CHOC Walk Disneyland: Walk in the Park 2024 Event Details

CHOC Walk is a fundraiser that takes place in Disneyland Park with the goal to raise funds for programs, education, and research for children in Southern California. CHOC Walk has been a Disney tradition for the past three decades and brings in about $3 million each year in programming for local kids. This year marks the return of the popular CHOC Walk in the Park at Disneyland which has not taken place since 2019!

Keep reading for the history behind the CHOC Walk, what CHOC is in Southern California, and how to join this popular fundraiser that takes place inside the Disneyland Resort.

CHOC Walk in the Park at Disneyland

While the 2024 CHOC Walk details have not yet been announced, you can see the information from last year for reference.

CHOC Walk in the Park, presented by Disneyland Resort, will return for the first time since 2019 as a theme park 5K experience on Sunday, August 20. The CHOC Walk will take place inside the Disneyland Resort and California Adventure.

After participants register, they will begin a three-mile course starting with a kick-off moment on Main Street, U.S.A. The route continues through Disneyland and California Adventure ending in a “festive finale.”

The CHOC Walk takes place before the parks open to the public so that is important to keep in mind. The CHOC Walk begins at 6AM.

It is also important to note that admission into Disneyland Park is not included with this event and you will leave the park before it officially opens for the day. Disneyland and California Adventure will both open at 9AM the day of the race and there will be no early entry offered. Hours and early entry will resume to normal the next day.

CHOC Walk Disneyland Crowds

The CHOC Walk in the Park at Disneyland has typically taken place in August each year. This is the first year the event will be returning in person since 2019 as it has been held virtually since then!

This is an extremely popular Southern California fundraiser and you can expect massive crowds to turn out for this day. If you are not attending the event, you need to grab your theme park reservation for this date as soon as they become available 60 days in advance. Hotel reservations might also become scarce for popular rooms at the Disneyland on-site hotels or nearby Good Neighbor hotels.

The event takes place at 6AM before the park officially opens for the day. The large crowd for this walk will take over the Downtown Disney area leading up to the event so if you don't plan on attending you may want to steer clear. In the past, it's been common to see Disneyland delay park opening on the day of the CHOC Walk. This year Disneyland will open at 9AM which is not too big of a delay from their usual 8AM opening time but this also means no early entry will be offered. This is often the biggest surprise to guests that are unaware of the CHOC Walk happening so it's good practice to always check your Disneyland app for current operating hours.

Registration Details

Here are the full registration details for last year's CHOC Walk in the Park at Disneyland:

All event participants ages 3 and older will need to register and reach the fundraising minimum in order to attend the event:

• Early bird fundraising minimum: $125 per person if you register by May 31, 2023
• General fundraising minimum: $150 per person if you register after June 1, 2023
  • Guests ages 2 and younger – FREE
  • This total may be reached through personal payments, donations from others, or a combination of both.

There is also a nonrefundable registration fee of $15 per person to reserve your spot. The $15 goes towards your fundraising minimum. To make fundraising even easier, there will be a specific app to help guests fundraise!

The deadline to reach your fundraising minimum is August 18-19th. Participants that don't reach their minimum before check-in can bring funds to check-in or pay the remaining balance at check-in in order to pick up their event wristband.

• In order to get your event wristband, you will need to check in before the day of the event. There will be no check-ins available on the event day.

Guests are welcome to dress up for the CHOC Walk and bring signs, banners, and balloons! It is encouraged to come dressed up in your best CHOC Walk swag, team shirts, and show some spirit.

You are also welcome to use your personal wheelchair or scooter in order to participate and double-wide strollers are also welcome. Costumes must not cover your face and no wagons are allowed. For the most part, this walk follows the regular Disneyland rules and regulations.

You will see an abundance of Disney characters along the route through the parks plus plenty of cast members cheering you on! The style of the way Disney holds this fundraiser is very similar to the runDisney events in spirit and with rare characters on the sidelines. This is a great event for Disney fans wanting to fundraise for a good cause.

Event Day Discounts

Guests participating in the CHOC Walk in the Park at Disneyland will receive free parking at Disneyland on the day of the event. You will need to show your CHOC Walk wristband when you arrive to receive the complimentary parking.

Hotel discounts will also be offered to CHOC Walk participants- more information coming soon! There will also be special discounts offered in Downtown Disney on the event day.

CHOC Walk History

CHOC is a nonprofit health system that provides care to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults in the Southern California area. CHOC’s mission statement is to nurture, advance and protect the health and well-being of children.

Their efforts have included building a new Southwest Tower to house outpatient services like an imaging center, research institute, specialty clinics, and more which will open in 2025. CHOC has also launched WellSpaces in the midst of the pediatric mental health crisis for students to unwind and access mental health support services. And another milestone this nonprofit has helped create is the Fetal Care Center in Southern California to provide maternal and fetal medicine.

CHOC Walk officially began in November 1990 with the first CHOC Walk stretching over five miles starting at Main Place Mall in Santa Ana and ending in the Disneyland parking lot. The walk continued to grow in popularity and in 2002 was transformed into CHOC Walk in the Park inside Disneyland. This was the first fundraising event of its kind at Disneyland and helped provide huge success for CHOC. In fact, that first walk was the biggest fundraising event in CHOC's history as it raised more than $550,000.