Just back...the good, the bad, and the tour groups!

[PrestonatorSR]

"Honey, we need more beer. There are 50 teenagers wearing pastel blue at the pool singing happy songs at Disneyworld."

Oh please, with your sarcasm. There is a PROFOUND difference between "singing happy songs" and excessive exuberance that ignores, disregards and/or infringes upon how OTHERS might wish to enjoy their WDW experience. I know the concept of "other" is very difficult for some to grasp. Yes, have fun, be exuberant, but in the process please consider how your self-absorbed world of behavior might impact others--that's all I'm saying. Now back to your beer...

 

[WEDWDW]

"Honey, we need more beer. There are 50 teenagers wearing pastel blue at the pool singing happy songs at Disneyworld."

Only 50?

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Beer is good at Disney...it helps me tolerate the crying kids, scooters and long waits for Anna and Elsa. If the HM is still draped when we arrive in September I am switching to Whiskey (I probably will anyway).

 

[disneyAndi14]

I agree with the customer service, which is a real bummer, we have been going 1-2x a year since 2009 and this past April, we really noticed flat faces and robot like actions from the CM's.

We also are 75% FP+ converts. I still have a hard time accepting the long waits on rides which use to be great fillers between the more popular attractions, so this remains a negative in my opinion.

Tour groups do make the visit a little more challenging. We experienced actual rude teens, crowding and pushing in lines at US, they also would not speak English even though I knew very well they could. These were tour groups from Brazil a few years ago. My DD 16 and I travel together and she was only about 12 at that visit and We were virtually invisible to these girls. They pushed and shoved us repeatedly in lines. Good news I haven't had that experience the last several trips.

Thank you for the reviews.

 

[serenitynow]

Oh please, with your sarcasm. There is a PROFOUND difference between "singing happy songs" and excessive exuberance that ignores, disregards and/or infringes upon how OTHERS might wish to enjoy their WDW experience. I know the concept of "other" is very difficult for some to grasp. Yes, have fun, be exuberant, but in the process please consider how your self-absorbed world of behavior might impact others--that's all I'm saying. Now back to your beer...

I try to explain it to people like this:

Imagine a world in which you are the only sober adult with your family on the beach during Spring Break. Now throw in a foreign language, machismo and adolescent mating rituals. The young people are having a hella good time being young and rambunctious with limited adult supervision or restraints. Now you, on the other hand, the sober adult trapped at Spring Break gone wild, have spent thousands of dollars to enjoy your vacation with your loved ones at a Disney Resort. How much fun are you and your family having on their Spring Break?

 

[Klayfish]

Oh please, with your sarcasm. There is a PROFOUND difference between "singing happy songs" and excessive exuberance that ignores, disregards and/or infringes upon how OTHERS might wish to enjoy their WDW experience. I know the concept of "other" is very difficult for some to grasp. Yes, have fun, be exuberant, but in the process please consider how your self-absorbed world of behavior might impact others--that's all I'm saying. Now back to your beer...

Exactly. They're not all sitting criss-cross-applesauce in front of the castle sipping on a lemonade and singing camp songs. And no, they're not stampeding through the parks with scowls on their face looking for 3 year olds to push to the ground. The truth is somewhere in the middle. They're having fun in the parks, and I for one don't have any problem with that whatsoever. I have seen tour groups being what would generally considered to be polite and considerate. But when they're having fun at the very clear expense and blatant disregard for others around them, with the "supervisors" joining in the chaos, then yeah, I have a major problem with that. The stories of that are endless...and it's not some giant conspiracy to make all those stories up.

 

[Momof2Singers]

"Honey, we need more beer. There are 50 teenagers wearing pastel blue at the pool singing happy songs at Disneyworld."

Where are most of them staying??

 

[Momof2Singers]

Not looking forward to this....UGH is there a dislike button, leave a week from today, hope they are all gone by then

 

[WEDWDW]

Where are most of them staying??

They stay at all the Values and can be found at times at all the Moderates(POFQ being the least-likely).

I also saw an ATG getting off a Saratoga bus at Disney Springs this month,but I'm not sure if they were staying there or if they came from a Value/Mod and the Bus had changed its "marquee" for a Saratoga "pick-up" at DS.

I would consider the All-Star Resort to be the "epicenter" of "SATG World" in July.

 

[AngiTN]

Just got back from 10 days at Disney. In the parks every single day.
Saw lots of groups of the girls in their matching shirts. Every day there were at least 3, 4 groups of them.
Not one single time did one act any different than the thousands of other guests in the parks. Not once.
We heard them chant something once, only once. On their way walking past the bus stop at HS. It was not worth even a second thought. It in no way disturbed us or the other guests in line
Now, that isn't posted to say I think they are all perfect. I'm sure they aren't. No more than all non-tour group guests are all perfect.
But I am saying that I think the disruptive ones are a very small minority and in general not something to worry yourself about.

 

[Missyrose]

I hope Disney will get real about addressing this issue, but I fear it won't.

Why would they? Disney makes a ton of cash off tour groups both from this country and internationally.

Believe it or not(I go every July for my Birthday),the Chanting/Singing is DOWN this year.

It is still very prevalent,but less than in past years.

Way, WAY down from the past two summers.

Imagine a world in which you are the only sober adult with your family on the beach during Spring Break. Now throw in a foreign language, machismo and adolescent mating rituals. The young people are having a hella good time being young and rambunctious with limited adult supervision or restraints

I've been to Disney many times during peak tour group season (January/July/August) and I've never seen spring break behavior from any of them. They walk in large packs and sometimes will play with their cellphones on dark rides -- but that's no different than any other group of teenagers I've encountered at Disney. And I don't know if I've just been lucky, but I've never heard the chanting that others claim is a nonstop feature of the tour groups.

 

[jkh36619]

I havent seen customer service going down. We are pretty self sufficient and have very few interactions with CMS though

 

[Princesca]

I don't think it's just tour groups - I kinda think 90% of the time you get 5+ teenagers in a group, doing anything, the obnoxious meter goes way up. But then I'm crotchety.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

THE BAD: Customer service has gone down hill. I had read it here and thought people were too harsh, but, for the most part, they are right. With the very notable exception of the folks at SSR and at Kiliminjaro Safaris referenced above, the service was often lackluster and rather emotionally indifferent. Upon arrival at AKL, we were greeted by a cast-member with ZERO enthusiasm--how about a SMILE, at least?!? Instead, she mumbled some questions about our bags and awkwardly worked with us to get things organized. Rather incompetent and uninspiring--terrible first impression. Our second encounter was with the bellhop who brought our belongings. While he was pleasant enough, he spent most of his time complaining about the working conditions at Disney. As a marketing/branding professional, I was mortified by this introduction to my Disney trip. There were many other SMILING cast members at the parks and elsewhere--so I don't want to cast aspersions on the many hard-working people who still offer first-class and pleasant service. It's just that BAD service is far more prevalent than it used to be at WDW.

A few years ago DD & I were shopping at the Polynesian and the cashier we had at Boutiki was like this. We made a comment that we loved the Polynesian and asked how she liked working there. Oh boy, I'm sorry we asked. She said her mother had worked for Disney so they were there all the time so it was no big deal to her. She had a young daughter that she said she rarely took to the parks because she (the cashier) hated them. She really disliked working for Disney ... and so on and so on. We were so shocked that she said all that she did.

 

[85glht]

Just got back from 10 days at Disney. In the parks every single day.
Saw lots of groups of the girls in their matching shirts. Every day there were at least 3, 4 groups of them.
Not one single time did one act any different than the thousands of other guests in the parks. Not once.
We heard them chant something once, only once. On their way walking past the bus stop at HS. It was not worth even a second thought. It in no way disturbed us or the other guests in line
Now, that isn't posted to say I think they are all perfect. I'm sure they aren't. No more than all non-tour group guests are all perfect.
But I am saying that I think the disruptive ones are a very small minority and in general not something to worry yourself about.

We experience the same thing a few weeks ago. A LOT of girls and some boys being escorted around the parks. Nothing negative to report..... Although wherever they were, we just went the other way. I did notice that while they were in a queue for either Splash Mountain or Mountain Railroad, they left their backpacks near the fence across Pecos Bills and one of the guides was keeping watch on the bags. I thought that was a considerate thing to do.

 

[PrestonatorSR]

I'm happy for all of you that have never been bothered by or don't perceive any issues with the behavior of (some) tour groups. Good for you! I stand by my original observations and perceptions, while also accepting your observations and perceptions. Peace out.

 

[serenitynow]

I don't think it's just tour groups - I kinda think 90% of the time you get 5+ teenagers in a group, doing anything, the obnoxious meter goes way up. But then I'm crotchety.

Right you are, it's not just tour groups. Cheer groups, Pop Warner, school field trip groups have had some of the same issues, especially at the resorts. Get a group of teenagers together, away from their own parents, at a vacation location with minimal adult supervision and they are going to act like ... A group of teenagers on vacation, surprise. Some of the groups are fine, high energy but well behaved. Some of the groups can get out of control, especially at the resorts.

In my opinion, it has gotten better over the past few years. Disney appears to be in communication with some of the travel agents about no chanting, cheering or screaming in the resort. I've seen CMs telling groups to stop chanting.

 

[serenitynow]

A few years ago DD & I were shopping at the Polynesian and the cashier we had at Boutiki was like this. We made a comment that we loved the Polynesian and asked how she liked working there. Oh boy, I'm sorry we asked. She said her mother had worked for Disney so they were there all the time so it was no big deal to her. She had a young daughter that she said she rarely took to the parks because she (the cashier) hated them. She really disliked working for Disney ... and so on and so on. We were so shocked that she said all that she did.

You should email Disney with the date and time of this exchange. Believe me, management wants to know if they have an unhappy cast member sharing their unpleasant insights with their guests! Also, not everyone has the right personality to work with the public. This young woman sounds like she lacks that personality, perhaps a better fit would be behind the scenes for this CM.

Edit: Sorry, misread, thought you said a few days ago, not years ago.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

"Honey, we need more beer. There are 50 teenagers wearing pastel blue at the pool singing happy songs at Disneyworld."

All it takes is one bad experience although over the years I believe it has gotten better. For mine you would need more than one beer, more like a case.

We were in line at Maelstrom and it was packed and we are in the middle of two large tour groups (more than 50) chanting at the top of their voices in that small space. My DD's were holding their hands over their ears and it gave me a headache so we went back to the room early for quiet.

 

[PrestonatorSR]

We were in line at Maelstrom and it was packed and we are in the middle of two large tour groups (more than 50) chanting at the top of their voices in that small space. My DD's were holding their hands over their ears and it gave me a headache so we went back to the room early for quiet.[/QUOTE]

Friend speaks my mind. Again "exuberance" is one thing; but the behavior you reference demonstrates disrespect for others. Period.