Can someone tell me about declining room service

disneycountrygirl

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
I've heard of others doing this, but we've never considered doing it ourselves. What are the reasons for doing it? Is it just because some people don't want anyone else in their room? Or is because it's a waste of resources? Is it to avoid having to tip? I've always felt like housekeeping was a bit of overkill - every other day would be just fine with me. Can I specifically request that?
 
We were there in Nov last year, and stayed at Pop for the first time. We had room service every day, with no problems. I’m on vacation and don’t want to have to make the beds or clean anything. We’ve stayed at every price level, value, moderate and deluxe, and never had issues. We always leave a tip for mouse keeping.
 
I opt out of housekeeping at most hotels, to be honest. I agree it just feels like overkill for me personally. Personally, I'm also happy to reuse my bed sheets and towels for several days at a time, so unless I have a very long stay, I don't need housekeeping at all. And you can always call housekeeping to empty your trash or drop off fresh towels even if you've opted out.

If you're staying at a value or moderate resort and you decline housekeeping for your entire visit, you can receive $10 in Disney gift card credit for each night of your stay, except the last night. I don't believe this credit is available at Deluxe resorts.

You'll just need to opt in at check in, or call the front desk number from your room and they can apply it right away. You receive the gift card in your email, and you can use it right away at any Disney shop or restaurant, or even add it to your phone's card wallet. Alternatively, just like any Disney gift card, you can stop at the front desk anytime including at checkout to apply it toward your room bill.

I'm not sure the credit applies if you opt-out every other day (have never tried it).
 


I just don't want people in my room when I am not there. It irritates the daylights out of me when they knock on the door at 8 am and I am on vacation trying to sleep. I am not a morning person so I don't do rope drop. Plus I am working on my Master's Degree online so on vacation I have to stay up til all hours doing homework even on vacation so that is another reason. I sleep on my sheets at home for more than one day so I think it's a waste to change the sheets daily. I don't need the bed made because I use my own blankets and pillows. I am weird like that :)
 
One of the main reason for skipping daily housekeeping is due to the ratio of mousekeepers to rooms to clean daily and tidy service vs the rooms that need to turn over for new guests. They really have a shortage of staff willing to do these low paid jobs so any savings is a win-wind for you and the mousekeeping team.

They also don't enjoy interrumpting your vacation with needless interruptions that you may not need. They are always there if you need something specific.

Dave
 
We opted out for the first time last month. We just saw more value in the gift card than in daily housekeeping. As previous posters said, to opt out, you go to the front desk when you check in, and the gift card is sent to your email. It’s all or nothing- alternating days is not an option.
 


I think it is personal preference. I like housekeeping while on vacation and woudl not decline, however if you prefer that no one enter the room to clean, opting out may be the answer for your family. You can opt out at values and moderates I believe for all but the last night of your stay. There will still be that room check most days though, so someone willhave access to the room
 
We declined once and I hated it. The amount they give on the gift card isnt worth it to me. I dont love.it as overall practice bc I feel it takes away jobs and also leaving some rooms untouched for days or even weeks at a time contribute IMO to their overall decline. On a personal level I enjoy returning to a straightened room. If you hang your towels instead of piling on the floor they will leave them for additional use and they do not change sheets every day. My son wet the bed one night and I left a note requesting the sheets be changed.
 
I just don't want people in my room when I am not there.

If you opt out of housekeeping, you may or may not have a security check. You’ll just never know if someone has been in your room or not.

It irritates the daylights out of me when they knock on the door at 8 am and I am on vacation trying to sleep.

What I’ve noticed, is that if you leave your room occupied sign on your door, housekeeping doesn’t generally knock, even if you have not opted out of housekeeping. Sometimes they will call and ask if there is a good time to come in.

I sleep on my sheets at home for more than one day so I think it's a waste to change the sheets daily.

Sheets don’t get changed daily. I think industry standard is about every four days or so.
 
We declined once and I hated it. The amount they give on the gift card isnt worth it to me. I dont love.it as overall practice bc I feel it takes away jobs and also leaving some rooms untouched for days or even weeks at a time contribute IMO to their overall decline. On a personal level I enjoy returning to a straightened room. If you hang your towels instead of piling on the floor they will leave them for additional use and they do not change sheets every day. My son wet the bed one night and I left a note requesting the sheets be changed.


Just so that you know, I believe that the reason WDW offers the option to decline this service is because they have trouble filling enough positions to clean every room daily. I do not think you are takign jobs away from a person.
 
It’s a discussion that is had here on the forums every few weeks but your question is a different take. Usually, the question is about towels and whether it’s worth the $5 per day credit you get (Correction: $10 / Day).

From those other discussions, there is an unexpected majority of people who go through an absurd number of towels per day. Some consider it a treat to use a towel only once on holiday, some shower more often due to the heat, and others actually only use a towel once before replacing them at home too.

On that note, you can always request refill of towels, toilet paper, etc... You just need to go to the front desk for them.

My girlfriend and I are tidy and keep the room like new regardless. Even then, I’d say a 5-day stay is the max before you’d want someone to come in and run the vacuum with a general once over.
 
Last edited:
If you do opt out of mousekeeping. There will be a security room check at any time So one way or another someone will be in your room daily. You can’t choose a time for the security team to come either.

I have heard varying reports on this. I think you can request a timeframe, though there are no guarantees. I know when they come to your door, they usually ask if this is a good time for a security check. I usually say no, but then let them in anyways to get it over with. Lol.

When I was at the Poly a few weeks back, we had our room occupied sign on at about 2pm. We weren’t planning on opting out of housekeeping but we slept in and we were just getting ready to head out to a park. We got a phone call from housekeeping asking if we wanted our room made up. We said, no that was okay, we’d get it done tomorrow. They said okay, what time can we schedule a security check for today. I told them to come anytime, so they arrived ten minutes later. I wonder if I had of said come at 4:50pm would they have honoured that request.
 
It’s a discussion that is had here on the forums every few weeks but your question is a different take. Usually, the question is about towels and whether it’s worth the $5 per day credit you get.

From those other discussions, there is an unexpected majority of people who go through an absurd number of towels per day. Some consider it a treat to use a towel only once on holiday, some shower more often due to the heat, and others actually only use a towel once before replacing them at home too.

On that note, you can always request refill of towels, toilet paper, etc... You just need to go to the front desk for them.

My girlfriend and I are tidy and keep the room like new regardless. Even then, I’d say a 5-day stay is the max before you’d want someone to come in and run the vacuum with a general once over.
It is $10 per night of stay, minus one night.
 
This is a fairly common discussion. We decline on our last trip, but won't in the future. The $60 GC we got wasn't worth it for us. I would rather come in to a clean room with bed made and towels folded - part of the luxury of being on vacation.
 
This has been helpful. Thanks. (And shockingly, for as long as we've been going Disney, this is the first I've heard about a credit for declining room service! How did I miss that!?)
 
This has been helpful. Thanks. (And shockingly, for as long as we've been going Disney, this is the first I've heard about a credit for declining room service! How did I miss that!?)

It is a fairly new offer, and it's only at moderate and values.

We did it once, will never to do it again.
 
We're just back from a week at POR and we declined mousekeeping with no regrets. We are two adults who didn't spend much time in the room and don't mind reusing sheets and towels. We made the bed, hung up the towels and I brought Lysol wipes to clean the counter as required. Mousekeeping had left adequate supplies and we didn't fill the trash so we never needed to call. I assume security came in but we never encountered them. The gift card was a nice bonus and we didn't miss mousekeeping at all.
 
It is a fairly new offer, and it's only at moderate and values.
We did it once, will never to do it again.

We won't be doing it either because we are staying at a deluxe. How much do you all tip for room service? I seem to remember our past trips being like $70-$100 total for a 7 day stay - sometimes at the end, sometimes daily in cute little Mouskeeping envelopes I made and brought ahead of time. I would just be so much happier with half the service for half the tipping price. It's paying for something I don't need like hiring a babysitter when you will be home and just don't need one. I am MORE than happy to get my own towels and have them only come in and clean 3 times during our 7 night stay. Is there a way to do that?
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top