In Memory Of The Towel Art

[PollyannaMom]

I may some others in old albums, but easy access on this computer, I have three:



The Small Mickey is from Caribbean Beach, just this past February, and the large Mickey and elephant are from several years ago at Port Orleans.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Over the years we have had many towel animals. We were told one by our housekeeper that we could take them home. Which I think we only did once. I'll try and find a few picks of the ones we got. I know that a few times we had scenes created with the towels and my DD stuffies.

 

[dancin Disney style]

 

[chicagogrl]

I think they are cute but even more work for the ones with the colors and posing them!
We never got one. We had read about them here. Even left tips and every time we came in our room, we were hoping for one!

 

[Ninja Mom]

I don't believe that Disney stopped doing them because people were talking about them on the internet and then "everybody expected" them. I believe that it was a bean counter's efficiency move. The party line that it was better for the environment if Disney doesn't have to deal with them is a cheesy way to sell the withdrawal of these beloved icons of a Disney resort stay.

If you ever took a towel animal apart you could tell that the most of the towels were on the worn side and they were being retired from resort use. That being said you could almost think of towel animals as a way to re-purpose used towels that didn't pass use standards. Of course all that takes time and time = money so I guess it was easier just to sell the retired towels to a fiber buyer and pocket the profit$.

I was told by Mousekeepers on a couple of different trips that we could take the towel animal's home but we never did. When we experienced a Mousekeeper who could provide us with these wonderful little smiles I always made it a point to take the kids over to find her so that they could tell her how much they enjoyed them. I think the Mousekeepers enjoyed this just as much as the larger tip envelopes we would leave them I still get a smile on my face every time I remember all the 'tail wagging' that occurred in our room every time we discovered these magic creatures making an appearance.

~NM

 

[Summertinkerbell]

I can see that making a new towel animal every day could be a pain for housekeeping. I just wish we had one on the day we checked in as a welcome to our WDW resort. Maybe that wouldn't be as taxing for them.

We have many wonderful memories from every trip...sometimes the smallest details create the most magical moments. I guess the lesson here is that you need to appreciate the magical moments when they happen because they might never happen again. Don't take anything for granted...

 

[disnut8]

I'm not going to quote anyone because there have been several who made the comment that Disney cut this because of the "beancounters". My husband works in a laundry facility group who does the laundry for a ton of hospitals all across the US. And I'm an accountant. "Wear and tear" is a common thing that goes into any set of "the beancounters" books every single day. A washcloth gets ripped? Wear and tear. A towel gets spit up on? Wear and tear. Sheets get, well, soiled? Wear and tear. A towel missing from a hotel does not cause a shut down of things. It happens every single day in every hotel in every city in every state.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

People don't ruin anything -- Disney cost cutting does. Every towel animal was an extra towel needling to be washed, dried, folded and transported.

I don't know when the towel animal thing started at the Disney hotels. It's really a cruise ship thing.

But, placing a moratorium on towel animals means rooms can get done quicker and housekeepers aren't using Disney's towels to try to increase their tips. Somebody at headquarters gets a nice year-end bonus for this.

Actually from what I heard while talking to Mousekeeping last year was the Towel animals were made from retired washcloths that they don't use anymore for guests. So the cost cutting thing with having to wash, fold, etc is null. So yes, people do ruin everything by making stupid demands for Disney magic.

 

[Lehuaann]

This thread has me reminiscing some of the hilarious towel animal threads.

Anyone remember this one?

Mousekeeping left mysterious towel animal.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/mousekeeping-left-mysterious-towel-animal.1974154/



RIP, towel animals. You will be missed.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

When did this stop?

 

[phillymummer]

I stand corrected about it being a money issue. It does make sense to use worn towels and washcloths. Maybe the demand was interferring with the Mousekeeper' ability to get all the rooms done in a timely manner? Dont mousekeepers have a pretty tight schedule- a lot of rooms to clean; especially certain rooms by 3:00pm?

 

[Disneylover99]

Staying at Pop right now.

There was a towel swan in our bathtub when we came back from the parks yesterday and a towel bow tie draped across our toilet today.

 

[WEDWDW]

The OP's pic looks like a lobster actually.

Let's see,we have:

Seahorse
Scorpion
Skinny Manta Ray
Lobster

I think what we have is Mousekeeping's best example of "Interpretive Abstract Towel Art"!lol

 

[eliza61]

Inside information from a mousekeeper at the Contemporary (mom works with me)

Staff is cutting down, basically because of guest. Guest began "demanding" them. some very forcefully, others rudely complaining if they did not get them.

Just one person take on it but I can believe it. This was last summer when I asked.

 

[GreyStr0ke]

This was from CSR. I hit the towel animal jackpot upon check in.

 

[buzznina]

Actually from what I heard while talking to Mousekeeping last year was the Towel animals were made from retired washcloths that they don't use anymore for guests. So the cost cutting thing with having to wash, fold, etc is null. So yes, people do ruin everything by making stupid demands for Disney magic.

That is exactly what a CM and mousekeeper told us during our trips. The towels were being replaced with new ones so they started doing the animals. I can see rude/dumb guests demanding one, which is sad. We liked them but we likes it better when the mousekeeper would do something special with our DDs stuffed animals and dolls. All photos below was some of what our mousekeepers have done in the past.

[GALLERY=] [/GALLERY]

 

[ZebraDomeCrazy]

I remember many years ago, while staying at an All Stars, we had rushed out in the morning to get to the parks. My son had left all of his small Star Wars figures and stuffed animals on the beds. Well, we came back, and of course, they were gone! He's crying, and I'm assuming that when housekeeping came in, they just scooped up the toys with the sheets. I thought it was worth a shot to call, and see if they could be "rescued" from the laundry. The CM on the phone suggested I look in the window. I pull back the curtain, and before our eyes was the coolest action scene ever with all our his toys!! He's 22 now, and still talks about that day! I sure hope Disney knows just how much their special little touches can make lifetime memories!!

 

[lucas]

I am not a fan of towel art in general. But, I would be upset if housekeeping put my stuff (even with a towel down first) into the sink or even touched my toothbrush to put it in with the towel art.

If you go on DCL, lots of towel art there!

 

[2fortheShow]

Did I miss an official post that Disney was discontinuing towel art??

 

[Eeyore's-tail-tack]

View attachment 119529 September 2015