Disney's New APM Program & How to Land the Offer

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The [in]side Scoop 🍨 on Disney’s NEW APM Program

Hey hey seniors and soon-to-be new grads, “Head back, face forward, and hold on” (as Dash from the Incredibles says on Incredicoaster 😉 ), because Disney just dropped the application for their first Associate Product Manager (APM) Program, specifically under the Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology (DEET) portion of the business!

Now, this program wasn’t around during my time as a magic maker; however, I can lend some insight as a 6x Product Management Intern and as someone who landed the coveted “Associate Product Manager” new grad offer under another Disney business group (Corporate — Enterprise Technology) ✨

In this (quite comprehensive) article, I’ll cover an overview of the program/role itself, give my general advice on landing a role at Disney (this could be applicable to any role at Disney), and give specific insight on what it’s like to be a PM at Disney (based on my own experiences).

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Overview of the APM Program

Program Logistics:

• Based in Glendale, CA

• Pay Range: $97,500 — $130,700

• Cohort begins in July 2026

What the Program is:

• A 2-year career accelerator program for early career product managers

• The 2-year program includes 2 rotations, 12 months in each rotation

What you’ll do in the program:

• Gain hands-on experience building and launching products used by hundreds of millions of people.  

• Receive structured training on product management fundamentals and mentorship from Disney Product leaders. 

• Use data and user insights to understand business problems and help drive strategic decisions. 

• Participate in learning opportunities focused on strategic problem-solving, leadership development and networking.

General Disney Career Advice

Before the Disney APM Program existed, I spent most of my college career inside the company; six PM internships across multiple teams, ultimately leading to a new-grad Associate Product Manager offer. Even though the program is brand-new, the fundamentals of how Disney evaluates early-career product talent have stayed remarkably consistent.

My own path looked different (I only went through the formal application process once, freshman year), but the resume guidance I received from a Disney recruiter back then is still some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten, and it’s directly relevant for anyone applying to the APM Program today.

Here’s the exact advice that helped me stand out during my first Disney application.

1️⃣ Add a “Projects” Section. It’s Your Proof of Potential

As a freshman, I didn’t have industry experience yet. What I did have were personal and technical projects that demonstrated initiative, problem-solving, and curiosity (all things product teams care deeply about).

But none of those projects were listed on my resume.
(Spoiler: that mattered.)

Projects are often the strongest indicator of early-career PM potential. If you’ve built something, analyzed something, redesigned something, or shipped something, showcase it. It gives recruiters real evidence of how you think.

2️⃣ Provide Context, Not Just Coursework

One thing the recruiter emphasized: Disney wants to see how you apply your skills outside a purely academic setting.

Class projects teach fundamentals, but real or real-adjacent projects (hackathons, freelance work, self-initiated builds, open-source contributions) show how you bring those fundamentals to life. If you learned something in class, extend it into a project with a real user, business, or problem, and put that version on your resume.

This instantly makes your experience more “PM-relevant.”

3️⃣ Use Metrics to Communicate Your Impact

Metrics make your work legible to recruiters and hiring managers.
They answer the “so what?” behind your bullet points.

Whether you increased something, reduced something, optimized something, or analyzed something, quantify it:

• How many users?

• How much time saved?

• What percentage improvement?

Metrics show scale, clarity, and communication; three things that matter enormously for APM candidates.

Once your resume gets you in the door, the next filter is almost always the conversation. Whether you’re applying for a traditional Disney internship or the new APM Program, the interviewers are trying to answer the same core questions: Can you communicate clearly? Do you understand your own experiences? And do you genuinely care about the work and the brand?

The good news is that, at least for early rounds, Disney interviews tend to be a lot less intimidating than people expect — especially the phone screen. Think of it less like a high-pressure interrogation and more like a vibe check: are you qualified on paper, and can you talk about your experiences like a thoughtful future PM?

Here’s what that looked like in my own process, and the kinds of questions you can expect:

To be honest with you guys, the phone screen isn’t really all that formal. They’ll mostly just ask you some simple questions like “What’s your standing in school?,” “Are you legally permitted to work in the US,” yadda-yadda-ya. But they’ll likely also ask you about a certain project or certain experience and maybe a behavioral question or 2. Here’s a few really common ones you can use to prepare:

💬 “Tell me about how you used [insert skill] at [insert experience]?

💬 “Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict between team members”

💬 “Why are you interested in working at Disney?”

I’ll provide some more Disney-specific interview tips in a second, but for now let’s go over the rest of the interview process.

After I made it past the phone screen, I only had one interview left; HOWEVER, this is certainly not the case for most other internships. Almost all of the other Disney Interns I knew had at least 2 rounds after the phone screen.

In my final interview, it was purely behavioral and my interviewer (who later became my manager) asked me only 2 questions:

💬 “Tell me about yourself.”

💬 “Who’s your favorite Disney character?”

So now, let’s talk about these questions, how I answered them, and how you can prepare yourself for these questions.

💬 “Tell me about how you used [insert skill] at [insert experience]?”

This is a pretty classic interview question and you can basically use the STAR method to answer it – Situation Task Action Result. As part of your interview prep, make sure you read the job description and sort of compare it to your resume – this way you can make sure you have an example/story for each skill or resume item they might ask you about! Also, Disney is ALL about storytelling ✨ . Whatever your answer is, try telling that STAR answer as a story.

💬 “Tell me about yourself.”

This is a ridiculously common interview question and EXTREMELY common in Disney interviews. Have your elevator pitch PREPARED. If you don’t know where to start, use the present-past-future method: explain where you are now (i.e. what you’re studying, what projects you’re working on, etc), what you’ve done in the past that shaped your interests and how it got you to where you are now, and how all of this experience prepares you for the future outcome you want (which in this case, is the internship).

💬 “Why are you interested in working at Disney?”

THIS is a make-or-break question. During my first summer at Disney, I made it a mission to figure out what every Disney Intern had in common and what helped us land our respective internships. After talking to around 10 interns, I think I figured it out. We all had what I like to call “A signature Disney moment.” We all had a moment where we went from being just “Disney fans” to wanting to be magic makers ourselves. I had 2 that I mentioned in my interview – watching the Happily Ever After fireworks show at Disney World when I was 14, and soon after watching an old documentary about Walt Disney Imagineering. When preparing for this question, try re-framing it as “what made you want to be a part of the magic making?”

💬 “Who’s your favorite Disney character?”

This is a very lighthearted question meant to make interviewees feel less nervous, but also see how familiar you are with the brand. Even though it is one of the less serious questions, you still need to think about this answer thoughtfully. Disney loves hiring people who know the brand inside and out. For me, I had two answers – Mulan, because she was the first princess who I felt like represented me (an Asian-American) on screen and Moana, because I loved her character development throughout the movie.

The Product Manager POV (on Disney APM)

What It Actually Feels Like to Build Products at Disney

Every team at Disney looks a little different, especially Corporate and Enterprise Technology compared to DEET. However, the core rhythms of product work feel very similar across the company. I cannot speak to the exact day-to-day experience of the new APM Program, but I can give you a real sense of the responsibilities and problem spaces PMs typically own.

Here is what my world looked like as a PM, along with how it maps to the responsibilities listed in the APM job description.

📄 Documentation That Drives Real Work Forward

One of the first things I learned at Disney is that documentation is product work. My team brought a new internal product suite in-house, and I authored two knowledge-base articles that became the primary reference materials for hundreds of internal users.

Later, I collaborated on a framework that documented how to identify cost-optimization opportunities across our software stack. This not only educated teams but also influenced actual business decisions.

💡 Translation: Clear writing can unblock an entire organization. Documentation truly matters.

🎯 Shaping Product Strategy, Even as an Intern

Strategy is not something only senior PMs touch. One of my largest projects involved defining how our Digital Experience team should track emerging technical threats and opportunities. This required extensive market research, competitive benchmarking, industry trend analysis, and synthesis into a strategic point of view that helped leadership prioritize internal tech investments.

I also evaluated five RFP (request-for-proposal) vendors for an events experience platform. I scored each product against a feature rubric based on user needs, and this work directly influenced the final selection.

💡 Translation: Early-career PMs are expected to form opinions, evaluate tradeoffs, and recommend what best serves the user.

🔍 Competitive Analysis That Shapes Decisions

I conducted a competitive analysis of five data intelligence platforms to inform how we ingest data from newly acquired companies. Leadership used this research to understand capability gaps, strengths, weaknesses, and the broader opportunity space.

💡 Translation: APMs can expect to perform similar competitive research within the DEET ecosystem.

🚀 Supporting Product and Feature Launches

One of my favorite projects was supporting a large-scale security functionality pilot with more than 300 internal participants. I coordinated feedback collection, analyzed user responses, synthesized insights, and prepared the findings presentation for executive review.

💡 Translation: Launches at Disney are detailed, cross-functional, and user-focused, and APMs will gain hands-on experience with them.

🛠️ Building Internal Tools That People Actually Use

Disney PMs do more than write documentation and attend meetings. They build.

During my internships, I:

• Designed and implemented a web-based app to inventory more than 23,000 company devices and collect missing user data

• Built a web-based idea management platform that eliminated the need for a $49,000-per-year outsourced tool

Both products were used by real teams and solved real organizational problems.

💡 Translation: APMs will collaborate with design, engineering, and stakeholders to create tools and features with meaningful impact.

📊 Data Analysis That Informs Product Decisions

Data was central to nearly everything I worked on. Whether the task involved analyzing pilot feedback, reviewing usage metrics, assessing device inventory data, or scoring RFP vendors, every product recommendation was grounded in clear metrics.

💡 Translation: The job description highlights basic data analysis for a reason. It directly informs how Disney makes product decisions.

🧠 So What Is the Real PM POV?

Even though my experience was within Enterprise Technology, the common thread across Disney PM teams is the same. The role is highly dynamic. One day you might be deep in data. The next day you are defining strategy. The day after that you are launching something into production while collaborating closely with designers, engineers, and leadership.

If you are applying to the APM Program, you can expect a similar blend of strategy, execution, research, documentation, data, storytelling, and cross-functional leadership, all within one of the most beloved (and IMO, impactful) brands in the world.

Your Action Plan

• Get a second opinion on your resume & really focus on making sure that it properly articulates and conveys your applied experience (not just academics, research, etc)

• Focus on these 3 pillars for your interview prep: preparing your elevator pitch, brushing up on the brand & your Disney WHY, practicing PM-specific interview prep (Cracking the PM Interview was my Bible during PM recruitment szn)

• I’m gonna repeat this again → get REALLY clear on your WHY → the thing that separates people who land the offer & those who don’t (once you make it to the final round) is checking these boxes → being a good culture fit ✅ being EXTREMELY passionate about the brand ✅ and having the potential to be a great brand steward ✅ 

🔗 Link to Apply: https://bit.ly/4q0tHQR

Your Resources/Toolbox

Other General Resources I’d Recommend:

• Join the Product Haven Slack channel to find mock interview buddies

One last word — working at Disney was truly one of the best experiences of my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If you end up landing this incredible opportunity, take it. Being a magic maker was genuinely life changing and I believe every innovator x Disney fanatic should have an opportunity to be part of the magic 🪄

Best of luck to all you future/aspiring magic makers & residents of the Mouse House! Remember —

• “Each of us has a dream, a heart's desire. It calls to us. And when we're brave enough to listen, and bold enough to pursue, that dream will lead us on a journey to discover who we're meant to be. All we have to do is look inside our hearts and unlock the magic within…” ~ Narrator, Disney World’s Happily Ever After Fireworks Show

• "Just keep swimming." – Dory, Finding Nemo

• “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” ~ Walt Disney

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