Got a daughter who dreams of being a princess? Take it from someone who's worked as a real princess at Disney World--the job is not all it's cracked up to be. A former Snow White actress from Disney theme parks—called a "face character" in Disney parlance—is anonymously dishing behind-the-scenes policies and drama in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), summarized on Business Insider. Among the juicy tidbits from the Disney princess confidential:
—You've got to have the right body type. While princesses are between 5'4" and 5'7", Tinkerbell, Alice and Wendy must be more petite—between 4'11" to 5'2".
—Princess age out quickly. Most are played by women between 18 and 23. A 27-year-old princess would be considered over the hill—ouch!
—There's some serious princess primping. Getting the look—costume, makeup-wig -- takes about an hour, with frequent touch-ups throughout the day.
—Princesses deal with stalkers. This particular actress dealt with a creepy fan who became was convinced she was the real Snow White, and threatened to kill the imitators. Security!
—It's hard to make it a career. Princesses make about $13 to $16 an hour, which works out to a starting salary of around $27,000, with little chance for a significant raise.
—There's no world except Disney World. A princess can never acknowledge things outside her character's world (so she's totally not gonna get that SpongeBob shirt you're wearing). Also, off the clock, talking about Disney (or even revealing what princess she plays) on social media is verboten. Guess that's why she's staying anonymous!
A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.
