Disney Housekeeping staff "tricks"

[tallpkb]

I have heard that the housekeeping staff at the Disney Hotels sometimes do fun things with stuffed animals and such while cleaning guest rooms. Do they provide the stuffed animals, or do they do it with the guests toys? Do you just tip well and hope for the best, or is there another way to have it done? My two DDs would love it!

 

[AJKMOM]

At some resorts the Mousekeepers make animals from the towels, they don't give anyone stuffed animals. They may do something cute with any stuffed animals left in the room, too. I think it's a hit-or-miss thing, depends on how busy they are, and even if they ever learned how to make the towel animals anyway.

 

[sue1013]

No they do not provide the stuffed animals. They MAY arrange your childs toys in a cut way or make a towel animal for you. We always tip but out of about 20 trips have only gotten towel animals twice. I'm happy as long as they do their job clean my room.

 

[my3boys]

We've had towel animals at Riverside (AB) and Wilderness Lodge that were so adorable! In fact, I even called the head of Housekeeping to let them know how much we appreciated their extra efforts. All Star Movies also arranged our stuffed animals into cute arrangements. Ironically, our two stays at GF never had any extra treatment.

 

[TammiMcMan]

The key word in your post is "sometimes". It really depends on who you have and how busy they are. Towel folding is an art and not all the mousekeepers know how to do this. If an arrangement is done, it's with the animals and items that are already in your room. I've seen pictures of elaborate setups with stuffed animals rowing a towel canoe. Some of our highlights have been the dolls reading in bed, or holding the clicker. It's not just kids either. When DH and I stayed at the GF on our own, turn down arranged my nightgown and robe on the bed and put down some rose petals.

I don't know how you could ensure that you'll receive this service. Perhaps if you enclosed a note to the mousekeeper along with your tip. You could ask that if she/he weren't too busy, your DD's would love to see their stuffed dolls having fun in the room. Of course you could always skip Disney World and take a Disney Cruise instead. You get towel animals nightly that are amazing.

 

[DANAW]

We have stayed at 9 different Disney resorts, and only received the towel animals once at WL. They left them twice during our ten day stay.

 

[Poohgirl]

On our trip in April, the mousekeeper did fun things for my boys everyday, she was great! One day she made a towel "pool" and put all the stuffed animals in and around it, she hid all of them once and left a note saying they were playing "hide and seek" and to find them, she had them all have shower caps on and hold mickey soap & shampoo with a note that said that they had played hard all week and needed a bath. another day she had them all by the "pool" again having snacks with the snacks left in the room, another day she had them all lined up looking out the slider at the savannah with the picture guide in front of them looking at animals. There are a couple others that I can't remember off the top of my head. My boys loved it, they couldn't wait for the mid-day break to see what was there!

 

[Sammie]

Please do not set your daughters up for disappointment over this, as you might not get a maid that will do this.

They use the toys that are in the room.

However this is one situation where the sharing of info on Internet forums can lead to hurt feelings. Not everyone is going to get towel animals or cute things done with their stuffed animals and sometimes children are disappointed if the parent has told them about this before they arrive.

It is cute, but it not worth upsetting any child over and it is certainly not going to be the highlight of their trip if they don't get any.

As to a note left asking for this service, please realize many of the housekeeping staff do not speak English. As noted by the posts here, some have gotten this and some have not. I would not go in expecting it, and maybe you will get a surprise.

 

[ReggieB]

We had the towel pool and a waterslide on our last visit at WL. The housekeeper also made a hammock for DS4's toys to sit in, which was actually a great way to keep the all tidy! I left a thank you card (with a small tip) every day and she always took the time out to write a thank you back.

At the GF my DS's toys didn't get much special treatment, I think they were put to bed a couple of nights when someone came into do the turn down service. No towel animals.

We had at AK towel animal every day, I am amazed they didn't run out of ideas. The monkey hanging from a coat hanger was probably the best, or maybe the elephant...I guess we really lucked out that trip! My DS's Snoopy moved around the room a bit, he would be sat looking out the window onto the Savannah when we came back!

So I guess it all depends on your housekeeper, they might just be too busy to have the time.

 

[Tikiman]

A few times they have actually put stuffed characters in our room on the bed and floor for us to keep. This was when I first took my wife and the housekeeper we had use to do something to the room almost every day. They left a small Genie surrounded by a lei and another night turndown left a Mickey on the bed in a boat made of towels. I would not expect these things to happen but it is true that sometimes they leave stuffed characters. Remember the housekeeper has to do this on their own and if they do purchase something it is with their own money and tipping them is not for them to do anything extra but for the good job they do.

Aloha

Steve

 

[MHDTS]

We had great towel animals at a recent YC stayed and happened to see the CM and thanked her...then learned what we thought might be the case: the CM had started on the Disney Magic where, as all you cruisers know, the towel art is a nightly occurence in every stateroom. Our YC CM had done a stint on the Magic and had transferred to housekeeping in Orlando, bringing her unique talent with her.

 

[magicmato]

At the beginning of one stay I bought a Figment stuffed animal as this was always my favorite character.

That stuffed animal did SO much during our stay! He sat watching tv holding the remote control, he sat on the table eating our snacks, he brushed his teeth and one night he was worried that we were late and sat waiting for us in the window as he listened to the TV behind him!

 

[HGD24]

We've stayed on property 4 times, each at a different resort and the only time we received anything 'cute' was during our stay at Pop Century.

Mousekeeping made a big basket out of towels and put it on the back corner of the sink and placed all all of our toiletries in it. It was a great idea and we used it everyday! They also made a few other cute items out of towels for us. We don't have kids, but we felt like kids when we came into the room and saw the different towel arrangements. I agree with the others though, don't go in expecting it as not every mousekeeper will do this. Just enjoy it if it happens to be done for you.

 

[littlebigdog]

Our last stay in June at POP we had 3 different towel animals during our 10 day stay. Also, when we stayed at AKL our stuffed animals were always
watching TV, looking out the window etc... when we returned. But sometimes we have went and no towel animals etc... I wouldn't tell your children and that way if it happens it will be a nice surprise and if not no disappointment.

 

[gigi1313]

we've always been blessed by having cute set-ups in the rooms... not so many towel animals, but lotsa cute arrangements w/the kids toys and souvies... ds loves swords and picked up a few along the way (pirates, indiana jones, a light up one from fantasmic, etc) and the mousekeeper did an elaborate sword arrangement in our window for us to see upon our return... it was fun and appreciated! another time she unrolled a roll of tp and had dd's stuffed dog "playing" with it on the bed! LOL!

but, it's not a given! no guarantee! and no rhyme nor reason... it's luck of the draw!

good luck & ENJOY!

 

[missypie]

I didn't breath a word to my family about towel animals, in case we didn't get any.

5 nights at YC. On days 3 and 4 we got towel animals.

5 nights at CR. On day 4 we got towel animals, the kids' stuffed animals were arranged, we got double coffee and double toiletries! The next day, the blow dryer was broken and I left a note asking that it be replaced and mousekeeping didn't do a darned thing.

It's pretty hit or miss.

 

[klofan]

Almost everynight in the WL, we had the animal shaped towels. My cousin had a big mickey and a little mickey on the floor, and the housekeeper put the big one of the chair, holding the small one.

 

[newchic99]

If this works, here are the towel animals we got last year at POP.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/newchic99/100_0183_132.jpg

 

[Maybelle]

Just stayed at POFQ two weeks ago. 3 of the 4 days we came back to the room to find dd's stuffed toys arranged in fun ways. The first day, mousekeeping had pleated dd's blanket into a butterfly shape. Very cute. No folded animals, but we loved seeing the stuffed toys arranged. I know that this MIGHT happen, but did not say anything to dd ahead of time, in case nothing was done. That way, we were all pleasantly surprised.

Have fun!

 

[t2simon]

Here are my favorite towel animals from the Polynesian two years ago:

And, this is how we found DS toys and our hats one night:

We also got a Monkey, a Mickey head on our bed with Lei's (see sig). Our mousekeeper was great!

When we stayed at CR 4 yrs ago, we didn't get anything.