Question on Tips (the green kind)

[MattShiloh]

In May I will be making my first trip to a Disney theme park, Disney World.

So I am told that it is customary and accepted to leave "Mousekeeping" tips for cleaning the room. And I am one of those people who never does anything simple, so I am wanting to design my own little money envelopes to leave for them since I have some rudimentary skills in Photoshop. I have an idea for a design, but I needed to ask a question...

How many languages are spoken at Disney World among the Housekeeping staff? Does anyone know? I thought about making a cute little design with "thank you" in multiple languages on the front, but putting it just in english, spanish, french, german, and maybe chinese didn't sound like enough. I was curious if anyone knows if there are any other languages spoken that I might put in (aside from the ones represented by Epcot).

Anyone know?

 

[Alliedoodah]

There are hundreds of languages spoken at Disney!!! This could take you a while.... but that is a neat idea

 

[Alesia]

Of all of the housekeeping staff that I've encountered, only 2 didn't speak Spanish as their native language. Both of them spoke English.

 

[techtony]

It is really not customary to tip housekeeping. It never has been. Disney allows it however, which is awesome for the housekeepers. I personally do not tip housekeeping, but I do not look down on or chastise those that do - that is their right.

As for the language thing - that is a cool idea. I have never stayed on resort property (but will be in April), but I have been to Disney several times. I have never dealt with someone at Disney that does not speak English to some degree. I have heard a lot of Spanish though, but I have also heard German (which I speak), and the occasional French.

Have fun on your trip and kudos for the cool idea!

oh... and welcome to the boards!

 

[tzolkin]

Tips for mousekeeping is a topic I learned about here before our first trip.

It makes it seem like it's the norm and that it's completely unacceptable to not tip and there even seems to be a set amount that Disers agree on.

That said, I have actually had difficulty getting the housekeepers to actually take the tips, so I usually don't even bother anymore. I would leave $5 or so on the bed or table (sometimes even with a thank you note or the little card with the housekeeper's name on it to make it more clear that it was intended to be a tip) and they would almost always just move the money to another spot. I'm sure they were probably concerned about being accused of stealing.

This has happened many times, so I often wonder what others are doing to get the housekeepers to even accept the tips on a daily basis.

 

[Figmentmommy]

I usually leave our daily tip next to the sink with one of the travel shampoo bottles holding it in place. Sometimes I've left a note with it if we were requesting extra towels or tissues. I've never experienced having a tip not be taken.

 

[nkereina]

Last trip, we saw two Housekeepers who I presumed to be Haitian. Sounded like they were speaking Creole.

 

[dbarker]

At AKL, they may speak English and Swahili.

 

[k1koala]

I have been to WDW about 7 times and have always tipped housekeeping, never having it not accepted. I have always read both here and on the Moms Panel that it is in fact customary to tip them $1-2 pp/per night. This is very confusing to me to read what I am reading here. Unless something has changed in the last few years, I am stumped?????

 

[techtony]

I have been to WDW about 7 times and have always tipped housekeeping, never having it not accepted. I have always read both here and on the Moms Panel that it is in fact customary to tip them $1-2 pp/per night. This is very confusing to me to read what I am reading here. Unless something has changed in the last few years, I am stumped?????

It may be customary for people on these boards, and it may be customary in other niche groups, but it has never been customary to tip housekeeping. Marriot announced last year (It may have been two years ago), that they were going to start allowing their housekeepers to begin accepting tips. This caused an uproar because the chain acknowledged that they could pay their housekeeping staff more, but they were trying to give housekeeping a raise not through their paycheck, but through tipping instead. This strategy backfired on them in a PR nightmare.

I do not tip someone just because it is their job, I tip for outstanding service........unless they are paid the $2.13/hr tip wage like food servers - they get a MINIMUM of 15% no matter how bad the service is, but I do not hesitate to tip up to 50% for excellent, extra-special service. You will hear all kinds of arguments about tipping, but the one that makes sense is - housekeeping is going to clean your room (hopefully the same way each day) regardless of tips, and they are paid over minimum wage (it is a common misconception that they do not receive minimum wage - in fact they get paid on average $3 - $5 over). If you tip housekeeping, why not tip the check-in desk person, or the lawn care people, or the painters that painted the room? The list can go on forever.

HOWEVER - if you look up what Emily Post says about tipping and housekeeping - she says tipping is in good form. I personally disagree, but she is the expert!

 

[Bobsmom]

I think your idea is a fun one. I tip housekeeping at every hotel, always. Always. It's a dirty, thankless job, and they are often held to quotas that make it a challenge to do the job well and quickly at the same time. Florida's minimum wage is currently $8.05 an hour, living wage for a single individual is closer to $10. (source: http://livingwage.mit.edu) There's a reason many housekeepers speak Spanish, as mentioned above: it's a job most of us would not be willing to do for the kind of low pay offered, so the task often falls to immigrants. You're spending $$$ on a vacation, set aside a little bit extra for the people who help make it pleasant.

My rule of thumb is to tip a base of $3 per day. I add an extra dollar for each person beyond myself, and a dollar or two extra if I've been particularly messy (used every towel, lots of trash in the bins, etc). I tip daily instead of all at the end, I think it's more fair that way since it's probably not the same person cleaning each day.

 

[Janjan]

I always tip housekeeping. I made up envelopes with disney clip art on then and sometimes I wrote "mousekeeping" or just "thank you". I left it by the sink and it was always taken. We would often come back to tome amazing towel animals and little extra things done for us. I think it's a win/win.

 

[bigmamimia]

I find the person who is going to be cleaning my room and give them $2 and the dirty towels and ask for clean ones. Then I ask them to please not go in the room. I don't need my bed made for me and I don't need someone to clean up after my son and I daily. I figure this way they are still getting paid but they have less work to do. I hope it takes some stress off them that day. I leave the trash outside the door when it gets full.

 

[karatemomky]

We (me and my two children, ages 10 and 4) took our first trip to WDW last march and stayed in POP. We didn't tip the housekeeping mainly because it was an oversight on my part I didn't think it would be a big deal however, I noticed that ours was one of the few rooms that they didn't surprise with cute little towel animals or extras. My kids would get so excited every day on our way back from the park, seeing different animals in windows we passed on our way to our room and find nothing. I really think it was due to my not tipping. We are planning our next trip in February 2016 and I will make sure to tip this time!

 

[Alesia]

We (me and my two children, ages 10 and 4) took our first trip to WDW last march and stayed in POP. We didn't tip the housekeeping mainly because it was an oversight on my part I didn't think it would be a big deal however, I noticed that ours was one of the few rooms that they didn't surprise with cute little towel animals or extras. My kids would get so excited every day on our way back from the park, seeing different animals in windows we passed on our way to our room and find nothing. I really think it was due to my not tipping. We are planning our next trip in February 2016 and I will make sure to tip this time!

I think it has more to do with the state of your room than whether or not you tip. The housekeepers only have 15 minutes to clean your room, and if they have to spend that whole time cleaning it, they don't have time to make towel animals.

 

[karatemomky]

I think it has more to do with the state of your room than whether or not you tip. The housekeepers only have 15 minutes to clean your room, and if they have to spend that whole time cleaning it, they don't have time to make towel animals.

I'll admit, I never considered that. I wouldn't consider our room super messy, but it's possible they just didn't have time. Maybe next time trip, we'll have more luck! Even without the extras, we had a great trip!

 

[allwdwfreaks]

We always leave a tip every day of $5. We bring envelops and tape it to the bathroom window with "Mousekeeping" written on it so they know it is for them. Never had a problem with anyone accepting it and taking it. Now, why we do it? Lots of reason's I guess. I think it's mainly because we are at the happiest place on earth and it just instinctually seems like the thing to do. (Oddly I guess, I don't do it on any other travel trips) There are also the reasons of it being a not-so-fun job and it often comes with little extras, like towel animals or extra toiletries, or at least those seem to be tied to tipping. But that is not why we do it. Isn't it just a really great feeling to come back to a room after marathoning somewhere on property all day and finding your room fresh and ready for the next 24 hours of adventures?
So all of these things are to my advantage of course, but I think we do it to do something special for just another cast member making our trip special and we want them to know it. We often remember names of Cast Members that make our trips special and send accolades on them as a form of a "tip". If I could afford it, I would love to "tip" everyone we came across that made our trips magical, like the grounds keepers, bus drivers etc. but that's not practical. But these housekeepers are doing something special specifically just for us and we appreciate it!
Love the idea of making special looking envelopes. We'll definitely use at one.

 

[HCinKC]

I find the person who is going to be cleaning my room and give them $2 and the dirty towels and ask for clean ones. Then I ask them to please not go in the room. I don't need my bed made for me and I don't need someone to clean up after my son and I daily. I figure this way they are still getting paid but they have less work to do. I hope it takes some stress off them that day. I leave the trash outside the door when it gets full.

This is a great idea. We always leave the "do not disturb" sign out regardless of where we are staying. We just don't see the need to waste all the energy of fresh sheets etc for a few days or week. We also like our privacy, and I know it takes a tiny bit off of HKing's plate. I have never thought to tip them when getting fresh towels though. I usually leave something on the last day, but this is a nice idea, too. I have also never thought to leave the trash outside the door. Duh.

 

[bigmamimia]

We do the daily tip because different mousekeepers might have the room each day.

 

[cattywampus]

I don't know where people stating it is not customary to tip housekeeping are getting their information. I have traveled extensively for business (and pleasure) for the last 25 years and have always tipped housekeeping (including Marriott and other chain hotels and Disney as well). While I don't think it is always expected, it is certainly not discouraged or prohibited by any employer.

I remember reading the article about Marriott (and the uproar) and it was NOT changing to allow tips (they have always been allowed to accept tips). Instead it was a program to encourage patrons to tip housekeeping.

I usually leave $5 per day on the bed inside a piece of notepaper folded over one with "Housekeeping. Thanks! ". I have NEVER had it refused.