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Sorry PwC interns, your end-of-summer trip to Disney World is canceled
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PwC has cut a 20-year tradition of taking summer interns to "The Happiest Place on Earth."Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Disney Dreamers Academy
Aug 7, 2026, 2:00 AM ET
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So much for a magical ending.
PwC has canceled the signature finale to its summer internship program: a multi-day trip to Disney World.
Managers at the Big Four firm told members of its 2026 summer intern class they wouldn't be ending their internships with a trip to Orlando, according to three PwC interns who spoke to Business Insider.
PwC confirmed that the traditional trip — a perk that has been running for all but five of the last 20 years — had been canceled.
The multi-day event, which was for interns who received full-time job offers, was typically held in mid-August to celebrate the end of the summer internship. The event featured entertainment, keynote speeches, and career-development panels, as well as free food and accommodation, and access to the Disney World Resort.
A PwC spokesperson told Business Insider that while the celebration, known as Impact, was no longer happening, the firm continued to make "significant investments" in its early-talent programs.
One PwC tax intern told Business Insider they had been told their internship would end with a team dinner at an Italian restaurant.
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PwC's spokesperson said the company was increasingly investing in strengthening learning and building connections within individual teams, said the spokesperson.
"As part of that approach, we're intentionally focusing our programs on experiences that provide more time with colleagues, greater exposure to clients, and stronger opportunities to build relationships within the offices and teams where interns begin their careers," the spokesperson said.
PwC still hosts a number of other events and talent initiatives, some of which take place in Orlando and include access to Disney World. Destination CPA, for example, is a three-day networking event held in Orlando that introduces incoming accounting interns to the firm.
The interns who spoke to Business Insider had mixed views about the cancellation.
One was disappointed, saying that although PwC had organized some happy hours and office-based events, they were "nothing compared to what Impact would have been."
"Honestly, I don't mind!" another said. "Many current interns went a year and a half ago during Destination CPA."
A changing talent strategy
PwC's global chairman, Mohamed Kande.
Europa Press News via Getty Images
In the past year, PwC has made other internal changes aimed at more collaborative, team-focused learning.
In February, it launched the " Learning Collective," a workplace training initiative that encourages more learning outside standard courses, such as bringing team members to meetings or having teams discuss what they've learned that week with each other.
Since fall 2025, PwC has reduced the number of locations where entry-level consultants can start their careers, from 72 to 13, to bring junior consultants closer together during their first years at the firm.
The Americas was PwC's fastest-growing region in its most recent financial year, but globally and in North America, the firm fell behind its Big Four competitors in terms of growth last year.
PwC also reduced its global head count by 5,600 during the 2025 financial year, reversing an earlier strategy of expanding its workforce.
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Big Four internships
Elaborate intern experiences are common among the Big Four professional services firms. They serve partly as recruitment tools, helping firms foster a sense of community and encouraging promising candidates to accept full-time offers.
They can be a costly investment — every summer, the Big Four take on several thousand summer interns across their accounting and advisory divisions.
KPMG invites summer interns to Lakehouse, its $450 million training facility in Florida, where they learn while enjoying an 18-hole putting green, gym facilities, and a constant stream of free food. Deloitte operates a similar facility in Texas, called the Deloitte University.
The growing use of AI is prompting professional-services firms to reconsider how they recruit and train junior staff. KPMG US has shifted its audit intern training to focus less on technical aspects of the profession and more on critical thinking, data analysis, and drawing conclusions.
As the technology increasingly performs some of the data-heavy tasks traditionally assigned to entry-level workers, it's also raising questions about the future role of graduate hires.
PwC plans to reduce its hiring of entry-level workers in the US by a third over the next three years, Business Insider reported in August. An internal presentation linked the decision to "transformation efforts, the impact of AI, and further AC integration." The firm has also reduced entry-level recruitment in the UK.
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Polly Thompson is a reporter at Business Insider. She writes about workplace culture, the consulting industry, and AI. Her work also includes insider scoops on major companies like Dell and Patagonia. Get an alert whenever Polly publishes a story.Got a tip? You can reach her using the secure messaging app Signal (Polly_Thompson.89) or via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com. We can keep sources anonymous. Recent articles:
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