Chances of Me Being a Costume Character at Disney World?
I always wanted to be a costumed character at Disney world. I have previous experience which includes being the mascot at my high school and being trained by a coach who was Bucky Badger. I was also in theatre. But I haven’t stepped foot in a dance studio ever. I am also 5"5′. What are the auditions like???
First of all, having mascot training is one of the best things you can do to get hired into the talent pool at Disney World. A friend of mine was a fur character in the park, and that is exactly how he got hired.
As far as auditions go, you first audition to be in the talent pool. They have a color chart, and each color means a different level. So they’ll have you do dancing, singing, they’ll see how your personality is/how animated you can be, etc. You’ll get a color code based on what level you’re at in each category. Then they’ll look at your overall score & decide whether or not to put you into the talent pool. So you might get a blue in dancing, red in singing, and green in animation. Someone for the Beauty & the Beast stage show probably has to have the all 3 of the highest level color. A meet & greet character probably only needs a high color in animation. So your chart will determine your placement.
Once in the talent pool, you can usually be a fur character based on your height. My friend was typically Rafiki & Pluto. They will place you, again based on your chart, in certain areas. People with certain levels are in the parades, others are in the restaurants, others do meet & greets in the park, etc. Once you are placed in your area, you generally stay there unless you re-audition for something more specific. Face characters will be more specific auditions from within the talent pool. This is basically someone walking through the room, and plucking out a few people that have what they’re looking for, and then those people will go on to further audition. It’s very tough to be a face character.
So that is what I know about auditions, from being friends with a cast member. My friend was the mascot for a local team in Tampa – he said that training was the most vital thing he did. He also did theater all through highschool, but did not have any dance training. His most important feature was how truly animated his personality was – it really fit. Good luck to you!!