17 thoughts on “Brazilian Tour Groups”

1. renato says:

   December 4, 2011 at 2:25 PM

   In parts i agree with you , im brazilian , former 2 times CM , i can say to you , that the brazilian are the most coolest and nicest ppl , but you can not say that all brazilians are like you said on your post , beacuse on those cases that you mentioned , is with large groups , with the average age of the group about 15 years , like all kids with 15 , 17 years. When you make a large group of those ages , of any country the consequences are almost the same.
   Some brazilian are worst then another turists, but is better then other turists in another way.
   The matters , is not educated by country , and yes, its educated at home , so depends the familly.
   I lived 2 years in canada and 1 in US , and there are a lot of american worst behavior, but there is way more with good behavior , the same with brazilian , japones, canadina, english , any country , so this is not a bvrazilian problem , the problem is the size of the groups and the average age.
   When i worked at disney , i always used a nametag “Brad” so i didnt deal with the brazilian groups, that i didnt like , for some reason that you said, but most of the brazilian are not like those groups.
   The brazilians are the second most turist in Disney , and the larger in Us today , the money they spend in US , in your crisis , you should thank them , with wasnt them th
   e US economy would be way worst , so im asking to not be so recist against the nacionality , and judgethe human as one , not as a country .

   Thanks a lot and congrats about the post , i agree with almost all , except saying about the brazilians general and not those groups only.
   You should come to Brazil , i bet that you will think way diferent after you visit us and see our couture , also please check the video bellow made by americans research.

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2. renato says:

   December 4, 2011 at 2:28 PM

   Another fact:

   Only on august the brazilians , leave 8 billion dollars in US

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   • May says:

     September 26, 2012 at 9:28 PM

     what doesn’t allow us to do this kind of things! we are civilized.. at least i am!

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3. Jess says:

   December 5, 2011 at 9:49 AM

   This is great Shelley! I actually didn’t know that Disney was talking to them about behaviors in the park. And thanks for putting my stuff in there!

   And to respond to Renato above, I didn’t get that she was speaking about all Brazilians and lumping all into the tour group category. Because even I too have seen some polite and respectable people who have come from Brazil in the parks. And she has even mentioned that she had pleasant encounters with some. She was just bringing up the fact that some are like this, and when they are this is how they act and it is unpleasant unfortunately. And yes I have seen some American groups or people down in WDW act just as bad as these tour groups. They just aren’t usually as notable since they aren’t carrying a flag or all have the same shirt on.

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4. Joshua Wimberley says:

   July 11, 2012 at 11:52 PM

   We are at the end of a one month vacation at Walt Disney World currently. We arrived in late June and will be leaving in late July. We have seen literally thousands of Brazilian teenagers traveling with the tour groups and they’re behavior for the most part has been typical of their age. There have been isolated incidents of people trying to cut in line and the chanting is beyond annoying but for the number of people in the groups the problems have been minor.

   That being said, I have found myself referring to them as, “The Swarm” and my wife calls it the, “Million Brazilian March”. The logistical problems that these groups create is mind-boggling. They move from park to park and never break the groups down to less than 20 teenagers, often moving without an adult at all. Even worse is when 2 or 3 of these groups form up and create a battalion and hit an attraction. They can overwhelm a Fastpass line and make it move even more slowly than the Stand-By.

   The only direct confrontation I had with one group involved line-jumping. They tried to use the, “No English” excuse and I informed them that I knew they had been trained in English as well as Spanish at school. I also instructed them as to exactly where the line started and where the girls that weren’t planning on participating in the Epcot Kid Spot could wait for their friends. Imagine her surprise when the old white guy verbally reprimanded her in Spanish, a language she couldn’t deny understanding. She and her friends followed my instructions to the letter and went to wait in the designated area with their tail tucked between their legs. The cast member thanked me as did numerous people in the line with us…

   I have learned that this is a time period to try to avoid at Disney World just as I try to avoid the Gay Pride activities during June.

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5. Margi Dyer says:

   July 18, 2012 at 11:19 AM

   We are DVC Members, Disney Annual Pass Holders and Disney Chase card holders – from Texas. We stopped planning vacations during the months the Brazilians are in attendance. We NEVER met a tour group that wasn’t rude or disrespectful. They (the group) cut in line, used up all the fast passes, blocked people from trying to get by and pretended not to understand English. They would send one person to stand in line and then when the flag holder got closer to the front here would come up to 20 kids. At one point, a flag holder at the Toy Story Mania line got to the front of the line and Disney opened the exit doors and allowed two tour groups to cut in line. I understand they are here to “spend” money, I just don’t think they should get special privileges. Last time I checked, my money was as green as theirs.

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6. rich l says:

   July 18, 2012 at 3:00 PM

   Had four Brazilian boys switch from single rider to standby line in rock n roller coaster. Very annoying and no cast members around.

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7. Tim says:

   July 21, 2012 at 8:42 PM

   These brazilian tour groups were OBNOXIOUS and disrespectful. I have nothing against Brazilians, but these people were everywhere and I had experiences similar to the poster. I had only googled this to see if others have had the same experience and voila. I’m walking down the opposite direction and these idiots in their big packs don’t even try to move out of the way for others and instead expect you to walk all the way around the entire mob as if they are to be treated like royalty. Add to that the chanting that they do announcing their presence.

   They need to be taught manners and need to respect the country that they are visiting. It puts a bad name on their nation as a whole.

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8. Me says:

   July 24, 2012 at 2:35 PM

   A cast member at our resort told us most of those kids are there celebrating their Quinceañera, which is kind of an equivalent to a sweet sixteen. Rich Brazilian parents haul their kids away to Disney in tour groups lead by one twenty-year-old tour guide per fifty kids. This cast member also told us he has heard stories about these kids that’d make your jaw drop (of course not specifying what they were).

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9. Teresa says:

   July 24, 2012 at 6:58 PM

   I returned to Indianapolis, Indiana last night, after a 5 day stay at the Carribean Beach resort. Sadly, my experience at Disney was not positive and thanks to these unruly and boisterous Brazilian groups, I have no interest in returning! I was shocked, blown away and completely put off by their behavior. There is absolutely no excuse for their rudeness, loudness, and complete disregard of others. On our first bus ride, my 10 year old daughter was knocked down and stepped on at the bus stop! I was so shocked, I could not even react! Her knee is still bruised and scabbed. Later the same day, my husband and I were both pushed in lines and even tripped! I had to stop my husband from becoming confrontational with one of their “guides”. I actually saw a young girl kick a stroller (with a baby in it!) so that she could get to a seat first. The loud chanting and singing didn’t help matters either! I realize that these groups bring in a ton of revenue, but I believe that Walt himself would find this completely unaccceptable and sad. I’m sorry, but I don’t accept the “they are teengagers in a large group, behaving like teenagers” excuse. I was once a teenager and went to theme parks in large groups. We had a much greater sense of personal responsibility. I’m very, very dissapointed in Disney.

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10. Duck says:

    July 26, 2012 at 1:01 AM

    Just returned from Disney World–stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge –the only place where we could avoid the large tour groups. We didn’t have as many troubles with the groups this year as we had in 2010: My family went to eat in Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom. We bought food for our children and found a table. My wife then went up to get our food and was gone for half an hour. I couldn’t leave our children unattended, so we got up to find her. She was stuck in line behind a tour group of about 300 people. The next day when we went to one of the quick serve eateries, the employee there told us that we came at the right time and that in a few minutes, a group of 300 people was about to come. Why do they all need to travel as one huge mob? We also experienced difficulty as we tried to leave the Magic Kingdom after the fireworks. We were headed down Main Street through the crowds and needed to take our children to the bathroom before leaving the park. We had trouble getting to the bathrooms because one of these tour groups had linked hands and had formed a line that was moving to the exit. We could not get through the line because it was never-ending. I kept asking the people in the line to let us through so that our small children could get to the bathroom, but they all ignored me. It was not until I threatened to physically cut through the line by force that one of the people with a flag came up and forced an opening in the line to let us through. One thing I did notice this year that I was curious about: As one of these tour groups was gathering outside the fastpass line for Soarin’, as my family passed through the entrance, the man holding the flag for the tour group (and wearing the same shirt as the tour group) said “Happy birthday” to me (it was my birthday and I was wearing a birthday button). I wondered why the tour group leader said that to me and I noticed that he was wearing a Disney cast member ID badge. Are some of the leaders of these groups employed by Disney? I know that Disney wants the money generated by groups this size, but they also need to understand the problems that groups this size create for families.

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11. Scott says:

    July 27, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    We just got back from a 10 day Disney trip and I thought the tour groups were a lot better than they were two years earlier. We didn’t have any troubles with them at all this time. The wandering groups were rarely more than four across and were fairly fast moving – better than the families walking ten across going at a snails pace or people weaving along looking at their phones keeping anyone from getting by cleanly and then getting surly if any contact is made when you get by.

    There was a group sitting taking up a whole side of the road at Hollywood studios once, and then my favourite story… I was sitting on the fake fence outside Splash Mountain waiting for my family (I don’t like the ride) when one of the Argentinian guides comes up to me and says “excuse me”. I thought he was going to ask me a question but he then tells 20 girls to crowd around the fence and drop their bookbags around me. I assume he wanted me to go away but I had a comfortable spot and I had a long wait ahead of me. When I didn’t move I could tell that some of the kids thought it was funny that they had invaded my space (I mean that they were a little embarrassed and didn’t think I should move). I wish I had a camera to get the crowd shot, but my wife did get a great shot of all the bookbags and a couple remaining sleeping kids spread out at my feet.

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12. Carrie says:

    July 28, 2012 at 9:05 PM

    We returned from an 8 day trip to Disney feeling like a little piece of the magic had been taken away. After being shoved, pushed and annoyed the entire trip…The last night my mother got swarmed and shoved by a mob of the “Brazilians” and took a face plant onto the sidewalk. She left the Magic Kingdom in an ambulance and spent the night in the ER. She broke her nose in two places and her hand. These groups are too large and unruly. I understand that they bring in money, but they have to keep the groups in a much more managable size. I witnessed small children, and my 59 yr old mother be shoved around all week. Many families complained all week long…the groups plop down in the middle of walkways, hallways in hotels, etc. Disney needs to look into this sooner than later!!!

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    • Teresa says:

      July 29, 2012 at 9:13 AM

      I am so sorry about your experience. My family had a similar experience last week. We returned just a few days ago and my daughter still has a huge scab on her knee from the fall she took after being knocked down by one of the Brazilian teenagers. We left one of the rides because the “chanting” and screaming was so loud, we simply could not endure the noise. We never could get into our pool because they took over that as well. I hope your mom feels better and I hope Disney responds to your family appropriately!

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    • Sue says:

      July 30, 2012 at 1:45 PM

      I just returned yesterday from my family’s 10-day visit to our “happy place”. We love Disney and love going during summer for our summer vacation. I asked a cast member at City Hall in the Magic Kingdom for a name of someone I could write to regarding the tour groups and their extreme rude behavior. I do not appreciate my family very quietly waiting on Main Street to view the Magic, Memories and You show only to be bombarded by all these loud, obnoxious and rude Brazilians and Venezuelans. I understand they bring revenue to Disney, but so do all the visiting American, Asian and European families. I have never experienced a problem with Asian tour groups. They are always well mannered. I understand these groups have been “talked to”, but I believe Disney should enforce more strict guidelines for these groups to not travel in pacts. When my children’s senior high school class visit for their annual senior trip, all the kids have check-in points. They do not travel in herds. I have never had anyone get under my skin the way these tour groups do. Also, they should not be able to hold up the fast pass distribution lanes either. I mentioned this to a cast member at Expedition Everest and his comment was “they are guests just like everyone else”. My response was “No they are not like everyone else”. Had to vent a little bit. It is just very frustrating.

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13. Jim says:

    August 5, 2012 at 2:37 PM

    We were just at WDW for 10 days and the Brazilian tour groups were worse this summer, to me, than last year. I know that these tour groups are part of the equation when we plan a summer vacation at Disney World. It’s something we know we will have to contend with. I personally don’t care that there are groups of teenagers – no matter what nationality – at WDW. That’s not my problem with the tour groups. I do, however, have a huge problem with poorly behaved tour groups. I’ve been going to WDW since it opened in 1971 and it’s sad to say, but these Brazilian tour groups have almost completely turned me off from trying to go to DIsney World on a vacation with my family during the summer. I have heard from a Cast Member that the tour guides are given instructions and are supposed to speak to their groups, but I don’t see that being enforced. I don’t blame the kids so much as I do the guides. Kids will be kids, but the guides need to be held responsible and accountable for their groups’ actions. They treat the Magic Kingdom as if they were attending a soccer match. It’s horrible. This past trip (07/22-07/30), I saw large groups traveling in clusters chanting in almost every park. In every instance, the tour group leader was leading his group in this chant. I can’t count the number of disgusted faces I’d seen on guests who were shocked and alarmed by this loud rolling unscheduled parade of kids. You can see that it intimidates some guests. I especially felt sorry for the people who looked angry and were wearing their “1st Time” buttons. My wife, who had grown tired of these kids feeling like they were entitled to walk en masse, finally had enough in the Magic Kingdom. We were walking up by the Tomorrowland Terrace and a group of Brazilians we all walking side by side coming down that passageway. Those of you familiar with this part of the MK will know that area narrows right there (its beside the location for the Wishes Dessert Party) and this group of kids was taking up the entire area. Other guests were having to step to the side and even off of the walkway. I was walking behind my wife and already trying to pick where I was going to move to avoid the girls when I saw her just lower her head and keep walking. POW! It was like watching a board check in hockey! She shouldered into three of them and those kids got spun around and right out of her way! Of course this ended the chanting for a few as they soon turned to excited unintelligible babbling. Part of me was not happy, but at the same time, part of me celebrated and said “YES!” because that’s what so many of us want to do. We’re sick of this and Disney continues to let it happen. Later on, I had a conversation with my wife and mentioned that she probably shouldn’t do that again. But she did have a point, she said “I was just walking and they didn’t get out of my way. They expect US to get out of THEIR way.” Again, this brings me back to the point that Disney needs to enforce a code of conduct for these Brazilian tour groups as well as any group. They shouldn’t travel through the park in groups larger than 20. There should be one chaperone for each group of 20. Locking arms or walking side by side holding hands shouldn’t be allowed. It’s a safety issue. The idea of sending one kid ahead to “hold the place” for the rest needs to be expressly forbidden. Disney has just recently cracked down on holding guests accountable to the window for their fast passes. How about enforcing a “no cutting” policy? Finally, one of my personal grievances – NO CHANTING! This causes confusion at best among other guests and is annoying to others. It’s like an unscheduled parade happening down Main Street. Also, this summer I’ve seen groups get into chanting battles or wars – to see who could chant the loudest. That needs to be stopped. There also needs to be a way to hold groups and leaders accountable. There needs to be a Disney presence that monitors this behavior in the parks and a place where guests can report the specific group/guide for violations. Lastly, no sleeping in parks! It was very sad to see kids lying on the ground around Space Mountain sleeping like a bunch of homeless people. All of these behaviors cheapen the experience and steal the magic away from other guests. Ok, I’ll get down off my soap box now.

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14. Robert says:

    November 12, 2012 at 3:22 PM

    I don’t know about everyone here whether you just like to hear yourselves complain or what but I have gone down to Disney World every year for my birthday (July 3rd) and multiple times the Brazilian tour groups have helped my wife and I with our kids and even entertained my 2 year old son while we waited for fireworks.

    If you know the times they are there and want to be nasty and take away from the Disney Magic then stay home. I enjoy them and look forward to their appearances every year. They have the right to enjoy the Disney Magic just as much as you and me.

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