Sarah Roberson

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Professor Blair
URWT 1103 023
30 April 2016
Enchanted Moments
I like your hair, I hear as I am washing my hands on my break from a three hour
Criminal Justice class. I turn around and I see Bryanna, a girl with bright purple hair and Teen
Titans buttons that covered her purse. I had wanted to talk to her all semester but was a little
intimidated because she seemed so confident. I like yours too, I saw it the first day and thought
it was so pretty. She was very flattered, and smiled so big her cheeks had to hurt. Then she
launched into a set of questions that took me completely off guard. She asked me about my
singing voice, acting experience, and feelings about children. I answered them hesitantly not sure
of where she was going before she took a card out of her purse. She handed it to me saying, I
have a company called Enchanted Moments where we have girls dress up as princesses for
birthday parties, and I think you would be really good at it. As soon as I saw your face I thought
you would be perfect for Anna. I was speechless. Disney was in my blood. When relatives
asked me before college, what do you want to do? I always answered, Be a Disney princess,
which always received chuckles, head shakes, and condescending comments. So, though I could
only muster a few words, I was screaming inside as this opportunity literally fell into my lap. I
practically floated home on a cloud of magic and song lyrics, excited for my first event where I
would soon learn being a princess is more than it seems. Being a princess is a mix of words,
costumes, actions, and values that all come together to make a believable character.
When I work, I am usually either Anna or Snow White and words really make these
characters come alive. The movies are my manual. I have to watch the movies, observe the

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princesses, and interpret how they would talk in various situations. When Anna sees a cell phone
she can hardly contain herself. WOAH! What is THAT? And, upon hearing it is a cell phone,
she looks very confused. She cannot admit that she knows what a cell phone is, so we often refer
to them as fairy boxes. This usually sparks a conversation with children about how the fairies got
in the box, and how they work that makes the children really believe in us. Snow White always
talks in a high pitched voice, and usually refers to the phones as magic mirrors. The kids and
especially the parents love this. Snow White also uses the words wonderful and amazing
instead of ones like cool or awesome which are words Anna is more inclined to use.
Bryanna has been princessing for about a year, so she is very experienced while Im still
a fledgling princess. The costumes are easy because all you have to do is put them on. But, wigs
are a different story. My curly hair that Bryanna complimented to break the ice is so thick we
could hardly get it to fit in the wig cap for my first event. Bryanna and I were in her lavender
room, which was a little lighter than her hair, trying every method we could to stuff my hair into
the mesh of the wig cap. We tried a ponytail, a bun, pig tails, and finally braids. It took most of
her bobby pins, and all of our will power to keep trying. Princesses are often seen as perfect,
which we all know no one is, but when I have to do my eyebrows I feel like the princesses have a
secret in their movies they do not want to share. The first time I had to try my eyebrows for
Anna, it looked like two fat caterpillars took up residence on my face and knew about squatters
rights so they refused to leave. With a laugh from Bryanna, make up wipes, and her help, in what
felt like three hours later I had eyebrows that could pass for those of a princess.
Probably the most important component of being a princess are the actions. Snow White
is dainty. She talks not with her hands, but with her finger tips. Her movements are graceful, and

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she is polite. For a recent event where I was Snow White, Bryanna handed me a business card to
pass to the father of the two girls I was talking to. After this, the father kept trying to talk to me
like I was not a princess. He asked me what princesses we have. I told him, still in Snow Whites
voice, Ooh! Well! Lets see, I know Elsa, Anna, Ariel, Cinderella, and hopefully Ill get to meet
all of the others soon. He asked me which princesses I did, and I gave him a confused look and
said, Why, Im not sure I understand. Im Snow White. Finally the dad got it through his thick
skull that I was not about to break character to answer his questions with his children right there.
And, even if the children did run off and play, I would not have broken character because the dad
should know that if someone were to overhear, the children would all doubt us. Children also
sometimes get so overwhelmed with our presence they do not think before they act. As Snow
White recently, a little girl ran at me while I was kneeling, balanced on high heels amongst
gravel, knocking me off balance where my knee ground into the gravel. It was painful, but I
could not let the child know that. I tried to ignore it, and talk to the child who was so visibly
excited. Even though I was in pain, she gave me the biggest grin I had seen all day and that made
it worth the trouble.
I will never forget one of my first events as Anna. It was my second, and there was a little
girl who would not stay in line to meet myself, and Bryanna as Elsa. We were a little bothered
because we had to make sure the girls who did wait in line had a memorable experience with us,
but we could not be rude to the girl who ran up to us. She was sweet, but when it actually cameto
her turn, her mom told us something we were not prepared for. She said, Thank you, I knowshe
has been disruptive, but she has fifteen brain tumors, and I know this means the world to her. It
took a lot to hold back any hint of tears, but we did it. And we continued to talk to the

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mother and daughter and give that beautiful little girl the most special experience we could.
Sometimes it is hard to stay in character when you are given information like that, especially
when we often work with the Sandbox, an organization that works with terminally ill children,
but we know that instead of us pitying the children, it will mean more to them if we speak and
interact with them as though they are not sick, and they are simply meeting their favorite
princess.
As a princess, we have to value imagination, flexibility, and patience. Imagination helps
us improvise and answer the questions children ask like, Is your hair real? Yes, I made sure it
looked the best today just for you princess because it was SOOO messy this morning. Are you
the REAL Snow White? Ooh! Why, yes I am. I came all the way from my castle to see you
today. Where are your dwarves? Theyre working in the mines, the poor dears. Im going to
have to leave sometime to make them dinner or else they might try and make it themselves
which will only end in mush. Anna, wheres Kristoff? And Olaf and Sven? OH, dont get me
started on THAT. Last night, Sven wanted to start a carrot eating contest, that silly reindeer, and
Kristoff of course just couldnt resist. We told Kristoff Sven would win, but he wouldnt listen,
so Olaf is in charge back in Arendelle taking care of them. Who knows if well have a kingdom
when we get back! Flexibility is important because we have to be able to be different princesses.
Anna might be easier because her character is clumsy, so if I am by a pool I can pretend to, or
joke about falling in. And, she loves chocolate so if the conversation peters out, that is always a
topic that can serve to fill the empty air. Snow White is proper and old fashioned, so I still have
to be able to have conversations as her when I cannot pretend to fall into pools. When really
small children are shy, or a little scared of the girl in a weird costume I usually ask them if they

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are like Bashful, my dwarf and that will spark a conversation they will either latch onto if they
are interested, or just nod if they arent. If the children look really scared I often say, I dont
bite. Just apples! because if the kid does not think its funny, the parent usually does and
appreciates the joke. And, patience is sometimes hard but very important to display when dealing
with children and their parents. Along with not breaking character when talking to insistent
parents, you have to be patient with shy, or rowdy children. If a child runs up to us with Cheeto
dust all over their fingers asking, OOH! Can I touch your dress? we cannot just yell and tell
them to keep their paws off of the three hundred dollar dresses. So, I usually just laugh and take
their hands gently and say, be careful. It looks like you were eating something delicious! What
IS that orange stuff on your fingers? A new pixie dust? The kids do not register these values, but
they are crucial to creating the experience the kids expect to come along with the princesses they
dream about.
I watched the movies, and dreamed about the princesses long after I probably should
have, but there was something about them that appealed to me. The princesses are all different,
but the magic they inspire is timeless. Im nineteen, but when I see anything Disney I might as
well be five again. And, when the children see us, I feel like I can see their dreams come true as
as soon as they see us. The job is difficult, but worth it. A woman that is Snow White in a Disney
park says, Because of the repetition over time though I developed inoperable vocal nodes,
(Willet, Phillips, 1) but goes on to say how rewarding the job is. It takes more time and effort
than it may originally seem, but when you get something right you can tell by how the children
react. This opportunity fell in my lap and not only makes the childrens dreams come true, but

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mine as well. It may seem childish, but I think I get as much fun out of it as the kids. But, thats
okay because as Snow White herself says, Youre never too old to be young.

Works Cited
Phillips, Megan Willett and Ian. "A Former 'Snow White' Dishes about Life as a Disney Park
Princess." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 23 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 May 2016.