A former Disney princess reveal the sinister secrets of working at the Magical Kingdom
Having just got back from a holiday to Disneyland and seeing the glamorous princesses dressed up in their giant gowns it intrigued me as to how they got there. I wondered what the audition process was like to become such an iconic figure and if they really do have voices that high pitched. I decided to do a little research and found some rather interesting posts on Reddit from a former Disney princess who spilled the beans on what it's really like to work at the Magical Kingdom.
This former Belle has shared her story anonymously and it's just too juicy not to share with you.
Belle said "growing up, I always wanted to be an actress. There were no opportunities in the small town where I'm from, until one day, a commercial came on the radio saying, "You could be a Disney princess!"
"I went to the audition in flip-flops and I was surrounded by musical theater girls stretching and practicing dance moves. They taught us a cheesy dance — I remember a ballet move that was like holding a beach ball. I was pretty sure I was out because I'm a terrible dancer, but then they called my number. I was shocked".
"To start in any character role, you have to go through training for the "fur characters," like Goofy or Mickey. The costumes have no ventilation and you sweat out a ton of water in the Florida sun. Some people pass out because it's so hot inside the costumes".
"I learned that the fur characters hated the face characters, the princesses and princes who show their real faces, because the face characters make more money".
"Princess training was about a four-day process. I watched Beauty and the Beast with a trainer and spied on girls greeting guests as Belle. I even did worksheets about Belle. Princesses also have to learn to do their own makeup. They check your makeup and sign off on you before you go out "on set," which is what we called the different locations at the parks. All of the princesses sit in cosmo together getting ready".
"Most of the drama in cosmo happens when someone gets disapproved, or not allowed to go out on set. One girl got disapproved because her arms got too chubby. Another girl had a very bad acne breakout all over her face, and they disapproved her — it's awkward".
"During meet and greets we couldn't spend too much time playing with the kids, because we had to greet 172 guests per hour. An attendant would have a clicker to count the number of people we met, and if we went under, we would get a reprimand. If you get four reprimands, you get fired".
"The one time that I got really angry at work was one of the only days that was actually really cold in Florida. I had to stand in a doorway welcoming guests into a restaurant in a sleeveless formal dress that was supposed to have a coat that came with it. I was freezing but the location managers wouldn't let me get my coat. When I went on my break to go pull the coat from the costume department, it was gone. I guess they'd hidden it. I started bawling. I had to take pictures with kids in the freezing cold, crying. Later, I was talking to the photographers, and they told me that that restaurant sold the photos of Belle and the guests for $35 — and when Belle was wearing the coat, they sell 30 percent less pictures".
"Another tricky thing was the creepy dads who would whisper in my ear when their kids were taking pictures with me. They'd say, "When the Beast goes to bed, I'll be waiting for you in the library." All I could think was, God, I'd hate to be your wife. I couldn't break character, but I would always address it and say something like, "Um, I go to bed when the Beast goes to bed." One of my friends, an Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, her skirt was unzipped and one of the dads stuck his hand in the zipper. Luckily there are petticoats underneath, but he was totally feeling her butt outside of the petticoat".
"We never found romance at work, because most of the guys were gay"!
So there you have it guys, it looks like Disney isn't as magical as we thought!
