Perth singer and dancer Tory Kendrick becoming a real-life princess after landing job at Disneyland Paris

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Tory Kendrick, who grew up singing and dancing and had huge dreams of becoming a real-life Disneyland princess.

Now aged 25, Kendrick will soon embark on her childhood dream, travelling across the globe to start her new job as a Disney princess and parade performer at Disneyland Paris.

Kendrick had applied for the job online several times before but wasn’t successful, so when she found herself working in Europe for nine months last year, she felt she had to audition in person.

She jumped on a plane to Ireland, where she tried out for three different characters and, at the end of the day, was offered her dream job.

“Part of me is like, ‘don’t meet your idol’, if that makes sense?. I’m like, ‘I’m going to Disneyland in Paris.’ I hope it is chalked up to what it is,” she said.

“I’m sure it’s going to be amazing, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always said that I want to work at Disneyland.”

It’s a full circle moment for the young star who, as a teenager, spent her weekends dressing up as a princess entertainer for kids’ parties.

Kendrick said Paris was one of her dream locations to live in and she will jet off to the City of Love to start her princess life on February 24.

“I’m excited just to go experience a new culture, a new place, learn a language, I’ll make sure I brush up on my French before I get there, and hopefully I’ll learn a lot once I’m there,” she said.

It won’t be the first time Kendrick is whisked away into the magical world of Disney - she visited the Paris venue a few days before her audition.

“It is just like walking into a storybook, every detail is so particular,” she said.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m auditioning for this place in a few days’.”

Kendrick said her family, friends and Perth’s entertainment community supported her entry a new era.

“I have never had so many likes on an Instagram post in my life,” she said.

“Everyone’s so excited. Again, I think a lot of people know that this is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

Kendrick has been working in the creative industry for several years, booking gigs as a showgirl, doing cabaret and performing at nightclubs.

She said getting a full-time job as a performer in Perth is “pretty much unheard of”, with artists forced to pursue careers over east or overseas where opportunities were available at your doorstep.

Before Kendrick landed the Disneyland Paris position, she was a singer and dancer on a dinner show in Greece for six months.

“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after that, to be honest, but I did know I wanted to stick around for the Disney audition while I was already so far from home,” she said.

“I actually booked a job with Disney UK within 24 hours of booking my Disney Paris job — they’re separate entities — so it was the craziest 24 hours of my life.”