First, let me say that we have never have a problem or bad experience with any housekeeping staff. We always tip and we have had towel and wash cloth animals made for us at many resorts, but not every time. Many times we have returned to find our children's toys arranged in some cute way either in a the crib (when our kids were younger), on the bed, or in the window. We understand that they are very busy and this is time consuming. We have never requested an animal. We do make a big effort to thank all the housekeepers we see when we are out and make sure our children do the same thing. This is a tough job and I am sure that it can be a real drag.
Now, we have stayed at many Disney resorts (All Star Music, Movies, and Sports, Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter, Coronado Springs, Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian, Swan, Dolphin, and the CBR) and we have found the Mousekeepers at CBR to be the absolute best. Let me relate our most magical Disney experience. We took a 4 day weekend to Disney Memorial Day weekend of 2002. We returned to our room Sunday evening to find a medium plush Dumbo and a medium plush Mickey Mouse. I called the front desk to ask how these came to be in our room. The front desk let us know that the mousekeepers found us to be exceptional guest and our children to be very polite. Talk about your magical moments!
I can tell you that we did nothing different this time, or at this resort. I didn't slip anyone a "big" tip. I didn't ask for anything.
And I can tell you if this type of thing happened every time, it wouldn't be magical, but it sure is when it does happen.
I hope you have a GREAT trip.