Just back - LOTS to say!

[HunnyPots]

I just got back Sunday night and I also was overwhelmed by the tour groups. I'd heard about them but never knew there would be so many. I did not witness any real problem behavior from the kids but the clapping and "singing" everywhere we went got old real fast. The only real problem I had with them was the tour guides tying up the fastpass machines. Quite a few times we would go to get a fastpass only to find all the machines being used by the guides getting 30 or 40 fastpasses for their groups. It kind of defeats the purpose of fastpass if you have to stand in line 30 minutes to get one!

 

[mumeof3]

yikes you brought back memories of 2 years ago,I totally forgot about the tour groups ughh we go 8/17-25th does anyone know if they are there in August????I will be pissed...

 

[cxcelica]

Hmmm... never really heard much about this problem, but it does sound like a serious issue. The problem is how to handle it. I am guessing that this groups probably do spend some good American dollars, so Disney does like it.

However, how do you control them in the park???? If you are some 19 year old college program CM what can you really do with 35 chanting tourists.

Its tough, the only solution is too throw people out of the parks, but I guess Disney does not want to do that. I am surprised you dont hear of more people taking justice into their own hands, if you know what I mean. That would be a real black eye for Disney.

 

[sammielynn]

I have heard from friends that live in Orlando about the tour groups. It seems that these kids come to Disney(or at least some of them) for a birthday party. They send about 100 kids and one tour guide. I would never send my child on a trip like that Send my child to another country with only one adult and 99 of their friends, not in this lifetime.

 

[agnes!]

For those of us Engligh-speaking DIS'ers who encounter various Tour Groups Behaving Badly, I have an idea...
someone needs to put together a short list of (with appropriate languages, spelled out phonetically)...

1) Where are you from?

2) Stop that!

3) I am reporting you and your group to Security!

and so on. The list should include some phonetic responses, so we'll have at least a vague understanding of possible responses.
Y'all get the idea? (I *think* the appropriate language for Brazil is Portugese?) This *could* work...maybe.

agnes!

 

[n2mm]

No flames here either. I actually thought you did a great job summarizing your experience.

I've been there, done that, and like you--never again. After my summer trip, like yours, I swore off value resorts--only for the summer. My experience was exactly like yours and it was 6 years ago, wow things don't change. I lost it when they pushed my 6 year old grandson out of the way to get to a character he was in line for. These were 14-15 year old girls. After I yelled at them, they backed off and apologized, but it shouldn't come to that.

 

[DisAddict]

Sorry to change the subject.....but how was ASMo?

We'll be there in Oct for 10 days and it get's mixed reviews, just wondering your thoughts

Thanks

 

[kfkruse]

Are they only there in july? We will be there on July 29. Are they still there in droves or is that close enough to the end of the month?

 

[XxUsedFan802xX]

We just got back yesterday -- I too noticed all of the large tour groups (couldn't miss the flags), however I did not experience any of them being rude or loud. I guess we got lucky!! They did tie up the fast pass machines though....

We stayed at POR and it was great - relaxing, relatively quiet, and it didn't seem crowded. I was worried about the bus situation, but we had no problem at all with over-crowded busses. We did do early morning hours, however (I think most people were still sleeping).

The only "bad" comment is (as someone else said), the crowds leaving the park at MK. It was like a stampede - we just got there for EMH and were trying to enter and it was almost impossible - kind of scary in fact. Disney needs to do something about this for sure!!! I can see a tragedy happening in the future.

Dinner comments:
HDD - Our first time - funny and entertaining. Food good too!! Highly recommended.
Le'Cellier - Very good
Boatrights - About a 3 out of 10
Tony's Town Square - Good food - a little loud though - but would eat there again
50's Prime Time - Fun - food just okay

Highly recommend the dining plan - even though we were supposed to order from the kids menu for two of our children for all of out counter service meals, every place we ordered from let us get anything off the menu - so the kids weren't stuck with the very limited children's menu. Don't know if we just got lucky or what.

Crowds - I expected worse. The waiter at Tony's Town Sq. told me that for some reason the crowds were lighter than normal -

Fast Pass is a lifesaver - the only way to go!!

 

[Julylady]

We just returned yesterday after five days at WDW so I guess I will weigh in as well.

Like everyone else, we too noticed the Brazilian tour groups. However, they were not singing, chanting, or misbehavin in any way. At least I didn't notice any thing out of the ordinary. We ended up in the middle of a group of them on Main Street during Wishes. They were just as nice as could be and even made room for us to see better. I saw several adults with them...way more than the 1 to 100 ratio mentioned earlier. I would certainly not change my vacation plans to avoid them!

It was our first trip in July and YES, the heat did bother us. We toured the parks in the morning, returned to the hotel for the afternoon and then went out again in the evening. I actively searched for shaded areas and places with air conditioning all week. I also had a small fan that was a lifesaver!

Our restaurant reviews:

Artist Point - A-
Concourse Steakhouse - B
Mara - C (Not set up efficiently to get people through the line quickly)
Nine Dragons - B+
Columbia House - B
House of Blues Gospel Brunch - B+ (We arrived at 10:15 on the dot and waited 30 minutes in the sun before we were seated.)

 

[sharkbait89]

We will be at wdw this Sat. How long do these tour groups stay? Clogging up the fast pass lines will really tick me off.