For those going soon...they're baaaack...tour groups

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

If we say that tour groups should be ejected just because they are chanting and walking 5 across and maybe bumping into people we would have to say that drunk people should be ejected from Epcot during their "drink around the world" trips, or bachelor/bachelorette trips or Food and Wine
I've seen much worse behaviour coming from people in Epcot (every race/color/country) that are drunk than any of these tour groups. Puking/peeing on the bushes, using foul language, tripping over people, climbing the Mexico pyramid, going into the fountain of nations...

And those people aren't ejected???

Unbelievable.

 

[MariMama]

If we say that tour groups should be ejected just because they are chanting and walking 5 across and maybe bumping into people we would have to say that drunk people should be ejected from Epcot during their "drink around the world" trips, or bachelor/bachelorette trips or Food and Wine
I've seen much worse behaviour coming from people in Epcot (every race/color/country) that are drunk than any of these tour groups. Puking/peeing on the bushes, using foul language, tripping over people, climbing the Mexico pyramid, going into the fountain of nations...

I am 100% on board with ejecting those people, too.

 

[yulilin3]

And those people aren't ejected???

Unbelievable.

I am 100% on board with ejecting those people, too.

some of them are and some are not. There's no way Disney can police everyone misbehaving at the parks. I agree that they should be kicked out but my point is that to me, that's far worse behaviour than teenagers chanting and walking 5 across.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

some of them are and some are not. There's no way Disney can police everyone misbehaving at the parks. I agree that they should be kicked out but my point is that to me, that's far worse behaviour than teenagers chanting and walking 5 across.

I believe that the comment was about 20 people linking arms, not 5. Which to me is a huge difference.

Both should be kicked out, but catching 20 people linking together, chanting, has to be easier to find than one lone drunk person puking in the bushes.

 

[yulilin3]

I believe that the comment was about 20 people linking arms, not 5. Which to me is a huge difference.

Both should be kicked out, but catching 20 people linking together, chanting, has to be easier to find than one lone drunk person puking in the bushes.

I haven't seen 20 linking arms together in years, I have seen groups of 5 across, I'm just talking from personal experience. Like I said before, their behaviour used to be much worse. Even if it was 20 across and chanting is less of a punishable behaviour, in my opinion, than drunkeness

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

when did you get into MK? I saw some of the largest tour groups I've ever seen but they were walking out as I was going in about 1pm.

We were there from 3 until 10:30 or so. Must have missed them.

 

[oceanmarina]

For me as a mom with 2 kids, it really scares me to think my kids could get knocked down and harmed because a bunch of teens are doing the human chain thing or knocking people out of their way. I can safely move my kids out of the way if one or two people trying to push their way past us in line, but not a group pf 20 or more.

I adore kids and teens - but a large group of unsupervised teens can go in a bad direction. Any tour guide that allows or encourages this human chain / cutting / pushing past and trampling others is not a chaperone in my book. Clearly Disney needs to restructure this experience so ALL guests in the park have a safe, enjoyable time. At over $100. a day for park admission, I don't want to have to worry that my kids are going to get trampled because Disney does not want to upset these touring groups by enforcing simple rules that are all about civility - no pushing / shoving / cutting in line / stepping on others. Doesn't seem unreasonable for me to expect Disney to enforce these rules that should apply to anyone who enters their parks.

I get that these tour groups make a lot of revenue for Disney..... but then again don't we???? Hell, I'm paying $ 6781. for a week stay - and that's without airfare!!

All I'm saying is that if Disney is taking money from all of us, they need to provide a SAFE experience for all of their guests. People who travel to WDW when there are teen tour groups should not have to worry about themselves or their kids getting mowed down in a line by a group of teens. I have been reading about this issue for years (here as well as other boards) so clearly it's an issue that Disney has not addressed.

 

[jknc]

I think the behavior of some parents is far more egregious than tour groups.

 

[yulilin3]

For me as a mom with 2 kids, it really scares me to think my kids could get knocked down and harmed because a bunch of teens are doing the human chain thing or knocking people out of their way. I can safely move my kids out of the way if one or two people trying to push their way past us in line, but not a group pf 20 or more.

I adore kids and teens - but a large group of unsupervised teens can go in a bad direction. Any tour guide that allows or encourages this human chain / cutting / pushing past and trampling others is not a chaperone in my book. Clearly Disney needs to restructure this experience so ALL guests in the park have a safe, enjoyable time. At over $100. a day for park admission, I don't want to have to worry that my kids are going to get trampled because Disney does not want to upset these touring groups by enforcing simple rules that are all about civility - no pushing / shoving / cutting in line / stepping on others. Doesn't seem unreasonable for me to expect Disney to enforce these rules that should apply to anyone who enters their parks.

I get that these tour groups make a lot of revenue for Disney..... but then again don't we???? Hell, I'm paying $ 6781. for a week stay - and that's without airfare!!

All I'm saying is that if Disney is taking money from all of us, they need to provide a SAFE experience for all of their guests. People who travel to WDW when there are teen tour groups should not have to worry about themselves or their kids getting mowed down in a line by a group of teens. I have been reading about this issue for years (here as well as other boards) so clearly it's an issue that Disney has not addressed.

are you scared that your kids could be harmed only by a group of teenagers or are you equally scared that they could be harmed by anyone? Because I've seen individual people knock over people with strollers, wheel chairs, backpacks, their own bodies. I've seen individuals pushing / shoving / cutting in line / stepping on others. My point is that this behaviour is done by many, many people not just big tour groups.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

Both should be kicked out, but catching 20 people linking together, chanting, has to be easier to find than one lone drunk person puking in the bushes.

 

[WEDWDW]

I love this kid! (Good things come from chitown!)
he gives advice to other CP kids (college program) on dealing with the BTG. they all KNOW these groups are a problem. and unfortunately Disney ties their hands as to what they can do

The groups are often all referred to as Brazilian Tour Groups much like all tissue is called "Kleenex".

To be fair to the Brazilians,MANY groups are from Argentina with smaller numbers from many other Countries.

 

[WEDWDW]

 

[Boopuff]

Back in the "good old days" when you had to get your FP from a machine, we had the unfortunate bad luck in being behind the chaperone of a humongous tour group. He had a stack of tickets and we watched in dismay as the return time quickly grew and grew. He and his co-horts took a stack to each of the machines and began feeding them in... I have always traveled in off season ever since to avoid them.

 

[kittyab]

This thread real main complaint (as many other threads) is that Disney is not dealing with unruly guests or guest who disobey rules. They do not want to upset a guest.

 

[smidgy]

yes large groups of teen can be loud and misbehave. but when we id, we were stopped, if coaught, and reprimanded. (yes, even back in the 70's lol)

the thing that sets the south american groups apart is this. the pop warner (who can be pretty bad, the cheer groups, band groups, etc, any group of teens, do actually have adult chaperones. (some better than others)

the BTG as well as the argentine fifteens, etc. they don't really have adult CHAPERONES. they have TOUR GUIDES. many only a few years older than the teens themselves. this is kind of a "rite of passage" and the parents pay big bucks to these tour guides to ensure that their kids have a great time. if these tour guides get poor reviews, they don't have a job. they do everything in their power to make sure these kids have FUN!!!! they don't care about the families in the parks or anyone else. it is a business.

and that is the difference from pop warner, the band or cheer groups, etc. there is no one IN their actual group to rein them in . cause the only thing the tour guides (not chaperones) care about is that their "charges" go home and report that they had fun, didn't have to wait in many lines. etc etc.

in response to another poster. no their is not an actual "latin month" in the disney "roster." nor is their an actual "gay days". but both things exist.. most people know about it. and , believe me , all the cast memeber know about it and prepare.
and gay days is nothing. maybe a few extra people on the "park of the day" and never a problem. but "latin month" the CMs really prepare. and , as a video I shared earlier, apparentl the CMs hands are tied when dealing with these groups.

the CM who .. very condescendedly told us it was Latin month was upper management. he came over to the baseball pool on a segway, wearing a white shirt and tie. his attitude was such that we should have known that they will aquiesce to these groups in july. at the expense of others.

until disney's attitude towards these groups changes, I will continue to tell the TRUTH about the things they let these groups get away with, at the expense of families.

yes, teens are loud, they misbehave. and then they are caught, stopped, and made to stop misbehaving. sheesh

 

[pampam]

I feel I must respond in favour of such groups. We have stayed many times in January at the Values. Yes, BTGs are annoying because of their size. They disrupt the food courts and clog the bus lines, but by and large these are nice kids. They smile and are pleasant to us, even hugging us for small courtesies and remembering us the following year.

I remember being there at the same time the 15s from Argentina were there. I don't speak Portuguese (or Spanish for that matter), but I found those girls respectful and they tried to be helpful. We use a wheelchair, and they were always holding the door for us, and smiling. I remember getting on a bus to DTD. We were the only ones on the bus that were not part of the group. I'm by nature a friendly person, and don't mind chatting with people. The girls tried to converse with me too, which made for some confusion and a lot of grins. Some of them started singing loudly, and I must have shown my disapproval because someone yelled something in Portuguese and they stopped singing. We of course were the first on the bus, and the last ones off the bus. As we made our way into DTD, the girls parted for us to pass, and yelled to the girls ahead that we were behind them. They in turn yelled ahead to the others as they parted and made way for us. Now, they could have been saying in Portuguese "Watch out for the crazy lady with a wheelchair", but I don't think so.

There was a time when we were at MK that was alarming. MSEP was over and most were waiting for Wishes. We had seen it the night before, so we were trying to leave. All of Main Street U.S.A was plugged up at the hub with 15s sitting on the pavement waiting, and there was no way to get through. I asked the CM how to leave, and he was so exasperated. He said "I've been dealing with those kids since 9:00 this morning and none of them speak English. I don't know how to get them to move." It was a safety issue, as well as inconveniencing a lot of guests. On the other hand, these girls were tired. They had found a good spot for wishes and didn't want to loose it. So, I very slowly edged the wheelchair forward, and all of the girls slid over to make room for us to get through. The experience was courteous on both sides. Meanwhile, the many many people behind me were following me out as the path opened before us.

So, I can see both sides of the situation, but in my experience, if you are patient and courteous with people, they will respond in turn.

 

[skullsplitter]

Ran into a few of these a while back. Didn't have any big problem with them, but was still hoping the south American economy would diminish them for our trip next week.

 

[WEDWDW]

I feel I must respond in favour of such groups. We have stayed many times in January at the Values. Yes, BTGs are annoying because of their size. They disrupt the food courts and clog the bus lines, but by and large these are nice kids. They smile and are pleasant to us, even hugging us for small courtesies and remembering us the following year.

I remember being there at the same time the 15s from Argentina were there. I don't speak Portuguese (or Spanish for that matter), but I found those girls respectful and they tried to be helpful. We use a wheelchair, and they were always holding the door for us, and smiling. I remember getting on a bus to DTD. We were the only ones on the bus that were not part of the group. I'm by nature a friendly person, and don't mind chatting with people. The girls tried to converse with me too, which made for some confusion and a lot of grins. Some of them started singing loudly, and I must have shown my disapproval because someone yelled something in Portuguese and they stopped singing. We of course were the first on the bus, and the last ones off the bus. As we made our way into DTD, the girls parted for us to pass, and yelled to the girls ahead that we were behind them. They in turn yelled ahead to the others as they parted and made way for us. Now, they could have been saying in Portuguese "Watch out for the crazy lady with a wheelchair", but I don't think so.

Yes,they are a lot of fun to talk to.

I always tell the ATGs that Messi is better than Neymar and I tell the BTGs that Neymar is better than Messi!lol

For anyone who has never experienced The 15s,go to IllumiNations one night in July for the "full effect".

There will usually be 1 or more groups somewhere between Mexico and Canada and they will be singing and chanting as the pre-show "entertainment'!lol.

You may get "lucky" if there are both ATGs and BTGs there as they will usually have a "chant off"!lol

And then if you want the ADVANCED Experience,allow yourself to be "swept up" into the group as they are leaving and walk with them to the Epcot Bus Stops as they sing and chant the whole way(NOTE:Ear Plugs are MANDATORY for the Advanced Experience!).

 

[Thing2008]

For me as a mom with 2 kids, it really scares me to think my kids could get knocked down and harmed because a bunch of teens are doing the human chain thing or knocking people out of their way. I can safely move my kids out of the way if one or two people trying to push their way past us in line, but not a group pf 20 or more.

I adore kids and teens - but a large group of unsupervised teens can go in a bad direction. Any tour guide that allows or encourages this human chain / cutting / pushing past and trampling others is not a chaperone in my book. Clearly Disney needs to restructure this experience so ALL guests in the park have a safe, enjoyable time. At over $100. a day for park admission, I don't want to have to worry that my kids are going to get trampled because Disney does not want to upset these touring groups by enforcing simple rules that are all about civility - no pushing / shoving / cutting in line / stepping on others. Doesn't seem unreasonable for me to expect Disney to enforce these rules that should apply to anyone who enters their parks.

I get that these tour groups make a lot of revenue for Disney..... but then again don't we???? Hell, I'm paying $ 6781. for a week stay - and that's without airfare!!

All I'm saying is that if Disney is taking money from all of us, they need to provide a SAFE experience for all of their guests. People who travel to WDW when there are teen tour groups should not have to worry about themselves or their kids getting mowed down in a line by a group of teens. I have been reading about this issue for years (here as well as other boards) so clearly it's an issue that Disney has not addressed.

Completely agree! Should treat all guests the same.

 

[jknc]

This thread real main complaint (as many other threads) is that Disney is not dealing with unruly guests or guest who disobey rules. They do not want to upset a guest.

What would you like Disney to do about unruly guests?

They certainly can't take any action based purely on random complaints posted to message board.