<p>Here’s a story about girls’ heights and their prospects for performing. My daughter would like to work for Disney after college, and was disappointed that at 5’9" she’s an inch too tall to be a Disney princess (you have to be between 5’5" and 5’8"). So a couple months ago I ran into a woman at work who listed her employer as Disney. So I tell her my daughter would love to work there and I asked her what she does at Disney. She says she is a very good friend of Mickey’s. So I figure this means she’s the person who guides Mickey around the park. No, she says, but she is a very good friend of his. I’m not getting it, and she finally tells me that we all know Mickey is real, so you can never be Mickey, but you can be his very good friend. Which means she is actually one of the people that puts on the suit and plays Mickey.</p>
<p>So at this point I tell her that my daughter always wanted to be a princess, but is an inch too tall and how disappointed she was. Mickey then tells me two things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>She says: Not in Japan. Apparently the height requirements are different there.</p></li>
<li><p>She informed me that in general if you are a character actor at Disney, and there’s a height requirement, you get measured around once a year, and you are scheduled for that. So for actors that feel they’re a little too tall, what they do is go to the Hollywood Studios park, and ride Rock and Roller coaster around 5 times in a row. The g forces compress your spine a bit, and then you make the height requirements.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I went home and told my daughter and she was thrilled. My wife on the other hand still thinks I have lost my mind for even mentioning this to her child.</p>
<p>So I guess for those of us with taller children there are always options, depending on how dedicated you are to your craft!</p>