With Brazils economy in the tanks, will crowds drop?

[jeepnjudy]

The visitors coming from South America have already dropped,you see it down here in Miami as well as Orlando.

Did not appear that way over Easter break... we thought we were the only family not speaking Spanish!

 

[hakepb]

I thought half of the reason for the Brazilian trips was shopping. Designer goods in the US were much cheaper than tariff-inflated prices in Brazil. (It was almost a pay your child to buy their back-to-school clothes in the US and get a free Disney trip from the deal) but a 1-4 ratio probably ruins that advantage of the trip, too.

 

[DOOM1001]

Did not appear that way over Easter break... we thought we were the only family not speaking Spanish!

Its all relative and how often you go,during Easter break you could have also been looking at tons of visitors from Miami who speak Spanish and tend to go mostly over holidays or dates like spring break.I visit the parks 10-12 times a year and have definitely noticed a drop off in Latin visitors compared to 3-4 years ago.As you mentioned you heard Spanish being spoken and Brazilians who 3-4 years ago were the majority of South American visitors speak Portuguese,you still see plenty of them just nowhere near as many.An exception for me at least was a day I visited Busch Gardens in January where the park was very empty and it literally seemed like more than half of the visitors on that day were speaking Portuguese,there must have been 5-6 buses bring them in from Orlando.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

I thought half of the reason for the Brazilian trips was shopping. Designer goods in the US were much cheaper than tariff-inflated prices in Brazil. (It was almost a pay your child to buy their back-to-school clothes in the US and get a free Disney trip from the deal) but a 1-4 ratio probably ruins that advantage of the trip, too.

You're 100% right!
As an example we can mention the iPhone, which costs here in Brazil around 3999.
In 2014 it was like 1800 USD by direct conversion. So the 690 price in USA worth it.
Now with the 1-4 ratio is like 990 USD so, still cheaper but doesn't worth that much as it used to.

65% of the people here in Brazil go to Orlando for the whole experience (vacation + shopping) and 35% go just for shopping. With the shopping been less valuable out there and the price for the entire vacation turning into double, it makes extra difficult for us to go.

 

[mousefan73]

I loved the two pictures that were posted... Are these like Brazilian Cheerleaders?! They all look alike, same body, hair, outfit and matching bags... kinda cute, but are these school girls... wierd how they all look clone like.

 

[DOOM1001]

I loved the two pictures that were posted... Are these like Brazilian Cheerleaders?! They all look alike, same body, hair, outfit and matching bags... kinda cute, but are these school girls... wierd how they all look clone like.

That's pretty much what a Brazilian tour group is at the parks,a bunch of 15 year old girls on their quinceanera trip to Orlando.Years ago,like maybe 15-20 years ago I think I remember seeing more of these groups that were made up more of guys or more college age adults.This was around the time these groups got a bad reputation over the chanting in line or cutting lines,both of these seem to have toned down from back then,never really minded the chanting in line,it made it fun.

 

[wdw4rfam]

That's pretty much what a Brazilian tour group is at the parks,a bunch of 15 year old girls on their quinceanera trip to Orlando.Years ago,like maybe 15-20 years ago I think I remember seeing more of these groups that were made up more of guys or more college age adults.This was around the time these groups got a bad reputation over the chanting in line or cutting lines,both of these seem to have toned down from back then,never really minded the chanting in line,it made it fun.

Until they do it on a bus.....the last value stay we ever took.

 

[WEDWDW]

Are these like Brazilian Cheerleaders?!

Yes,they cheer for a team called "Argentina".

 

[WEDWDW]

Last July the ratio was almost 1-3 and before that it was 1-2.
The thing is that here in Brazil you don't just decide to go to USA and go! lol Only the rich people do that.
We (regular people) have to make huge efforts and an economy plan for a lot of months to be able to pay everything part by part before the trip date (flight, tickets, hotel, meals, etc) So, most of the people were already in half way (or more) of their planning, so they had the advantage of the most parts already been paid. Now it's different, to start a planning with the 1-4 ratio is pretty hard, make it double for the regular price (which already is huge for us Brazilians) So, I guess there will be a huge drop in terms of groups and parties, but of course it will never cut if all off.

Thanks for the great info!

I have met so many wonderful Brazilian Cast Members during my trips to Walt Disney World-from the Super Greeters to the College Cast Members who come in December.

They are always so nice and friendly and they are EXCELLENT Cast Members.

Brazil has a lot to be proud of in these young people.

By the way,I think you are doing awesome with your English.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Thanks for the great info!

I have met so many wonderful Brazilian Cast Members during my trips to Walt Disney World-from the Super Greeters to the College Cast Members who come in December.

They are always so nice and friendly and they are EXCELLENT Cast Members.

Brazil has a lot to be proud of in these young people.

By the way,I think you are doing awesome with your English.

Hey, big thanks! I LOVE the english language, it's my fav in the world! Someday I hope to be fluent!
By the way, my dream is to be a cast member, but I heard we can only apply if we're at college, and I already finished college some years ago
I had 2 cousins that were cast members and they said they had a great time and gain a lot of experiencie.

Btw, thanks for the compliment about brazilian young people, I always hear bad things about my country people at Orlando. But I know brazilians can be pretty loud and "over excited" about Disney trips lol specially when they travel in groups. That's why I never go on groups. I know it's a nightmare lol

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Hey, big thanks! I LOVE the english language, it's my fav in the world! Someday I hope to be fluent!
By the way, my dream is to be a cast member, but I heard we can only apply if we're at college, and I already finished college some years ago
I had 2 cousins that were cast members and they said they had a great time and gain a lot of experiencie.

Btw, thanks for the compliment abour brazilian young people, I always hear bad things about my country people at Orlando. But I know brazilians can be pretty loud and "over excited" about Disney trips lol specially when they travel in groups. That's why I never go on groups. I know it's a nightmare lol

Your English is excellent! I wouldn't even have known that you were not a native speaker. There are American's who don't speak as well. I should add that I love Brazil. My company is one that is involved in the activity for the Olympics so I am in constant communication with our offices and people staffed down there.

Regarding others asking why I was calling out Brazil specifically, it's because reports from a couple of years ago were that Brazil had the largest rising middle class in the world. Some further information:
Source 1: Brazil is booming, and so is its middle class. Between 2005 and 2011, more than 40 million people entered the ranks of the so called new middle class (C class), making it the biggest social group in Brazil, with a total of 103 million people, who represent 54% of the country’s total population .

Source 2: The resulting growth in household income has made Brazil one of the world’s most important markets for global industries.

Disney specifically noted them several times as evening out the off season crowds and bolstering some otherwise failing domestic numbers as Brazil's rising and influential middle class was affecting and hoisting Florida's tourism numbers quite a bit

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...t-orlando-universal-orlando-brazilian-tourism
Fueled by a growing middle class, Brazil has made its way to the top of Orlando's overseas-visitor list, overtaking the United Kingdom for the first time.

Almost 770,000 visitors from the South American powerhouse came to Central Florida in 2013, topping the 759,000 from Great Britain, according to estimates from the Visit Orlando tourism-marketing agency. Since 2004, Brazilian travel to Orlando has exploded by 900 percent as rising affluence has given more Brazilians a taste for American theme parks, restaurants and shopping.

So with the collapse of the economy, the reduced spending by the middle class combined with the weakening of the real compared to the dollar making trips to the US significantly more expensive, I don't think it's that unthinkable that the largest foreign group to visit the area is going to shrink.

Although that said, I guess even if every one of those 770,000 visits Disney and that number cuts in half, 350K is still a drop in the 52 MILLION visitors that WDW gets and probably wouldn't be that much of a difference. Forget I asked.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

Hey guys, I'm from Brazil and I can tell that the economy is a mess right now, plus the "dolar" went up and our "real" went veeery low.
Now it's like 1.0 BRL = 0.25 USD so, it makes everything 4 times harder for us to travel to USA. Thank God I went to Orlando 2014 and 2015 because now I have no idea when I'll be able to go again

The number of Brazilians in USA last year dropped more than 10% (considering the whole year) but as the crisis hitted harder during the last months of the year, I think the numbers this year will be even lower. But overall that won't affect crowd levels at all.

About the spanish, for been kinda similar to our Portuguese language, most Brazilians speaks a little bit of spanish. And I'm proud to know that a lot of brazilians are now talking more english, cause that number is still very low considering that the english langague is the universal #1 language in the world and most of the other countries already speak english very well for very long.

btw sorry for my english

No need to apologize for your English...it's way better than my Portuguese. And significantly better than my Spanish.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

mickeyfanachey1999
Thanks!

TiggerBouncy
Big thanks! And thanks for the numbers, I didn't know that much about the numbers.
But it's all correct, the middle class had a huge growth in Brazil. Some years ago, to be able to go to USA was only for the high class, and then the middle class finally could get some of that taste. That's the reason why I was able to finally fulfill this dream that I always had since I was a little kid. I finally got a chance to make my dream come true in 2014 (I was 27 years old) and then we made a huuuuuge effort and had to sacrifice many things to be able to live the big dream again in 2015. It was the best times of my ENTIRE life. I get tears in my eyes just to think about it. But now with the crisis and the dolar goig up with the real going down, it changes the scenario once again. Brazil is a mess, which makes me very sad cuz I know is a brilliant country who has incredible and passionate people, it just need a good direction with a good president. But the corruption makes everything impossible here

Anyway, now our hope is in 2018 when the presidential election is going to happen again, then we can hope for a good restart. Because I can't wait to go to Disney again. But for now, the number of Brazilian people in USA must be going down more and more each month.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Anyway, now our hope is in 2018 when the presidential election is going to happen again, then we can hope for a good restart. Because I can't wait to go to Disney again. But for now, the number of Brazilian people in USA must be going down more and more each month.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I am SO GLAD that you were able to visit Disney before things got worse at home.

Further, you have my sincerest hopes and desires for a free election and a stable, non-corrupt government for your people. Brazil is a fabulous country with a rich culture and wonderful people and you deserve the best. It is true that the economy was not well supported and is in crisis. The mess going on in Rio is not helping. However, with every cloud there IS a silver lining my friend, and I believe your country will find the one waiting for you amoungst the thunderstorms. So take heart.

With the utmost respect and honor - your friend from the United States.

And I may be seeing you all soon. I already updated my visa in case I am required to come down there shortly.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I am SO GLAD that you were able to visit Disney before things got worse at home.

Further, you have my sincerest hopes and desires for a free election and a stable, non-corrupt government for your people. Brazil is a fabulous country with a rich culture and wonderful people and you deserve the best. It is true that the economy was not well supported and is in crisis. The mess going on in Rio is not helping. However, with every cloud there IS a silver lining my friend, and I believe your country will find the one waiting for you amoungst the thunderstorms. So take heart.

With the utmost respect and honor - your friend from the United States.

And I may be seeing you all soon. I already updated my visa in case I am required to come down there shortly.

Big thanks from the bottom of my heart! Brazil has everything to be a GREAT country, I can never understand why it isn't!
We hope to see you here soon!

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Big thanks from the bottom of my heart! Brazil has everything to be a GREAT country, I can never understand why it isn't!

Brazil is a great country.

 

[WEDWDW]

Btw, thanks for the compliment about brazilian young people

You're welcome.

They are always the highlight of my December trips!

They are always so excited to be at WDW,excited to be working at WDW and they are such conscientious Cast Members.

I love their "energy".

I tell them I think Pelé was much better than Maradona and they love that.


(Your usage of "btw" is very impressive.)

 

[mpsiq]

I am brazilian(a quiet one, I guess I should say so) and live in Rio. Despite the economy crisis I have already heard of teens joining tour groups that will be there next july.

Cutting to the chase: what it is between the lines of this thread, as I have read before in other more explicit threads, is that the groups are very annoying. It seems like a few people are almost rooting for the caos in Brazil to go on, so that they dont have to encounter the teen little monsters (and indeed they are not all brazilians, in jan 2015 Port Orleans Riverside was completely taken by a giant argentinian group).

I also profoundly dislike the big tour groups; that is why I try to avoid WDW in the month of july(and also because of the horrible heat, since we already have a lot of that here in Rio). In Brazil, the july holidays are shorter because they are mid term vacations, so those groups will be there for the summer almost exclusively in july. Not in june and not in august. Only in july. So, I hope that info helps people to simply try to rearrange their plans, instead of wondering if maybe it would be a good idea to drop a few atomic bombs in Brazil just to make WDW more pleasant. LOL

 

[Rommie]

Brazilians do make a significant portion of WDW crowds. For years it has been ranked as the top 3rd country that mostly visits WDW, right after UK and (obviously) USA.Beating even Mexico and Canada, but I believe it recently lost its place to down 5 or so. Brazil economy never was easy but the crowds kept going because USA propaganda (I don't mean it in a negative way) is heavy and its always been tradition to travel to Orlando by girls turning 15 (Brazil's version of sweet sixteen). I don't want to jump to political arguments but it's true that even with the last (troubled) government, there was an increase in travel to foreign countries. Back in the 90's I personally knew a mother in my school that sold everything she had (excluding her house) so she could realize her kids dreams to travel to WDW. It never ceased to amaze how us, brazilians, love Disney so much.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Brazilians do make a significant portion of WDW crowds. For years it has been ranked as the top 3rd country that mostly visits WDW, right after UK and (obviously) USA.Beating even Mexico and Canada, but I believe it recently lost its place to down 5 or so. Brazil economy never was easy but the crowds kept going because USA propaganda (I don't mean it in a negative way) is heavy and its always been tradition to travel to Orlando by girls turning 15 (Brazil's version of sweet sixteen). I don't want to jump to political arguments but it's true that even with the last (troubled) government, there was an increase in travel to foreign countries. Back in the 90's I personally knew a mother in my school that sold everything she had (excluding her house) so she could realize her kids dreams to travel to WDW. It never ceased to amaze how us, brazilians, love Disney so much.

Yeah, this is very true! the propaganda here about Disney World is really hard! We grow up (as I can say that I grew up) hearing about this magical place every day, making all brazilian kids to go crazy over Disney. It's like a tradition, you born and then you learn about a magical perfect place that do exist and you HAVE TO GO to fulfill a dream lol