Landing a summer internship at one of the most prestigious firms in the country used to come with a promise. Work hard, impress the right people, get the offer, and at the end of it all, something special happens.
I was not just a job, but also an experience, the kind that makes the internship worth talking about for years afterward.
For thousands of PricewaterhouseCoopers interns, that promise just got quietly revised. The trip they were told about when they accepted their offers isn’t happening this summer. And it may not happen again.
What PwC canceled and what interns get instead
The Impact event was the capstone of PwC’s summer internship program, reserved for interns who received full-time job offers. It covered access to Walt Disney World, accommodation, meals, networking with firm leaders, and career development panels
The event had run for roughly 15 years, dating back to at least 2011 when PwC announced an Orlando event for 2,400 interns.
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What’s replacing the Orlando trip is considerably less exciting. At least some interns were told their programs would wrap up with office-based events instead. One tax intern said the plan was a team dinner at an Italian restaurant.
PwC confirmed the cancellation and said it’s shifting resources toward experiences that give interns more time with colleagues and clients. The firm says that’s a better investment than a resort trip.
The firm hasn’t eliminated all large-scale intern events. Its Destination CPA program, a three-day networking event in Orlando for incoming accounting interns, may still include Disney World access.
The difference is that Impact was a reward for the entire qualifying class. What’s replacing it is more targeted and local.
EY also canceled Disney trip as Big Four intern perks shrink
PwC isn’t alone in this. Ernst & Young also canceled its annual Disney trip for summer 2026 interns which has tracked Big Four intern programs for years. EY reportedly cut its internship down to six weeks, did not pay interns for the July 4th week, and also canceled intern gifts
The pattern across two of the four largest accounting firms in the same summer suggests something structural is happening, not just a one-off budget call at a single firm.
KPMG and Deloitte haven’t made the same move yet. KPMG spent $450 million building the Lakehouse, a dedicated training facility in Florida, Fortune reported. Deloitte has its own version in Texas called Deloitte University, according to the company.
