Each year at Disneyland Resort in Southern California, thousands of participants gather for CHOC Walk in the Park– a charity event in support of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, which has its roots tied to Walt Disney as well.
In the embedded YouTube video below, you can watch as Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock is joined by The Incredibles and other guests for CHOC Walk 2024’s opening ceremony in Disneyland’s Hub.
Watch CHOC Walk 2024 – opening ceremony at Disneyland:
Prior to the opening ceremony, we arrived at Disneyland Resort quite early in the morning to prepare for this year’s CHOC Walk to kick off.
Then as dawn started to break, participants began to flood down Main Street USA ahead of the opening ceremony.
In the embedded Twitter video below, you can watch the first attendees make their way down Main Street USA.
After the opening ceremony, CHOC Walk itself kicked off by circling the Hub then making its way through Adventureland and New Orleans Square, where we spotted Indiana Jones, a steel-drum calypso band, Pirate Redd and Captain Jack Sparrow himself.
In Frontierland, we encountered Princess Tiana with Louis the alligator, along with Pocahontas and her pal Meeko. Disney Cast Member Volunt-Ears cheered us on as we passed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Next the course turned into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, where we spotted Chewbacca and Rey waving down from above Black Spire Outpost.
The most exciting part of this year’s route for me was getting to go through a backstage area behind Galaxy’s Edge that I had never personally seen before. I was quite surprised to find that Disneyland was allowing photography back there!
Also backstage were a couple floats from the “Magic Happens” parade for CHOC Walk participants to see up close and pose for photos with.
This backstage area was also decorated with other photo ops and informational signage about CHOC Walk’s history.
From there we turned back into Galaxy’s Edge near the Millennium Falcon, past some more Volunt-Ears (and even a couple First Order stormtroopers) then back out into Frontierland along the Big Thunder trail.
In Fantasyland we encountered Mary Poppins and Bert at the King Arthur Carrousel, and then the Mad Hatter by the Mad Tea Party attraction.
As we wound our way through Tomorrowland and out of Disneyland’s main entrance, we got waves from Stitch and Daisy Duck.
Then it was time to cross the Disneyland Resort esplanade into Disney California Adventure, where Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was stationed in a Red Car Trolley. Other characters included Mike Wazowski in front of the Monsters Inc. attraction, Spider-Man, Shang-Chi, and Ms. Marvel in Avengers Campus, and Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater in Cars Land.
As we made our way around Pixar Pier, we passed by the Trash Can Trio entertaining walkers, Bo Peep from the Toy Story films, Sadness and Joy from Inside Out, a Magic Key photo op at the Silly Symphony Swings, the Luxo Jr. float from the “Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration” parade, and a fun DJ.
In the video below you can see what it was like to cross the finish line in DCA for CHOC Walk 2024.
As we approached the finish line near Carthay Circle, we were cheered on by more Volunt-Ears and announcers. Then we even spotted aviator Goofy outside Soarin’ Around the World before we exited the park itself.
Out in the Downtown Disney District after the end of the route, a number of restaurants and shops were offering special discounts and operating times for CHOC Walk, and the CHOCO Bear mascot held a meet-and-greet by the former Tortilla Jo’s location.
And while last year we had to deal with hurricane weather during CHOC Walk 2023, in 2024 the only issue was a traffic jam while trying to get out of the Pixar Pals parking structure– surely a sign that CHOC Walk is more popular than ever, and nobody really minded because it’s for such a good cause.
For additional information on CHOC Walk and to prepare for next year’s event, be sure to visit the CHOC Organization’s official website.