Housekeeping and surprises?

[momof3+twins]

On our past trips we would always see stuffed animals in the windows and we have had the cute animals made out of washclothes a few times. It seems to be hit or miss with this. I have seen a lot of pictures of Pop with cute surprises from the maids. Does Pop seem to do this more than other hotels? Is there a tip amount that the housekeepers seem to like that encourages this kind of service?

[Quasimodo]

We tend to stay at POFQ more than any other resort and have had some very nice towel animals and dolls made by housekeeping. I'm not sure the tip amount has anything to do with it. But it certainly couldn't hurt. I think just depends on the housekeeper assigned to your room.

But as for the tip amount we leave, I think my wife usually leaves $5 a day for housekeeping when we are at a moderate. She may leave a little more if we are at a deluxe.

[disneymom15]

I agree, I think it just depends on the mousekeeper. I think I would leave a note asking if they could leave some towel animals.

[mom2four]

We had adorable towel animals five days of our stay at WL. I think she was running out of animals to make. They were so cute. I tipped all but one day (we left early and I forgot) I do not believe animals were linked to tips.

They had "how to make towel animals" in the lobby one morning for the kids.

Have a great trip!

[baby minnie's mommy]

Towel animals are not the result of tipping. "Hit or miss" is how it is. They are a random special surprise from the mousekeeping, not a resort amenity and not a "reward" for good tipping. :mickey:

As far as I know, all the resorts' mousekeeping can do this.

We've had towel animals waiting for us in our room before we even checked in, which also goes to show it wasn't a result of tipping. Our DD loved them, so we left a thank-you note written on our tip envelope.

The stuffed animals you saw may have belonged to the guests already. If you leave your souvenirs out of the bags and luggage, sometimes the mousekeeping "rearranges" them in fun ways. ;) Maybe that's what you saw.

If you want to tip extra as a thanks for special touches you've already gotten, go ahead. Just don't leave a bigger tip expecting to get a surprise in return.

Please don't expect anything, just be surprised and delighted if you do get something! :)

[LilHooligan74]

The stuffed animals you saw may have belonged to the guests already. If you leave your souvenirs out of the bags and luggage, sometimes the mousekeeping "rearranges" them in fun ways. ;) Maybe that's what you saw.
:)

I toadily agree. There were three days last year we cam back to the room to find mousekeeping had taking the stuffed animals belonging to my girls and rearranged them on the couch "watching tv". I so wish I took pictures. One day two stuffies were "watching" tv while one had covered there eyes. I think tips can maybe motivate some people but I would not expect it to make a difference. Some people just really take pride in going that extra mile. That is the person you want "working" for you. When I was driving limos one customer tipped extra big because i knew what he wanted and catered to him.

[McGoofy]

It's completely hit or miss and tipping will not enhance the deal. On our last visit, we stayed at CSR. When we checked into our room, there were 3 towel animals waiting on us. That was all we got during the whole stay. On other visits, we have received a different towel animal each day. When my DS was a little younger, we used to travel with more toys and stuffed animals. Our very first time staying on property was one of our best memories of housekeeping "surprises." We were staying at All Star Movies. When we came back to the room, we were shocked to hear the tv on the Disney Channel when we came in. We knew we had left it off. DS's stuffed animals were all arranged in position on the bed like they were watching tv together. The next night the "do not disturb" sign was left in our door. When we walked in, we saw that the stuffed animals were arranged at the head of the bed under the covers with pillows behind their heads. DS's stuffed Mickey was sitting in the middle of the animals. He was holding DS's "Goodnight Moon" book and "reading" to the other animals. It was too cute. We couldn't wait to come back each night to see what the surprise was going to be. (On future trips, DS wanted to bring all of his toys!!) At any rate, it's all just luck of the draw on whether or not you get a Mousekeeper who is willing to go above and beyond just cleaning your room.

[momof3+twins]

The stuffed animals watching TV sounds cute. I just love walking through the resort and seeing all the animals and toys in the window. I hope we get lucky enough for these special surprises this year. The kids are always so disappointed because they see all these neat things and then when we walk into our room we don't have anything special.
I wonder if we are just pigs and she doesn't have time to do anything but clean our room?!?:blush:
Do any of you keep your room fairly clean? I don't think we are really bad but maybe if she needs to get the vacuum out to get the crumbs off the floor?!?

[Quasimodo]

Again, I don't think how messy you are has much to do with it. Unless you are trashing the room like some strung out rock star. :D

Try bringing some stuffed animals and leaving them on the kids bed. They don't have to be Disney animals either. My DD used to sleep with two pink babies. She would leave them on her bed and housekeeping would sometimes make a little bed for them with towels. Or just set them up on the bed with a wash cloth baby.

[WhiteRose1]

During our honeymoon, I bought a bride and groom mickey/minnie dolls, and also a Pal Mickey. One day we came back into the room, the bride and groom dolls were arranged with Pal Mickey, as if he was marrying them! Pal Mickey even had a book on his lap for the sermon! We had heart shaped towel animals, and our various purchases/gifts were always decorating our room in one way or another.

We got maybe 2 towel animals the whole trip, just hearts. Our Mousekeeper seemed to like to arrange our stuffed toys and bride and groom hats more, which was still delightful!

[wilshade]

Mousekeeping towel animals fall under the category of "Dont expect it, just enjoy it when it does happen".

[#1donaldfan]

We've had some pretty good animal set ups....

Once our DD's kitten was placed in the middle of the room with the TP strung from the bathroom, with the kitten standing in the middle of a pile of shredded TP.....

Once again, our DS's Yeti was holding a book with all the other animals sitting around him, as he was "reading" to them....

just a few of the "neat" things mousekeeping can do.....:mickey:

[IloveDisney71]

I've stayed at various Disney resorts and the only towels animals I ever got were at Pop. We've stayed there twice and both times the animals were there when we checked in.
I think it just depends on who your mousekeeper is.

[momof3+twins]

Well, it is good to see that Pop is big on this since that is where we will be staying.

I know that it is shouldn't be expected, and I as an adult don't expect it. But, the kids really look forward to it.

Does anyone know if the housekeepers are the ones that set the stuffed animals/toys in the windows or are the kids doing that themselves? Have you ever had the housekeeping staff decorate the window sill with toys?

[McGoofy]

Well, it is good to see that Pop is big on this since that is where we will be staying.

I know that it is shouldn't be expected, and I as an adult don't expect it. But, the kids really look forward to it.

Does anyone know if the housekeepers are the ones that set the stuffed animals/toys in the windows or are the kids doing that themselves? Have you ever had the housekeeping staff decorate the window sill with toys?

For us, whenever it was done, it was always housekeeping that did it.

[JMTStone]

I've heard there's one excellent Mousekeeper who takes the towels on her break and does them then. Disney Magic!

I don't expect it but its wonderful when it happens.

[Taja]

The nine-year-old lass in our group last December was inspired by other windows to do her own! It was enhanced daily by our Mousekeeper. This was at Pop Century.

We tend to leave the room a bit later due to time change--much later this time due to an infant!--so we usually have a bit more interaction with the Mousekeepers than most people do.

[Disdad13]

I would do what someone else suggested and leave a nice note for mousekeeping saying that you would love to see their towel art, if they can do any. We had been two years in a row - first to ASMovies, then to POR and never got any towlies. Last year, we stayed at POP and there was a little animal waiting when we checked in. (Incidently, there were little towel animals in many of the windows at POP - much more than we ever saw at ASM or POR. Not sure why...) The next morning, I left a note with the tip thanking them for the original and said we would love to see more. When we got back that night, there were two more! We even got a couple more by the end of the trip. So, as others have said, don't expect it, but don't be afraid to ask either. The worst that can happen is you don't get anything. Good luck!