January 2009. . . Calling all Snowbirds ~ Part I !!!

[sharadoc]

Last night, I was almost sick with worry. We're staying in a value and I'm petrified of rowdy Brazilian teenagers overpowering the pool, activities, arcade, etc. and taking away from our family fun. I almost went into a full-fledged panic, but I think I'm better now. I looked up the weather in Brazil in January on the internet, and I see the avg. temp. is 87 degrees. Seriously, why would those teenagers want to come here for cooler weather? I think the majority of the tours come in July because it is cooler there in July.

I want to believe we are safe from serious problems in January. I do plan to make a point at check-in to ask if there are tour groups there and to note to the CM that there will be constant complaining if they interfere with our enjoyment of the resort. I don't have a problem avoiding them in the parks, but we may be adding park hopping to our tickets just in case!

Anyone else doing any planning in anticipation of the Brazilian groups?

FYI - please don't take this as a condemnation of any ethnic group - I am going on reputation only! Too many people have posted horror stories for it to be a myth. I love everyone!!!

 

[sharadoc]

OT I hope that the new HSM3 is good getting real tired of Hannah cant' wait to get back to the other favs.

Second that! I LOVE HSM 1 and 2. My DD and I know all the songs and sing along EVERY time it's on. She knows all the dances, too. They are beautiful stories and the cast is wonderful. Hannah is just another pop star, so it gets old fast. She is really talented and I liked the fact that she was more "family-friendly" and safe for my 7 year old to like. Now I'm getting concerned that she's moving into Britney territory.

To keep it on topic: Can't wait for the new HSM show/parade when we go. Hope it still has some of the "classic" HSM stuff too - GO WILDCATS GO!

 

[sharadoc]

Wow - nothing like two posts in a row on completely different topics!!

I'll step back now and let someone else play for a while.

 

[drakes]

Jan 2007 found groups at the value resorts. Cheerleaders were at AS Sports, they were competing and not in the parks,
there had to be Brazillian tour groups because we saw them every morning we had breakfast in the food court.
Now we got to breakfast before they did, and had our table and it made for a lud food court breakfast. However our pool time and sleeping time were very quiet. The pools were very family freidnly- NO tours groups in our 7 day stay.
The only park we ran into the groups was AK. We went left when they went right

Note the food court was your typical busy mall food court at breakfast ( we never ate at lunch or dinner- so can't comment).

We liked our Jan time, cool weather and relatively quiet crowds. it's nice not to have to worry about a mister fan

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

Last night, I was almost sick with worry. We're staying in a value and I'm petrified of rowdy Brazilian teenagers overpowering the pool, activities, arcade, etc. and taking away from our family fun. I almost went into a full-fledged panic, but I think I'm better now. I looked up the weather in Brazil in January on the internet, and I see the avg. temp. is 87 degrees. Seriously, why would those teenagers want to come here for cooler weather? I think the majority of the tours come in July because it is cooler there in July.

I want to believe we are safe from serious problems in January. I do plan to make a point at check-in to ask if there are tour groups there and to note to the CM that there will be constant complaining if they interfere with our enjoyment of the resort. I don't have a problem avoiding them in the parks, but we may be adding park hopping to our tickets just in case!

Anyone else doing any planning in anticipation of the Brazilian groups?

FYI - please don't take this as a condemnation of any ethnic group - I am going on reputation only! Too many people have posted horror stories for it to be a myth. I love everyone!!!

We are just being aware of these groups. DH and I have talked about park hopping if it becomes too much. These groups were the worst at DHS in Jan of this year, we did see them all laying around the grass areas at Epcot sleeping, eating and etc. In some cases they actually climbed over the fences to sit on the grass Jan is the time of year we go to WDW and this year was the first time we encountered these groups Has anyone here or ever heard of guests saying that they didn't feel physically safe w/ these tour groups? I mean b/c of the size of the groups and how loud I've heard that they can get. I would imagine that could be pretty intimidating to some people.

 

[ethansmommy]

Good Afternoon Snowbirds

I finally called the IPO at WL today and made our adr's for HDDR
We've never been before and we are excited about it! We are also going to be going horseback riding that morning at the campground and maybe some mini golf early afternoon
I'm sure I'll end up doing laundry and not the mini golf though

So Mama Snowbird you can add this to the adr's I already posted ~
January 21 - HDDR 7:15pm

I tried to get info from the club level CM I spoke to about when to expect the 2009 rates and ddp, but she didn't tell me anything

Were you able to get anything special arranged for your sons birthday through IPO?? I am working with them right now to plan a suprise birthday trip for my husband.
Jen

 

[heimlichfan]

Of course you can join! WELCOME!

I will put you down for Jan 21-25, and you can let me know if that changes!

We look forward to chatting and planning with you!

Thank you! I feel so warm and fuzzy inside...

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Last night, I was almost sick with worry. We're staying in a value and I'm petrified of rowdy Brazilian teenagers overpowering the pool, activities, arcade, etc. and taking away from our family fun. I almost went into a full-fledged panic, but I think I'm better now. I looked up the weather in Brazil in January on the internet, and I see the avg. temp. is 87 degrees. Seriously, why would those teenagers want to come here for cooler weather? I think the majority of the tours come in July because it is cooler there in July.

I want to believe we are safe from serious problems in January. I do plan to make a point at check-in to ask if there are tour groups there and to note to the CM that there will be constant complaining if they interfere with our enjoyment of the resort. I don't have a problem avoiding them in the parks, but we may be adding park hopping to our tickets just in case!

Anyone else doing any planning in anticipation of the Brazilian groups?

FYI - please don't take this as a condemnation of any ethnic group - I am going on reputation only! Too many people have posted horror stories for it to be a myth. I love everyone!!!

We are just being aware of these groups. DH and I have talked about park hopping if it becomes too much. These groups were the worst at DHS in Jan of this year, we did see them all laying around the grass areas at Epcot sleeping, eating and etc. In some cases they actually climbed over the fences to sit on the grass Jan is the time of year we go to WDW and this year was the first time we encountered these groups Has anyone here or ever heard of guests saying that they didn't feel physically safe w/ these tour groups? I mean b/c of the size of the groups and how loud I've heard that they can get. I would imagine that could be pretty intimidating to some people.

Yes, I am a little concerned too. I must say that I am very happy that we switched to a moderate. The fact that they didn't have ANY standard rooms for our dates at ASMo or ASMu made me believe that something was going on that I didn't know about. Now I guess we know what! We really really like our sleep at night, so if we would have been in the same building with such a large group that would not have been good. I think too if we ran into them at the pool it would have been a little intimidating. I don't think it will be a problem in the parks though. Especially if they all pretty much stay together in one large group, then it will be easy to avoid. Hopefully anyway! I guess I don't really know just how large of a group they are. . .

I just told DH today that I really hope we made a wise decision picking January because I am a little concerned about MLK day, the Superbowl, and now the Brazilian crowds. The main reasons we chose January was for cooler weather and low crowds. I don't really want to change anything now, so all we can do is hope for the best!

 

[Laumau]

I just told DH today that I really hope we made a wise decision picking January because I am a little concerned about MLK day, the Superbowl, and now the Brazilian crowds. The main reasons we chose January was for cooler weather and low crowds. I don't really want to change anything now, so all we can do is hope for the best!

I figure we made a wise decision because the other option was Christmas and I don't do well with big crowds. Even if it's more crowded than I'd like, I know that it won't be as bad as if we had gone over Xmas. One thing I am concerned about is illness. It's a time of year that kids are particularly prone to coming down with stuff. Hopefully we'll escape the bugs this year!

Let's just hope for the best then!

 

[tammythetwinsmom]

Ok .. I see everyone's ADRs but which ones are before the Spectromagic parade.. Kids have opted to watch this parade and not the dreams come true parade! Thanks!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Ok .. I see everyone's ADRs but which ones are before the Spectromagic parade.. Kids have opted to watch this parade and not the dreams come true parade! Thanks!

The day we are planning to watch Spectro I made us a lunch ADR instead of dinner. Then I figure we can just grab a quick CS meal for dinner incase the streets start lining up early for Spectro.

 

[Kazooie01]

We have had Tour Groups at our hotels the last two years in January. They are kids, they can be loud, but they are harmless. I was standing with my Husband late one night on a full bus with my sleeping 2 year old son (my Husband had our daughter) and the only people who offered me a seat was a Tour Leader and one of the girls from the Tour Group. I fully believe they (the Tour Groups as a whole) get a bad rap. Sure there are exceptions to every rule but the same can be said for my fellow Americans who I think can be the rudest of the rude. Our Family tries to go to WDW with the belief everyone is there to have a Magical time. We worry about making our trip as amazing as possible, not worrying about other people. I’ll hop down off my soapbox now and get back to waiting for January 21st to get here!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I figure we made a wise decision because the other option was Christmas and I don't do well with big crowds. Even if it's more crowded than I'd like, I know that it won't be as bad as if we had gone over Xmas. One thing I am concerned about is illness. It's a time of year that kids are particularly prone to coming down with stuff. Hopefully we'll escape the bugs this year!

Let's just hope for the best then!

I am worried about illness too. I think that was DH's biggest worry when I mentioned going this past January, so we stuck with May. Then after it was around 94 degrees all week down there this May he suddenly thought January looked good!

I am also worried about leaving Pittsburgh in a blizzard! Trouble getting to the airport, plane delays, etc. . . . Oh my, I'm just a worrier!

Think happy thoughts!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We have had Tour Groups at our hotels the last two years in January. They are kids, they can be loud, but they are harmless. I was standing with my Husband late one night on a full bus with my sleeping 2 year old son (my Husband had our daughter) and the only people who offered me a seat was a Tour Leader and one of the girls from the Tour Group. I fully believe they (the Tour Groups as a whole) get a bad rap. Sure there are exceptions to every rule but the same can be said for my fellow Americans who I think can be the rudest of the rude. Our Family tries to go to WDW with the belief everyone is there to have a Magical time. We worry about making our trip as amazing as possible, not worrying about other people. I’ll hop down off my soapbox now and get back to waiting for January 21st to get here!

Glad to hear you haven't had any trouble with them!

 

[Laumau]

I am worried about illness too. I think that was DH's biggest worry when I mentioned going this past January, so we stuck with May. Then after it was around 94 degrees all week down there this May he suddenly thought January looked good!

I am also worried about leaving Pittsburgh in a blizzard! Trouble getting to the airport, plane delays, etc. . . . Oh my, I'm just a worrier!

Think happy thoughts!!

We're driving from Texas so no blizzards- but we do have nasty ice storms once in a while but it's an outside chance.

Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!

 

[Kazooie01]

Glad to hear you haven't had any trouble with them!

Maybe we've just been lucky! Ask us again after our trip in January, ha-ha!

 

[trixiequilts]

Our Family tries to go to WDW with the belief everyone is there to have a Magical time. We worry about making our trip as amazing as possible, not worrying about other people. I’ll hop down off my soapbox now and get back to waiting for January 21st to get here!

Well said, Kazooie!

 

[Trissy]

I don't know who they were but August of '06 we surrounded last minute at our nice little table at Cantina de San Angel right before Illuminations. We were literally being sat upon and bump into by these girls that didn't speak English. I let them have it, but they still didn't seem to care about my DH and my personal space. We unfortunately struggle with large groups at Disney and had no idea these kids are there in Jan.
We're actually thinking of planning for different time, who knows,there are no perfect times to go. I miss the days when the CM would let you ride again without getting off.

 

[debbieandroo]

Jan 23rd Le Cellier 6:55
Jan 24th Whispering Canyon 8:45
Jan 25th Boma 5:45

So far, I've gotten everything I asked for but this is me trying to put the Disney calendar, the DIS/Allears dining reviews, the Disney map together - At this point, I haven't asked the friends going with me where THEY want to eat! But I know that I want Le Cellier and Boma!

And these may change based on any additional changes in the calendar [additional Spectromagic parades, more Fantasmic, etc]. Or if the friends veto any of MY chosen restaurants. More s!

Thank you, Snowbirds, for your input about Epcot's EMHs on Friday. I went ahead and scheduled an early-ish ADR that night. If the crowds keep us from seeing IllumiNations or the World Showcase, we can always hop on over to Downtown Disney or back to the resort. We can hopefully get back to Epcot a few days later. [ha - laughing at myself for trying to sound as if I know what the heck I am talking about!]

Momof2 - you're amazing! I'm doing all I can to keep my own trip together and you're actually managing to coordinate all of ours.

 

[debbieandroo]

Last night, I was almost sick with worry. We're staying in a value and I'm petrified of rowdy Brazilian teenagers overpowering the pool, activities, arcade, etc. and taking away from our family fun. I almost went into a full-fledged panic, but I think I'm better now. I looked up the weather in Brazil in January on the internet, and I see the avg. temp. is 87 degrees. Seriously, why would those teenagers want to come here for cooler weather? I think the majority of the tours come in July because it is cooler there in July.

I want to believe we are safe from serious problems in January. I do plan to make a point at check-in to ask if there are tour groups there and to note to the CM that there will be constant complaining if they interfere with our enjoyment of the resort. I don't have a problem avoiding them in the parks, but we may be adding park hopping to our tickets just in case!

Anyone else doing any planning in anticipation of the Brazilian groups?

FYI - please don't take this as a condemnation of any ethnic group - I am going on reputation only! Too many people have posted horror stories for it to be a myth. I love everyone!!!

I work with our church youth group and ADORE teenagers - really I do [especially since I have none living with me!]. Yet the idea of visiting Disney with a torrent of teenagers, Brazilian, Martian, whoever they may be, does make me more than a little nervous!

That being said, I am practicing my Portuguese --

What I can say to an excitable Brazilian teen --
Amo a casa de Mickey! [I love Mickey's house!]
Você ama a casa de Mickey? [Do you love Mickey's house?]
Por favor não esteja assustador! [Please don't be scary!]