The Portuguese-speaking teens are also a pain to many in queue lines. There seems to be a saying that, “A group that rides together, stays together,” and to make this axiom true, the members of the group usually cut in line at some attractions. Depending on the size of the group, they usually expire one Fastpass distribution booth, which upsets legions of children and thrill-seekers alike.

Those groups have been known to disturb others in hotels, especially at their signature resorts.  A Cast Member reported one group who talked loudly in the All-Star lobby and reported the matter to his managers. The guide ended the commotion by using a whistle, as did his managers in order to restore order in the resort. Guests already took offence of the issue, thinking that they were loud and rude night owls.

But the phenomenon of droves of Brazilians visiting Walt Disney World is actually nothing new. In most of the 1990’s, the theme parks held something like “Brazilian nights,” when most of their shows were translated in their language. I, for one, have encountered them too, and the earliest sighting of them was back in July 1995. That month is the perfect storm for foreign groups, because it’s International Tourist Month. Add to that the school closures to transition between two school years and loads of summer vacationers and you have a crowded park. In one of the family scrapbooks, My mother reported one trip at that time of childhood at Walt Disney World, pre-Disney’s Animal Kingdom, “The parks were so congested due to large groups of students that came from other countries.”

Little did my family know (me included, until recently) that most of them came from Brazil. Nowadays, they are third to the United Kingdom and Canada as the largest number of foreign visitors in Central Florida. One can see more Brits and Canadians combined than Brazilians in that theme park Mecca, but there are still many to irk some others.

That’s enough to have many American tourists ask, “Why the Brazilians?”

Why the Brazilians indeed! I feel that whether they are detestable or not, they are the lifeblood to Central Florida’s tourism. One leader of lime-green-tee-clad Brazilian tour group Valeverde Turismo, Gabriela Lande, said that they are theme park entertainers themselves, with their football chants. Humphrey Simon said that not every tour group from Brazil rules the park as if they are Scar’s hyenas. He remarked, “Just like you wouldn’t expect a kid from New York City to act like a kid from Cincinnati.” That is also true of a student group hailing from the land of the samba who is slated to behave like a typical American visiting the Vacation Kingdom of the World. The turismo craze’s scope seemingly extends to other theme parks, namely the two Universal Orlando parks and Sea World. They even travel local to where I live – to ride the rides at Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, near USF. Besides cheerleaders, dance teams, and visiting (often secondary, usually high) school bands, they are beneficial to Orlando’s vital revenue, even in the economy’s remorseful state currently.