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  • 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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Working as a Disney princess sounds like a job straight out of a fairytale.

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