Woman gets paid $100 per hour to dress up as a Disney princess

By Jake Meeus-Jones via SWNS

Meet the woman who gets paid $100-an-hour to dress up as Disney princesses - transforming herself into Moana, Princess Jasmine and Encanto's Mirabel.

Disney superfan Maya Browne, 27, wanted to work as a professional princess since high school.

Non-uniform days at school were used by Maya to "express" her love for Disney princesses and dress up as her favorite characters including Aerial, the Madhatter, and Moana.

And after regularly attending character cosplay conventions, Maya began experimenting with body paint and sharing her designs on social media, before seeking work as a princess performer.

She eventually landed her dream gig when she was offered a role to host children's parties as the lead characters from Encanto - Mirabel and Isabela in February 2022.

Now working in what she describes as "the best job ever," Maya attends up to two parties a day as a real life princess.

Maya, a part-time cosplayer and part-time princess performer, from Los Angeles, Calif., said: "I've always loved Disney and felt very connected to the characters.

"I basically just get to be a big kid as a job - I go to parties dressed up, hang out with the kids, play games, story time, birthday cakes, take pictures and get paid $100-an-hour.

"It's really fun and feels special, especially for those kids who might not be able to go to Disneyland and I can be their princess.

"Being able to make the kids feel special is very important to me.

"When I see their faces and they hug me and don't want to let go - it's so special."

After attending the LA Comic Con in 2021, Maya knew she wanted to work in cosplaying and princess performing.

She said: "I had a mutual friend on TikTok who gave me her extra ticket and I had the best three days of my life.

"I learned so much about costumes and social media - it made me feel euphoric.

"I knew this was what I wanted to do and I wanted it to become my job.

"I also felt like I didn't fit in in school as much so to finally feel like I belonged was amazing and I'd wished that for my whole life.

"I now sometimes get paid by TikTok for videos I post of characters that I've dressed up as."

When hosting a princess party Maya's day can be busy, especially if she has to change character.

She said: "I do my make-up which usually takes 45 minutes to an hour.

"I get there an hour early to get into my costume and prep my party bag.

"I make sure I have my storybook, face painting, speaker and tiara to crown the birthday girl.

"If I can't finish face painting all the kids I make sure to have stickers to give out to the kids.

"I always have music playing when I walk in and give the birthday girl a big hug and talk with them for a bit.

"I like to jump into a dance party right away as it's a good ice-breaker. Then I go into face painting and balloons.

"Every parent is different with what they like - sometimes they want games the whole time but other times it's more personal with the kids.

"If I've got another party with a different princess then I have to change the make-up and costume in the car - I've gotten really good at changing in my car."

Maya's favorite character to perform as is Mirabel thanks to her "high energy" and "fun songs."

She added: "Moana is fun also because I can change my voice to sound like her really well."

Maya believes better representation is needed for performers from all backgrounds within her industry.

She said: "I'm half black, half white and there isn't really a princess that's the same as my background.

"All these other characters I do, I don't represent their background but I have a similar skin tone.

"A lot of companies don't have enough performers to play certain princesses.

"I've never met someone playing Moana who's Polynesian.

"Most of the time it's girls who can physically represent the character but don't have the same background.

"A lot of people online say I need to have the same background as the character to play them - I don't agree.

"If I'm not going to play Princess Jasmine or Moana then a white person is.

"If there are more girls that look like me that want to do this job, then please start as we need you.

"I don't feel like I have to have the same background - as long as I look like the character.

"As a kid, I would see Hispanic characters and relate because we resemble each other, regardless of our backgrounds.

"At the end of the day, it's a personal decision but a lot of places don't care about representation."

Maya had the opportunity to work with Disney when she cosplayed as a character from Avatar and described it as "surreal."

She added: "It's been surreal - it's sometimes hard to accept that this is something I can do.

"I'm so incredibly grateful to have these opportunities.

"When I was invited to a Disney premiere and had the cosplay opportunity it was crazy.

"Feeling not good enough for so long and then this company I've looked up to my entire life telling me to come along - it's just amazing."