Want to be a Disney prince or princess? It isn’t easy

GETTING a job as a prince or princess at the Happiest Place on Earth sounds like a pretty sweet gig — if you can pass the tough criteria test.

AS RELUCTANT royals Jasmine, Moana and Pocahontas all told us in the movies, it’s not easy being royalty in the Disney universe.

And it seems getting a gig as a prince or princess at a Disney theme park is no small feat either.

Disneyland Paris is currently recruiting for royal characters and the job ad reveals the tough criteria applicants need to meet.

The park is on a hiring spree for its 25th anniversary and it’s looking for princes, princesses and villains to greet guests and participate in its famous parades.

“We are looking for enthusiastic and energetic people to animate the famous Disney characters,” the ad read.

“If you have a good level of dance, you can participate in our parade and our cavalcades!”

Prospective characters need to pass an open audition, which will be held across France and the UK this week, for a job that will last a minimum of four months.

Disneyland Paris is looking for some new recruits.

As well as being able to dance, hopefuls must bear some resemblance to the Disney character they’re auditioning for.

They have to be over 18 and speak French or English fluently.

They must also be the correct height — shorter than 190.5 centimetres (6’3) and taller than 134.6 centimetres (4’5).

But once they meet those basic requirements, the process of auditioning is still really tough, said a former Disney princess who previously revealed what her job was like in an AMA session on Reddit.

The woman, who worked as Snow White at Disneyland, said it was a long process. First, the panel decided how much the applicant looked the part. Then the applicant had to dance, then perform a “reading” as the character, and then sit for an interview.

There’s makeup, wigs and costumes, but you still have to look the part to begin with. Picture: Supplied

She said while the required ages for princesses was 18 years and over, most were aged between 18 and 23 and there was rarely a woman aged over 27.

There were five days of training, and as part of that, prince and princesses had to closely study the Disney film they represented.

And once they got the job, there were plenty of rules they had to obey.

Men who perform as princes were only very recently allowed to sport moustaches and beards — prior to that, they had to be facial-hair free — and now facial hair must be no longer than about 6 millimetres. Moustaches without beards must reach the corners of the mouth, but may not extend past the corners. Tattoos aren’t allowed.

Social media is also a no-go, with staff forbidden to reveal aspects of their job on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

As they’re greeting guests, they can’t reveal any knowledge of anything outside the Disney universe. They also can’t refuse to sign autographs or answer questions.

Another quirk of the job is that characters can’t speak negatively about guests — and so they’ve developed the phrase “treasured guest” as a code for difficult visitors.

The pay is also notoriously low. During protests at Disneyland in California year, activists said the theme park’s low wages were contributing to homelessness among staff.

One worker, who had worked at the Anaheim park for more than 10 years, said she made $15.05 an hour, The Guardian reported. That’s a fair bit less than Australia’s national minimum wage, which is currently $18.29 an hour.