DLH concerns

[RoseColored97]

I put our tips in a special Mickey Mouse envelope and write, "Thanks, Mousekeeping!" and leave it on the bed so there is not mistaking that it is intended for them. I always prefill our tips in these before we leave home so that everything is good to go while we are there.

 

[irlandaise]

I was just going to say the same thing, Rose.

There are templates you can find on the web to print up some small envelopes with Disney-related graphics and the word "Mousekeeping"--often with thank-you wording as Rose noted. Then there's no doubt who the money is for and that you didn't just accidentally leave a bill on the dresser.

 

[DLgal]

Where do you leave your tip? At some hotels, housekeeping won't take money left on an end table. We usually leave it on the bed. However, on a recent (non Disney) vacation, we overheard two housekeepers complain that the person stripping the beds was taking their tips. I didn't realize that some hotels have one crew stripping beds and another tending to the rooms.

In the hotel industry, the 2 places where money can be left and the housekeeper will KNOW it is meant for them are:

On top of a pillow on the bed

On the bathroom counter

Leaving it on a dresser or desk is not recommended because it can be thought of as the guests money that they accidentally left behind and they don't want to be accused of stealing.

I always keep my cash in the hotel safe. Every night, I pull out the next days tip and leave it on the bathroom sink, somewhere I can see it so in the morning I move it front and center before I leave the room.

Also, they don't call themselves Mousekeeping. A lot of them don't speak English very well. You don't need to label the money or leave a note, but if you do, a simple Thank You is enough.

 

[irlandaise]

Yeah, I know that "mousekeeping" is just a term coined by Disney visitors, but the "Thank You" and the Disney graphics should make the purpose clear.

 

[Disney Ron]

I put our tips in a special Mickey Mouse envelope and write, "Thanks, Mousekeeping!" and leave it on the bed so there is not mistaking that it is intended for them. I always prefill our tips in these before we leave home so that everything is good to go while we are there.

We also prefill our envelopes also before we leave home and leave one everyday on the bed with a thank you.

 

[Flashfacts]

Its been interesting reading the recent comments about housekeeping, as someone who always declines it throughout their stays at hotels. I use the bed as a staging area for my stuff and don't want it to be moved around. I always gather the trash and recyclables and leave the room pretty clean on the last day and leave a tip then.

I had a pretty funny interaction with the front staff when I stayed at DLH last month during my 1st stay at a Disney hotel in CA. When I checked it, I went to the front desk to decline housekeeping, since I couldn't find where to do it in app like at WDW. She was kinda confused and after I explained how it works at WDW, she said that they aren't that fancy Leaving the privacy sign up was enough.

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

Also, they don't call themselves Mousekeeping. A lot of them don't speak English very well. You don't need to label the money or leave a note, but if you do, a simple Thank You is enough.

That's a bit of a stereotype, no? All of the Mousekeeping (*housekeeping) staff we've met on both coasts have spoken just fine English and understood us just fine. Are there some Cast Members who may be doing a foreign exchange situation that may speak English as a second language and French or Chinese as their primary? Probably. But it's not really great to stereotype most housekeepers as not speaking English when that is simply NOT the case.

I guess the point is I've never had someone NOT take the tip in my 5 years of going to Disney. I think my Mouskeeping with a Mickey smiley face (just in a folded paper, I'm not fancy enough for an envelope yet) on the end of the bed gets the point across just fine.

 

[joseph821]

I tip everyday. I write a simple note: "Thank you for taking care of my room. Best, Joseph." I put the $15-20 down on the note. Sometimes, I ask for extra pens or soap. And housekeeping leaves me like 5 to 10 pens and 3 bars of soap and I am happy.

 

[DLgal]

That's a bit of a stereotype, no? All of the Mousekeeping (*housekeeping) staff we've met on both coasts have spoken just fine English and understood us just fine. Are there some Cast Members who may be doing a foreign exchange situation that may speak English as a second language and French or Chinese as their primary? Probably. But it's not really great to stereotype most housekeepers as not speaking English when that is simply NOT the case.

I guess the point is I've never had someone NOT take the tip in my 5 years of going to Disney. I think my Mouskeeping with a Mickey smiley face (just in a folded paper, I'm not fancy enough for an envelope yet) on the end of the bed gets the point across just fine.

No its not a stereotype. It's a fact based on the demographic of housekeepers in Central Florida, just like it's a fact that the majority of housekeepers at Disneyland area hotels are Spanish speaking Mexicans. When we stay at the GCH and we need something from them, my husband speaks to them in Spanish and we get exactly what we need.

The housekeepers at the Beach Club were all speaking exclusively French to each other in the hallways last month. I suspect they were mostly Haitian. Then 3 that we had, I had interactions with on more that one occasion. Their English wasn't what I would call fluent. I had a hard time communicating that we needed our floor swept or vacuumed. And it didn't get done, so...

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

No its not a stereotype. It's a fact based on the demographic of housekeepers in Central Florida, just like it's a fact that the majority of housekeepers at Disneyland area hotels are Spanish speaking Mexicans. When we stay at the GCH and we need something from them, my husband speaks to them in Spanish and we get exactly what we need.

The housekeepers at the Beach Club were all speaking exclusively French to each other in the hallways last month. I suspect they were mostly Haitian. Then 3 that we had, I had interactions with on more that one occasion. Their English wasn't what I would call fluent. I had a hard time communicating that we needed our floor swept or vacuumed. And it didn't get done, so...

How do you know this, though? Do you take a poll of their citizenship to know that they are Mexican? The Mousekeeping that we've had at Disneyland have all spoken perfect English. I speak to them in English and get exactly what I need, there has never been a barrier to communication. If you start speaking to them in Spanish I am sure they will reply in Spanish, since they will assume that is what you are most comfortable speaking.

I'm just saying it's problematic to assume people, based on what they look like or what language they primarily speak to each other, do not comprehend or have the ability to speak English.

 

[DLgal]

How do you know this, though? Do you take a poll of their citizenship to know that they are Mexican? The Mousekeeping that we've had at Disneyland have all spoken perfect English. I speak to them in English and get exactly what I need, there has never been a barrier to communication. I'm just saying it's problematic to assume people, based on what they look like or what language they primarily speak to each other, do not comprehend or have the ability to speak English.

I am not basing it off what they look like or what language they speak to each other. I'm using my own experiences over many, many hotel stays in my lifetime. For what its worth, I am Puerto Rican married to another Puerto Rican. Most houswkeepers in Central Florida and Anaheim speak spanish way better than they speak English. Same as my parents. Same as my mother in law. And there is nothing wrong with that. Let's stop with the SJW posturing.

 

[Jwaire]

I'm just saying it's problematic to assume people, based on what they look like or what language they primarily speak to each other, do not comprehend or have the ability to speak English.

When I was at Walt Disney World and staying at the Poly last September, I needed help with the soap pump thing. Nothing would come out and we didn't bring our own shampoo/soap.

You can't open it because it's locked. Nothing like staying at Deluxe only to have use wall dispensers like I'm in the local Walmart bathroom, huh?

I went up to a housekeeper and she thought I was going to yell at her. It was awful. She didn't speak much English, but went and got her partner that was in a different room and he explained to me that she had just been yelled at by a guest and she thought I was upset.

I wasn't. I just needed some help. She was super sweet and they gave me plenty of bottles of H2O.

People need to do better.

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

I am not basing it off what they look like or what language they speak to each other. I'm using my own experiences over many, many hotel stays in my lifetime. For what its worth, I am Puerto Rican married to another Puerto Rican. Most houswkeepers in Central Florida and Anaheim speak spanish way better than they speak English. Same as my parents. Same as my mother in law. And there is nothing wrong with that. Let's stop with the SJW posturing.

No SJW posturing here. There is nothing wrong with someone speaking Spanish better than English, just assuming that it is that way. I speak from our own experience. A non-Hispanic person came up and started talking to my husband in very poor Spanish at his work years ago because they assumed he didn't know English, in a very patronizing way. They probably thought they were doing him a favor by speaking in his own language. Except that it is not. He does not know a lick of Spanish and is just super tan. I think it's just better if people stop assuming what others know or do not know.

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

When I was at Walt Disney World and staying at the Poly last September, I needed help with the soap pump thing. Nothing would come out and we didn't bring our own shampoo/soap.

You can't open it because it's locked. Nothing like staying at Deluxe only to have use wall dispensers like I'm in the local Walmart bathroom, huh?

I went up to a housekeeper and she thought I was going to yell at her. It was awful. She didn't speak much English, but went and got her partner that was in a different room and he explained to me that she had just been yelled at by a guest and she thought I was upset.

I wasn't. I just needed some help. She was super sweet and they gave me plenty of bottles of H2O.

People need to do better.

Agreed - people can be awful. That is why I try to tip well for everything, you never know what someone in the service industry goes through.

 

[DLgal]

No SJW posturing here. There is nothing wrong with someone speaking Spanish better than English, just assuming that it is that way. I speak from our own experience. A non-Hispanic person came up and started talking to my husband in very poor Spanish at his work years ago because they assumed he didn't know English, in a very patronizing way. They probably thought they were doing him a favor by speaking in his own language. Except that it is not. He does not know a lick of Spanish and is just super tan. I think it's just better if people stop assuming what others know or do not know.

That is not the same situation at all. I would never assume someone speaks a language and then speak it to them without knowing. That's just ignorant behavior.

 

[OlliePop27]

What are people's guesses about how much more crowded the pool will become with the DVC Tower opening? I know the DVC section has its own new pools, but I'm assuming they will also have access to the regular DLH pools.

 

[StarlitNight05]

The question above made me also wonder, is the new DVC pool only going to be for DVC tower guests? I thought I remembered reading that somewhere, but now I can't find it.

 

[DLgal]

What are people's guesses about how much more crowded the pool will become with the DVC Tower opening? I know the DVC section has its own new pools, but I'm assuming they will also have access to the regular DLH pools.

It will be an issue since the DVC pool looks pretty boring. Kids are gonna want the monorail slides.

 

[alleighboo]

The question above made me also wonder, is the new DVC pool only going to be for DVC tower guests? I thought I remembered reading that somewhere, but now I can't find it.

I wondered that too. We are staying cash at the DVC tower next year but I wonder how crowded they will be and if I can go to the OG pool. Never been and I've planned a pool/hotel day.