No more towel characters

[Wenny]

DVC maids also can get paid "Incentive Pay" (bonus money up to $35 per room) for cleaning quicker.

All the more reason to leave your villa tidy and the dishwasher running when you check out.

 

[bellrae]

I once came 'home' to one fashioned as a sting ray in the bathtub after a 14 hour day in the parks. I actually let out a little scream when I pulled back the shower curtain and saw it!

 

[Kobey]

After thinking about it a bit, I can understand why they might want to discontinue the towel animals. The people here on the DIS are some of the most informed about how Disney works, and still have trouble agreeing on which ones it's OK to take and which ones to leave. I can imagine a lot of people that don't know any better (and plenty of others that do) are taking the Mickey heads home.

As a previous poster said, an alternative would be a small, inexpensive welcome gift in the rooms. Maybe a small stuffed animal and something resort specific that you couldn't buy anywhere. It would be only be available to guests of the resort.

 

[ArwenMarie]

After thinking about it a bit, I can understand why they might want to discontinue the towel animals. The people here on the DIS are some of the most informed about how Disney works, and still have trouble agreeing on which ones it's OK to take and which ones to leave. I can imagine a lot of people that don't know any better (and plenty of others that do) are taking the Mickey heads home.

As a previous poster said, an alternative would be a small, inexpensive welcome gift in the rooms. Maybe a small stuffed animal and something resort specific that you couldn't buy anywhere. It would be only be available to guests of the resort.

That's a very cute idea.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Okay so obviously we have done wrong by Walt Disney World by accepting what was offered to us personally regarding towel animals. I humbly and profusely apologize for being the reason behind the entire debacle.

If offered something magical by a cast member, I generally find it to be poor form to refuse. In the future, I will still accept magical offers. That's all I ever thought it was. Now I feel like I am on the Maury show.

YOU TOOK THE TOWEL ANIMALS!!!!!

Oh boy, now I feel really bad. I took our 2 small towel animals on our first trip back in 2002, and I didn't ask they were also the small washcloth ones with eyes glued on, and I'm sure the way it was put together, it wasnt ever going to be used again. We have since had some in our rooms and never took any more, but I never realized......I'm a thief

 

[wdw4rfam]

I'm going to ask a mousekeeper if I can take the lamps. If she says yes, I'm golden, right?

 

[NorthernGrl]

I won't miss them. We only ever got one once, on our first trip. We have 4 kids, and boy did they fight over who got to play with it!
Maybe we just never got any pixie dust and only had grumpy mousekeepers, because they've never arranged my kids' toys either.

 

[Lady Hiss]

This just makes me sad. The towel animals made me feel that the housekeeping staff were enjoying their jobs and liked making things fun (perhaps a silly assumption on my part). We had towel animals left on our beds on a recent non-Disney cruise in Alaska. They always make me smile and add a special touch. I guess I'd hoped that the housekeeper who made the towel 'sculpture' smiled as they left it, knowing they probably were leaving us a little magic. I felt a little connection somehow. Maybe I was way off base and they looked on it as a tiresome chore? Obviously, the corporate decision makers didn't think it was important to maintain the illusion of having happy, fun, creative staff.


Lady Hiss

 

[KozFam]

Sorry if this is duplicate, I haven't had a chance to read through the entire thread. Anyone stayed recently to confirm if this is true or not? If so, are they doing anything in lieu of towel/washcloth creations?

 

[rteetz]

Sorry if this is duplicate, I haven't had a chance to read through the entire thread. Anyone stayed recently to confirm if this is true or not? If so, are they doing anything in lieu of towel/washcloth creations?

It's more than likely true. They will be doing nothing else in replacement of the towel animals.

 

[DisneyMomma2858]

A couple years ago we had an awesome maid who arranged the toys we bought and left in the room and left several animal towels. It was AWESOME and we loved it. Tipped her well. That has never happened again in the many many years that we have stayed. BUT I once heard someone complain to the front desk that their maid never left any animal towels for them. I was shocked this was even something people would complain about

 

[maxiesmom]

Sorry if this is duplicate, I haven't had a chance to read through the entire thread. Anyone stayed recently to confirm if this is true or not? If so, are they doing anything in lieu of towel/washcloth creations?

Towel animals were never meant to be something every guest got. They were never part of the official perks of staying at a Disney resort. So no, nothing will be officially done to replace them.

 

[ArwenMarie]

If they are going to stop making real towel animals, they can stop making those silly Mickey head things on the bed where they just roll three towels into circles.

 

[Kiwini]

I think I'll make animals or other art out of my used towels instead of just throwing them in a heap on the floor. Mousekeepers have to pick them up anyway, and from the sounds of it, the mousekeepers need as much pixie dust in their lives as we do. (That and a good tip, of course!)

 

[SimonSez]

Oh Disney, first Starbucks replacing the Main St. Bakery and now towel animals

 

[SimonSez]

Around 2002 at the Poly, we would come back at night to find towel canoes and alligators. Since then however, it's been mostly the round Mickey heads and fancy washcloth thingy. I hate to see them go, even if we don't get canoes and alligators anymore. It's the little things...

 

[leahgoogle]

So sad. We stayed in PO Riverside last October and we got 2 animal towels during our stay. Our girls loved them!

 

[RMAMom]

Just a little more magic gone for me as the prices rise. I didn't get a towel animal everyday or even every visit but it sure made me happy when I did. I don't think we will see an increase in cleanliness now that they are gone. Just another reason to consider off property accommodations for us.

 

[heyarnie]

I probably won't miss the animals, but sometimes it's the little things that count. Take away a few more little things and the aggregate "magic" suffers.

 

[vandort]

This makes me sad. I always thought of the towel animals as a bit of pixie dust, something that set Disney World apart from everyone else.