What Is Mousekeeping?
"Mousekeeping" is the nickname given to the Walt Disney World housekeeping cast members. Mousekeeping is included with your Walt Disney World Resort hotel stay (excluding DVC stays). Rooms at Disney's Value Resorts and Disney's Moderate Resorts will receive housekeeping service every other day. Disney's Deluxe Resorts and Disney's Deluxe Villas (excluding DVC) will receive housekeeping service every day.
Requesting Housekeeping Services
If you need anything from housekeeping at any time, you can visit the front desk or call Housekeeping using your in-room phone. For example, if you're staying at a value resort and getting housekeeping every other day, and on your gap day you need extra clean towels, you can call down and request more. There is also a "Hey Disney" device in Walt Disney World rooms now, and you can make requests for more towels, coffee, and more without having to leave your room or talk to anyone. After you order, a housekeeping cast member will bring them to your room. A tip of a couple of dollars is appreciated.
Declining Housekeeping
If you don't want housekeeping at all, you can decline housekeeping. You can opt out during the online check-in process or speak to a cast member at the front desk. You can also put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on your door. The "Service Your Way" program is currently discontinued and guests are not offered a Disney gift card for declining housekeeping. Keep in mind that if you decline housekeeping, your room is still subject to regular inspections.
Tipping Housekeeping
This article isn't going to cover the morals and ethics of tipping housekeeping, or go into what compensation packages housekeeping receive, but we will cover some of the do's and don'ts of the tipping process if you decide to. We've had housekeeping cast members tell us most guests don't tip and they generally don't expect to be tipped, but they appreciate it when guests do, of course. For more information on tipping at Walt Disney World as a whole, you can check out our Walt Disney World Tipping Guide article. It's up to you to decide if you want to tip, but ultimately you should always respect the culture of the country you're visiting, whether you agree with it or not. However, your room will still be cleaned as it should be regardless of whether you tip or not. Also, try to only leave tips in notes and not coins, and it's difficult (and loud) for them to carry around while doing their job.
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Don't Just Tip At The End Of Your Stay
Disney have hundreds of housekeeping staff, and it's unlikely you'll get the same person for each day of your stay. Some people do leave their tips on the final day without realising that the cast member who cleans your room on your final day probably hasn't been the one doing it for your entire stay. While that cast member will be very happy getting a large tip for that one room, you should tip each day you have mousekeeping so that cast member receives that tip.
How Much Should I Tip?
Tipping in general comes down to what value you put on any services you've received. However, with services like housekeeping, it can be tough to tip based on services you haven't received yet.
My personal general rule of thumb is $1 per person, per clean, plus $1. While I'm not particularly messy, if I ever leave the room in a little bit of a state, I will throw an extra dollar or two on top of that. So as a couple, I usually leave $3 per day, an average family could look to leave $5 or more. On a 14-day stay, you'll get about 7 housekeeping visits if you're staying at Disney Value Resort, so I make sure I have at least $15-$25 or so in $1 bills to leave during the stay.
Tipping Alternatives
Some families like to be creative and make little thank-you cards as well as leaving some English chocolates for the cast members instead of cash, which I'm sure they appreciate as well.
Make It Clear
Housekeeping won't take the cash you have just lying around your room - for good reason. I've seen many people do creative things like leaving cash in Mousekeeping-themed envelopes. We tend to just leave a little note saying thank you and wrap it around the dollar bills, or if there's no pen and paper, leave it underneath the in-room brochure and have the cash hang off the edge of the table. Just make sure you've made it clear that the dollars you've left on the table are for housekeeping. I've had occasions where I thought I made it very clear and they still didn't take it, so they are cautious for obvious reasons.
Read Next > Full Walt Disney World Tipping Guide
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