Dunedin actor learns truth about Mickey Mouse

Sarah Latta is back in Dunedin after a six-month stint working at Disney World. Photo: Daryl Baser
Sarah Latta is back in Dunedin after a six-month stint working at Disney World. Photo: Daryl Baser
Mickey Mouse is real - that's what aspiring Dunedin actor and self-confessed Disney fan Sarah Latta had to learn when she got a job at Disney World recently.

Ms Latta is now back home from her six-month working holiday in Florida in the United States, and said she got a foot in the door of Disneyland by applying to the Disney College programme.

"When you go to your interview, you have to say you love Disney (of course), but also be energetic and ready to learn."

At the college she was not only taught the systems and procedures of Disney's merchandising empire but also what happens behind the scenes.

One of the most important things to master was feigning that the Disney characters walking around were the actual characters, not people dressed up in costume, she said.

"Mickey is Mickey - his head doesn't come off, otherwise he'd die!"

After graduating from Disney College, she found herself in the busy, bustling realm of the many retail stores in Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

"I had a total of maybe one to days off a week and then the rest of the time you'd be working maybe a six to a ten, sometimes eleven-hour shift."

And the pressure would go up another notch during the festive season.

"One time I worked the Christmas store and it was absolutely bonkers, for about an eight-hour shift, it was just go, go, go, go, go - I don't think I looked up from the cash register once."

Ms Latta said despite the long hours, the job did come with its benefits.

"Going into the parks for free was pretty nice." 

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