I'm so excited about my WDW vacation and want everything to be just perfect! I leave next Sunday for a two-week stay at the Pop Century Hotel. I've read suggestions and advice about leaving daily tips for the mousekeepers who will clean my room and I'm wondering:

Should I leave the tips in special envelopes so there will be no mistake who the money is for?

How much should I leave? (I'm staying in a regular room by myself)

I saw some advice that suggested $1 to $2 per day. Will that amount still be relevant in November? Maybe I'm worrying too much... but I want to make up the envelopes ahead of time before leaving home.

A quick search brought up this past thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=99420&highlight=tipping)about tipping Mousekeeping.

You will see that opinions vary quite a bit and range from tipping not being necessary to those who express quite a bit of generosity.

Personally, I think tipping should not be considered mandatory or automatic but something that is based upon service rendered. If someone makes your stay more magical, whether it be first arriving to a spotless room or maybe the addition of a towel animal family one evening, then feel free to let it show with with a token of generosity in a small envelope.

At the same time, poor service does not necessarily equate to just not leaving a tip. Make sure any issues are brought to light right away.

Mouse Keeping Envelopes (http://www.arwolff.com/heidi/)

This is a site that you can use to print out envelopes for mousekeeping. Most of them seem to be Christmas related but I Think there are a few that are not.

Note to self: don't forget to print some out for our trip!!

There are more CM appreciation cards (appropriate for tip envelopes) at Tagrel.com. I do tip, $1-2 per day, per person, with a max of $5 per room per day. However, I tip at every hotel, not just Disney, so it is certainly a "personal preference" thing for me.

I usually tip $1 per person in the room, more if the service is special, less if it is lacking.

By the way, I have some extra Mousekeeping envelopes if anyone is interested (a couple for All-Star Sports, and a few Christmas envelopes and a few general mousekeeping envelopes). ~ We changed our reservations from two rooms to one room.) Just PM me and I will send them to you.

Several years ago I tipped $3 per night, but during our last 3 trips, I've left $5 per night. I leave it on the pillow, not in an envelope. They seem to know it's for them. Beyond the fact that I think they deserve a tip for having to do such a crummy job, I think it's very important to have your mousekeepers like you :D, just as you want your chef to like you. Plus, generosity has its own rewards, don't you think?

We always tip-at every hotel we stay at, not just Disney. How much depends on several things-how many of us are in the room, how messy we've left it, service issues(as Gusman mentioned), etc. Usually $3-5 per day. And I tip every day-not just at the end of the trip-because the mousekeepers may change from day-to-day.

Like printing tipping envelopes-have to check into that. Previously, I went more low tech-regular envelopes with Disney stickers on them and "mousekeeping" written on them.

Yes, I want the Mousekeepers to like me - after all, I'll be there two weeks. I'm going to go with the suggestions of using regular envelopes with Disney stickers and probably leave $1 per day.
This is so exciting! Only 6 days to go and then I'm off to my dream vacation!

We left $5 a day in envelopes we stuffed while still in the UK. I would have gone for $4 on the $1 per person per day rationale but am lazy and the currency exchange place gave me a pile of $5 notes on request but would not give me $1 ones!

So now you all have me thinking...
We will be there 9 days including the check out day. The eight of us (6 adults & 2/Children) are in a 2 bedroom studio* at SSR on DVC points. I am trying to figure out the tipping thing.
We get one full cleaning (including washing any dishes in the sink**) in the middle of the stay and one where they take out the trash and trade out the towels the day before we leave (:confused:).
So do you think $25 is enough for the full cleaning day and $10 for the Trash/towel service day. Doing the math of # of people x $2/day x # of rooms came to $48...that seems a bit high no?

* a 2-bedroom room includes:
king room, living room with queen sleeper, standard room with two queens, one regular bathroom setup, a bathroom with whirl pool tub and sink, one with shower and sink and a room with just he toilet and a full kitchen with eat in bar and a dining table.
**they load and run the dishwasher.

So do you think $25 is enough for the full cleaning day and $10 for the Trash/towel service day. Doing the math of # of people x $2/day x # of rooms came to $48...that seems a bit high no?
Quite simply, I think you should just use your best judgment. Personally, I think nearly a $50 tip for a single cleaning is way too high, even for a villa such as that.

If nothing else, I would not do it by number of days you stay (like you normally would) but number of visits mousekeeping makes.

Ok, so I was just reminded of the tipping thing on the countdown and now I'm all freeking out about it. We're staying in DT Disney - do we still call them Mousekeepers? Will they understand that even though they aren't officially Disney employees? So far, I've not been thrilled with the service I've received over the phone from the Royal Plaza. I'm hoping the service while there, is better.

So, I'm kinda getting that maybe we should leave something daily - just in case the cleaning staff changes. I'd hate to leave someone out.

How much do you tip bell services? I remember that being a HUGE HUGE deal with my money-hording father when we went back in the early 90's. I was so embarassed. He wouldn't let them take our bags and made a big deal out of them "just wanting tips". Yeah - you can see where as a teenager, I was totally embarrassed. :) . . . I don't want to be like that.

Bell services - Buck a bag at least. More if the service is good and/or helpful.

For DVC I would not multiply by the number of days - just the number of people, and leave it for each visit.

Mouse Keeping Envelopes (http://www.arwolff.com/heidi/)

This is a site that you can use to print out envelopes for mousekeeping. Most of them seem to be Christmas related but I Think there are a few that are not.

Note to self: don't forget to print some out for our trip!!


Thanks for the link! I printed some out today! :D

Ok, so I made my own envelopes by printing up lables with Disney clipart (I have a ton) and Thank You on them. I made them kind of general so that I can use them for bell services, our driver, etc., as well as Mousekeeping. Now, I just need to fill them . . . oh, technicalities! ;) But, I guess that's the whole point, after all!