Here now and no towel animals!

[bocaj1431]

And thank you, maybe I didn't get this across, maybe I don't have the gift with words that you do, but this is exactly what I was trying to convey.

I do not think it is that you do not have the "gift of words." Sometimes people just go on the attack as opposed to just sharing their point of view. Unless a post is a direct attack, racist, obscene or offensive, I do not believe attacking someone or making sarcastic comments is warranted.

If my post helped I am glad.

 

[ThreeBeans]

We stayed at POR last year for 11 days. One of my sons joys was coming back to the hotel after a day in the park; and, being surprised by what housekeeping did that day. We had many towels made into animals and there was even a car. Some had stickers on them. The cutest thing they did was to position my son's stuffed animals in a different spot every day. One day, they had them peeking out the window. Just thinking about it makes me smile. We made sure to go to the front desk and let them know how appreciative we were. We did not know this then but later found out each time you go to guest services and compliment a particular disney employee, it goes in their file. Apparently, it helps them when they are trying to move into better positions.

:

So I just spent 30 seconds gesturing like a total idiot at myself in a mirror and HOLY CROW! She's right! It looks totally different between pointing with one finger (which almost looks dismissive) and indicating with two or three. It's like the difference between a finger POKE and a finger HUG!

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

Last year, my DD called the front desk and requested them for my birthday. She was not with us on the trip. She knows how much I love them, so I really appreciated her simple birthday gift. We were at POR.

 

[Allies mom]

We stayed at Pop for ten days in December and got at least 5 towel animals. My daughter was so excited! It is not required but I do agree that if I payed deluxe prices I would be disappointed to not get one.

 

[disnut8]

Personally, I would prefer that mousekeeping concentrate on cleaning and maintaining rooms, rather than making towel animals.

This. We've had people saying their rooms weren't made up until 3:00 in the afternoon and that bothered them. Was it because their housekeeper was making towel animals for the person who demanded them every day? How about people who check in early and want a clean room but can't get one because housekeeping was making towel animals? And the cost to replace the towels (I'm hoping they use the ones that are going to be ragged out soon - yes, I know the industry).

Jeez people, be glad you get a vacation.

 

[maxiesmom]

We stayed at Pop for ten days in December and got at least 5 towel animals. My daughter was so excited! It is not required but I do agree that if I payed deluxe prices I would be disappointed to not get one.

They are no more included in the cost of a deluxe resort than they are included in the cost of a value resort. A deluxe gets you bigger rooms, nicer pool areas, and are placed closer to one of the parks. You don't get better bus service, better maid service (unless you pay for turn down service), and animal towels are still not included in the cost.

I think people have gotten a little carried away with what they believe comes with paying for a room.

 

[Sparkly]

This is another thing where people have come to expect it because others on here get them!

Yes the Disney resorts have plenty of things that make them magical (Being close to the parks, hidden Mickeys ETC) but getting towel animals is just pixie dust on top. I'm super excited to stay onsite longer next time and not because of some folded up towels.

 

[DOREEN1779]

During our past two trips 7 day trips, we received some animal towels during our stay. At AKL it was almost always butterflies and at BLT it was Mickey ears. We never expected them and never asked. However, someone posted that the towels are shown in pictures of the rooms at Disney. I haven't really checked that closely but I seem to recall seeing them as well. So, if they are in the picture, why wouldn't you think that they are part of the service? More so, for the first time families who have heard such great things about the Magic of Disney.

 

[Granny square]

During our past two trips 7 day trips, we received some animal towels during our stay. At AKL it was almost always butterflies and at BLT it was Mickey ears. We never expected them and never asked. However, someone posted that the towels are shown in pictures of the rooms at Disney. I haven't really checked that closely but I seem to recall seeing them as well. So, if they are in the picture, why wouldn't you think that they are part of the service? More so, for the first time families who have heard such great things about the Magic of Disney.

There are lots of things shown in advertisements that aren't for everyone. If you think that you will be hugging Cinderella in a field in front of the castle you will be seriously let down.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We've gotten a few towel animals in the last 15 visits - always a surprise!

We pay deluxe prices for a deluxe room, not more towel animals.

Sorry but it seems silly to me with all there is to experience at Disney that towel animals will make or break someone's vacation!

Like a few other posters I would rather have mousekeeping cleaning my room than worrying about making towel animals!

 

[Happy99]

We have stayed at many deluxe hotels outside of Disney and they no way compare to Disney deluxe hotels but we stay at the deluxe hotels at Disney because of location, room sizes, we like having a private balcony and at this point in our life it fits into our budget

When staying at deluxe hotels outside of Disney most of them charge for parking or valet parking, they charge for internet and have resort fees. Yes this also applies to places like the Four Seasons and the Ritz Carltons of the world

Towel animals are nice and cute to get but we don't expect it. We expect a clean room. We tip the housekeeping staff because they work very hard sometimes having to clean more than 20 rooms on their own each day. If we get late housekeeping we call them and request to have our room made up earlier as we are back in our room in the afternoons

For the poster that said they stopped tipping because of when their room was made up did you ever think they were shorthanded and the housekeepers had more rooms to do in a day then normal?

I think that you should expect a clean room with everything in working order and expect the room category you paid for. Everything else is a nice extra surprise not an entitlement. For example on our first stay at a Four Seasons, even booked with a great discount, they had treats, cups with milk and balloons in the room for the kids. It was a great treat and surprise, do I expect it every time we stay there? Not at al

I have worked in customer service and hospitality industry for most of my life and some people don't realize how many call outs you get each day and a lot of times you are running shorthanded and have to make due

On another note housekeeping is outsourced they are not Disney employees

 

[Missytara]

We've gotten a few towel animals in the last 15 visits - always a surprise!

We pay deluxe prices for a deluxe room, not more towel animals.

Sorry but it seems silly to me with all their is to experience at Disney that towel animals will make or break someone's vacation!

Like a few other posters I would rather have mousekeeping cleaning my room than worrying about making towel animals!

I have to agree, I have seen some amazing things that people post that will break a trip. I often cruise and have a book of towel animal making from RC. I have fun making them for mousekeepers as I have had them leaving them.

 

[Goofey Drool]

No towel animals......what is this world coming to.

 

[Lorien728]

We had a MickeyEars one and some bunnies looking at us from the window at ASMu this past March...weren't expecting them but it was a fun surprise!

 

[maxiesmom]

However, someone posted that the towels are shown in pictures of the rooms at Disney. I haven't really checked that closely but I seem to recall seeing them as well. So, if they are in the picture, why wouldn't you think that they are part of the service? More so, for the first time families who have heard such great things about the Magic of Disney.

You have to keep in mind that Disney is selling you a product. It is all advertising. Their ads show kids frolicking with Mickey and Minnie. The web site shows Belle reading outside of her castle. Not every child gets to experience those things. It is all Disney selling you on buying a vacation at their place.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Towel animals are super cute, but like someone at the beginning of this thread said, not all the mousekeepers know how to make them. You can't really be upset that someone didn't do something for you that they don't even know how to do.

In 4 recent trips to WDW, we have had very few towel creations. The thing I thought was the coolest was at the Contemporary, we just left our toothbrushes (with their little plastic head covers on them) on the counter in the bathroom. The mousekeeper made a little toothbrush holder out of a washcloth and put then in it. Other than that we had a little rabbit at the Contemporary and the big mickey head on the bead the last 2 stays at POFQ.

 

[Wendy31]

I will admit that I have noticed in a decline in the amount of towel animals placed in our rooms over the past couple of years.

We've stayed at FW, WL, & the CR. And, if it matters, we've always tipped the same - $5/day.

We received several when we stayed in the FW cabins in 2005 & 2006 &, in 2008, when we stayed at the WL. Additionally, the castmembers always arranged our kids' stuffed animals in fun little ways. I remember at the FW cabins, we'd come back, & there would be new towel animals in the windows & in the bathroom every day. We even had dishtowel dolls left on the kitchen counters!

And, at FW, the morning we were packing our van to leave, there was a castmember who was there cleaning the cabins, &, when she saw us packing, she asked, "You did take your towel animals, right?" I told her that I didn't think they were for us to take, just for us to enjoy while we there, & she said, "No, no, no! You need to take those home for your kids!" And she went into our cabin w/ me & tried to get me to pack up all the towel animals. There were about 15 total, & I ended up taking 3.

Anyway, when we stayed at the WL in 2011, there was noticeably less. And, last year, at the CR, there was even less. I think we received 3.

I assumed it was because the CR is a bigger resort & there is less time for the castmembers to spend in each room. But our room at the CR was always super clean. I was actually more impressed by the cleanliness of our CR room than I had been by our room at the WL on our previous trip. She also always left us tons of shampoos, lotions, soaps & chocolates.

And, regarding the soaps & shampoos, we weren't hoarding them away or anything. I just set all the extras on the shelf under the sink to get them out of our way since there's limited counter space in the CR bathrooms, &, every day, there would be more! We counted at the end of our trip, and we had 45 bottles of shampoo - for a 10 night stay.

Towel animals are always a fun surprise but never anything we expected. I appreciate a clean room way more than I do towel animals.

After our 1st trip, though, I will admit that our kids did get used to rushing back to our cabin or room at night to see what the castmember had done in our room.

As an aside, they actually liked seeing all the cute little ways she'd set up their stuffed animals more than they did the towel animals. Once, at the WL, she made some kind of towel rope between the 2 beds & suspended their animals along the rope.. it was adorable!

So, since they'd gotten used to towel animals & stuffed animal surprises, the past couple of trips, they did comment that we weren't getting as many towel animals, but they got over it! We're in Disney World, after all, & DH & I just told them that there are so many more things to enjoy both at our resort & during our trip than towel animals. It certainly didn't ruin our trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yes, Oh My God, I am serious.

If you are paying 400 a night for a hotel room, I think the service should be beyond ordinary, or sufficient, which it seems some of you are shocked about.

"Are you serious"??? lol

When we go and stay in Niagara, and pay for an upper level fallsview room, it doesn't SAY on the room listing that I will be valet parked, nor that a bellhop is going to take my bags up to my room, but if I am paying $500 a night for the room, yur damn right I expect it.

When I take my car the dealership to have work done on it (and my dealer charges significantly more then local shops), it doesn't say that they will wash my car for me if I leave it with for the day, or that they will do -more- then the local shops and go above the line, but do I expect it, yes.

Disney isn't just about the park or about the food, or about the rooms, its also about the service. Its about making things magical. Hell, thats their fricken brand. Do I want sufficient cleaning service ? No, I want magical cleaning service. If everything at disney was the same as not disney, what would be the point of paying for the disney experience. Let alone paying for the deluxe disney experience.

There are all sorts of things that aren't "listed" on a purchase description that people expect when they go to higher end restaurants, retail outlets, and yes, resorts.

Maybe some of you are right, maybe their "mousekeeper" doesn't know how to make them, or maybe she doesn't have time.

At a resort where they are charging as much as they do at Deluxes, they can afford to a) train their people on how to make the animals, its not her fault if she hasen't been taught, b) make sure they hire enough people that they have enough time to do the little extras.

Hey, thats just my opinion. Maybe I expect a lot, but, I talk with my money. I stay at places, go to places, and do things that I think are worth the value, in experience and in service. I am a regular at several restaurants, around where will, I get amazing service, because I expect it, and I tip very very well. Maybe its because I used to work service, and I know how they feel, I know how hard they work, but I also know when they are cutting corners or aren't really putting in the effort.

So yea, I think at 400/night, you can expect more then sufficient, you should expect extra touches, like towel animals.

I stay at every level of resort at WDW, and own DVC at both BLT and BWV. I have had towel animals at every level, but most consistently at the value resorts! So much for paying those deluxe prices.
I just don't think that not making and leaving a towel animal is cutting corners. It's a little bit of unexpected magic.
You know what happens when guests start expecting it and calling and complaining when they don't get them? Same thing that happened to the special divers at Coral Reef and those wonderful personalized menus....taken away! They had so many requests for those things that they could no longer keep up with the requests!!! So, they stopped. Now, no one gets them.
Me? I want a clean, pleasant room. I want it maintained nicely throughout my stay...and I don't much care if that stay is at AoA or at the Polynesian.

I have to agree, we have actually used them as......... towels before.

NOOOOO.....you killed them???? Towel animal murder!!!

 

[maxiesmom]

At a resort where they are charging as much as they do at Deluxes, they can afford to a) train their people on how to make the animals, its not her fault if she hasen't been taught, b) make sure they hire enough people that they have enough time to do the little extras.

You are confusing what Disney considers a Deluxe hotel with what the rest of the world considers a Deluxe hotel. Most of us realize that if you took the Poly and plopped it down somewhere not on Disney property, no one would be paying up to $850 for a basic room to stay there. It is location location location. As much as I love Disney the service is no where near "deluxe" at their deluxe resorts.

You can't compare a Disney resort to anywhere else, because there is no way to compare them that would be apples to apples. If you are thinking that by paying what Disney charges for a deluxe resort you will get treated the same way as you would at a real world deluxe resort, you are kidding yourself.

 

[Evi]

To those of you who feel entitled to towel animals I think it would be good for you to know, staff make them on their time. Thats right they don't have a special crew that makes them. So either they stay after work and make them without pay or they take the supplies home and make them in there free time. They usually make them because they know it cheers the little ones up and helps increase tips. I've spoken to multi Mousekeepers at various resorts and just because they don't all speak english doesn't mean they won't talk to. If you try or if you also happen to speak whatever language they do speak and actually do appreciate being acknowledged. Once I learned this it made towel animals all that more special and actually made me leave an even bigger tip. I think its a great bit of pixie dust but something I will never expect or get mad about if I don't receive. Just something to think about. Know one owes you a towel animal. If its super important to you as a surprise for the kiddies maybe make one yourself at home and hide it in your luggage to put out. Pixie dust is also the magic and spirit you bring with you to Disney. Its not something you pay for.