Just back and the Brazilian tour groups were..

[JulyGirl]

Just back and the Brazilian tour groups were........very polite. In a line for Mission Space my boyfriend and I ended up in the middle of a group of about 100 or so. One girl spoke Engligh to me and said that we should move ahead of them. I thought that was sweet. They were not loud or pushing in any of the lines I saw.

The rudest group I saw was a girls basketball team from USA. They were pushing themselves all around and screaming in the line of Tower of Terror. They pushed into adults and children around them and laughed about it. The adult chaperone with them could not control them either. They made the 20 minute wait seem like 3 hours. They could have used some behavior lessons from the Brazilan kids.

 

[DisneyFan06]

Yeah, when I was their on Saturday there was tons of tour groups.

 

[properlywarnedyebe]

Agreed! We just got back on Saturday, and although the groups were everywhere, they were very nice and sweet!. We had some problems with our crazy Americans though. It made for good story telling.
Alicia

 

[HunnyPots]

My family and I joked that if you wanted to go to Brazil now would be the time because nobody's there! WOW! I could not believe how many of them there were. I sure got tired of the clapping and shouting EVERYWHERE we went but the only real problem I had was with the tour guides tying up the fastpass machines. For several rides there would be a tour guide at each of the machines getting 30 or 40 fastpasses for their groups. It kind of defeats the purpose of fastpass when you have to wait in line 30 minutes just to get one!

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

That's funny! We also joked that this must be the time to visit Brazil!

We had good experiences with the tour groups these past 12 days. Aside from a little clapping they were not a problem.

We would get to a park and DH would say "It's yellow shirt day" or "Green shirt day".

Actually the kids seemed so enthusiastic and happy to be there that it was nice. My Dad was talking to DD about how lucky she is to have been to WDW many times while these kids are probably taking a once in a lifetime trip (and the kids who will never take a trip to WDW).

 

[Shubunk]

OMG. They are ALWAYS there! lol! I go to disney at least 30 times a year spread out through the year and there are always TONS i mean TONS of Brazillian tour groups there! They must REALLY like disney world But they are always alot of fun to talk to i talk to them in spanish and they talk back in portugese and we understand each other perfectly.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Glad things were good for you.
2) After a lot of complaints, WDW made a big push toward group courtesy.
3) Brazilian Tour Operators were told to behave or not be allowed back.
4) This seemed to have worked well.
5) Now we need for WDW to talk to
. . . Pop Warner kids
. . . Cheerleaders

 

[pooh2001]

We never asked who were the yellow or green shirt kids. We thought just an USA youth group. YES - they were well behaved when we saw them - always followed the leader's flags. Good for Brazil

As for USA groups - we saw cheerleaders come out of MK before it opened. Our guess was a competion at 7 AM. They were cheering but what else do teenage cheer leaders do ?
They did follow thier leader to wherever they were going.

We also met a USA cheer leading group of 6 teen girls and their leader on an MGM bus. They were a bit loud - and sounded like Valley Girls - but did not disturb us. My DD thought they needed an English grammer lesson

We go again in Easter 2007. I am hoping only dance troops come to WDW. They are a bit quieter than cheer leaders (no offense)

 

[rkujay]

Yes, we just returned from an overnighter last weekend. Lots and lots of Brazilian tour groups. I guess the economy has turned around in Brazil. Their country saw the wisdom in getting off of the fossil fuel merry go round and built ethanol plants. It is, after all winter in Brazil, sooooo let's go to Fla for a vacation.
Does anyone but me think that Portugese (the mother tongue of Spanish) does not sound Spanish, but somehow Eastern European?

 

[Shubunk]

Yes, we just returned from an overnighter last weekend. Lots and lots of Brazilian tour groups. I guess the economy has turned around in Brazil. Their country saw the wisdom in getting off of the fossil fuel merry go round and built ethanol plants. It is, after all winter in Brazil, sooooo let's go to Fla for a vacation.
Does anyone but me think that Portugese (the mother tongue of Spanish) does not sound Spanish, but somehow Eastern European?

They are very similar but i dont think spanish came out of portugese, might be the other way around, or maybe they both came out of latin.

 

[taximomfor4]

It is an Western indoEuropean language, it is another Romance language and is more closely tied to what was referred to as "Vulgar Latin." That Latin was brought to Portugal by Roman soldiers. It's closest relative in language is Galician, which is in Galicia (an autonomous community in Northwest Spain)...in fact the languages used to be one, called Galician-Portuguese. When Galicia and Portugal split, the languages diverged. During the Renaissance, a number of words from Classic Latin and Classic Greek further enriched the language.



I am a language-lover. Can ya tell?

 

[MyGoofy26]

They are very similar but i dont think spanish came out of portugese, might be the other way around, or maybe they both came out of latin.

To me it sounds like some funky Spanish/French hybrid. One of my good friends is Portuguese and when she speaks to her family I can usually understand most of what is said, having studied both Spanish and French. It seems most of the words are close enough to at least one of those languages for me to pick it up . . . just don't ask me to speak any of it

 

[CaipiraBob]

My family and I joked that if you wanted to go to Brazil now would be the time because nobody's there!

It's winter and rainy in many parts of Brasil right now. Better to go during their summer. As it is, the only time I've seen it busy is Carnaval or a World Cup tournament. Not much different between those two events. New Years in Rio is a hoot, too, but I haven't been there for that. Yet...

Glad to hear they were well behaved.

...I guess the economy has turned around in Brazil. Their country saw the wisdom in getting off of the fossil fuel merry go round and built ethanol plants. It is, after all winter in Brazil, sooooo let's go to Fla for a vacation. Does anyone but me think that Portugese (the mother tongue of Spanish) does not sound Spanish, but somehow Eastern European?

Anything happening in Brasil recently is a success compared to the horrid inflation they suffered some 15 years ago. They've had tremendous success comparatively with the real as compared to the experiences with cruzeiros and cruzados. They've managed to achieve some amount of stability in their financial system over the past 15 years.

As far as how Portuguese sounds, it depends on the Sotaque or accent. Southern accents sound more like Spanish. Northern accents to me are more tonal or even nasal and the women almost seem to sing to you rather than talk. At least in my book, and no one under 18 can read that. At any rate I think the closet comparision to another European language would be a cross between Spanish, French and few shots of Cachaças.

 

[minnie61650]

1) Glad things were good for you.
2) After a lot of complaints, WDW made a big push toward group courtesy.
3) Brazilian Tour Operators were told to behave or not be allowed back.
4) This seemed to have worked well.
5) Now we need for WDW to talk to
. . . Pop Warner kids
. . . Cheerleaders

I am so happy that WDW made the big push toward group courtesy with the Brazilian Tour Operators and that it is working.

I too am hoping that WDW will talk to all group tours including Pop Warner kids, cheerleaders etc.

When groups are pleasant and well behaved than the Disney experience can be enjoyed by all.

 

[MyGoofy26]

I am so happy that WDW made the big push toward group courtesy with the Brazilian Tour Operators and that it is working.

I too am hoping that WDW will talk to all group tours including Pop Warner kids, cheerleaders etc.

When groups are pleasant and well behaved than the Disney experience can be enjoyed by all.

Yep - I had sworn off June because of the way the Brazilians behaved back in the 90's. I'm glad these tour operators are finally making consideration a priority. We had a horrible trip about 12 years ago. We stayed in All Star Music and the place was overrun by Brazilian tour groups. EVERY night, through the night, a certain group of them would run the halls and pull the fire alarms. At least 3-4 times a night . . . with one night the alarm getting stuck for about an hour. We hardly got any sleep that trip, security said there was nothing they could do - they couldn't catch the kids that were doing it. Then getting pushed around in the parks - after no sleep, we weren't in the mood, LOL.

And I know that Pop Warner is a hot topic, and yes most of the kids ARE behaved but there are enough that act out to make it noticeable and more than just a passing annoyance. Kids that age like to show off for each other, and that usually means getting more dramatic (and louder) than the next. Pop Warner as an organization is getting a bad reputation because of this behavior. . . I can't believe they don't stress appropriate behavior more since these kids are representatives of the organization. Heck, I'd be appalled if I was one of the well-behaved kids!

 

[remmy_7]

Does anyone but me think that Portugese (the mother tongue of Spanish) does not sound Spanish, but somehow Eastern European?

IMO, Portugese and Spanish sound similar. My child psych teacher was from Brazil and sometimes she would say certain phrases to us in Portugese or count in Portugese...and to me they sounded similar. A Spanish speaking woman in our class was even able to understand what she was saying in Portugese. So that tells me right there that they have a certain similarity

 

[penguin087]

I am glad to see this thread. I've never encountered any of the Brazilian groups but I was concerned. Its good to hear they are behaving better. I'm planning on going in late August 2007. Is August still the season for the groups or is it more early summer?

 

[bluejasmine]

I also was concerned about the brazillian tour groups after hearing horror stories for the last couple years. I havent dealt with any myself tho..

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . I too am hoping that WDW will talk to all group tours including Pop Warner kids, cheerleaders etc . . .QUOTE]


1) WDW is not making demands of Cheerleaders and Pop Warner.
2) Last year, some Pop Warner kids almost destroyed the All Stars.
3) They also did major damage to the POFQ pool.
4) Thousands of dollars in combined damnage!
5) They were not warned or did not have to pay for damages.
6) We were told they bring in too much money to Disney.
7) Easier to just fix the damage!

 

[JulyGirl]

1) WDW is not making demands of Cheerleaders and Pop Warner.
2) Last year, some Pop Warner kids almost destroyed the All Stars.
3) They also did major damage to the POFQ pool.
4) Thousands of dollars in combined damnage!
5) They were not warned or did not have to pay for damages.
6) We were told they bring in too much money to Disney.
7) Easier to just fix the damage!

That is disturbing. I don't know if the girls basketball team I encountered was a Pop Warner team, but they were incredibly rude.