I've worked adjacent to the Disney tech recruiting pipeline and get asked about this a lot, so here's an honest breakdown of what a Disney recruiter phone screen typically covers.
First, it's usually 30 minutes, sometimes 45. The recruiter is not testing your coding or system design. They're doing three things: confirming you're a real candidate who can communicate clearly, assessing whether your background actually fits the role, and checking that your comp expectations aren't miles off.
What they'll ask: Walk me through your background (have a 2-minute version ready, not 5) What attracts you to Disney specifically? (vague answers here are a yellow flag, be specific about streaming tech, theme park ops, or whatever org you're targeting) Why are you leaving/looking now? What does your current scope look like? Team size, systems you own, scale. Timeline: when are you available, do you have other processes going? Comp: what are you targeting? They almost always ask. Be ready with a number.
What catches people off guard:
The Disney screen leans harder into 'why Disney' than most companies. It's not a gotcha, it's genuine. There are lots of places to work in entertainment tech and streaming; they want to know you've thought about it. Saying 'I love the Disney brand' is not enough. Saying 'I'm interested in the challenges of personalizing content across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ under one platform' is much better.
Also: they will ask about your experience with scale. Disney+ went from zero to 150M subscribers fast and the engineering org still thinks in those terms. If you have stories about high-traffic systems, lead with them.
Typically 1-2 weeks from screen to hiring manager call if things go well. Response times vary a lot by team and time of year.