and it can be used to understand a the situation.

On the other hand if someone is describing a general problem (like I hate groups chanting in the parks) I am more uncomfortable with it being narrowed down to a specific nationality/race because not only is that stereotyping that group and putting a bad mark on everyone that comes from that country even if some are perfectly polite but it's also something that <i>isn't</i> just happening with people from only one nation. While there may be a country that has more frequent offenders by saying something (like I hate x groups chanting in the park) does that mean that groups from the rest of the world are fine even if they are displaying the same behavior? I doubt that it what someone means but that's the connotation given when you specify a particular group when describing a general problem.

I was on a flight from Philly to Amsterdam once, and the check-in agent was upgrading almost everyone to business or first. Curious, I asked why we were receiving this largesse. The response: a large tour group from a Saoth American country had booked most of coach, and they expected rowdiness. So it's not just Disney...

 

[RogueKnits]

I agree that the groups are annoying, but I'm also quite sure that this has been going on for a very long time. A few months ago, while visiting my parents, my father played us a DVD that he had made from one of my grandfather's old VHS tapes. It was of our vacation to Disney in...oh...had to be 1987 or '88 considering our ages and the fact that it was pre-MGM studios. Guess what was in it? A long segment of my mother and grandmother complaining about the loud Brazilian tour groups. Disney has changed a lot since then, but some things remain the same.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I have often wondered why you don't see the fewer American groups act like that. Well, I got my answer on that: Disney (and Universal; seen it at both) won't allow it. Because they A) know they can speak the kids' language and B) know that those groups aren't crucial to the bottom line, they will tell any American tour groups (or just large groups of friends that are all from the US) to stop singing, chanting, etc... I've seen it multiple times firsthand and have heard this from CMs and TMs as well. That really bothers me for some reason.

Yes, good point about Universal, the groups are there too and Universal doesn't do anything about the chanting either.

Anyway, that's really interesting about who they will reprimand and who they won't. I could see that. The international tour groups bring a lot of money to Orlando.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

I don't understand how it could be racist. They are describing a geographic area. In addition, Brazil has black and white people. So saying someone in Brazilian as racial description doesn't work either. There are fewer afro-argentines but we could get into a real discussion about ethnic cleansing when discussing Argentina so best to leave that alone. That being said the Argentines are most likely white.

 

[Hunterr]

It only others me when they are right behind me in a long line.

You think hearing them walk around outside is annoying yelling?
Try waiting 40 minutes with them chanting non stop. But you can't say anything, because you'll look like a Debbie Downer.
Other people in line shared the annoyance too.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

It needs to roll off collective shoulders because WDW will not stop them. They will say that the groups have the right to have fun. Unless there is a security violation, nothing will be done to stop them.

It's not a racial thing, it's a cultural clash, it's normal behavior for them.

 

[ruthies12]

I don't understand the arguments about their right to have fun and that we need to just chill. Some things that I find fun are listening to the music while walking down main street and being able to converse with my family while waiting in lines. Do I not have the right to have fun too?

What if every single family/group of people in WDW decided to do this? If it isn't okay for every single person to do it, then no one should be allowed IMO.

 

[Twende]

Here is one I found. It can be annoying when you are in a closed in space with this many yelling. chanting, screaming, clapping people. It is just unpleasant.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

It's not an argument. That is what the Disney cast members will tell you when you report them (unless they are committing a security violation). They will not tell them to stop chanting. I am thinking the only way around it is to avoid the times that most of the teen groups visit.

 

[Grandma G]

To intentionally create in another a fear of injury, or disturb the common peace, or shove, push, hit, bump or 'walk through' another person - or to intentionally obstruct a common walkway/roadway necessary to the ingress or egress of others - or to intentionally incite or encourage those behaviors by others - is, in every legal jurisdiction in this country, either a tort or a crime. Or both. And one does not lose the protections of those laws proscribing assault and/or battery and the right to pursue compensation or prosecution - or both - for their transgressions at the entrance to WDW.

So, perhaps if (and probably, only if) enough of the juvenile offenders and the adult chaperones and/or tour and theme park corporate officers responsible for the presence of these groups in this country find themselves in Orange County civil and criminal courtrooms the behaviors will stop.

Note: I am not referring (above) to ordinary and incidental physical contact or inconvenience arising from to-be-anticipated crowding or excitement. I am referring to deliberate, patterned and planned aggression.

[URL='http://distickers.com/ticker/'] [/URL]

 

[LittleDreamer]

Disney should make more efforts (especially if the groups are staying on property) to communicate with the guides about appropriate behavoir. No chanting in indoor or enclosed spaces, no cutting, ect. They know if they have a large group coming so it wouldn't be hard to have a multilingual cast member ready or a printed document. While the shoving and line cutting is unexcusable, i don't mind the chanting so much. I like to go during the Candlelight Processional months and you'll often come across clumps of the high school choirs. I have often heard them start singing and usually the crowd doesn't mind. Cast members will ask them to stop since they don't want guest confusing them for entertainment. I know many will say chanting and singing are different but I wonder if it's partly a language barrier. When you don't know the language it can unfortunately sound like noise. I've sadly heard this while watching a B'net Al Houwariyate performance; someone near me said to their friend "I don't get it they are just screaming."

 

[larryz]

Note: I am not referring (above) to ordinary and incidental physical contact ot inconvenience arising from to-be-anticipated crowding or excitement. I am referring to deliberate, patterned and planned aggression.

But what about deliberate, patterned and spontaneous aggression?

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Here is one I found. It can be annoying when you are in a closed in space with this may yelling. chanting, screaming, clapping people. It is just unpleasant.

This is the video I had seen before and I think I would have to exit the the que if I had been there. That is just too much. And I'm wondering if there were little children there who were scared of that.

 

[JayLeeJay]

Last year when I was in WDW in July it seemed like many of the large groups had been divided into smaller groups for most of their touring. Plus they had many more of the cast members in green shirts helping out. Are these things not happening this year? I was actually really happy with the changes I saw last year. The smaller groups still chanted a bit but most groups seemed more respectful of their surroundings.

 

[larryz]

I don't understand how it could be racist. They are describing a geographic area. In addition, Brazil has black and white people. So saying someone in Brazilian as racial description doesn't work either. There are fewer afro-argentines but we could get into a real discussion about ethnic cleansing when discussing Argentina so best to leave that alone. That being said the Argentines are most likely white.

The powers that be have redefined "race" from a genetic distinction to a cultural distinction. Not a political observation, but one observed in fact by looking the word up in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary; to wit, definition 3:
race
noun
Definition of RACE
1
: a breeding stock of animals
2
a : a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock

b : a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics (emphasis mine)
3
a : an actually or potentially interbreeding group within a species; also : a taxonomic category (as a subspecies) representing such a group

b : breed

c : a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits
4
obsolete : inherited temperament or disposition
5
: distinctive flavor, taste, or streng

 

[jsmla]

Well, at least with FP+ I no longer find myself behind a tour guide with a stack of dozens upon dozens of park tickets to feed into the machine!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

These groups are the primary reason that we avoid certain resorts during our January trips. We really don't mind them unless we get caught in a queue with them. When we see them, we go the other way. When there are too may groups to avoid, we hop to another park.

 

[yulilin3]

Last year when I was in WDW in July it seemed like many of the large groups had been divided into smaller groups for most of their touring. Plus they had many more of the cast members in green shirts helping out. Are these things not happening this year? I was actually really happy with the changes I saw last year. The smaller groups still chanted a bit but most groups seemed more respectful of their surroundings.

that's why I said that it's better now. Much, much better than years past. There are CM with the green shirt called Brazilian International Super Greeters. I'm sure they will step in if they see unsafe behavior.

 

[nilla]

Whenever I've heard the cheerleaders chant in past years (which wasn't a lot), I was tempted to break into the Marcia Brady "F-F-F-I-L, L-L-L-M-O, O-O-O-R-E, Fillmore Junior High!" routine.