Just wanted to offer a possible explanation and another point of view of your experiences:
the first day we had a quick breakfast in the room so we put all the trash on the two trays on top of the desk for her to throw away, came back to room to find trash still on desk, okay maybe she just didn't see it
. After that we would just put it outside like it was room service and someone always picked it up.
I see you are also a seasoned traveler, but in my experience, if "trash" is not in an obvious "trash" place, housekeeping is trained not to take it. If you leave a crumpled up piece of paper on the nightstand, for example, they probably won't take it--even though it may be "obvious" to you that it's "trash". If you want them to remove trash, put it in the trash receptacle or on the floor right next to it so there is no mistake. Housekeepers are trained to err on the side of caution when it comes to throwing things away, and I, for one, am glad! They may not have time to inspect your tray for any leftover food to see if you are saving it (since it's not in the trash bin) or decide for you if you want to throw it away or not. When I eat in the room, I throw the trash in the trash bin and put the tray out in the hall. I think if you had thrown the breakfast garbage away that you left on the tray on the desk, they probably would have taken the tray no matter where you placed it though. Please don't think I am trying to pick on you or anything, just offering another POV on the situation so you may understand where the housekeeper is coming from, how it may be more a function of their training and their desire not to throw something away that you had not placed in the trash area (the hallway is a "trash area" for food trays, for example, once you placed it there, it was removed promptly as you wished.) thereby making a possible mistake!
Well she comes to our room around three, opens the door and says do you need some towels. I said yes and she said "can you grab them while I get the clean ones". Once again I am a nice person so I grab them, hand them to her, and she says is that it. At this point I am in shock and just said sure. She says thank you, bye and leaves.
I believe they are not supposed to be in the room when the guest is present (again, a training issue, and one which I support for safety reasons). I know if I were you, I wouldn't have wanted to gather up the wet towels though, lol! I'm sure if you had asked her to do whatever else it was you wanted done, she would have done so. (vacuum, make beds, whatever), after all, she DID ask you if there was anything else you needed. However, you would have had to vacate the room for her to do so (again, the safety issue, they aren't supposed to clean a room when guests are present in the room--they have to close the doors for security of your stuff, and can't do that with you and them in the room). As I said before, I am not trying to pick on you or anything, I just wanted you to consider where they are coming from, how they are trained, what rules they operate under, etc etc. While it seems your experience was less than ideal for you, it was within normal operating parameters. Basically, trash isn't trash unless it's in the trash bin or hall, and housekeepers can't come in your room with you present.
Okay before we left I read some post about the Poly rooms being dirty and the cleaning crew not doing their job. Me being a very easy going person thought people were just being picky cause hey your at disney who cares. Let me share my two unbelievable experiences. One, the first day we had a quick breakfast in the room so we put all the trash on the two trays on top of the desk for her to throw away, came back to room to find trash still on desk, okay maybe she just didn't see it 
