Tales of a Fairy Godmother in Training

22. New Yorker. Fairy Godmother in Training and former DHS Beauty and the Beast Cast Member. This is my CM blog.

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hi! So, I was at Hollywood Studios today and I'm pretty sure it was you working Beauty and the Beast. I was going to go up ot you and say hi or something but if it wasn't you I totally did not want to have that awkward conversation "oh so you don't have that blog..." Well, anyway if it was you SO SORRY I DIDNT SAY HI OMG I was wearing a MU hat and a toy story sweatshirt & my mom was in a ECV. Well, hope you had a great day!

omg hi!!! yes it totally was me! I wish I had seen you or that you had said hi!!! I hope your vacation or day or whatever was absolutely fabulous 😊😊😊

[diariesfrom-disney]

How did you apply to work for BBB?

I applied to work for the Disney Company through the College program, which information & applications can be found on this website.

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hi! If you do the Spring/Fall Advantage program are you still able to extend your program? Or is it only for the Spring and fall programs?

Hey there! You are totally allowed to extend regardless of advantage/non-advantage program dates! When you do extend, you can only stay for up to 1 calendar year from your program start date!.

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hey, Hayley! Thank you so much for this blog! I have a quick question, which I have no idea if you can answer or not. I applied to DCP last spring and was accepted but decided not to take it (due to not having housing). It has been more than six months since I graduated from college but would absolutely love to work at Disney, particularly as a Fairy Godmother in Training. But, I have no idea if I even can as I'm out of school. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Hi there! 

I'm so glad I was able to help in any way, and I'm SO sorry for the delay in the answer!!! The only option outside of the CP is to check the Disney Careers website, and I was told by my manager recently that they no longer post BBB online & only accept transfers & CPs. 

HOWEVER (not that I am saying that you should or should not do this), Disney hardly ever checks with the colleges and universities of applicants to confirm that they're currently attending. My school had no idea that I was going on to the College Program for either of my programs until I notified them weeks after getting accepted.

If you have any more questions, feel free to message me & I'll be sure to get back to you immediately!

[diariesfrom-disney]

How much do FGIT make compared to other roles?

Well, it used to be more than other roles, but now they've raised CP minimum wage to $9/hr and only characters (that I've heard thus far) are getting higher pay than that.

[diariesfrom-disney]

Back in Orlando

Hey y'all!

So sorry I haven't been posting lately, I took a bit of a break from the internet a while ago to keep my sanity while packing up my whole life into 2 suitcases to move back down to Orlando! I've been here for 7 days already and I'm enjoying every second of it! I'm gonna post a recap of my first week here in a bit, but first I wanna answer the questions that have been sitting in my ask box for a bit! 

Hope everyone is having a magical day!!!

[diariesfrom-disney]

Thanks again for answering all my Qs! Going off my last question, if I got off work at DTD and wanted to change into street clothes, where could I do that? Costuming? And what do our work shoes have to look like? Where did you get yours? Thanks girl!

Girl, no need to thank me! It's not a problem! =] (if you want to friend me on facebook to make messaging easier or whatever, let me know!)

As far as changing into street clothes, costuming would be your best bet. Sometimes if I needed to change before leaving DTD, I'd come to work with shorts & a tank top on underneath my costume & then take everything off by the WOD lockers- It's technically not changing, just removing outer layers, so managers never had a problem with it!

Work shoes for BBB either have to be a neat black heel or a Mary-Jane style flat. By Disney Look guidelines, it technically needs to be a leather or polishable material, but unless they've gotten more strict about it, you should be fine as long as there are no embellishments or visible logos on them. I started off with a short black heel from easyspirit because it had super comfortable padding, but after a 12 hour shift in any sort of heel I wanted to cut my feet off. I ended up buying a pair of Mary-Jane style crocs (I know, I had to hide the bag walking around the mall the rest of the day, I'm still not proud of it). But the great thing was that they were super comfy and not heels. (here's a picture of them, they really don't look like crocs when you're wearing them so that's a definite plus).

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hey lady! Sorry to bombard you with questions... I was thinking it would be fun to have all the princes and princesses I transform sign an autograph book. Is that allowed? Have you heard of anyone doing that? P.S. I was looking through your blog and realized that you were one of Enaliz's roommates! I worked with her my first program! What a small world! :D haha

It's not a problem dearie! In DTD they have you take your Princess/Knight up to the counter before they leave and sign the Boutique's autograph book. Since they don't have a book in MK, instead of doing that you just take up your family and give the child stickers of their favorite Princess/Prince Phillip for the Knights. I'm not sure how management would feel about that, but it never hurts to ask! I think it's a great idea, but I know once when one of my Princesses wrote "I love you Mrs. Hayley" in the DTD book I had to beg my manager to let me take a picture of it backstage on my break. But that manager has left now, and I don't see how it would be a problem!

And I was one of Enaliz's roommates!! That's SO weird that you know her too!!!

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hello! I was accepted a few weeks ago for BBB Spring 2015! Your blog has been awesome so far and continues to help me! I am so excited as you can imagine!! I never ever ever thought I would've gotten accepted for BBBS and I for sure thought I was getting merch. Basically I cried for a good hour when I found out I was accepted for it!!

Hi there! Congrats on BBB!!! I'm so so glad that I could be any help to you at all during your application process!! I hope you have the best time ever and hope to run into you during our programs!!!

[diariesfrom-disney]

Kaitlyn again, congrats on coming back! Maybe I'll see you there! I have another question: what is backstage like at dtd? Does the bbb have lockers or a place to change? Did you find it was better to change there, or wear your costume to work? Thanks

Thanks girl!! Hope to see you around!

Backstage at DTD is super minimal- the bus stop that the CP bus takes you to is totally not private and I've had dozens of girls run up to me asking for pixie dust (that i didn't have 3) while i was waiting for it. On that note, don't get off the bus/wait for the bus in half-costume, you could end up getting in trouble for it! 

BBB is inside of World of Disney (WOD) and there are (small) lockers that you can use there, however the only changing area is in the costuming building (by the bus stop) and management/leaders/etc. don't like it when you get changed in the WOD cast bathrooms either.

Backstage at WOD is super small, there's a break room with a fridge and microwaves as well as a couple of vending machines. Outside of that, backstage primarily consists of stock for WOD, so not much goes on there. As DTD is undergoing renovations to transform into Disney Springs, the backstage area to order food has probably changed/might not exist any more (when I was there, CMs were able to order food through a back entrance at Pollo Campero- so greasy Mexican food, but better than nothing I guess)

[diariesfrom-disney]

I'm thrilled to ((secretly)) announce that I'm going back to Walt Disney World!!!

I only told about three or four people that I was applying, and I still haven't told any new people about being accepted once again, so this is going to be a surprise for any friends who are following me! =]

I (quietly) self-termed my seasonal status with BBB back in September, as heading down to work without a definite place to stay- or a car for that matter, didn't seem feasible for me. Knowing that I was very interested in coming back with the company, I talked to Boutique management as well as the casting department and was told that I would be placed into re-hireable status immediately without any restrictions on my record.

After a TON of deliberation as well as weighing the pros & cons, I applied for my second college program exactly 7 days ago from today, and this morning found out that I will be going back for the Spring Advantage 2015 program as an Attractions Cast Member!

Now, I do have a question for you guys- this blog WAS originally intended to be my Fairy Godmother in Training blog. I'd love to go back to the boutique at some point in the future- but I won't be there in the Spring. I'll still answer whatever questions anyone has about the boutique or just the college program in general on here, but would you guys want me to post about my next CP on here, or are you not interested? If you don't want to see non-FGIT related posts I promise I WON'T be offended, I can always make a new side blog. However, if there are any of you interested, I'd love to post about my upcoming program and other general Cast Member shenanigans on here! Please let me know, anonymously or not, if you'd like me to keep using this blog for my next program HERE!

Thanks guys <3

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hello! First question: I know a huge part of the job is telling little stories during transformations. How were you able to get the story across to princes and princesses who didn't speak english? Any tips for making the experience special for them?

Hi again!

Honestly, that's one of the trickiest things to deal with during transformations with families who don't speak English, and unfortunately, most of the time the families do end up getting the transformation without the storyline. If you're good with languages, or even just one other (most helpful are probably Spanish and Portuguese), try to learn some things to say to make it magical. Sometimes you'll get another FGIT to buddy with you by doing nails and makeup, and a good amount of others speak second languages, so that's always nice.

Right at the beginning of my program before I learned Portuguese, I had a 4 or 5 year old princess from Brazil that I had to take to the "window seat" in DTD, which is just a special place that managers sometimes want you to take the princesses to for a random magical moment. The thing about the window is that all of the people in the princess room of World of Disney see you doing this transformation, so it kinda sucks when you can't communicate. Luckily, the photographer who went up with me spoke Portuguese (and ended up helping me learn most of what I know), and translated all of the stories that I wanted to tell the princess.

But of course, not everyone is going to be that lucky, so my best advice is to just have fun and be playful whether you understand each other or not! Make funny faces, pretend that you don't know where the hair pieces go (make it a beard, a mustache, etc.), just have fun with it, and remember that even if you can't communicate the story to your princess, that doesn't mean that you can't have fun!

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hello! I'm Kaitlyn, I've just been accepted as a FGiT for the Spring program, and I wanted to thank you for your blog! This thing is GOLD! I'll be back with questions for sure, thank you so much!

ahh congratulations!!! I'm SO glad that I could help in even the smallest way =]

Enjoy your program, and keep me updated!!! 

[diariesfrom-disney]

Hi!! I made it to the second round of the interview process to become a fairy god mother in training! =D What are some questions they might ask in the interview? I am so excited, this is like my dream job. I love making little girls feel like beautiful princesses! Also, do you get tipped by families? and what are the rewarding and challenging parts about working as a fairy godmother in training? (Sorry its so long. hehe. :) )

Hey there! Congrats on your phone interview!!! I have a general phone interview post here, but when it comes to role-specific questions, you’ll only get a couple of questions about each of your top 3 roles. The usual questions for boutique are 1) why do you think you’re a perfect fit for this role; 2) do you have any experience with hair and makeup; 3) what would you do in the situation when you have a crying princess in your chair; 4) how does (or can) this role relate to your major. If you can answer those four things confidently, you should be in a good position.

Certain families do choose to leave “treasure” or “rose petals” for their Fairy Godmothers, however it definitely isn’t every family that comes in. At the end of the week, your rose petals are pooled and divided evenly depending on how many hours you have worked that week. 

Some of the challenging points (language barriers and princesses with very little hair) I touch on here, but it’s important to remember that these challenges, while very difficult at first, become a second nature thing to handle.

The rewarding moments are some of the most beautiful things that will ever happen to you- whenever I’m upset or start missing living in Orlando, I look at the four keys cards I received from management that refer to specific guests and immediately get filled with an incredible sense of gratitude. When you work for the boutique, you constantly are a part of an environment that creates an impact on the lives of such wonderful families.

[diariesfrom-disney]

I had my PI yesterday and my top role was BBB because i have alot of experience with kids and also makeup and hair. How were you able to get into the BBB and did you have any experience before hand?

Congrats on your phone interview!!!

I think the main reason why I got in was because of how I handled the phone interview and how my passion for the role came through during those moments on the phone. Before working at the boutique I had extensive stage makeup and hair experience, but as I’ve said before, they don’t mind if you have minimal experience as long as you seem like a perfect fit!

[diariesfrom-disney]

how tall to you have to be to take the part of the fairy godmother?

Well, to be “friends” with the actual Fairy Godmother I believe you have to be between 5’2” and 5’6” and passable age range from early 60s to mid 70s, but a Fairy Godmother in Training isn’t considered to be in entertainment and thus does not have any height requirements.

[diariesfrom-disney]

Thank you for answering so many questions and sharing your experience as a FGIT. I was just ACCEPTED FOR BBB 2 DAYS AGO!!!! I am clearly very excited! I would love if you could share some tips on what to expect while I'm down there and suggestions on how to prepare! How often did you work with princesses who didn't speak English? Did you get to work with any make-a-wish kids? What did you do when little princesses didn't have a lot of hair? Thank you in advance!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! It's going to be the BEST experience of your life!!!

Language barrier- I'd honestly say about 40% of my princesses did not speak English, however I was usually given them specifically because I understand 5 languages other than English. A fair majority of princesses- as well as in the parks overall- will be from Brazil and speak Portuguese, so if you're good with languages, teach yourself a couple commonly used phrases such as "I don't speak Portuguese"/"I know very little Portuguese", "We have (#) hairstyles, which one would you like?", "Close your eyes", "Are you okay?", "Choose two colors for your eyes", "Choose one color for your lips", "How beautiful princess!!". If you manage to master those few, your life will be made SO much easier- you'll also start understanding/picking up on the language better once you teach yourself even the tinest bit!

Make-A-Wish- I was fortunate enough to work with five beautiful Make-A-Wish princesses, and the first time was truly so overwhelming that I had to get a trainer to help me perfect the hair. When princesses have a small amount of hair- or even very short hair, it starts off feeling almost impossible, but as ridiculous as it sounds, practice really does make perfect and after anywhere between 2 weeks-2 months, you just gain an incredible amount of confidence and nothing seems impossible anymore. Most of the time, Make-A-Wish girls do end up getting a wig, and that makes the experience a lot less stressful on both ends. These girls leave a huge impact on you emotionally, and I'm pretty sure that 4 out of the 5 times I worked with one, I ended up crying in the back for at least five minutes after they left. Sometimes the families think that they're entitled to whatever they want because of the Make-A-Wish title, but even in those rare cases, the feeling of making memories for such wonderful and brave princesses makes the entire experience worth it in the end.

If you have any more questions, feel free to come off of anon and I can give you my personal information to friend me on facebook/email me or whatever speeds up communication and works best for you!