When is Brazlian Tour Group season?

[*Fantasia*]

Can we say.. All Brazilians that are/were at WDW are wild. ..? This way we are not generalizing too much? Is there any other large group from another country that goes to WDW that are wild?

 

[Martha7]

We lived in Brazil 14 years ago for three years, and my good Brazilian friend told me that at one time, the reputation of the Brazilian tour groups was so bad, that on flights from Brazil to Florida, American Airlines actually ran an instructional video, demonstrating proper etiquette at theme parks (no line jumping, no singing loud songs, etc)! Of course, the Brazilians got very offended, and American had to stop running the videos. The story was profiled on their TV program, "Fantastica", which is akin to our "60 Minutes." The point is that even Brazilians are aware of how these tour groups behave, and many of them are embarassed by it. By the way, in July, Brazilian schools are off for a month, (kind of like our winter holidays), and in our winter months, they're off for the equivalent of our summer break, since the seasons are reversed on the other side of the equator. I still love Brazilians, and if I meet any during our trip, I'll be practising my portuguese, and trying not to get worked up, should bad behavior be in evidence. I do remember that years ago, we were on the Star Wars ride, and the ride broke down. The CM asked us to keep our same seats in another car, and a bunch of Brazilians, (a family), jumped into the best seats, effectively separating us from our two young sons. My husband, who hadn't spoken portuguese in years, suddenly gave them quite the lecture in their native tongue! Funny how a sudden rush of adrenalin can untwist your tongue at precisely the right moment!

 

[2d_star_to_the_right]

I work in a multiethnic practice and have been to Disney World with the Brazilian tour groups- and they are a problem. It has nothing to do with them being Brazilian (just that they are) but more to do with their inability to follow the "rules" of Disney World- such as proper dress, not cutting in line- I can't tell you how many times we would be cut by an entire group of 40 because one person was holding a spot- we reported it to CM's all over the park including Guest Relations only to be told they were aware it was a problem but there wasn't anything they could do. Illuminations was downright scary (and I work on the streets with gangs). At the time the characters would come on the double decker red bus with the Brazilian music blaring to the fountain and watch out- you couldn't get within a foot of a single character without being bowled over. CM's could not get them to make a line. During Illuminations- they chose to stand in the sitting area, stand on the benches, rocks- and CM's again tried but could not get them to follow the rules.

I don't care WHO it is Brazilian, Russian, American or Alien- when you are on vacation and your actions are ruining it for others- something needs to be done! Disney World is TOO expensive (at least for us) to come away feeling angru at having the environment ruined by people who by American customs were behaving rude. When in Rome.......

just thoughts

 

[idofabric]

My family and I have been down to WDW several summers in the last week of July and there were a ton of Brazailian(sp?) tour groups there. Some were nice and polite... but most were not. The main problem ,as I saw it, was that there is usually only one tour guide with up to 40 people, about 14-20 yo, we asked, and that is a hard age to keep track of. Also the way that some were dressed... or the way we saw a few change clothes... sometimes as we were watching the parade, or in the seating area for restraunts. Just a bit to much bare totally naked skin.

One of the times we had a very bad line jumping we told the CM, who shrugged and said they could not do anything if they did not personally see it... so the next several times it happened we dealt with it. Not fun.

We really, really try to go on different times of the year other then when large groupes are there... but it is getting hard to do!

Wish Disney would require that ALL large groups go through a 20 min "how to behave in public" talk, or at least make sure the Tours that misbehave not come back.

When high school seniors go down for Grad.Nite they are given very strick rules they must obey. If Disney can make HS seniors act (mostly) in a responsible way, why won't/can't they impress it on the large groups they sell packages to that there are rules and they MUST obey. Should not matter what country the people are from. Guess it is ok for large groups from other countries to be rude/half naked/ and run but not US kids... ?

 

[MPLsDad]

I have had two bad experiences with large groups in WDW. They happened to be from South America, but I don't want anyone to think that this couldn't happen with groups from any of the other 6 continents...The way I deal with large, rude, obnoxious groups of people is to either chip away at thier ankles with my kid's stroller when they cut in front of us (which I am super cautious about with everyone else), I refuse to take my hands off the railings of the queues when moving through when others are sitting all over them, and when they approach me as if it is the running of the bulls I just pretend to sneeze without covering my mouth and make it a WET ONE!
Do unto others as they do to me! It is the only time I exhibit bad behavior in the parks at Disney!

 

[Gary M]

I have encountered the Brazilian tour groups on more than one trip and they are horrible. No PC, just the truth.

 

[G00fyDad]

I guess my whole point is that a lot of people do a lot of really obnoxious things while at WDW. Some of the issues are differences in culture and some of them are just plain rudeness. To single out Brazilian groups as a whole just seems really wrong.

Honestly, youre right it is wrong. Just as it is wrong for the Brazillians to be the way they are. Some other countries have this opinion that ALL Americans are loud mouthed and rude. When they get here they immediately cop a "ME" attitude. Sorry, if you dont like the thread being directed at Brazillians but in all honesty if it is them doing this ignorant garbage then it is them that the finger is going to be pointed at.

 

[mitros]

Yea, another vote saying the Brazilian groups are unusually unruly. We were there one year in Epcot when one of the groups were there, and they are really a problem when it comes to rude and obnoxious behavior. They cut ahead of you {although never in front of me, being 6'7", 265 lbs.} but to a lot of other people, and when these people say something to them, they get the "no speak english" line, and then stay just where they are and have a good laugh. And I am sorry, but it was done by every person in the group, and the tour leader pays no attention to the way they act. They would throw their trash on the ground like they were walking around a garbage dump. I even saw one of the CM janitorial crew literally following them around! I talked to a CM suit, and he said that this is totally normal behavior to them. They really think there is nothing wrong with what they do.

 

[Aisling]

On our first trip to WDW, we came across the Brazilian tour groups. We never heard of them before, but we soon learned to avoid them. While we were standing on line for Kilimanjaro safari, a Brazilian teen said "excuse me", as she passed us in line and made her way up to the front AS SHE HELD THE HAND OF ANOTHER WHO HELD THE HAND OF ANOTHER WHO HELD THE HAND OF ANOTHER, a chain of at least 25 teens long. Many people were angered by this, but no one said anything. I notice the CMs getting very annoyed with them, too. There were many incidents with the Brazilian groups.

To the poster who thought it not fair to single out a particular group, they wouldn't be singled out if they didn't deserve to be. No one is saying all Brazilians are like this, but let's face it, WDW visitors have had enormous amount of bad experiences with these particular groups. Let's just tell the truth here.

I may be adding more fuel to this, but since I live in NYC, I've seen more than one Brazilian tour group being escourted out of the Museum of Natural History. The security guards there aren't as pc as Disney CMs...they don't take any obnoxiousness from anyone.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I know 2 Brazilian people on line and they are the nicest, kindest people you could ever meet. However they agree that Brazilian tour groups are the very worst and are rather embarsed about this. (as are most Brazilian's.) Aparently it is a "rite of passage" in Brazil for youths to go to WDW as a group. Families save for a while for this and there really is no rules, anything goes and there is no limits. It is rather akin ot college frat partying, but at WDW and younger. (While both of them LOVE WDW they have never been on one of these group tours.)

One of the people I know was a CM, he said they would send him out to greet and try to control to groups since he spooke the lanuage. He HATED it.

I don't feel bad at all saying they are the bad. I am happy we aren't there during peak times for it.

I wish I spoke a few choice words in portuguese, to your husband Martha7

 

[LukenDC]

You know while tour groups of any kind are often very obnoxious as are a lot of other people, this thread is really offensive in singling out Brazilians.

I agree. I know many Brazilians and while there are a couple of bad eggs among them, most are delightful. We should be pleased that they spend their hard earned money visiting our country.

 

[mitros]

Sorry, but on these tours to WDW, there are quite a few more then just a couple of bad eggs. As DisneyPhD, said, even Brazilians are embarrassed by the tour groups. I think the original poster was not saying, and neither has anyone else, that ALL Brazilians are bad or obnoxious, but ALL the members of these Brazilian tour groups at WDW certainly are. I guess I really can't understand this "rite of passage" that the parents pay for, so that these kids can go to WDW, and "anything " goes. But then again, I can't understand parents in this country paying a fortune for their kids to go to college and they have their "rite of passage" by drinking so much that they puke on people and bare there back sides.

 

[Martha7]

Obrigada, DisneyPhD! Really, as I said, we lived in Brazil, and I love everything about the country and the people. I was interested to read that these trips are considered a "rite of passage." I always think it's important when there's some kind of explanation for why something is happening. The Brazilians I know would never behave in this way! They're very well-mannered and completely charming and considerate. They're some of the finest people we know. If these young people are coming to WDW and then going home and bragging about how they got away with cutting in lines, etc., perhaps the other kids figure that they can do it too. You'd hope that eventually these groups would hire more tour guides, and that Disney would consider imposing the same standards which are imposed for school groups. (Of course, school trips usually have a very high chaperone to student ratio, from my experience.) There may be no solution, in which case, we are well within our rights to make sure other DISers are aware of the months which tend to be more popular with these groups. Eu adoro o Brazil, y nao quiero dizer que todos os Brazileiros se comportem mal!!!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Ok, I did a mad search for the orignal threads that I read the info on (on a differnt fan site) and now I have a head ache and my eyes hurt.

I never found the one I wanted, but I did find the cast member talking about saving spaces in lines for small groups (5 or so) is rather normal in Brazil (and not pretty.) However these are group of 25 or more. The other big problem is these youths are not prepared for how to act in a different country, (as mention before.) and it is often the 1st time they are away from their family. There is no real chaperones (just guides that have no camp counselor skills ) and they are so far away from home "anything goes".

Being a former member of a youth group that would visit WDW for a day, I do know the feeling of being in a large group give you a strengh bigger then youself and no way for your behavior to follow you home, I can see the urge to run wild in pre-teens a little strong.

One interesting thing I did learn is WDW has stopped advertsing in Braizil and many of the young kids don't know much about the parks. Maybe this is Disneys way of trying to cut down on this behavior. And yes it July that is the high season.

I think families and individuals traveling from Brazil are very differnt then the youth groups. Can you imagine sending your pre-teen to another country with no suppervison and in a large group?

mitros, I couldn't agree more.

Martha7, I don't know what you said, but I am sure I agree!

 

[madscrapper]

We were just at WDW (Jan 20-29). I had always read about "the brazilians" and wondered, gee...how bad can they be, really? Well, it seemed as though half of Brazil was at WDW....my DH said he felt like he was in another country because soooo many people were visiting from other countries...not just Brazil. It was amazing, really, that we could be in line and hear so many other languages except English.

Well, certain folks from Brazil, not all, (and I know they were from Brazil because groups of 30 or more would be dressed alike with "brazil" on the their clothing, etc) like to cut in line - any line. I followed many into the restrooms and was appalled by the lack of hand washing, not to mention the urine, etc left all over toilet seats. Knocking into us as we walked. This happened every day, many times a day.

I really hate to criticize any one group of people and we did meet some wonderful people from all over. But...while I love their excitement and cheerful nature, please do that with clean hands and in your place in line.

Jeannine

 

[mitros]

Very good, I almost forget about the restroom problems. That was far worse then the line cutting. My DW is looking over my shoulder as I am typing and is asking me to comment on the fact that the bathrooms were unusable when the girls from these groups got through with them.

PS: She is telling me not to use the smileys, but I feel it is necessary in this case!

 

[Humphrey Bear]

We were staying at POFQ one January and ran into a large Brazilian tour group that was staying there. We went for a swim one evening and could not believe it. Some of the boys would run up to the top of the serpent bridge that runs over the pool, climb over the edge and then jump down into the pool below to impress the girls in the group. They didn't care that they came close to others or that it is only 31/2 feet deep. Everyone else cleared out of the pool.

We had to walk down to riverside to do our swimming. The pool at FQ stayed closed at night till that group checked out 2 days later.

 

[lclark0621]

The Brazilian Tour Groups are the reason we stopped going to WDW in the summer.

I have seen many large tour groups at Disney & NONE of them have been as rude as the Brazilian groups.

It is absolutly UNACCEPTABLE for any entire group of people to continually cut in front of lines.

The Brazilian Tour Groups have absolulty earned their horrible reputation. It is not a stero-type that the groups are this horrible, they REALLY are.

I have seen these groups not only be rude with the line cutting & insanly loud singing, but I have seen them actually hurt people & not even care. They have pushed people (old & young), slammed into people, it is just horrible. I have seen some REALLY hurt kids in the parks.

There should be some kind of rule in Disney. If you are in a tour group, you should have to have like 1 "guide" for every 10 people. They are just out of control with 40+ kids to 1 adult. Even though the adults of these groups are not much better, they need to have some adult supervision.

 

[luvthatduke]

Ok, now I'm getting freaked out.
I find it extremely difficult to tolerate
(very) obnoxious, rude & semi-violent people.
If anyone, from any country,
hurt my toddler there's a very good
chance I might have to use AAA's bail bond insurance!

We're going in April, but I was hoping
to schedule a second trip next January
as we're getting AP's.
The one post referred to the week of
Jan. 20th w/the Brazilians,
can anyone offer advice of a good/better,
bad/worst time of January to go?

TIA!

P.S. I'm really not a "toughy" girl,
but I'm a ferocious Mommy!

 

[aubriee]

Ok, now I'm getting freaked out.
I find it extremely difficult to tolerate
(very) obnoxious, rude & semi-violent people.
If anyone, from any country,
hurt my toddler there's a very good
chance I might have to use AAA's bail bond insurance!

We're going in April, but I was hoping
to schedule a second trip next January
as we're getting AP's.
The one post referred to the week of
Jan. 20th w/the Brazilians,
can anyone offer advice of a good/better,
bad/worst time of January to go

I hate to tell you, but we were there Jan 9th-15th (last month) and there were LOTS!!! of Brazilians there. We saw alot of the younger (teens) tour groups, but we also saw alot of Brazilian families. They were all rude, i.e.:

1. At Epcot I was waiting in line with my 8 y/o GD for the Japanese candy lady and there were ony two ladies ahead of us, when I heard, 'excuse me, excuse me'. A Brazilian lady was pushing her two daughters to the front of the line. As they came to us, I put my hand on the cart and told her 'the line is back there'. She said 'my daughters want a candy sculture and we're in a hurry'. I said so are we, she continued to push her elder daughter (about 13 or 14 y/o) into my GD. I put my arm between them and told her if she didn't get to the back of the line, I would scream so loud for security that they would hear me all the way back in Brazil. She stopped pushing, but started muttering about 'rude Americans'.

2. We were next to a young family in line for Snow White and then they were right behind us again at Mickey's Philharmagic. The little boy just kept swinging on the railings, kicking his feet up and kicking people. The parents would just laugh. Excuse me, those little feet hurt. At one point he was climbing and fell into my son's elbow and bounced off. Instead of crying he jumped up and came at my adult son with his fists raised. At that point his dad who had seen the whole thing and knew it was an accident and the boy's own fault finally grabbed him, but a few minutes later he was bouncing off people again, while the parents laughed.

3. At La Nouba a young couple had apparently got tickets as walk ups, because they were not sitting together. The man sat next to me and asked me if I would change seats with his wife, so they could sit together. I told him no, because I was sitting with my GD and son. He said my GD had my son and didn't need me, but his wife was sitting among strangers. Well excuse me, if I had moved I would have been amongst strangers. Anyway he got really mad. In a few minutes his wife yelled down at him and he shook his head 'no' and said something about 'Americans'. As soon as the show started, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a small video camera and started taping. I politely told him no taping was allowed and he snottily said, if I didn't like it then I should have changed seats with his wife. In just a few moments a CM came down and told him to cut off the video camera and he said 'no English'. I couldn't resist. I said, that's funny you spoke fluent English just a minute ago.

4. A Brazilian girl riding Star Wars with us video taped the whole thing despite the people in front of her asking her more than once to cut off the video camera. She even turned around a couple of times and panned it around on the rest of us.

5. The Buzz Lightyear ride got stopped because one of them lost their purse over the side and dove after it. It took 30 minutes to get her and her purse back in and for the ride to restart. When we got to the end, I guess they had lost everyone's points, because none were posted.

6. My 8 y/o GD got knocked down by a group of them at AK and they never even stopped to apologize.

7. We saw the parents pulling their little ones pants down and encouraging them to urinate wherever they were.

So, it wasn't just a right of passage thing. The adults were as bad as the kids. If there is any more there in July than there were in January, I definitely won't go in July.