DISers stalking DISers...continuing our friendship!

[tnmomof4]

I do not have an accent. I have lived in Tennessee for 6 years, and before that Connecticut for 3 years and before that I grew up in Michigan. So most people recognize a northern accent in me.

Well, I guess I won't worry about leaving extra tip now that I have heard what you all think. I never left extra last year, but after reading all the "drama" on those other threads I was starting to feel like you are supposed to leave extra.

 

[tnmomof4]

Hmmm the DIS fairies ate one of my posts... wonder how that happened?! lol

A tip on "tipping" that someone once told me... (tee hee)

Never leave "nothing" if the service is sub-par - because the server may think you just forgot, and might not realize you were making a point.... Leave something insignificant, like a quarter or one dollar bill, to get your point across. And always bring the problem to the manager's attention.

The thing we try to do (we tend to eat out a lot.. lol) is to also bring to the manager's attention when the service is excellent. We've actually had managers tell us, "wow. thanks for taking the time to let me know. we usually only hear the complaints." We've also had servers run to catch up with us as we were leaving, to thank us for the kind word to their boss.. or to thank us for a generous tip. It makes up for those days when you aren't given the attention and service that you deserve.

Speaking of tipping: here's my "question for the day"....
Do you tip housekeeping each day, at the end of your stay, not at all?
And, if anyone is willing to share ... what do you think is a fair tip for housekeeping?

Renée

I have never left a tip for housekeeping, but that is because I honestly didn't know you were supposed to. I never really stayed at a nice hotel until going to Disney a few years ago and even then I didn't know you were supposed to leave a tip. When I joined the Dis boards that is when I first read about leaving tips for housekeeping. Of course I felt really bad that I didn't know to do this. So this year I printed out the envelopes that someone made up for housekeeping and I have already filled them with the tip. Now as far as what to leave... I read that most people leave a dollar per person. Since there are 6 of us that is what I am doing. We are staying in the All Star Music Suites too so there will be more cleaning for them to do. Does this sound reasonable?

 

[karibritt01]

This, coming from people who think you pronounce three different words the exact same way....
Girls Name: MARY
Will you MARRY me?
and MERRY Christmas..... It's all Mary, Mary, and Mary to them....

I said them out loud, too... they are all pronounced the same... except it's Merry, merry, merry!

And DM... I have a very southern drawl. Your name is DahwwwnMahree. Your pre-trippie... much closer to how I actually sound than I care to admit!

As for tipping... we tipped extra at CRT, as our waitress was outstanding. Took pics of us, came by a million times, tipped us off where to stand for the best photo of the princesses when they all came out together, etc. We also tipped extra when we bought something not included in the DDP, such as alcohol. We do not tip the housekeeping. They make a salary that is not dependent on tips, unlike wait staff. Our housekeepers did an OK job last year, but nothing outstanding... we found someone else's leftovers in our fridge last year.

When we get to the hotel, we get our suitcases in spots where we can access them easily. I do not unpack, as I don't want my clean clothes in the drawers where everyone else's clothes have been. We put away our food, and get the room liveable. We usually leave the bedspreads on the beds, but when we sleep they are pulled to the bottom, and never touch our skin. We bring our own pillows, because I can't bear the thought of sleeping on a pillow someone else has drooled on. I never worry about walking barefoot unless I notice our feet getting nasty. Then I just raise h*ll with the front desk, and make them clean the carpets.

Andrea... your house looks gorgeous. The only thing I could suggest for showing it is a few plants, or a bowl of fruit in the kitchen. And burn a scented candle while you clean before a showing. They say the smell of a hot apple pie releases endorphins in the brain, and evokes feelings of contentment and "home." Can't hurt! I love the outside of the house, the firelace, and the window seat!

 

[tnmomof4]

When we get to the room the first thing I do is spray everything down with lysol, including the drawers and hangers. I wipe things down with lysol wipes too, like the remote. I make sure the bathroom is clean. Then I feel like I can unpack. We pull the bedspreads down too.

 

[tnmomof4]

I know that I am up very late, but one of the twins is sick. Anyway... I just was looking at crocs.com and they now have Disney Pirate crocs. I don't know if they are available yet. I sure hope my boys don't see them.
http://shop.crocs.com/pc-337-4-disn...=41p&subsectionname=footwear&section=products
They also have croc socks and croc butter. They have these lime green rain ponchos. Lots of stuff and clothes besides shoes.

 

[karibritt01]

Did you see the croclings? I bought those for both of my kids, and they are SO cute. Tucker got the blue, and Avery the pink.

I am up late, too... but because this is the only time of the day that I get peace and quiet! I am getting ready to turn in, though... Avery will be climbing into my bed around 8:30 to watch cartoons! Wynn is working tonight, and won't be home before 3:30 or 4 AM. He sleeps on the couch when he comes in. The kids will wake up and get in bed with me. We stay upstairs and quiet until about 10:30, so he can get some sleep. Hope your baby is feeling better. It is so tough when they are sick.

 

[tnmomof4]

I just looked. The croclings are really cute!! One of my twins wears blue crocs and the other one wears green crocs so I know who is who. We will have to get these next time.

It is nice to be up late. It is my only time for peace and quiet too.

Have fun watching those cartoons!!

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Good morning fellow June Dis Stalkers. Ok now to answer about the tipping. We don't do dde or ddp so we just tip the ususal 20%. As for mousekeeping, we don't. We are kinda like Courtney. I re-clean my room when we get there, and don't use mousekeeping a whole lot, just for extra towels and stuff. I spray everything down with lysol spray too. We do unpack though, except when we are changing resorts like we are doing this time. We will pack two suitcases, one smaller one with everyones stuff for the first day/night at the Poly and won't unpack. Then once we get to the Swan we'll take everything up and settle in.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Crazy Kanga - I updated your itinerary on the first post. Just updating tuckered me out! I guess when my kids are older we will probably have more adventurous park hopping.

Questions about our meet @ Donald's. I've never had to catch an early bus for a breakfast. Have you? Do you know anything about this? Also, if we are lucky maybe we can request tables near each other as I hear the rooms at Donald's are split up.

Hey DM, yes, we should plan to meet that morning around 7:45 at the far right turnstile at AK where you check in for early breakfast ADR's. We have done it once before so I think it should be at the same place. When we get there we can tell the hostess that walks us back that we want to sit near each other. I don't think it will be a problem as long as we get there at the same time.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Ok - I will make note of this!

What time is the Fantasmic show?

Kanga - silly question.... What is your first name?

Renée

Fantasmic that night is at 9pm and you should get there at least 30 min. prior.
Oh and my name is Laura.

 

[SingingMom]

I said them out loud, too... they are all pronounced the same... except it's Merry, merry, merry!

And DM... I have a very southern drawl. Your name is DahwwwnMahree. Your pre-trippie... much closer to how I actually sound than I care to admit!

As for tipping... we tipped extra at CRT, as our waitress was outstanding. Took pics of us, came by a million times, tipped us off where to stand for the best photo of the princesses when they all came out together, etc. We also tipped extra when we bought something not included in the DDP, such as alcohol. We do not tip the housekeeping. They make a salary that is not dependent on tips, unlike wait staff. Our housekeepers did an OK job last year, but nothing outstanding... we found someone else's leftovers in our fridge last year.

when we sleep they are pulled to the bottom, and never touch our skin. We bring our own pillows, because I can't bear the thought of sleeping on a pillow someone else has drooled on.

I'm not all together sure about the salary of housekeeping not dependant on tips, though, Kari... Our good friend is a general manager with Marriott - he is currently at Th Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.. and he was the one to advise us to tip each day, and not at the end of the stay, if we chose to tip. But he gave us the impression the housekeeping staff did depend on it.

Dana & I always bring our own pillow if we are driving somewhere... can't fit it in the suitcases if we are flying, because we both bring TOO MANY CLOTHES! Bob is ALWAYS on us to pare down, but try as I may, I just CAN'T!

Pillows are always a problem for me, because I sleep with 3 sometimes 4... I must have a deviated septum, because I have trouble breathing if I'm not propped up. And sometimes I even use one at my knees, because of back pain. . I'm a mess and I'm only 44...

 

[SingingMom]

Fantasmic that night is at 9pm and you should get there at least 30 min. prior.
Oh and my name is Laura.

HELLO, LAURA!!!

Renée

 

[castawaymam]

will not be tipping extra unless we have excellent serves, housekeeping plan on tipping perday.

Hosting a surprise party(not surprise now)For MIL for mother's day.Two inlaws showed up, plus hubby and his brother who lives here. We are going to have crawfish, crab and ribs today, yesterday I cooked to roast, taters , carrots, gravy, peas and mac-n-cheese. Tomorrow- think it will be chicken.

The house was lovley.

Don't think I have an accent. We moved around alot when I was growing up, dad was in the army. Lived in New York, VA, Twice in Germany and Twice in LA and now live in NC.

Have A Happy Mother's Day ALL!

 

[LizAgna]

My goodness you were all VERY chatty yesterday!! I'll try to respond to some...

Thanks for the sunscreen advice. I will make sure I take some with us during the day in case we don't take breaks.

Character Breakfast busses - we had a couple of 8am breakfasts last year and each morning at least 2 busses were at Pop for us. One went to the MK and surrounding hotels & the other went to Epcot and surrounding hotels. There may have been more but we only saw these. Do check at the Guest Services Desk at your hotel and they can tell you the exact times for these busses.

Mother's Day - tomorrow after church we will eat with my mother & my sister at the new Red Robin restaurant close to their house. We haven't eaten there before & the menu looks great so I'm excited about it.

1Andrea - I love the house that you are selling!! It is so pretty!

Restaurant Tipping - For the DDP we didn't tip extra last year but we didn't receive any outstanding service. Like another poster said the service was good but just not outstanding.

Mousekeeping Tipping - Last year at Disney was the 1st time we had ever tipped housekeeping. Since it was not something that we were used to doing I did forget a couple of days.

I don't do a lot of stuff to the hotel room except check it for a clean bathroom and make sure there is no obvious dirt. I also check for any medicine that has been left on the floor. I read on here about someone whose child found a pill on a hotel floor (not at Disney) & ate it. Thankfully it was not something that harmed the child. But since that I have been very careful to check for things like that becuase of youngest DD's age.

Last thing YES, I have a southern accent. I have never lived anywhere but central Alabama so I definitely speak with an accent. I would pronounce DM name very similar to the way Kari would.

Sorry for the long post I just wanted to catch up!!

 

[Disneyolic]

I never left extra last year, but after reading all the "drama" on those other threads I was starting to feel like you are supposed to leave extra.

That is one thing that I hate is people flaming others. I know it's okay to have an opinion but when people get nasty about it, ugh!

Since there are 6 of us that is what I am doing. We are staying in the All Star Music Suites too so there will be more cleaning for them to do. Does this sound reasonable?

Sounds reasonable. I would personally leave $5 and see how clean your room is. Go from there...

Hey DM, yes, we should plan to meet that morning around 7:45 at the far right turnstile at AK where you check in for early breakfast ADR's. We have done it once before so I think it should be at the same place. When we get there we can tell the hostess that walks us back that we want to sit near each other. I don't think it will be a problem as long as we get there at the same time.

Sounds like a good plan. I will definitely check with guest services about the bus. I have your cell # so I can call you (vice versa) should we need to.

Don't think I have an accent. We moved around alot when I was growing up, dad was in the army. Lived in New York, VA, Twice in Germany and Twice in LA and now live in NC.

Have A Happy Mother's Day ALL!

Where in NY did you live?

 

[Disneyolic]

Character Breakfast busses - we had a couple of 8am breakfasts last year and each morning at least 2 busses were at Pop for us. One went to the MK and surrounding hotels & the other went to Epcot and surrounding hotels. There may have been more but we only saw these. Do check at the Guest Services Desk at your hotel and they can tell you the exact times for these busses.

Mother's Day - tomorrow after church we will eat with my mother & my sister at the new Red Robin restaurant close to their house. We haven't eaten there before & the menu looks great so I'm excited about it.

Last thing YES, I have a southern accent. I have never lived anywhere but central Alabama so I definitely speak with an accent. I would pronounce DM name very similar to the way Kari would.

Thanks for the info on the Character meal busses. I'm sure we won't have a problem.

We have eaten at a Red Robin once. There is one about 20 minutes from here. It was really good! Gotta love the bottomless steak fries!!! Did you hear that Courtney??

We all will have fun meeting up with each other and hearing each other's "accents"!

 

[LizAgna]

Thanks for the info on the Character meal busses. I'm sure we won't have a problem.

We have eaten at a Red Robin once. There is one about 20 minutes from here. It was really good! Gotta love the bottomless steak fries!!! Did you hear that Courtney??

We all will have fun meeting up with each other and hearing each other's "accents"!

I'm sure you won't have a problem with the busses either. Do have your reservation number handy. One driver was checking one of the mornings last year.

Oh goodness...bottomless steak fries...I was going to get a salad but I guess I could sneak a couple of these from youngest DD's plate

I can't wait to meet everyone...only 41 days until we leave & you too DM!!

 

[castawaymam]

Where in NY did you live?[/QUOTE]

I was Born at WestPoint, NY and we lived there for a couple of years.

 

[SingingMom]

We all will have fun meeting up with each other and hearing each other's "accents"!

How many times do I have to tell you that I DO NOT have an accent?!
::stomping foot::

I hope we can meet some of you - even just to say "HI!!!!"

Renée (without an accent, only an accent mark on her name....)

 

[Disneyolic]

How many times do I have to tell you that I DO NOT have an accent?!
::stomping foot::

I hope we can meet some of you - even just to say "HI!!!!"

Renée (without an accent, only an accent mark on her name....)

Psst...just between you and I...I'm talking about those southern chics! They all have funny sounding accents!