Hello, I’m Grace, a Third Year BA Business of the Creative Industries student at the University of York and I wanted to share my experience from my placement year at The Walt Disney Company as a Travel Marketing and Events Intern!
About My Placement
During my placement, I worked within the Disney Destinations department to primarily support travel agencies across the UK and Ireland. I covered events and marketing requirements for Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney World in Florida and Disney Cruise Line.
Some of the highlights of my role included:
- Managing the Disney Destination asset library, ensuring all marketing materials adhered to brand guidelines
- Working with travel agencies to approve their marketing content.
- Gaining confidence in financial processes by working as a casual buyer, using software like SAP and Coupa to tracking budgets
- Assisting the Events team with designing engaging virtual training sessions, achieving record-breaking attendance numbers
- Hosting travel agents on a Disney Cruise Line ship just two months into my placement
- Supporting the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) team and joining the Disney Voices Choir, which helped me engage with Disney’s company culture
- Filming content for the Disney UK TikTok page, creating behind-the-scenes content to showcase marketing initiatives.
What I learnt
I managed the platform that housed Disney Destinations’ creative assets for trade partners across the UK, Ireland, Germany, and Spain. I updated content, aligned with strategic goals and effectively showcased Disney’s diverse intellectual property. This role helped me develop attention to detail and an understanding of how marketing materials are distributed across different markets.
I also gained valuable training experience by leveraging my Canva skills to upskill colleagues. I conducted training sessions and created help sheets, helping over 100 team members improve their design abilities.
A Standout Moment
One of my proudest achievements was planning and hosting Disney Cruise Line’s biggest familiarisation trip. Just two months into my internship I was given the responsibility of hosting 106 travel agents with my team on a 7-night Norwegian Fjords cruise. I managed the Virgin Experience travel agency and ensured their experience ran smoothly. We hosted dinners and a dedicated training session onboard, and I also managed their allocated budget.
Applying My University Skills at Disney
Throughout my university experience, I developed valuable skills that translated directly into my placement role:
Presentation Skills from Content Development
Pitching creative ideas weekly in seminars helped me build strong presentation skills, which came in handy at Disney. I was often asked to present marketing strategies and brainstorm competition ideas and my University experience made me feel confident. Structuring presentations and using storytelling techniques helped me engage different audiences effectively.
Understanding Business Law from Creative Business Methods
The Creative Business Methods module taught me important legal concepts like copyright and contract law, which became crucial at Disney. When working on travel agent incentives and content shoots, I had to coordinate with Disney’s legal team to ensure everything was cleared. My understanding of these legal areas made it easier to communicate with legal teams and manage processes confidently.
How This Experience Has Helped Me in My Final Year
My placement at Disney has had a huge impact, especially when it comes to pitching group project ideas. Thanks to the experience, I was selected as a group project leader for one of my modules. I’ve become much more confident in presenting, delegating tasks, and bringing ideas to life, which has made group projects feel a lot more manageable.
Time management has also been a big takeaway. Juggling multiple projects and deadlines helped me structure my final year, so I can balance projects and job applications without feeling overwhelmed.
Additionally, my placement experience at Disney has made me more proactive in reaching out to industry professionals. Whether it’s networking with guest speakers or setting up interviews for my dissertation or group project, I now feel more confident contacting professionals.
Why do a placement?
My placement experience at Disney has been an amazing. The support from the Business of the Creative Industries staff and careers team made the whole process smooth. If you’re considering a placement year, I highly recommend it. It’s an invaluable way to gain real-world experience and connect what we learn in class to the industry. Plus, many of the companies we study, like Warner Bros, Universal, and Disney, offer placements, so it’s a great chance to apply your knowledge in a practical setting.
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