Just to shed some light on the towel animals. I posted this about a year ago but still stands as true.
My aunt was a housekeeper at WDW for 14 years and recently retired. The towel animals were always meant for guests to take home if they wanted. Therefore, the towels the housekeepers use to make the animals are towels that are going to be taken out of "service" due to fraying, looking ragged etc. That's why they were not always left for guests because there had to be some that were going to be "retired". Not only did there need to be towels available to be made into animals, the housekeeper had to have the time to make them up. They were always meant to be something special, not expected. And as the guests started complaining that they are paying $$$ for the room or tipping $$$ and not getting towels animals every day, they have decided to stop the practice. Though there still are some housekeepers that enjoy doing it so much that they will still do it. But as a whole, they are not encouraged to any longer. So if you do get some, enjoy. But don't expect them