Ask Caroline Cates and Kerry Moore about their careers at Walt Disney World, and they’ll tell you about the delight on guests’ faces when they meet their favorite characters; the excitement of sharing details about events and attractions on the Disney Parks Blog; the opportunities for learning and growth that spark their intellectual curiosity. They’ll tell you that they’ve found a supportive, inspiring workplace, that their childhood dreams have come true.
Though the magic of Disney has shaped the lives of these two South Carolina Honors College alumni, there’s much more to the story — these careers didn’t manifest through wishing alone.
Once upon a time in Antarctica
Caroline Cates, ‘18 McNair scholar and psychology major, credits the Honors College’s beyond-the-classroom experiences with preparing her for her role at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. As an entertainment manager, she organizes character meet-and-greets and works with performers throughout the park.
“I’m a huge, huge advocate of beyond-the-classroom learning just in general,” she says. “And that’s part of why I think I loved so much doing that at Disney, too — seeing where those learnings apply in the real world.”
Though she participated in many beyond-the-classroom experiences as a student, one stands out. The winter break of her senior year, Cates traveled to Antarctica. She researched the effects of isolation on the mental health of researchers there, and though she didn’t know it at the time, this project would correlate with the work she now does at the Magic Kingdom.
Throughout her master’s studies, which were funded by the Disney Aspire program, Cates focused on the types of jobs that ask workers to “leave everything at the door” and exude positivity. Her master’s thesis examined the effects of emotional labor on the mental health of hospitality workers: “people I work with all the time.” She strives to play an active part in Disney’s commitment to employees’ emotional health and to be a manager who can “set others up for success.”
According to Cates, another hallmark of a Disney career is variety. Employees often work in different roles to diversify their skillsets, and along the way to her entertainment manager role, Cates had a particularly meaningful opportunity.
After Disney World’s four-month closure due to COVID-19, she was part of a skeleton crew tasked with rebuilding the Disney Imagination Campus, an academic workshop series for students. Cates had a special motivation for reviving this program: She was a participant in high school, and that experience was the beginning of her Disney dreams.
“And then full circle, I ended up working with that team and teaching that workshop, and my school came back, and I taught that workshop to the same school group that I had been a part of,” Cates recalls. She feels “so lucky to have that full-circle experience” and the opportunity to inspire a new generation of students.
These days, visitors can find Cates on the midways with Mickey Mouse, Winnie-the-Pooh and other Disney stars. When she’s not “where the magic is,” she’s navigating the park’s underground tunnels with various characters, organizing the next meet-and-greet. Each day brings a new set of delights and challenges, and Cates wouldn’t have it any other way.
“My favorite character is Cinderella,” she reflects, “and I think that I love the universality of her story and the message of being positive in the face of adversity. I also just love that I get to work at her castle!”
Magic of her own design
Kerry Moore, ‘17 visual communications, isn’t one to shrink from a challenge. Seeking more rigor and discussion-based learning in her college experience, she applied to transfer into the SCHC at the end of her first year. “It’s always been one of my greatest achievements to have been able to enter the Honors College and have the opportunity to take the classes I did with so many like-minded individuals,” she says.
That same determination fueled her path to being a graphic designer for Disney — a dream she’s had since she was nine years old. “When I went to USC,” she says, “I built my major and my minor around the fact that I wanted to be a graphic designer for Disney.” She credits USC’s visual communications program for helping her develop a variety of skills — photography, videography, web design, graphic design — and the SCHC for providing beyond-the-classroom experiences abroad and through an independent study.
“Having all of that education,” she reflects, “I thought Disney would love me.”
And eventually, the company would, but not before Moore submitted at least 20 applications. Throughout this process, she honed her skills by working in hospitality-focused design jobs in Charleston, South Carolina, and Orange County, Florida.
“I think that by doing that, I was telling myself: ‘I’m just building my resume. I’m getting a little bit closer to Disney,’ every single time that I changed jobs,” she says. “I told myself that I was still working on it.”
In 2022, her determination paid off when she began as a project hire on Disney’s technology & digital internal communications team. This past June, she obtained a permanent role as a digital designer — creative services, content creation and digital integration. She now works in Disney’s Feature Animation Building, where iconic films such as Lilo and Stitch, Brother Bear and Mulan were animated.
“I always joke that I am a graphic designer who cannot draw,” she laughs. “A lot of the people on my team can, though, and they make beautiful, wonderful graphics. What I’m mainly doing is taking photos that are provided to us from the account managers and creating fun text overlays over top of them or creating graphics using elements from Disney’s vast catalog of pre-made art.”
Her digital design work is all over Disney’s social media accounts and the Disney Parks Blog. Moore’s neon logo for Typhoon Lagoon water park’s H2O Glow event also dazzled guests this summer. She even helped celebrate the grand opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at the Magic Kingdom.
“I made these trading cards that got to be distributed for cast members,” she says. “When we were handing them out to the cast, it became something that was really exciting because I got to see on people’s faces how much they appreciated some of my designs.”
When she isn’t designing behind the scenes, Moore frequently visits her favorite park, EPCOT. “I love being a part of something that I’m passionate about outside of work.”
A dream is just the first step
Cates and Moore have some practical advice for students aspiring to careers in the hospitality and entertainment industry.
“Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty,” says Cates. “Start off small, even if you just come in and start with housekeeping or food and beverage. A lot of times that’s how people get started, and it’s such a good learning opportunity.”
“It’s so important that you don’t give up,” says Moore, “that if it doesn’t happen right away, that you keep building your resume and keep thinking about your dream because I think eventually you will achieve it. You will find that position that is perfect for you, and you will get your foot in the door, and you will make such an impact once you’re there, so long as you keep that passion within you and you keep going for it.”