Working as a Disney princess sounds like a
job straight out of a fairytale.
But there's a lot more to the position than
you would think.
Here's what some workers have revealed about
what it's really like to play Disney royalty
at a theme park.
If you’re auditioning to become a Disney
Parks princess, you should know that you might
have to start at the bottom before you make
it to the top.
While the standard audition process for other
productions usually involves learning lines
and mannerisms specific to one character,
your audition to play a Disney princess is
actually your audition to play any of Disney’s
many beloved characters.
In other words, even if you ace your audition,
you might not become royalty right away.
As a former Disney princess explained in a
Reddit AMA,
The overall process can be pretty brutal as
well.
An anonymous woman who once portrayed Rapunzel
at Disney World spoke to Insider about her
experience, revealing surprising details about
her audition process.
The former Disney princess, who asked to be
called Brianna Smith, said,
It's probably not shocking to hear that women
have to look a certain way in order to become
a Disney princess, but you may not have realized
that these women also have to be a specific
height.
In an interview with Insider, a former Disney
World Rapunzel revealed that one of the most
important aspects of being a princess is uniform
height.
To play a standard Disney princess, performers
need to be between 5'4" and 5'7".
However, to play a pint-sized princess like
Tinkerbell, one has to be between 4'11" and
5'1".
Katie McBroom, who used to play Snow White
and Princess Leia, told BuzzFeed that the
height requirement exists because actors at
Disney have to be able to fit into costumes
that already exist.
Basically, they don't make a costume or uniform
specifically for each new actor.
The Disney staff doesn’t do costume alterations
for each specific actor, so if your measurements
aren't exactly right, you're not getting the
gig.
Aside from height, your physical appearance
is extremely important when you're a Disney
princess.
A Disney princess who goes by Becca told Refinery29
that Disney has a certain style that they
expect their employees to follow.
Some of the guidelines of this "Disney look"
prevent performers from coloring their hair
any shade that doesn’t look natural and
insist on fingernails being neatly manicured
and natural in shade.
Becca revealed that management keeps an eye
on the princesses’ appearances and can tell
them if they need to "fix" something.
The former employee added,
A Disney princess speaking anonymously told
Real Simple that they also have to watch how
they look when they aren't on the job, saying,
All work and no play makes a perfect princess,
we guess.
"Whatever."
Playing a Disney princess means attracting
a ton of attention from guests, and sometimes
things can get really personal.
Brianna Smith told Insider that during her
time playing Rapunzel, one woman told her
that she had recently suffered a miscarriage.
Disney princess Becca told Refinery29 that
she's had similar experiences, saying she’s
seen all sorts of guests throughout her time
in the parks.
Other than overly excited kids, Becca revealed
that adults are often just as enthusiastic
and even emotional, saying:
There’s a lot of training that goes into
being a Disney princess, not unlike most other
jobs.
Often referred to as "princess school," it’s
where Disney princess hopefuls go to learn
everything about the character they'll be
playing, including their background, how to
apply their makeup, their official signature,
and their unique voice, personality, and quirks.
"Oh!
Hi, I'm Tinker Bell!
But, all of my friends call me Tink."
Brianna Smith told Insider that you have to
know your assigned character "inside and out,"
and revealed that she used to rewatch the
movies all the time to get a better idea of
who her characters were.
Smith explained:
An anonymous princess who portrayed Belle
at a Disney Park told Cosmopolitan magazine
that princesses have to smile for "an hour
straight" and can only drop those smiles when
they are behind closed doors on a break, revealing:
The former princess also said that her time
spent interacting with the guests was limited
because princesses are told they have to greet
172 guests every hour.
She explained that there were ramifications
if princesses failed to meet the magic number,
and if a they racked up four strikes, they
could be fired.
Former Disney princess Emily Cook Harris revealed
to Reader's Digest that the job is not as
easy as it seems, saying,
For many, another grueling part of being a
princess was the constant improvisation that
was involved.
Katie McBroom told BuzzFeed,
McBroom explained that a lot of people try
to get the princesses to break character by
bringing up random things like Nintendo, which
characters like Snow White couldn't possibly
know about.
McBroom revealed she’d simply respond by
saying things like, "Oh, I don't know what
you mean."
An anonymous princess echoed these sentiments
to Real Simple, saying,
Of course, knowing the movies inside and out
is infinitely helpful in knowing exactly what
the park-goers are talking about so you, err,
your character, can formulate the appropriate
response.
The guests who try and make the princesses
to break character are mostly harmless, but
there are some who have ulterior motives.
The princesses sometimes have to deal with
dudes who take it upon themselves to play
the role of Prince Charming and flirt with
the actresses while they’re in character.
"Do people assume all your problems got solved
because a big, strong man showed up?"
"Yes, what is up with that?!"
"She IS a princess!"
An anonymous princess who played Belle told
Cosmopolitan that one uncomfortable part of
her job was dealing with visitors who would
blatantly hit on her while she was in character,
revealing:
"Guys, I find that really distasteful."
While being a Disney princess may seem like
a great job, not every gig is regarded so
highly.
One position a lot of employees don't want
is the role of a furry character, but most
every princess has to don an uncomfortably
warm and cumbersome costume for a bit before
moving on to the likes of Snow White and Cinderella.
At Disney Parks, fur characters are any character
who wears a full face costume and doesn't
talk.
One former princess told Insider that the
powers that be can make a performer play any
fur character, saying,
An anonymous princess told Cosmopolitan magazine
that playing a fur character is "exhausting,"
saying,
Despite the highly uncomfortable and even
dangerous circumstances, playing a fur character
is reportedly a requirement.
In Reddit thread, a former princess revealed
that performers aren't allowed to train as
a princess unless they’ve paid their dues
in fur training.
Like any other job, Disney employees deal
with a certain social hierarchy, and unfortunately,
the princesses don't always have the best
reputation.
Speaking to Insider, one Disney princess insinuated
that the princesses are the "queen bees" of
the Disney employees.
She explained there is an "unwritten social
hierarchy" behind the scenes, saying:
"Oh look, you guys!
I'm Rapunzel!"
"I gotta say, that seems right.
You're adventurous, a little crazy, and way
too into your hair."
Another former princess revealed a similar
experience in a Reddit thread, saying that
many of her co-workers perceived her as being
stuck up, something she insists couldn’t
be farther from the truth.
The anonymous actress wrote,
Additionally, an anonymous princess shared
with Real Simple that she believes the princesses
got a bad rap because others assumed they
thought themselves to be "really pretty" or
wanted to be "real-life princesses."
Though, according to the actress herself,
that was never actually the case.
Disney princesses are always on their toes,
and not just because of uncomfortable glass
slippers.
The performers portraying your favorite Disney
characters are expected to be able to play
any other character at a moment's notice.
Emily Cook Harris told Reader's Digest that
last minute schedule changes are far from
unheard of, meaning a princess will often
have to take on an entirely new role.
While they're not technically princesses,
Harris revealed that she once had to go straight
from playing Alice in Wonderland to jumping
in character for Wendy Darling from Peter
Pan.
The actress told Reader's Digest:
Similarly, the princesses have to make sure
they look and act exactly right so that they
can completely mimic the other employees playing
the same exact princess in a different area
of the park.
For example, if two Snow Whites are wandering
around the park, they’re both expected to
look the same, talk the same, and have the
same signature.
Otherwise, you run the risk of really freaking
out some kids.
Employees don't just have to look exactly
like the Disney princesses they're playing,
they also have to sound like them.
That means performers have to train rigorously
to nail the princesses cadences, catchphrases,
mannerisms, and they often have to learn to
change their natural speaking voices entirely.
An anonymous princess told Real Simple that
performers go through a ton of voice training
with a dialect coach, explaining,
A Disney employee told BuzzFeed that a Disney
character's voice is typically higher than
an employee's actual voice.
The anonymous worker revealed,
Beauty is pain, and apparently the life of
a Disney princess is, too.
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