Towel Animals, has this happened to you?

[KatieCollette]

We've gotten a Mickey and a dog, both on the first days of our vacation. My DS didn't really care either way, but we got some nice pictures with him and them.

 

[cm8]

My nieces enjoy getting the towel animals, but even more than the towel animals they love coming back after a day at the parks to find the mousekeeper has staged the room with their stuffed animals. We've come back to some cute rooms, one day they turned off all the lights, closed the curtains and had the TV on. I thought that was weird, until I turned on the lights and found all my nieces stuffed animals on the bed watching TV with the remote in one of their laps. We got a big chuckle out of that one!

That was so sweet of her/him to do

Did you all take any pictures of them. I would have loved to see them staged that way

OP, sometimes you get some, sometimes you don't. Money doesn't change that fact (usually). We received several of them one year and the next trip not a one. I hope that on your next trip to the world you will be able to get one for your children

 

[Babka]

At the ASMu last week...tipped each day...received NO towel animals

 

[Baltazar]

a couple things

• there's a good chance your mousekeeper can't read English
• every year we call them from our room and request towel animals.

We also bring a bag full of Disney toys to decorate our window.

 

[gingersnapacosta]

Our last trip, I called Mousekeeping to ask how much it would be to keep one to take home with us and I was told that I didn't have to pay to take them both home...

I called Mousekeeping one year because we had had an amazing Mousekeeper and wanted her supervisor to know how great she was - I don't think her supervisor was expecting that, she acted very surprised...I hope it made their day.

 

[bear_mom]

My nieces enjoy getting the towel animals, but even more than the towel animals they love coming back after a day at the parks to find the mousekeeper has staged the room with their stuffed animals. We've come back to some cute rooms, one day they turned off all the lights, closed the curtains and had the TV on. I thought that was weird, until I turned on the lights and found all my nieces stuffed animals on the bed watching TV with the remote in one of their laps. We got a big chuckle out of that one!

My dds are like this also. They love going back to the room and seeing how their animals spent their day while we were out enjoying the parks. Sometimes they spent the day watching TV, another time they were all bundled up in bed, and another time they were sitting around a game.....

Out of 4 trips, we have gotten towel animals on 2 of the trips. One trip only 1 and the other trip we got two or three. We left them in the window, so maybe that is why the rooms around you had them and you didn't.

Emily

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The telephone conversation I had with WDW Resort Management was that the towel animals are yours to enjoy while you are at the resort. They are not intended for you to take home.

Well unlike other posted rules at WDW like re-using old mugs there are no rules posted inside the rooms of each WDW Resort saying that about the towel animals, so I won't believe it unless I see it in writting. Plus on other threads about towel animals others have posted that both Managers of the resort and Housekeepers say it's ok to take them home, so I would say they out rank whoever you spoke to on the phone.

 

[maxiesmom]

THanks for the replies...totally understand what everyone has said. It would not have been an issue had there not been one in every window on out floor. Just was wondering if this had happened to anyone else.

I am sorry, but if a maid, working in the USA, does not understand a note left in English, in a room where she is working...IMO, she needs to call for help, her supervisor, her translator...SOMETHING...it is not OK for me to just give him/her a pass by saying she does not know English or does not know how to read.

I'm trying to figure out what, if I didn't read English well or at all, a note with money could possibly be for except a tip. If I was a housekeeper. And I'm not coming up with anything. They probably just assumed it was a thank you and a tip, as there are no services you can buy from housekeeping. Their mistake.

I'm sorry, but you made a mistake too in thinking towel animals are something you can buy from housekeeping. They are not, they are just an extra bit of pixie dust that the houskeepers sometimes hand out. That is the thing about trips to Disney and the little extras. When you start to expect them, or think you can buy them, you end up disappointed.

 

[TDC Nala]

Much of the time, Disney will do anything if you pay them enough. Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do to ensure you get towel animals, because it's not an organized program. It's totally up to the housekeeper whether they can or will leave them. I get that you can't explain that to little kids. But that's what it is. They're not guaranteed and a tip may or may not get you one, nor can you guarantee that you will get the type of housekeeper that will arrange stuffed animals. sorry the OP had to lose $10 to find that out.

 

[robinb]

I'm trying to figure out what, if I didn't read English well or at all, a note with money could possibly be for except a tip. If I was a housekeeper. And I'm not coming up with anything. They probably just assumed it was a thank you and a tip, as there are no services you can buy from housekeeping. Their mistake.

I'm still not willing to let the housekeeper off the hook for not understanding the note. I said it before, if she couldn't read it then she should have found someone to read it to her. Many times I leave notes asking to change the sheets, for more soap, shampoo, coffee, towels, etc when I leave my tip. I expect those notes to be read and the items to be delivered to my room. I would expect the same without the tip as well. Even someone with a rudimentary understanding of English should know the English words for those items commonly used in their jobs: "sheets", "towels", "coffee", "soap", "rug", "TV", "sink", "tub", etc so she should have had a half a clue that "towel animal" had something to do with towels. If she was a Spanish speaker the word "animal" is the same in both languages. My guess is that she simply did not want to make the effort to try to understand the note or she didn't care if the OP received what the asked for.

FTR, I am usually on the side of the housekeepers. They do what I consider a hard job and I don't mind tipping them for their services. But I can't stand it when someone gets blown off like the OP. If you can't make the towel animal ... fine. But don't take the tip for a service you are unwilling or unable to preform.

 

[maxiesmom]

FTR, I am usually on the side of the housekeepers. They do what I consider a hard job and I don't mind tipping them for their services. But I can't stand it when someone gets blown off like the OP. If you can't make the towel animal ... fine. But don't take the tip for a service you are unwilling or unable to preform.

The thing is, you cannot buy soap, sheets, or towel animals from a housekeeper. And that is what in essence the OP was trying to do. Buy a towel animal. When you are leaving a tip and asking for more towels or shampoo, you are tipping them, and they are performing services that are a part of the job. Towel animals are not part of the job.

Again, the houskeeper made a mistake, but so did the OP.

 

[sydneysmom]

we never got a towel animal, except for the Mickey on the bed the first day. But our Mousekeeper was so sweet.... my DD had alot of stuffed characters that we got while we were there. Well, she got one of the 3' Minnie's. We came back one night and the Mousekeeper that did the turndown service had put my DD's nightgown on Minnie ! It was hilarious. And she (Minnie) was under the covers w/ all the stuffed toys. My DD LOVED that.

A couple of days later, we came back and all the toys were on the bed w/ sunglasses, holding glo-sticks, wearing her hair bows. She was terrific. Little things like that just cracked up my DD.

I can totally see how you'd be upset though if you specifically left a note WITH the money....it's kind of implied, but maybe that's just me. I don't think I'd have taken the money if I couldn't give you your request.

 

[momhmmx2]

Just an FYI:

My friend talked to the mousekeeper once about the animals to thank them for making them for her kids and to ask how they make them. He said that he and his wife stay up at night and make them after they go home. THEY have to purchase the towels and the rubberbands Disney does not provide them.

 

[robinb]

The thing is, you cannot buy soap, sheets, or towel animals from a housekeeper. And that is what in essence the OP was trying to do. Buy a towel animal. When you are leaving a tip and asking for more towels or shampoo, you are tipping them, and they are performing services that are a part of the job. Towel animals are not part of the job.

Again, the houskeeper made a mistake, but so did the OP.

Then the maid should not have taken the payment for something she could not offer. IMO, it was more than a "mistake".

BUT ... I do agree with you that the OP shouldn't have tried to buy a towel animal with a tip. Like I said in my original post there is no correlation between tipping and towel animals. I always tip and almost never get towel animals.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Resort Towel Animals:

1) They are prepared by the room maid.
2) All maids are trained in basic animals.
3) Some have been trained to do advanced animals.
4) Tipping or not tipping does not influence maids making animals.
5) Animals cannot be assured by request or order.
6) Whether you get animals is based upon
. . . if the maid has time
. . . if the maid has the energy
. . . if the maid has the initiative
. . . if the maid likes the way you keep the room
. . . if the maid is an employee or temporary staffer
. . . if the maid is working during the correct phase of the moon
7) Expect nothing, and be pleased if they appear.

 

[carlton the bear]

The telephone conversation I had with WDW Resort Management was that the towel animals are yours to enjoy while you are at the resort. They are not intended for you to take home.

The Disney Corporation made a profit this last quarter of $492 million dollars. That is for the quarter, not the the full year. Do you think that it really matters or that Disney really cares if someone takes home a towel animal that costs Disney at most 25c. In fact if this small gesture makes the "little ones" happy, then Disney gives parents and kids another reason to return to WDW on their next vacation.

 

[epcot.girl]

My nieces enjoy getting the towel animals, but even more than the towel animals they love coming back after a day at the parks to find the mousekeeper has staged the room with their stuffed animals. We've come back to some cute rooms, one day they turned off all the lights, closed the curtains and had the TV on. I thought that was weird, until I turned on the lights and found all my nieces stuffed animals on the bed watching TV with the remote in one of their laps. We got a big chuckle out of that one!

This happened to me and my BF! Our 'mousekeeper' would arrange them in a different way every day and they kept multiplying. One time they were arranged around a book as if one of them was telling a story to the others. Another time they were positioned in a towel hammock between the two beds. She also left notes saying 'Have a magical day!' That's the only trip we had towel animals though, and I never expected them before or since.

 

[maxiesmom]

The Disney Corporation made a profit this last quarter of $492 million dollars. That is for the quarter, not the the full year. Do you think that it really matters or that Disney really cares if someone takes home a towel animal that costs Disney at most 25c. In fact if this small gesture makes the "little ones" happy, then Disney gives parents and kids another reason to return to WDW on their next vacation.

Smart corporations look at everything that adds to their costs. And Disney has shown they are pretty darned smart. Anyway, do you really think that if all guests started taking towel animals home, that they would take the hit out of their profit? More likely they would up the cost of the rooms and we would all be paying for them.

I have to say, I hate the excuse that "Disney makes xxx, so I am free to take xxx" It pops up all over these boards as a reason for taking many things, from towel animals to pop refils that are not paid for, to taking jelly from the food court to make sandwhiches in people's rooms. Now I have no idea if it is ok or not to take towel animals home. I just hate the handy excuse that Disney turns a profit, so taking things is fair game.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Well unlike other posted rules at WDW like re-using old mugs there are no rules posted inside the rooms of each WDW Resort saying that about the towel animals, so I won't believe it unless I see it in writting. Plus on other threads about towel animals others have posted that both Managers of the resort and Housekeepers say it's ok to take them home, so I would say they out rank whoever you spoke to on the phone.

I'm just reporting what I was told on the phone by Disney Management. I don't think there is any "ranking" to be done.

Plus there is nothing in writing about not taking the television, the bath towels, the lamps and shower head. I don't take them either.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I'm just reporting what I was told on the phone by Disney Management. I don't think there is any "ranking" to be done.

Plus there is nothing in writing about not taking the television, the bath towels, the lamps and shower head. I don't take them either.

It is ridiculous to try and equate a towel animal with a TV, lamps, etc. In any case I don't think that there is a policy on towel animals no matter what someone might have told you verbally, because otherwise all the rooms would have them, or none of the rooms would have them, as Disney needs to ensure that all guests are treated equal. The other posts on this topic all seem to say that getting a towel animal is "up the Housekeeper", which reinforces the previous comment that WDW has no policy on this this.