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Stephanie Cruz stands in front of Cinderella's castle at Walt Disney World resort.
Stephanie Cruz interned at Walt Disney World over the fall semester. | Image: Courtesy of Stephanie Cruz

As a child, Stephanie Cruz ‘21 dreamed of living in Cinderella’s Castle. Her internship with Walt Disney World allowed her to experience that magic firsthand and put her industrial engineering knowledge to the test. While she did not get to live in the castle, her internship was pretty magical.

Cruz, a junior industrial engineering student, has always had a passion for new experiences. She grew up in Brazil, was an exchange student in Spain when she was in high school and speaks three languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.

She has accomplished many things, including starting a new student organization on campus, Club of Aggie Females in Engineering (CAFE), this semester. She is a member of the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and the Brazilian Student Association. In addition, she is an Industrial Engineering Student Ambassador and mentor for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

 But it hasn’t always been Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and Mickey-shaped pretzels for Cruz.

Stephanie Cruz sits on the elephant dumbo in a Walt Disney World park.
Cruz faced rejection at her first career fair which encouraged her to gain experience. | Image: Courtesy of Stephanie Cruz

“Attending a career fair as a freshman was a rough wake up call,” Cruz said. ‘Because of my lack of experience, recruiters were not interested in what I had to offer.”

Taking this setback in stride, Cruz got a research internship in her native Brazil that summer to gain experience and was published in the journal Elsevier. Since then, she has interned with ExxonMobil and The Walt Disney Company. This summer, she will intern with Accenture in consulting. This variety of experiences has prepared her to tackle the real world after graduation.

“The best part about my diverse experiences is that they have allowed me to see what my potential is in the real world so that when I graduate, I can be certain and confident in the path I choose . . . I hope,” Cruz said.

This semester, she brought the magic to Texas A&M and spoke with us about her internship in the happiest place on Earth.

What was it like interning with Disney? 

As a young girl, I grew up visiting the Disney theme parks, knowing every character and imagining living in Cinderella’s Castle. Completing an industrial engineering internship at Disney gave me the unique opportunity to combine a personal passion with an incredible professional experience that has added tremendous value to me and my career. While I can dream along with Disney movies, I also realize that Disney, like any other major company, is a business with people working behind the scenes to make it what it is. I was that person. The person working behind the scenes helping to create the Disney magic for others that has always captivated me. As Walt Disney said, “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” 

Stephanie Cruz stands in front of a Disney office building.
Cruz worked on the Facilities and Operation Services team during her internship. | Image: Courtesy of Stephanie Cruz

Disney is all about storytelling. Yes, even for us engineers. My projects began with data collection, leading to comprehensive analyses such as workload planning, forecasting, capacity utilization and process optimization. From there, it was my job to craft and present the story to our clients, giving them an unbiased and holistic perspective of their business situation. 

What were you doing while on the job during your internship?

I had the incredible opportunity to create magic as an industrial engineering intern for The Walt Disney Company. The Planning and Industrial Engineering team acts as internal consultants providing recommendations, through data analytics, to all areas of the business – ranging from the beloved parks and resorts to the back-of-house operations that deliver the magic. I was part of the Facilities and Operation Services (FOS) team that focuses on textiles and distribution. The Textiles area support the day-to-day activities of 30,000-plus resort rooms in addition to costuming services and more. The Distribution area includes anything from food and beverages to merchandise and events.

What was your favorite part of your internship? 

Luckily for me, my internship was during a very exciting time for the company. I was fortunate to support the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which includes the Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, in addition to the opening of the Disney Skyliner and Riviera Resort. It was truly unique to be there experiencing the adrenaline of the opening of the new Star Wars land. Seeing the expressions on the guests’ faces when they saw the space that the incredible minds of so many individuals had been working years to bring the movies to life was truly magical.

Stephanie Cruz stands in front of the Star Wars World at Walt Disney World resort.
Cruz was among the first individuals to ride the new Rise of the Resistance ride at Walt Disney World. | Image: Courtesy of Stephanie Cruz

My favorite moment happened at 6 a.m. on the opening day of a new groundbreaking ride, Rise of the Resistance. Executives were next to me, making last-minute decisions while operators moved around to warm up and get ready to manage the massive wave of people about to come through. It was then that I saw an incredible and true moment of teamwork. All cast members got together, no matter their position, for a quick pre-opening pep talk. Then I heard, “Three, two, one, break!” as they all began to cheer and prepare for the large rush of guests. It was a moment I’ll never forget.

What did you learn from your Disney internship? Did you have any learning experiences on the job?

This internship was an incredible experience to develop myself both personally and professionally. My biggest takeaway was centered around the art of simplicity. All of my projects included parsing through various Excel spreadsheets with thousands of data inputs. It requires a certain ability to take all of this information and condense it into high-level actionable solutions.

Stephanie Cruz stands in front of a ride in Walt Disney World.
Cruz learned to use data to create actionable solutions during her internship. | Image: Courtesy of Stephanie Cruz

I learned that the real world isn't as black and white as we would like it to be, or as school teaches us. While hard data is an extremely important tool while trying to understand a business or a process, you also need to pay attention to the intangible factors along the way. In many situations, the intangible factors helped bridge the gaps where the data didn't fully make sense. At Disney, I truly had the opportunity to leverage both sides of the equation: the data and the people/processes to truly understand the fascinating ecosystem that the Walt Disney World operation is.