No more towel characters

LeeAndRobin · Sep 14, 2016

maxiesmom said:
Wow are we really having to draw a line between towel animals with and without eyes? Good grief. I think that is the most silly thing I have seen on the Dis. Maybe I should start a poll....

Absolutely. The "towel animals" that are simply folded towels (like the Mickey head on your bed) are not meant to be taken home. On the other hand, the towel animals with glued on eyes and such are made from towels/washcloths that are slated to be discarded anyway, so you are encouraged to take them home, as they will otherwise be thrown away. It amazes me that people complain that towel animals that have hot-glued features added shouldn't be taken home because it's "stealing". They've obviously never talked to hotel staff on the issue. However, the ones just folded in the shape of an animal, without added features, obviously are not meant to be taken, since a) they are made from usable towels and b) they would not likely hold together in their "towel animal" form on the trip home.

CaterFamily · Sep 15, 2016

maxiesmom said:
Wow are we really having to draw a line between towel animals with and without eyes? Good grief. I think that is the most silly thing I have seen on the Dis. Maybe I should start a poll....

This is the DIS, there are always sillier posts buried on this site. LOL.

But yeah - this is like arguing that Pepsi is the real cola drink...

AtlantaDisneyDreamer · Sep 15, 2016

LeeAndRobin said:
Absolutely. The "towel animals" that are simply folded towels (like the Mickey head on your bed) are not meant to be taken home. On the other hand, the towel animals with glued on eyes and such are made from towels/washcloths that are slated to be discarded anyway, so you are encouraged to take them home, as they will otherwise be thrown away. It amazes me that people complain that towel animals that have hot-glued features added shouldn't be taken home because it's "stealing". They've obviously never talked to hotel staff on the issue. However, the ones just folded in the shape of an animal, without added features, obviously are not meant to be taken, since a) they are made from usable towels and b) they would not likely hold together in their "towel animal" form on the trip home.

I think your distinction makes perfect sense. Prior to the banishment of the towel animals, I saw both types of towel animals. It seemed natural to take the one with the eyes and antlers (I kept the cute little guy for a long time until his eyes finally fell off) and to leave the ones that were larger, brighter white, and fell apart when you picked them up. It seemed obvious to me, but it could be that there were too many people who did not see a distinction and who took the ones they were not supposed to take.

TheRustyScupper · Sep 15, 2016

ParkHoppers said:
The downgraded staff can barely keep the rooms clean never mind go above and beyond that to make towel characters IMO.

1) Yep.
2) It takes time to fold towels animals.
3) Time is money.
4) Besides, maids get incentive money for finishing their room assignments quickly, or they can take off and get paid through the end of the shift.
5) So, AGAIN, guests suffer as Ogre (I mean Iger) rakes in the money and cares less-and-less about guest experience.

NOTE: Based upon the resort, maids can make pretty good bucks in incentives and hourly pay (per current Union Contract, as of 07/31/2016):
. . . up to $22 per room incentive for non-DVC rooms
. . . up to $35 per room incentive for DVC rooms
. . . leave 45-minutes early and get paid for the whole shift, if their rooms are done
. . . base pay $10.50-to-$14.87 per hour
. . . this is why many guests do not tip maids, as their pay is better than most other WDW hourly cast members

LeeAndRobin · Sep 16, 2016

TheRustyScupper said:
NOTE: Based upon the resort, maids can make pretty good bucks in incentives and hourly pay (per current Union Contract, as of 07/31/2016):
. . . up to $22 per room incentive for non-DVC rooms
. . . up to $35 per room incentive for DVC rooms
. . . leave 45-minutes early and get paid for the whole shift, if their rooms are done
. . . base pay $10.50-to-$14.87 per hour
. . . this is why many guests do not tip maids, as their pay is better than most other WDW hourly cast members

Thank you. Finally some data to support my contention that tipping maids at WDW is not warranted.

DizzydoesDizney · Sep 16, 2016

LeeAndRobin said:
Thank you. Finally some data to support my contention that tipping maids at WDW is not warranted.

Eh, there's plenty of stuff to spend money on that's not warranted. I think I'll keep tipping. I like doing it.

TheGecko · Sep 16, 2016

LeeAndRobin said:
Thank you. Finally some data to support my contention that tipping maids at WDW is not warranted.

Wow. After seeing the rates they maids are getting, the first thing I thought was I will tip more next time. Maids have a direct impact on the quality of your stay (at Disney and elsewhere) and perform clean up services other cast members don't have to touch.

maxiesmom · Sep 17, 2016

DizzydoesDizney said:
Eh, there's plenty of stuff to spend money on that's not warranted. I think I'll keep tipping. I like doing it.

I don't think that pay rate is that great, knowing what kind of stuff maids deal with.

Baklava · Sep 18, 2016

CaterFamily said:
This is the DIS, there are always sillier posts buried on this site. LOL.

But yeah - this is like arguing that Pepsi is the real cola drink...

Totally, since the only real cola drink is Coke...

AtlantaDisneyDreamer · Sep 19, 2016

TheRustyScupper said:
1) Yep.
2) It takes time to fold towels animals.
3) Time is money.
4) Besides, maids get incentive money for finishing their room assignments quickly, or they can take off and get paid through the end of the shift.
5) So, AGAIN, guests suffer as Ogre (I mean Iger) rakes in the money and cares less-and-less about guest experience.

NOTE: Based upon the resort, maids can make pretty good bucks in incentives and hourly pay (per current Union Contract, as of 07/31/2016):
. . . up to $22 per room incentive for non-DVC rooms
. . . up to $35 per room incentive for DVC rooms
. . . leave 45-minutes early and get paid for the whole shift, if their rooms are done
. . . base pay $10.50-to-$14.87 per hour
. . . this is why many guests do not tip maids, as their pay is better than most other WDW hourly cast members

What is $22 per room incentive? Just curious what that means and how it works.

TheRustyScupper · Sep 20, 2016

AtlantaDisneyDreamer said:
What is $22 per room incentive? Just curious what that means and how it works.

Per the Union Contract (Pg-69):
1) Housekeepers can "Flex" their room assignments by up to one Incentive room per day for non-DVC rooms.
2) There is no limit listed for DVC rooms.
3) Maids are, then, compensated with payroll Incentives for those rooms.
4) For such Incentive rooms, they get a predetermined Incentive payment for the room.
5) Plus, they get an extra $1-per-hour pay increase.
6) Thus, maids can make a decent-buck at Disney.

AtlantaDisneyDreamer · Sep 20, 2016

TheRustyScupper said:
Per the Union Contract (Pg-69):
1) Housekeepers can "Flex" their room assignments by up to one Incentive room per day for non-DVC rooms.
2) There is no limit listed for DVC rooms.
3) Maids are, then, compensated with payroll Incentives for those rooms.
4) For such Incentive rooms, they get a predetermined Incentive payment for the room.
5) Plus, they get an extra $1-per-hour pay increase.
6) Thus, maids can make a decent-buck at Disney.

It is not bad pay. Still not enough to make me change my dream job from VIP Tour Guide to Housekeeper, though (towel animals or no towel animals).

babygrl · Sep 21, 2016

TheGecko said:
Wow. After seeing the rates they maids are getting, the first thing I thought was I will tip more next time. Maids have a direct impact on the quality of your stay (at Disney and elsewhere) and perform clean up services other cast members don't have to touch.

I agree!

LeeAndRobin · Sep 21, 2016

So let's do some math. Assuming the maid works 40 hrs/week, is making the middle of the grade, and is able to do 3 extra rooms at $22/room each week, they would be making:

$12.69 base + $66 for the extra rooms plus $24 extra for the three days they did extra rooms ($1/hr x 24 hours). That comes to a total of $597.60/week, or $31,075 / year. I submit there is no reason to tip someone making that kind of money.

The extremes are if they did no flex rooms and made the lowest amount on the scale. That would come out to $21,840 (which is probably very few). The highest on the normal scale would be $38730, while if they did all bonus DVC rooms (I'm assuming one per day), total would be $42,110. The average is probably somewhere around the $31k number, which, at least to me, is not the wage of someone I should be tipping.

I have no problem tipping wait staff who are paid less than minimum to start with, and expected to make up the difference in tips. That is a whole different matter.

DizzydoesDizney · Sep 21, 2016

For me is not about the math. It's about the type of job that is done by the housekeeper. These are intimate tasks, making sure the bed is sleep on and the toilet I sit on are cleaned. I also tip the lady who pedicures my awful feet, and the hairdresser who cuts my hair. If the housekeepers make 30K or more a year, wonderful! I will still tip. I hope they make a liveable wage; it is back breaking, dirty work.

gravity01 · Sep 21, 2016

Last year we stayed for 10 days and one room (DH and I) got towel animals nearly every day and the other room (Grandma and DD4) didn't. I tipped the same in each room, with identical 'thank you' notes... but in OUR room, I folded the tip into a different origami shape every day. I was just being silly... I've done it since I was a kid. Anyway, I wonder if my being silly prompted the housekeeper to be fun right back? Or maybe we just happened to get different housekeepers? I don't know. The only days we didn't get one was when she had a day off, and she left a little note telling us someone else would be cleaning the next day. We didn't take them home, so maybe she could give them to someone else without spending time on them. It was a fun exchange, though. We never met her, but I kind of feel like we had an extra friend that week.

TheRustyScupper · Sep 23, 2016

AtlantaDisneyDreamer said:
It is not bad pay. Still not enough to make me change my dream job from VIP Tour Guide to Housekeeper, though (towel animals or no towel animals).

I have to agree . . . it is not a job/duty that I would like to have.

LinaNate · Dec 3, 2016

We just checked out of Caribbean Beach and the kiddos were sad to not find magical touches like towel folds or staged toys this year... we got spoiled last year in the cabins at Fort Wilderness where we had staged toys every day plus a few cool towel folds.

mommycal · Dec 4, 2016

IMHO this is horrible news. It's a reason why we pay to stay on property. Terrible!!!!

adisneyaunt · Dec 5, 2016

Are they really telling us that it was
A cleaner room or a towel animal. :rolleyes1

.. I think not...
and who cares what the morale of the Mousekeeper is... who cares that the whole idea of that towel animal is to make a smile appear on some child/adult face. Who cares that the old towels are being taken home as a souvie instead of thrown away...
I mean scrub that toilet another 3 minutes... laughable.
It's clearly $$$ ... those 3 minutes add up to Disney...
Hey Disney... maybe take all those old towels n give them to the Disney kennel to use rather than ditching them.. since we know they won't go off Disney property..Ugh!

No more towel characters

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