Two (mostly) unrelated questions

[rachaelfig]

First off, character height related (I just wanted to keep my questions together). I am just a bit under 5'5'' - in the performer audition I'm planning on attending should I try to shrink and be 5'4" or smaller or should I try to stretch and go for 5'6"? I know that probably sounds weird but I've been practicing. Which also sounds weird. I really want to be looked at for Snow White but I really just want to be a performer in general.

Second, has anyone ever been to an audition (or been a performer) for Disneyland Paris? I ask because I'm going to be in London in the fall (hopefully) and I would love to audition for DP for summer or something. The Disney careers site has DP auditions in London but they're soon and I won't be there till at least September. I think/hope they'll have fall auditions as well. Are their height ranges the same? Would I need to have some working knowledge of French? (I don't by the way, although I can count to ten and ask where the toilet is.)

Soo..that's all. Have a nice day!

 

[Berlioz70]

First off, character height related (I just wanted to keep my questions together). I am just a bit under 5'5'' - in the performer audition I'm planning on attending should I try to shrink and be 5'4" or smaller or should I try to stretch and go for 5'6"? I know that probably sounds weird but I've been practicing. Which also sounds weird. I really want to be looked at for Snow White but I really just want to be a performer in general.

It doesn't really matter which way you go in terms of Snow... you'd still be in her range either way. If you go up you'll have more opportunities in terms of variety of characters, but I guess the big question is do you like Munks or Pluto more?

Second, has anyone ever been to an audition (or been a performer) for Disneyland Paris? I ask because I'm going to be in London in the fall (hopefully) and I would love to audition for DP for summer or something. The Disney careers site has DP auditions in London but they're soon and I won't be there till at least September. I think/hope they'll have fall auditions as well. Are their height ranges the same? Would I need to have some working knowledge of French? (I don't by the way, although I can count to ten and ask where the toilet is.)

Soo..that's all. Have a nice day!

Heights are different at every park - they are overall similar, but sometimes the exact inches may very by one or two inches (or cms for france). We do not require that performers speak english here in FL (we have several that only speak spanish), so based on that I'd say you'd be okay. However, it will make communicating with supervisors and attendants very difficult - you'll also have a hard time interacting with guests. When international guests were visiting me it was pretty difficult to figure out what they were saying which can really hurt animation!

 

[rachaelfig]

The language barrier does sound like quite a dilemma. I speak Spanish so in Florida that wouldn't be a problem for me but French is quite another world altogether. I never really thought about communicating with coworkers/management. Perhaps Disneyland Paris would just be a nice place to visit (with English-speaking friends).

 

[glendalais]

Second, has anyone ever been to an audition (or been a performer) for Disneyland Paris? I ask because I'm going to be in London in the fall (hopefully) and I would love to audition for DP for summer or something. The Disney careers site has DP auditions in London but they're soon and I won't be there till at least September. I think/hope they'll have fall auditions as well. Are their height ranges the same? Would I need to have some working knowledge of French? (I don't by the way, although I can count to ten and ask where the toilet is.)

Truth be told, French isn't that much different from Spanish. I speak French as my second language, and I've never had issues understanding the Spanish Speakers here in LA. The Grammer is mainly the same and you can work out most words basd on similarity.

Disneyland Resort Paris's Casting Website is very vague on the matter when it comes to Characters. However, for the rest of their CMs, they do require that they be able to converse fluently in French, English and preferably a third European language (German and Dutch are popular choices).

Also, just to add, all Disneyland Resort Paris Cast Members must have legal authorization to work in France.

Persons who hold French Citizenship or European Citizenship (i.e. the Citizenship of any other Member State of the European Union) have this by default.

Non-French and Non-EU Citizens must have a Work Permit (Permis de Travail), which is issued by French Diplomatic Post abroad after having been approved by the French Ministry of Labour, Social Relations, Family and Solidarity (Ministère du Travail, des Relations Sociales, de la Famille et de la Solidarité). Under European Law, they can only issue these to non-EU Citizens after having determined that there is absolutely no one anywhere in Europe that is able to perform the work needed.

 

[rachaelfig]

"Under European Law, they can only issue these to non-EU Citizens after having determined that there is absolutely no one anywhere in Europe that is able to perform the work needed."

I find that sentence very entertaining. But thanks, very informative! That pretty much cemented my 'just go as a day-trip' plan. When I'm in the UK I'll have a visa that permits working but just for the time I'll be there and just in the UK.