Pros
In the R&D Department you are surrounded by interesting people and interesting products. You get to see what Disney is developing. Disney's goal is to make people happy and it is satisfying to be a part of that. People generally enjoy working there and are positive. The workplace is aesthetically pleasing, the kitchen spaces are great, and the cafeteria has good food.
Cons
Walt Disney Imagineering did not do a good job of hiring interns in a fair and timely fashion. During my time there I met two other interns who had been working there for 9 months desperately wishing to be hired. They treated internships as a "trial period." If they like you they will keep you at the intern salary as long as possible and then offer you a contractor position. A few interns I knew eventually were able to get full time positions, but these people went back to school and so they were offered full time jobs as an incentive to come back (who would pick an internship over a full paying job elsewhere). Additionally they are one of the only companies who will take on interns who had already earned their degrees. In the R&D Department there was a wide variety of skills. As a new engineer I did not feel I would be able to get the input I needed to complete projects. There were only two other electrical engineers in our department and both of them were very busy. I did not feel there was an opportunity to learn from their experience or ask many questions. From talking to other interns this varied dramatically from department to department. Some of the other interns had a lot of input and advice, some did not. The demand for internships and jobs at Disney is high and they therefore it is very hard to get a job there. While my salary as an intern was very competitive, many of the other intern's salaries were not. Don't underestimate the value of negotiating!
