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Guests offered Disney gift cards in exchange for not having their rooms cleaned

By
kennythepirate
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97
Guests offered Disney gift cards in exchange for not having their rooms cleaned


Many Crew members on my Facebook group reported yesterday that they were offered Disney gift cards in exchange for not having their rooms cleaned. 

As the guests were checking into All Star Movies resort, they were told that they could receive a $20 per day Disney gift card in exchange for denying room cleaning services for their entire stay.  One person stated that they received an $80 gift card for a 4 night stay and another said they received $140 for a 7 night stay.

Each guest reported that they could receive towel service and request toiletries as they needed, but their sheets would not be changed and there would be no vacuum or cleaning of any kind offered.

If you accept this offer MouseKeeping will also not provide those cute little towel creatures on your bed each evening.  This is said to be a test and no word on if it will spread to other resorts or when it will end.





I will state that I noticed that this was a very normal policy for hotels in Denmark when we visited recently.  They say it saves on water, power and wear and tear on the sheets.

Would YOU accept $20 per night for not having your room cleaned during your trip?

97 COMMENTS

  1. ANNETTE
    I have had the towel animals many times could be who you get for that day, even received mints. But I go to Disney this Oct. and I plan to wave the house keeping. This is my Granddaughters first visit 2 1/2 yrs old can’t wait to see her face. When we took my other Granddaughter I went in before her and decorated with tinkerbell and layed out Sleeping Beauty dress shoes etc it was much cheaper that way.

  2. We stayed at Pop Century from 8-1-2018 to 8-8-2018 with our 2 granddaughters, ages 4 and 9. Got a $50 Gift card to opt out. I didn’t call anyone to empty the garbage cans or get clean towels. I took the garbage out everyday on my way out and got clean towel from the bins located outside on the way back to the room. The dirty towels were given to the cleaning crew when I saw them in the hall. I treated the hotel room as I would my own house, we picked up after ourselves. It took no extra effort. We would do it again.

  6. Just stayed at Pop Century for two nights Sept 2017 (vac cut short due to hurricane, we left early to go home and deal with it). We were offered $20 gift card and gladly took it!

  8. We have never been to Disney but are booked for this October for our daughter’s 10th bday for 9 days. I would love the gift card option if they offer it at Post Orleans. We have stayed at plenty of hotels and I find it weird to have someone come in an clean up my mess daily. In fact, when we check out of rooms we always do our best to clean up after ourselves anyway. Getting nearly 200.00 back for doing what we do anyway would sound great to me and would recoup some overspending we will likely do!

  10. Absolutely! We frequently decline cleaning services as is, so this would be awesome! Can this just be added to my profile so that even when we aren’t staying as DVC, we just have it waiting for us at check-in?

  11. As we were heading out recently, the door to a room was open and the poor mouse keeping was sweeping what literally looked like a box full of crackers and a 64 pk crayons had been crumbled to bits in the floor. Huge, huge mess. If that room went a whole week without any mousekeeping, I’d sure hate to be the next one staying there! I don’t think there’s enough hours in the day to get a week’s worth of that mess up.

  12. Great info Kenny! I would totally take advantage of this! Any idea of what resorts it’s being offered at and for how long? We are going in November with a split stay at Pop and AKL. If it is not mentioned at check in do you think worth asking the cast member about? TIA!

  13. Clean sheets? Towel animals? I’ve stayed at Saratoga Springs twice in the past year, once for 11 nights in August 2016 and again in May 2017 for 8 nights and never got clean sheets or towel animals. I also booked directly through Disney each time. I know the sheets weren’t changed because my daughter accidentally wrote on the sheets with pen and those same sheets were there the entire time. I was shocked because it’s a Deluxe Resort and therefore would expect the sheets to be changed especially paying full price through Disney but I know not all hotels change sheets everyday.

  15. The “all star” hotels at Disney are on the budget tier so it makes sense. Can’t see this happening at the luxury Disney hotels.

  17. I’m the same I go alone and make hardly any mess, I also always tidy up before I go out. I’m there for 17 days on my next trip, so I’d just wash my sheets with my regular laundry once a week if it came to it, but, if they delivered clean sheets I’d happily make my own bed

  19. Linda, I disagree. I think they’ve had a lot of trouble lately with the housekeeping staff. Having enough workers, etc. And who knows what the turnover is on those jobs! It’s been a long time since any of my friends have gotten the towel animals too.

  21. Nope! Part of the fun is having someone make my bed and clean up – I love coming back to a super tidy room! We were just offered this at Marriott – 500 points for every day we did not use maid services – no thanks! :)

  26. Do you get the gift card at the beginning of your trip? If so I would definitely do that because we are not in our rooms long enough to make a mess anyways. We always shower before we go to bed so we are clean so the sheets will stay clean. We would need towels but if you can call the front desk and get those that is great. Staying at All Star Sports in November hope they do this.

  28. I actually dislike having to “clean” to get ready for housekeeping, so I always decline housekeeping services. It’s always easy to get fresh towels & soap, as needed. I love the thought of getting a gift card for doing what we normally do! I will say that I stayed in a hotel near Disneyland (a good neighbor hotel, not Disney owned) and they required housekeeping every 3rd day. I was sad we couldn’t opt out.

  29. Hi,will this be for the Deluxe Resorts,too? We usually just come in our room late at night, shower and go to sleep,Barely spend any time in our room.Where would we put the dirty towels? And the garbage ,if we had any? Thank you!!

  30. I’ve been going to WDW and Disneyland for a long time and the towel animals are hit and miss. I think paying CM more is a wonderful idea! As the mother of a child that did the college program at WDW, I know how little they make! My child would love to go back & work at Disney full time but can’t afford it on what they pay.
    Would I take a gift card in exchange for no mousekeeping, it would depend on my length of stay. As long as I got fresh towels I might be tempted on a shirt stay.

  32. Yes. I go to WDW by myself so I really don’t need housekeeping. I am only there to shower & sleep for a few hours! The rest of the time I am in the parks!!

  33. Not for me. Having my room cleaned is a nice hotel benefit. I save up all year for a two week trip where I get a little luxury like fresh sheets every day. If I had a short trip, I’d be tempted, but as ours are longer trips due to the travel time, I’d keep my housekeeping.

  34. I’ve been going to WDW since 1987. The only time I’ve had towel animals was on the cruise ship, when my son was 6. I’ve stayed at many of the resorts, too; although now that we’re DVC there’s never that sweet thing anyway. And, since we’re DVC it’s pretty normal to not have daily mousekeeping. TBH I wish Disney would put the money into other things like paying the CM’s more, which might enhance the magic again. We should be more environmentally conscious without being bribed for it.

  35. I’d happily do it for our entire stay. We are barely in our rooms anyway so there wold be minimal crumbs on our floor

  37. We didn’t get any towel animals at all in November at Beach Club. We were bummed. We were there 7 nights and left a tip every day.

  40. Can you get the room cleaned once in the middle of your stay and just not get the money that day? How do you get clean towels and shampoo every day?

  43. We had a 6 night stay at the beginning of June (3 @ AS Music, 3 @ Coronado) with 2 kids and did not receive any towel animals at all. Do they still even do that?

  45. We stayed at Old Key West for 2 weeks in Feb and the only time we got a towel animal was Valentine’s Day and it was just on our parents bed!!

  47. I would like fresh sheets and towels halfway through my trip but I am doing a 14 night stay but I could use the other bed. $280 would really help with spending money especially since the exchange rate for the pound has dropped.

    Better for the environment too, hopefully it won’t affect jobs though,

  49. I don’t know. I really like having my room cleaned, but I do keep it pretty clean anyway. We just stayed 9 nights at WDW and didn’t have a towel animal once. So, I don’t think we’d be giving that up anyway.

  51. That’s pretty standard at DL resorts & good neighbor hotels without compensation. They’ll vacuum and empty trash but there’s signs everywhere about reusing towels & sheets only bring chanhed if requested, but they’ll make the bed.

    I’d probably take it but I hope it doesn’t result in an uptick of infestations. Vacuuming helps remove pest eggs & while we’re all clean people, these things just happen especially in a place like Florida.

  52. As long as they have a contingency plan for unexpected events, it’s a good idea. On a 7 day stay, all I ever ask for is towels anyway. It’s going to affect jobs, though.

  53. Wait…there are towel animals??!! Seriously, I stay at CBR 3-4 times a year, and have NEVER had a towel animal!!

    I would totally accept this offer…but as someone above said, I DO like my trash emptied, as we sometimes eat breakfast snacks in the room, and I don’t really want a banana peel sitting in my garbage can all week. As long as I’m provided a place to dump our trash, I’m good with just getting clean towels each day. :)

  54. No way! Say it ain’t so! Last year during a week plus stay at the poly I had to call to have my room cleaned several times, had my husband swipe towels and shampoo because they were never delivered, and requested it be cleaned prior to 3pm when most come back to relax or shower…especially those with younger children. Management treated us to a lovely magical cruise to see Wishes but truthfully it was a band aid. If I am staying at the poly and paying poly prices I hope mousekeeping is improving not becoming obsolete in the future. For this mom, running a vacuum, making our beds, and refreshing the room is just as magical as a dole whip.

  55. Another way to cut down on employees….Disney is only thinking of money anymore…very disappointing. How can you not take them up on their trade but by doing so you have just taken a meal or two away from a cast member.

  56. How about 20.00 per day off price of room instead of gift card I have to spend for Disney? Then, yes, I would take it

    • It is true. It was confirmed by 9 different people. Calling Disney is a waste of time. They just read from scripts. All you have to do is check my Crew group page.

  60. I would absolutely do it because I already do not have my room cleaned every day. I’m not super comfortable with having someone in my room every day, especially if I want to come back to take a name or something. To get paid for that would be AWESOME!!! And I would save a little on the my mousekeeping tips as well! LOL!

  61. I am not sure – a couple of years ago when it was just me & my BF for 3 days, absolutly – but we are gong in August for 7 nights with a 10 & 13 year old – tempting, but not sure I would be ok with it for so many days

  63. As long as I could get towels and toiletries that would be worth it to me. I don’t need my sheets changed every night or my stuff moved around by a stranger!

  65. We would for sure!!! I like to keep our room organized and tidy so other than missing the towel animals it’s a great offer. I’d definitely take the $20/day over towel animals.

    Our next stay is 9 nights so we may sleep in one bed for half of the trip and then in the other bed for the second half.

    Hope they’re still offering this in September!

  66. Marriott and Hilton brands also do this. The amount is not as significant. We stay in time shares and vacation rentals more often, so we are used to picking up anyway.
    That way we do not have to worry as much about laptops, etc. in our room being stolen. I don’t change my sheets every single day at home, so why do I need it on vacation? This is not a new concept with other brands, just Disney. Rather have that option if I were staying at one of their properties. I guess Disney is also “going green”.

  67. I think it really depends on the family. For example, my family is only in the room to shower and sleep. I’d definitely take the GCs for a short stay and, honestly, I probably would for a week as well. When I stay at a condo or home rental, I don’t purchase maid service. If I had a toddler or younger kids that would be on the floor, I may choose maid service.

  68. I would seriously consider it for our trip in November. We are staying for 5 nights ($100 if we accept). I would miss the towel creations and we take little stuffed animals to see what they are doing while we are gone but for $100 the stuffed animals could sleep while we are gone + my kids will be 8 and 10 when we travel so they probably wouldn’t miss it too much. That would help take the sting away from the increase in price of the memory maker.

  69. Marriott resorts offer extra reward points for opting out. We have stayed many places with some type of perk for foregoing housekeeping. I think it’s just becoming more common. I think it’s great!

  70. I agree the fact that you can still request towels the other stuff doesn’t matter to me. Hopefully this continues in August when I will be at All-star resort

  72. I would accept it. We usually put up the do not disturb sign anyways. I would only need to know where to dump the trash and we are all set!

  73. I love this idea. We have two rooms booked at Pop Century in December for 7 nights (family of 8: 3 adults, 5 kids). If this is still a possibility, we could potentially get $280 in gift cards, and not only that, we would save on tipping the Mousekeepers each day too. I would 100% do this!!!

  75. $20 is pretty generous. Starwood offers $5/day (or 500 points) and I know a lot of people accept that. That said, with Starwood, you can do it on a day-by-day basis, so have housekeeping every other day, or whatever you want. (P.S. I stay in Disney resorts at least 5 times a year and have gotten towel animals like 2 times ever!)

  76. Sheraton’s been doing this year’s, but not for $20/day. That’s surprisingly generous.
    As a DVC member, this doesn’t affect me. But I would do it in a heartbeat. I actually prefer not to have housekeeping come everyday.

  80. I think it’s a great idea! We aren’t in our rooms long enough to get them dirty, & who can’t use extra money when you’re at Disney?

  81. Absolutely! I usually get my towels swapped out and keep the do not disturb sign up. We aren’t big mess makers and clean up after ourselves anyway. I don’t feel like I need those ladies to come clean every day anyway.

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