A former Disney Princess is shedding light on the “traumatic and not-so-great parts” of the job, and TikTok is shocked.
Hunter Haag @hunterhaag, an ex-Disney Princess at the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Fl., and former contestant on season 26 of “The Bachelor” and season eight of “Bachelor in Paradise,” recently shared a video on TikTok disclosing the alleged truths of the job.
“For those of you who do not know, I was a Disney Princess at Walt Disney World from 2016 until 2021, when I was laid off due to COVID-19,” she says. Hunter portrayed Belle and Rapunzel during this time.
Hunter first calls out the princess’ alleged inability to “talk openly” about their job.
“Super exciting job, but if somebody asks you what you do, I would say something like, ‘Oh, I work in merchandise at Adventureland’ because they can’t know you’re a character,” Hunter explains. “You also have to be really careful about what you put online as far as pictures go, and make sure no one comments on your photos being like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so beautiful!’ because all of the comments have to be directed to the character.”
Hunter claims that the entire audition process is traumatizing due to the fact that it is solely based on your looks. The interactions behind the scenes, however, are particularly personal. While you may meet people who become your “very best friends,” Hunter says there’s an entirely other section of people that “also might try to sabotage you.”
“These are the people that talk badly about you, that aren’t excited for you if you get a parade or show,” she claims. “I’ll never forget, there was this one girl who really wanted to be Ariel, and she sent casting pictures of Ariels through our picture system that she didn’t think were well-suited to be Ariel. And you wanna know what happened to her? She got Ariel.”
“Your silhouette is your body, and they want to make sure that you’re still fit enough or slender enough.”
For Hunter, one of the most difficult aspects of the job was the fact that she’d often compare herself to others.
“Every eight months, we would get checked to make sure that we still fit the character profile, meaning that we still look young enough to be the character that we’re portraying and that we still have the same silhouette we did when we were hired,” Hunter alleges. “Your silhouette is your body, and they want to make sure that you’re still fit enough or slender enough.”
If you fail the character profile check, you get a “disapproval,” meaning you’re no longer allowed to play the character anymore.
“I feel like it can be really hard working at Disney as a princess when you have to be happy 100% of the time because you can’t ever give yourself any grace to just be upset.”
The job, according to Hunter, can also take its toll on you both physically and mentally.
“The costumes are very, very heavy and can cause issues. Like, Rapunzel’s wig actually gave me neck problems,” she claims. “Our locations are typically inside and there are no windows because there are characters inside, so you get absolutely no sunlight.”
“Like, can I just cry by myself?”
“I feel like it can be really hard working at Disney as a princess when you have to be happy 100% of the time because you can’t ever give yourself any grace to just be upset,” Hunter says before revealing that she was going through a breakup with her partner of seven years and was forced to pretend everything was OK while at work.
“Like, can I just cry by myself?” she asks.
“Ugh the comparison part is so true! It’s absolutely one of the hardest parts I struggle with”
Commenters are thanking Hunter for her transparency.
“This kinda shows that Disney’s magic only applies outside work doors. Behind them on the other hand… with that girlie getting the role? Ick,” one user wrote.
“thank you for being so transparent!! it’s amazing to share the good times, but important to bring awareness to the not-so-magical parts!” another replied.
“Ugh the comparison part is so true! It’s absolutely one of the hardest parts I struggle with,” someone said.
In The Know by Yahoo reached out to The Walt Disney World Resort for comment but has not heard back as of reporting.
Hunter’s video serves as a reminder of the unglamorous treatment that could happen should you ever consider becoming a Disney princess.
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