How to Avoid the Brazilian Tour Groups?

[bytheblood]

The best way to avoid them is not to go. :/

But seriously -when they are there, they are everywhere. If you see a pack of them, just go in a different direction. If you are headed to the same ride, then walk quickly ahead of them.

 

[cm8]

It's not Spring Break just yet, but the parks are crowded. Why? BRAZILIAN TOUR GROUPS. I always run into them, but lately I've been hearing for the past couple days that there's an over-flow of them. I'm going to Epcot and MK on Sunday and want to know how to avoid them. I plan to be at Epcot park opening, and I plan on leaving Epcot around Noon or 1 PM and taking a monorail over to MK. TIA!

You can't completely avoid them, no matter if they're Brazillian, Argentinian, Cheerleaders or Martians. If they're in the parks or at your resort you'll run into them sooner or later. All you can do is head in a different direction if they'll be ahead of you in a line... Or just choose to go with the flow and put in your earplugs.

They are impossible to avoid. They are there to enjoy WDW just like us, but I will agree they can be an annoyance. My favorite experience was in August 2008 when my cousin and me waited in a LONG line at the Haunted Mansion. As we made progress towards the ride we had a couple of tour group members cut in front of us. They acted like they didn't speak English (I'm 99.9% sure they did) when we tried to ask them to go to the back of the line. So, we just gave up and accepted their cutting. But, then a few minutes later they multiplied into more and more. Eventually, we had probably 30 of them in front of us. When we tried to talk with the WDW CM's they just shook their head like there was nothing they could do. We left the line, and the park. It was disappointing, because we never made it on to the Haunted Mansion that trip.

,I would have been upset too if they did that to me

Just go the other way. Best to avoid a fight and go on enjoying disney. It's a stressful vacation as it is, and when they have been there when I was there, getting into a fight with them is pointless, and usually just gets you very angry and frustrated. The CM's probably have it even worse with them, which is why complaints about the groups seem to be unheard. It's best to know that the rudeness of the large groups is inevitable. I wish there was a better answer, but even rude people are allowed in the happiest place on earth lol

Or memorize a few lines in Brazilian, how to say 'back of the line, shmuck!' or 'cut the line and i'll cut you!' lol

 

[Colleen27]

I think the way to avoid them is to stay home. I've been told that the SA groups are common Dec, Jan, Feb, then again in July & Aug. The cheer and sports groups are more scattered but there are big events in Dec, Jan, and Mar that I know of. And I'm sure there are other groups that I'm not thinking of off the top of my head.

We didn't have any problems with the Brazilian groups when we were at Pop in Jan. They were friendlier and more polite than some American groups we've encountered - I'll take Brazilians over Pop Warner any day!

 

[4GoofyCrew]

You can't avoid tour groups, they are everywhere. My best advice is to get moving early in the day and you will beat some to the parks. Don't eat your resort's food court either.

Aside from tour groups often (to be fair, not always...) being loud, rude and often unsupervised, I don't see what the problem is.

Oh, and get ready for a laugh when they try to sneak in through the single rider lines and then try to play 'dumb' and all get on the same car anyway. THANK YOU WDW employees for enforcing the rules! (Especially the big, bouncer-like guy manning the Test Track lines... )

 

[longing4disney]

I stay half way round the globe from Orlando, in Singapore. We have a Universal Studios Singapore here and we experience the same tour groups but ours are mainly from China. I too wish they'll respect other people's culture and understand what is acceptable in their country is not necessarily acceptable in another country. Talking loudly, line cutting and spitting are common complaints we have. BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are booming economies and they do have the money to spend and so are traveling more now compared to previously. Since we need these tourist dollars, we will have to live with it. Just have fun and move away when you see the tour groups coming!

For me, I make sure my family do not make a nuisance of ourselves when we travel. We normally travel independently rather than with tour groups. Unfortunately, even so, as we are ethnic Chinese, people do mistake us for PRC Chinese and it can be pretty annoying sometimes especially when I hear them making unjustified or rude comments about us in English thinking that we don't understand or not caring if we do.

 

[hookedonears]

Pretty easy to have that view when you aren't planning to be there when the tour groups are. My next trip is during the 4th July.

You better believe I'm doing all I can to avoid tour groups.

July 4 is prime season for the Brazilian tour groups. There's probably more there then, then any other time of year.

 

[Wadecool]

I'm not sure what chineses is ...


You said how awful their behavior is so you yourself legitimized the complaints. Even though earlier you were saying that people stereotyPe BTG after people explained how they know it was brazillizn and not um Chineses you are now saying these crass (your words) groups are stigmatizing Brazillians.

You're off base. I have never seen anyone criticize a brazil family or individual. No one has ever said to ban all Brazillians. I'm guessing most people on here have no issue with Brazillians- it's the tour groups that you also said were awful that everyone has an issue with.

Seems we are all in agreement so that's good.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[miprender]

This past July/Aug trip was the first time I had ever experienced the BTG. The groups I saw were always fine and none of that cheering I heard about but it does get overwhelming when seeing a sea of yellow or green Tshirts coming at you. We were able to adjust and would go the other way.

I also remember DH and DD were getting ready to go on Dinosaur but DH was taking his time. I started screaming at him to hurry because if he got stuck behind them who knew how long we would be waiting for the.

We did notice at the beginning of August the BTG had diminished significantly.

 

[danny1649]

Your reply's have been polite and respectful of others.So maybe this hot button topic can be discussed and I will not have to close or moderate it.So keep up the great job and making good points on the issue without personal attacks on each other. Best Regards Danny

 

[SRUAlmn]

Like Moderator Dan said, this truly has been a thread that has come around 1,000 times. Since we can only travel in the summer, we "deal" with these large tour groups on every single one of our trips.

My two cents:

Yes, they are obnoxious. Not because they are from Brazil (and it really irks me when someone tries to pull the predjudice card,) but because they are so large and 'boisterous.' They travel in groups of 50ish, so if you get behind them you can't get past, you have 30 minutes or more added to your wait time, the counter service restaurant now has NO tables open, etc... Also, they are teenagers. Even American teenagers in that large of a group would be obnoxious. They tend to infringe on the experience for many because of their size and volume. For example, they line Main Street (sidewalks, street, all of it) about an hour or more prior to MSEP/Spectro. They chant, yell, etc... very loudly. So not only do you literally have to climb over them to get past, you can't hear the Main St music, or even the person next to you speaking to you. THAT is what makes me upset. It takes away from the experience that Disney has worked so hard to create. People always ask, "why let it ruin your vacation, they're having fun too," but the issue is that their fun makes it difficult for others to have their fun.

Some experiences we've had:

*We entered a counter service restaurant in DHS and were in a fairly short line, restaurant wasn't that full, so DH and I both stood in line together. Enter HUGE tour group. They all gave their orders to one or two people and began grabbing tables. I saw this, so I left the line and went to get a table for us. I FINALLY found one and sat down to save it. A two person table for DH and I. About 5 minutes later one of the teenagers came and sat in the seat across from me at my table that I was saving for DH and I. When I said the seat was taken she laughed and said, "No English." So I just stayed there, and when DH came with the food he motioned that he was going to sit there and she wouldn't move. All the girls in the group with her were cracking up laughing and I was

*We were in line for Spaceship Earth. It was a fairly long line, but it was moving quickly. You know how it starts over near the camera shop, then wraps toward Ellen's Adventure, and then goes up the ramp into the ball? Well, once it wrapped back toward the ramp this tour group of 30+ entered the line. People in front of us were telling them where the line started and they just laughed and pushed on through. There was a CM there who just shook his head and said, "What do you want me to do, there's too many of them."

These are just two examples, trust me there are many more, but these are the reasons why it's hard to just "ignore them and enjoy your vacation." Do we let it ruin our trip? Aboslutely not! Does it make our days more difficult? Absolutely!

 

[NYDisneyKid]

Like Moderator Dan said, this truly has been a thread that has come around 1,000 times. Since we can only travel in the summer, we "deal" with these large tour groups on every single one of our trips.

My two cents:

Yes, they are obnoxious. Not because they are from Brazil (and it really irks me when someone tries to pull the predjudice card,) but because they are so large and 'boisterous.' They travel in groups of 50ish, so if you get behind them you can't get past, you have 30 minutes or more added to your wait time, the counter service restaurant now has NO tables open, etc... Also, they are teenagers. Even American teenagers in that large of a group would be obnoxious. They tend to infringe on the experience for many because of their size and volume. For example, they line Main Street (sidewalks, street, all of it) about an hour or more prior to MSEP/Spectro. They chant, yell, etc... very loudly. So not only do you literally have to climb over them to get past, you can't hear the Main St music, or even the person next to you speaking to you. THAT is what makes me upset. It takes away from the experience that Disney has worked so hard to create. People always ask, "why let it ruin your vacation, they're having fun too," but the issue is that their fun makes it difficult for others to have their fun.

Some experiences we've had:

*We entered a counter service restaurant in DHS and were in a fairly short line, restaurant wasn't that full, so DH and I both stood in line together. Enter HUGE tour group. They all gave their orders to one or two people and began grabbing tables. I saw this, so I left the line and went to get a table for us. I FINALLY found one and sat down to save it. A two person table for DH and I. About 5 minutes later one of the teenagers came and sat in the seat across from me at my table that I was saving for DH and I. When I said the seat was taken she laughed and said, "No English." So I just stayed there, and when DH came with the food he motioned that he was going to sit there and she wouldn't move. All the girls in the group with her were cracking up laughing and I was

I would have went and sat right on the persons lap and had your daughter sit in the other seat. If the person said someting I then would have said "no speak brazil no speak brazil"

 

[Wadecool]

I would have went and sat right on the persons lap and had your daughter sit in the other seat. If the person said someting I then would have said "no speak brazil no speak brazil"

Or just kneel down at the table right next to the girl and eat your food very "messily"

 

[FairydustyPrincesses]

Or just kneel down at the table right next to the girl and eat your food very "messily"

I would have went and sat right on the persons lap and had your daughter sit in the other seat. If the person said someting I then would have said "no speak brazil no speak brazil"

Vigilante justice Disney style!

I think the cm cop out of" their is too many "just stinks. We wouldn't get away with t hat junk but we are just supposed to abide it because they are a group. And while it burns my blood when I just think someone is about to cut line- I go on the defense at first sign lol but haven't been cut yet- one family or a couple teens is not going to put me out by much. A whole tour group! That seriously affects your wait.

And don't tell me they don't understand lines. a language barrier doesn't remove any sense in your head about normal social expectations. Good lord we teach two year olds in day care how to stand in line. I'm sure Brazillians understand that concept. They've been told cm will do nothing so they steam roll everyone . It's rude and I'd feel like the scum of the earth if I did it and wouldn't enjoy my ride in the least because of guilt.

As for the chanting I don't get it in the least . Why is that entertaining ? Why can't they immerse themselves in smart phones and iPods during waits like American teens. I mean it's hard to get ournations kids to communicate without a keyboard let alone screaming their lungs out all day.



I've only had two experiences because we go in September. This past time we were on pirates and the Brazillians tg behind us kept making "whoo" sounds scaring my four year old daughterthe whole time. And of course ruining the experience. My 8 year old still complains about that.

The other time was in a very long wait at the end of the night a few years ago in the crb bus stop the people beside me chanting sooo loud. At first it was a diversion from the wait but quickly became an exercise in anger management for me


I think going to order Portugese Rosetta stone so when they say no English I can go off on them in their native tongue. Maybe all DISsers should do the same to help our fellow travellers. If the cm won't do something we will!

 

[suevr]

We went to WDW the first week of January, 2011. Our kids were going back to school later that year so we though we'd take the opportunity to go to WDW when crowds were lower after Christmas. Boy were we wrong. There were so many South American tour groups (mostly from Brazil) that we thought there couldn't be anyone left in South America.

Yes, they were obnoxious with their chanting, and annoying how they travel around the parks in such large groups, blocking walkways, entrances, etc. We did find that most of the tour groups weren't using Fastpasses, but using the stand-by line so that was nice, since we use FPs as much as we can. I can deal with all that and try to ignore them as best as I can. It's the fact that so many of them were so rude that got me!

Twice, they pushed past our family and knocked my 2 year old to the ground. By the time we realized it had happened and picked him up, the person (adult male) was gone and on the ride (once while getting onto Haunted Mansion and once getting on to It's a Small World). When we mentioned it to the Cast Members they just shrugged their shoulders like there's nothing they can do. There's absolutely no excuse to push past a small child to get on a ride that you're going to be on in 3 seconds anyway!

Twice we saw them enter the Fastpass line with either a FP for a different ride or before their return time. Both times the CM tried to explain that they couldn't use it, but they just pretended they couldn't speak English and entered the line anyway, laughing after they did it. Again, both CM did nothing. That's the part that I find so frustrating.

Because of that trip and the experiences we had we've decided not to go back that time of year again. It just wasn't as enjoyable to us having to deal with the extra annoyance.

 

[rutgers1]

Can't we all just get along and agree on one thing --- their bathing suits make trips to the water park a bit more interesting?!?!?!?!

 

[RMulieri]

See this is just another reason why I enjoyed Universal in January.Disney seems to take the stance on not "wanting to rock the boat".Anytime I have had issues with the large tour groups at Disney, the Cms look the other way or claim they can't do anything about it.The few times I saw bad behavior at Universal( only once directly involved me) The Universal employees were ALL OVER IT..AT the Hulk coaster where an entire group including the tour group leader tried to cut an entire line to the front,The Universal TM saw it, stopped it and escorted the entire group of them( and there were many of them) to the back of the line.Same thing at Spiderman when they were chanting and yelling in the ride loading zone and refused to listen or quiet down and again at the studios at the Blues Brothers live show where they started up the chanting and cheering over the music and performance.I don't get why Disney allows it to go on like they do.They will see some of this stuff happen, shrug their shoulders and let it go on.

 

[SRUAlmn]

I agree. I've even written letters explaining the situations I mentioned above, as well as one in which a group of about 10 of the teenagers stripped into bathing suits and were IN the fountain at the entrance to Epcot splashing around and splashing people walking by, just laughing hysterically. The CMs nearby just looked and walked away shaking their heads.

I even offered suggestions such as regulating the adult to teen ratio.

Disney's response...
That the tour groups have adult leaders who are responsible for their behavior, and that Disney welcomes all people from all cultural backgrounds.

Last time I checked, rude wasn't a "culture."

 

[A Mickeyfan]

there should be a thread on how to avoid the cheerleaders!! MGM was over run by then yesterday! They had to have something going on there with them. I know when I was heading into the park, there was one group heading in too, they all had their bags too...and had to be checked.... all of them as they were heading in, another group looked as if they were heading out.. lines were crazy.. I do have to say, most were ok.. there was one group on Star Tours screaming their heads off to the point that the rest of us could not hear a word of the story line... and they kept raising their hands as if they were on a coaster.... and they were all in the first 2 rows... so on top of not hearing, we could not see either... we saw lots of arms and hands.. and heard lots of screams and comments.... that was the only really complaint I had. There were no obnoxious cheering while waiting on any lines...

 

[magicbob]

they were chanting and yelling in the ride loading zone and refused to listen or quiet down and again at the studios at the Blues Brothers live show where they started up the chanting and cheering over the music and performance.

I can understand chanting to pass the time in line (not defending it, just saying I understand why someone might do it). But I just don't get why ANYONE would scream and chant DURING a ride or show. You paid all that money to be there and see this stuff. If you're yelling and chanting during it, you're not just ruining it for everyone around you, you're missing out on it yourself as well.

there should be a thread on how to avoid the cheerleaders!!

There are many threads about this. Do a search for "Pop Warner."

 

[I Love Pluto]

A screaming baby in the next room can alter my sleep pattern.
A person hogging 2 parking spaces can alter my parking situation.
A person pushing ahead of me in line can move me back a bit.
A person chanting can override what I need to hear.
A group cutting in front of me on a ride can move me back a lot.
A person not paying attention can walk right into my ECV.
A person doing something stupid might hurt me physically.

And...what else is new? That's life!

No one group is responsible for all of your discomfort.
Thank you for listening.