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working as a Disney Princess sounds like
a job straight out of a fairy tale 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 you do not have any say in what
character they fit you in 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
there were about 500 of us and they
divide you into rooms of 50 then they
line you up in rows of 10 and study your
features
it was pretty unnerving then after all
of that they say we just need Brianna
Smith thank you and just like that all
49 other girls were eliminated 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
five foot four and five foot seven
however to play a pint-sized princess
like Tinkerbell
one has to be between four foot eleven
and five foot one Katy mcbroom who used
to play Snow White and Princess Leia
told BuzzFeed that the height
requirements 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
it
really 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
reveals that management keeps an eye on
the princess's appearances and can tell
them if they need to fix something the
former employee added you can't help but
be judgmental about your looks when it
comes to this job honestly it's pretty
sad we all constantly compare ourselves
and try to copy each other 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 we have to be almost brand
ambassadors undercover to promote a
positive healthy lifestyle and look to
fit the Disney brand because the Disney
brand is so specific all work and no
play makes a perfect princess we guess
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playing a Disney princess means
attracting a ton of attention from
guests and sometimes things can get
really personal briana Smith told
Insider that during her time playing
Rapunzel one woman told her that she had
recently suffered a miscarriage Disney
Princess Becker 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 are also guests that share stories
about why they've come to see you and
they break down in front of you that
really just makes me feel like what I'm
doing is truly something special and
keeps me going 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 hi I
don't think about but all my friends
call me teen Brianna Smith told insider
that you have to know your assigned
character inside and out and revealed
she used to re-watch the movies all the
time to get a better idea of who her
characters were Smith explained
had a whole day of character training my
instructor was a former fairy godmother
I watched scenes over and over again and
she'd quiz me and ask me to mimic the
character an anonymous princess who
portrayed Belle at the 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 first few weeks my face
literally hurt
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 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 it required a lot of energy
thinking on your feet and being present
with each guest for many another
grueling part of being a princess was
the constant improvisation that was
involved
Casey mcbroom told BuzzFeed it was kind
of like performing improv because you
never knew what you were gonna get
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 responded
by saying things like oh I don't know
what you mean an anonymous princess
echoed these sentiments to Real Simple
saying if people are talking to you or
yelling things you have to come up with
a response right away it just takes a
lot of practice outside so that you're
comfortable of course knowing the movies
inside and out is infinitely helpful in
knowing exactly what the park goers are
talking about so you 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 princess is sometimes have to deal
with dudes who take it upon themselves
to play the role of Prince Charming and
float with the actresses while they're
in character do people assume all your
problems got solved because a big strong
man showed up
an anonymous princess who played Bell
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
they'd say when the Beast goes to bed
I'll be waiting for you in the library
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 parts of 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 it's basically like
a giant game of charades
an anonymous princess told Cosmopolitan
magazine that playing a fur character is
exhausting saying the costumes have no
ventilation and you sweat out a ton of
water in the Florida Sun there are
certainly heat indexes that allow for
shorter sets out in the park but some
people pass out because it's so hot
inside the costumes despite the highly
uncomfortable and even dangerous
circumstances playing a fur character is
reportedly a requirement in a reddit
thread a former princess revealed that
performers aren't allowed to train as a
princess until they pay 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 1 Disney
Princess insinuated that the princesses
are the queen bees of the Disney
employees she explained there is an
unwritten social hierarchy behind for
scenes saying there was a weird attitude
on both sides and people would talk
about the princesses like they're such
like there was a weird stigma that we
think we're better than everyone else
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another form of 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 when I worked there I
would go to the cafeteria and people
would stare
me and not talk to me 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 Paris 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 you
just have to go for it jump in before
you feel ready and it will work out
better than you think
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 that both
expected to look the same took 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
Cadence's 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
the thing for most of these characters
is you're not just learning an accent
you're learning how the person that
recorded the voice spoke you have to
learn the cadences of these specific
human beings voices it's a cool kind of
tricky thing to do a Disney employee
told BuzzFeed that a Disney characters
voice is typically higher than an
employee's actual voice the anonymous
worker revealed
actually it's so high that some girls
will go on vocal rest because it strains
their vocal chords especially when they
first start out beauty is pain and
apparently the life of a Disney Princess
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