How to Land a Disney Tech Internship from a 6x former Disney Intern

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The [in]side Scoop 🍨 from a 6x-ex Disney Intern

The Story of How I Landed my 1st Disney Internship

Hey, hey insiders! 🎢✨ If you’ve ever dreamed of interning at the Happiest [work]place on Earth, let me tell you—you’re 100% not alone. Landing a Disney internship is one of the most competitive processes out there, and trust me, I know firsthand how tough it can be.

I applied for five different Disney internships and didn’t even make it past the resume screening for three of them. Another one, I made it to the phone screening but got rejected. I almost gave up completely. But that one phone screening/rejection was a gift – because the recruiter gave me some advice that was worth, quite literally, tens of thousands of dollars. I made a few key changes, starting with that resume, that completely turned things around. And now? I’m a 6x (former) Disney intern. 🤯

[Read all the way to the end of the article to access THE resume & cover letter that landed me my internship + templates you can use yourself!]

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And now let’s go back to the beginning of this magical story…

Setting the Stage

It was my freshman year. There was one thing I wanted more than anything in the world – an internship at The Walt Disney Company. But I was also trying to be realistic. I was still a freshman and I honestly didn’t think that my chances of landing, what was quite literally my dream internship, were very good.

In total, I sent out 150 applications for internships (which I know is nothing in comparison to today’s numbers in the job search) and the first phone screen I got was within that first 75 applications. I tracked my numbers and my process meticulously LOL.

The Resume Critique that Changed the Plot

Getting turned down for that first internship was DEVASTATING, but it was also a gift! The recruiter had given me so much actionable feedback on my resume (some of it was implied, but I figured it out). Here’s what I was doing wrong:

1️⃣ Not including a ‘Projects’ Section – Since I was a freshman, I didn’t have any research/internship/externship/work experience. However, my delusional self thought I could still be competitive with juniors and seniors. Why? Because of the project portfolio I had. But here’s the problem – I DIDN’T HAVE MY PROJECTS LISTED ON MY RESUME. Truly an SMH moment 🤦🏻‍♀️. So I fixed that.

2️⃣ Contextualize – Most companies want to see how you’ve applied your skills and experience in a work or work-adjacent setting i.e. NOT an academic setting. As much as I hate to say it, classroom projects don’t mean much to a lot of employers. But there’s an easy solution – if you have a concept you learned in class, apply it to a business problem or project (outside of the classroom), and list it on your resume!

3️⃣ METRICS!! I know I sound like a broken record with how many times I bring this up, but you NEED metrics on your resume. Why? Because recruiters cannot quantify the impact of what you did without numbers to fill in the blanks. Also, adding metrics to a resume conveys another skill in and of itself – the ability to convey/communicate your work (which is a CRUCIAL skill in the workplace).

Okay, so after that resume change + 75 more applications (including 1 at Disney), I landed another phone screen. This was it – my 2nd chance 🤩.

Turning the Interview into a Storytime

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.

And that pretty much brings us to the end of the story…

Resources to Kickstart your Story!

JK! This is just the story of how I landed my first Disney Internship. There’s plenty more to the story, including how I got to become a Disney Intern rep for events, got 5 return offers + a full-time post-grad offer, and more! But we’ll cover all that in another article.

And now that you have the prep plan, here’s some items & resources to help you put your best foot forward!

This is THE resume & cover letter that landed me my first Disney Internship (PDF) + templates (DOCX) you can use for yourself:

Sneak Peak into a DITL as a Disney Intern ✨ 

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Recently posted Disney Internships

💼 Title: Software Engineering Intern, Summer 2026
🎯 Business Group: Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology
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💰️ Pay: $42 per hour
🔗 Apply here: https://jobs.disneycareers.com/job/bristol/software-engineering-intern-summer-2026/391/87756670912

💼 Title: Product Management Intern, Summer 2026
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💼 Title: Software Engineering Intern, Summer 2026
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💼 Title: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Technology Internships, Summer 2026
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There are SO many more than just these, I just picked my favorite five that I thought were really cool. Currently, as I write this (10/28/2025), there are 20 internships listed on JUST the Disney Tech careers website! There are also more non-tech internships on the Disney Careers page!

Now go forth, intern Padawans (that’s what one of my Disney mentors/teachers used to call me 🤭), and take the first step in writing your summer intern story 🫶

With love,

your insider & favorite internet peer mentor

Morgan