Why No More Surprises from Mouse Keeping? About This Page:

[lukeandbrookesmom]

Keep in mind that all Mousekeepers do not know how to make towel animals. This is something that is not taught to them by Disney, but they must learn on their own time if they want to do it. The also need to purchase their own extra materials like the sticky eyes and such that are on some animals.

[chezp]

I'm not aware they've stopped doing it. As others have said, it's random magic. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. We had an amazing creation in December that we brought home with us in the suitcase. It's out in our dining room now.

[Minniemouse27]

Originally Posted by DisneyMom87

We even made a point to bring our Disney toys (the beanie type & other small posable figures) and left them out hoping they would do something.

It might help that I dump the characters in the middle of the bed as a group (so none get taken away when the sheets are changed) so they have to do something with them!

[Luvsun]

As others have said, it is very random. I have been to a number of different resorts and the one resort I have always gotten special things from mousekeeping is at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Every time I have stayed there, the mousekeepers have gone out of their way to do a great job and have done extra things in our room. One time when my dh and I were staying there, I actually found our mousekeeper going in the room next door to us and I stopped her and thanked her for all of her hard work and her extra fun magic that she shared with us. I think she was kind of stunned that I talked to her, but she responded very nicely and she told me she loved helping people enjoy their stay at Disney!

[redoctober25]

My first two trips to WDW were Magic-less (AKL 2006, BW 2007), but I was also a Newbie traveller and left no tip. My next two trips (POR 2-2008, ASMovies 9-2008) I had both towel animals and people in the room every night. At ASMovies, Mousekeeping even set up a window display (though it did not change from day to day). I also had bowties on the toilet paper. And as I always leave a mess, I appreciated them cleaning everything up after me.

[coffeechef]

Its always been hit or miss. We have come back to find the Stuffed animals posed. Eating our snacks , watching TV or hanginf rome the light fixtures or curtains. Other times nothing.... Have a had a few towel animals here and there. We always tip and when I see the Mousekeepers, I always say Hi or Wave to them or say thank you to them as we go by. If we have Stuffies with us, I leave the tips with them to present to the Mousekeeper.

[KatMark]

We've had them the last three years at the Coronado (the two times before that we did not). Three years ago we had about seven of them, last year we had four and this year we had two. I think a lot of it depends on whether the mousekeeper knows how to do them and the time they have with the amount of rooms they have to clean on any particular day.

[Lynnilou]

We have been pretty fortunate - The Cabins was almost everyday, WL was a couple times, and CB was once!

And, I thought they were trained to do magical things with the towels, etc

[AzureHaven]

Originally Posted by coffeechef

If we have Stuffies with us, I leave the tips with them to present to the Mousekeeper.

Just a word of warning. When we left our Mousekeeper's tip envelope in the arms of one of our stuffed Mickey's the Mousekeeper took Mickey and the tip envelope! I'm sure she thought it was a package deal.

[pixiemom]

Originally Posted by yalibrarian

Those little magical things are just that--magic. The very randomness of them is what makes them special.

Whether or not you get any of those extras may depend upon the time, talent and inclination of your Mousekeeper. If they are rushed because someone called in sick, or new and don't know how to do them, or just feeling tired, you probably won't get anything. We have stayed at AS Music 6-7 times and have had towel animals 3 times. Last year it was simply 3 towels rolled to make a Mickey on the bed--but we still thought it was cool to open the door the first time and see it there.

In any event, I wish you lots of magic on your next trip--towel guys or not!

unfort. when we went in 2006 we didn't get any "magic" when we came back to our room, and i had stuffed animals all over the room, nothing, i was a little disappointed but the main thing was the kids had no clue that they did that sorta thing so it wasn't like they knew, kwim.......
i am hoping this trip we get a little "magic"

[Dave Marx]

Disney does give CMs optional classes in making towel animals, but the classes take place on the CM's time, not Disney's.

The whole nature of magic is that it's something out of the ordinary. When magic is "normal," it's no longer magic. As I've often said, the harder you chase the magic, the more likely it is to slip from your grasp. Slow down, and give the magic a chance to find you. You won't know where or when that will happen, and that's part of what makes it magic.

It's undoubtedly true for the CMs, too. When making magic is something you want to do, it's as magical for the person making the magic as it is for the recipient. When it becomes an expected part of the job, it's not going to be nearly as rewarding.

Thanks to online communities such as this one, it's easier than ever for folks to learn about the magic (and disappointment) other people have experienced. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not.

[applejenn]

We have always had something done on our trips, including the our cruise. Our last trip last year, we had go a towel animal or towel flower for each of us every day. The kids had their stuffed mickeys and animals on their bed with towel animals, and I always had a towel vase with flowers and stickers.
The year before at Pop as well, we had something left everyday as well. Mostly towel animals though.
We did tip everyday, our room was always cleaned, and picked up

[weavers17]

We stayed at the WL in Sept. and everyday we had a towel animal. My kids were so excited to come back to the room to see what the mousekeeper had made. One day it was a huge alligator. Another day it was a tiny mouse. As silly as it sounds, it really made our trip special.

[LoisMilw]

While a little extra Magic is nice - It should not be expected - That's what makes it fun! If you have Magic everyday of the year it is no longer magic - It's just plain and unexciting life...

[klositis]

We have stayed at POR all three times we have gone to the world and never any towel animals or even the kids toys arranged in funny ways. This time at check in we had 9 animals in our window and in dd's room they had 3!!!