Towel Animals, has this happened to you?

[deneke]

Hi All,

We recently got back from a stay at Pop. In walking to our room on the 4th floor, we passed many windows to get to our room. Each and every room, had a cute towel animal in the window. My daughter wondered if we were going to get one too as sadly our window was the only one on our side of the floor with out such a cute little towel animal. Thus, I left a $10 bill with a short note to Mousekeeping (which my daughter did not know about) that we would love a towel animal too. All day at the parks, when my daughter would mention it, I just said, yes, I think tonight we will have one when we get home. When we returned, the room was made, the $10 bill gone and NO towel animal Just kind of a Disney downer to start the trip.

Lisa

 

[aubriee]

I go to WDW several times a year. Some trips I get one towel animal at the very beginning of the trip, some trips I get several towel animals, and some trips I don't get any. Some housekeepers know how to make them and have the extra time to do so, others do not. When we were at POFQ April 30th-May 8th we had a towel animal when we arrived and got two more during the week. Obviously our housekeeper knew how to make them. We left all three towel animals there when we left. If the housekeepers happened to change for that room and the new one didn't know how to make the towel animals, there is a good chance that the new people in that room may have gotten the three towel animals we left, but then not gotten any more their entire trip or the housekeeper may have left one and took the other two and placed them in two more rooms, so the people arriving may have gotten one, but then no more. If we had taken those towel animals with us and the new housekeeper didn't know how to make them, then whoever checked in after us would not have received any towel animals all week.

Tipping doesn't matter. We tip housekeeping every day. If the housekeeper doesn't know how to make towel animals or chooses not to do so, no amount of money left is going to change that.

 

[maxiesmom]

Towel animals are just a Disney extra. Housekeeping make them if they have the time, and if they know how. They should never be expected. I'm sorry your little girl was disapointed, that would make me a bit sad too.

Sometimes the towel animals are actually pre-made, so don't think that housekeeping was making them for everybody but you. It could be that they have been hanging around in those rooms for a while.

 

[fla4fun]

Did you meet your housekeeper? Were her English skills good?

The reason I'm asking is we had an issue a few years ago with an area of the room that needed to be vacuumed. Somehow, it kept getting missed, and we kept leaving notes to please vacuum that part of the room. Finally, we drew a picture of a vacuum, and an arrow down, and put it pointing to the problem. It was taken care of right away. So we figured that maybe our housekeeper just didn't understand the written notes because maybe English was a second or third language instead of first. So maybe the OP's housekeeper saw the tip, and assumed the note was a thank you, not understanding that it was a request for a towel animal.

I seldom get towel animals, but most of my trips are solo so I figure they are saving their time and energy for the families with kids.

 

[lllGurulll]

As a parent I can't stand the towel animals and really wish the others staying at the hotel wouldn't go out of their way to display them so prominently. The day always starts the same, my kids hope we get a towel animal today. It always ends with the my kids being disappointed because they didn't get one. That has been our experience with it. I have explained to them that there is no guarantee they will get one but it just goes in one ear and out the other.

This was the only reason I even allowed housekeeping to enter our room on the last two trips. I generally prefer them just leaving our linens on the door. That is what I am doing this year.

 

[Kimberle]

Towel animals aren't a "given", they are a bonus touch of magic when your housekeeper has time. I've had many stays with no towel animals.

 

[ancestry]

Not all mousekeepers know how to make towel animals. It isn't about leaving a tip or not. It is about getting a housekeeper who has the time and knowledge on how to make them.

 

[lllGurulll]

Towel animals are a "given", they are a bonus touch of magic when your housekeeper has time. I've had many stays with no towel animals.

Of course they are not a given but young kids don't understand that. They just see windows full of them.

 

[housetomouse]

Might be fun for you and the kids to make towel animals and leave them for the mousekeeper! or even just for the window. The Mickey head shaped one looks easy enough to figure out how to make. I know it's not the same as getting surprised with one, but it's a way to get the kids involved with them.

 

[lllGurulll]

Might be fun for you and the kids to make towel animals and leave them for the mousekeeper! or even just for the window. The Mickey head shaped one looks easy enough to figure out how to make. I know it's not the same as getting surprised with one, but it's a way to get the kids involved with them.

I'm not artsy enough for that.

 

[deneke]

THanks for the replies...totally understand what everyone has said. It would not have been an issue had there not been one in every window on out floor. Just was wondering if this had happened to anyone else.

I am sorry, but if a maid, working in the USA, does not understand a note left in English, in a room where she is working...IMO, she needs to call for help, her supervisor, her translator...SOMETHING...it is not OK for me to just give him/her a pass by saying she does not know English or does not know how to read.

 

[newserenity]

Sorry your DD was disappointed. But, like others said a tip doesn't guarantee one.

BUT, I really wanted to see these towel animals on our trip. The first two days I didn't tip, I actually just forgot. The 3rd day I tipped $10 and left a note thanking her with stickers and my girls signed their names and got an adorable towel koala bear. The next few days we tipped $5 a day (and no thank you notes) and didn't get any animals. Then another day we left $10 again and thank you notes and my 5 yr old drew our mousekeeper a picture. We got a really cool nest with two birds in it. So, I don't know if it was the effort on our part to thank her along with the tip that made her decide to go out of her way to make them or what. But, I think it played a part.

 

[stashbin]

We tip mousekeeping every day with 5 bucks. Sometimes we get a towel animal and sometimes not. But my kids don't care. I think I care more than they do!

 

[Havana]

I'm sorry and I understand the perspective of the child.
We, as adults are used to the Disney difference, and know how good it can be. While something like this won't ruin my trip, sometimes it is disappointing. But that just makes it all the more special when there is a little pixie dust sprinkled on our next trip.

 

[robinb]

Yes, that happened to us once. When we checked into All Star Movies in late December 2009 (right before Christmas) I noticed that ALL of the windows around our room had towel animals. I don't really care one way or another but my DD thought it would be fun to get one. We were there for 5 nights and we never got one.

We always tip but rarely get towel animals, so there is really no correlation between the two. That being said, I think it stinks that you tried to pay for one with your $10 tip and a note and the maid pocketed the money and then never followed through. And I'm sorry, I don't but the excuse that the maid might not have been able to read your note. If the maid can't read a note left by a guest then s/he should find someone who can translate it for him/her.

 

[sanapp]

When we stayed at POP we had a great housekeeper and I believe we had the same one every day as we saw her several times and spoke with her.

Her English wasn't great, but we were able to have a conversation.

I left mouskeeper envelopes for her every day on the bed that DD and I had made before leaving home.

I was surprised when she told us to take home the towel animals that she had made for us. Is this normal?

I tried to make DD leave them as it just didn't feel right, but she adamantly reminded me that we were told to take them.

 

[bytheblood]

I have been to Disney A LOT. I am a DVC owner as well and have received a towel "present" once and a little mouse and butterfly another time. It is not part of Disney vacationing, per se, just really more of a bonus.

It makes no difference to me if I get them or not.

 

[MareSINY]

My nieces enjoy getting the towel animals, but even more than the towel animals they love coming back after a day at the parks to find the mousekeeper has staged the room with their stuffed animals. We've come back to some cute rooms, one day they turned off all the lights, closed the curtains and had the TV on. I thought that was weird, until I turned on the lights and found all my nieces stuffed animals on the bed watching TV with the remote in one of their laps. We got a big chuckle out of that one!

 

[Deb & Bill]

When we stayed at POP we had a great housekeeper and I believe we had the same one every day as we saw her several times and spoke with her.

Her English wasn't great, but we were able to have a conversation.

I left mouskeeper envelopes for her every day on the bed that DD and I had made before leaving home.

I was surprised when she told us to take home the towel animals that she had made for us. Is this normal?

I tried to make DD leave them as it just didn't feel right, but she adamantly reminded me that we were told to take them.

The telephone conversation I had with WDW Resort Management was that the towel animals are yours to enjoy while you are at the resort. They are not intended for you to take home.

 

[Sammie]

I would agree that more than likely the maid did not even register that the note was about towel animals, she probably thought it was a thank you. While you may think that all maids should be able to read English, they can't and in Florida that is the norm.

Sorry your child was disappointed and that is understandable.