Refuse Mousekeeping = Gift Cards (Good or Bad?)

[cobright]

We've heard that declining mousekeeping is unfair to the maids since they need the tips each day.

We've heard that declining mousekeeping is great for the maids because they're overworked.

Which is it? Thanks!

Interesting conundrum you're contemplating. Unlike most of life's great moral questions, this one has a correct answer... mostly.

First, accept an important set of premises upon which the rest of this rests.

1. The Disney resorts "know" how many rooms a MouseKeeper will clean each hour.
2. Disney "knows" how many guests at each resorts are or will opt out of MouseKeeping in exchange for the giftcard.

• Therefore Disney will schedule enough MouseKeepers to keep the workload more or less consistent day in day out. If everyone started opting out of the service, staffing would adjust to keep the MouseKeepers working just as hard.
• Likewise, the individual MouseKeepers will be cleaning the same number of rooms and collecting the same number of tips each day regardless of what decision you as an individual make.

Caveats: Everything Disney "knows" about this situation is based on predictive models. These models are shockingly accurate but not perfect. Some of Disney's staffing is based on their prediction of whether you will choose to opt out or not. Some of the staffing level is based on a prediction of how many of the scheduled MouseKeepers will show up for work and work their entire shift. So it's possible, common even, for the odds to work out so a Cast Member is busier than she would prefer for a day. Or, conversely, gets fewer rooms and the opportunity for tips that day.

In either case, when considering the guest population of one Disney Resort turning over each day, even if your behavior is completely contrary to prediction, your choice is a grain of sand dropped into a lake; the ripple will barely be perceived at all.