Leanna Torres sent one message to a group of fellow creators in 2024, asking if they wanted to walk a 5k through Disneyland together. The first-year team consisted of seven people. Two years later the team has tripled in size, and the creators in it reach more than three million people between their platforms.
The team is ChEARS for CHOC. The event is the annual CHOC Walk at Disneyland Resort, and it’s a 5k route through both Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure park benefiting children and families who have received care at Rady Children’s Hospital Orange County. Thousands of walkers gather under Sleeping Beauty Castle in the early morning hours, reuniting with loved ones and trading stories before the start.
Why a Disneyland cast member built the team
Torres has spent more than 10 years as a cast member at Disneyland Resort, and it’s personal for her. Some of her younger family members received care through the hospital, and so did her son. Away from the parks she built an audience online by sharing pieces of her life, and the creators she met there care about the same things she does: storytelling, kindness, giving back.
When those platforms combine, the audience is enormous, and Torres wanted to point it at something useful. So in 2024 she sent the group a simple idea: form a team and walk that year’s CHOC Walk. She didn’t even get to finish explaining before everyone was in. They landed on ChEARS for CHOC, a name that nods to both the Disney community they came from and the kids the walk supports.
How ChEARS for CHOC grew
They talked about it constantly, through daily posts, stories and videos, and donations started coming in from their communities. On the morning of the walk they lined up on Main Street, U.S.A. surrounded by families, friends, cast members and supporters. Some teams wore matching shirts. Others carried photos of loved ones.
Everybody there was walking for somebody: parents for their children, grandparents for their grandchildren.
Torres says the finish line settled it. Nobody had to say much, because this wasn’t going to be a one-time thing. She turned to the team and asked, “See you next year?” In 2025 the roster doubled. In 2026, for the group’s third walk, it tripled.
For Torres, that morning turns Disneyland into something bigger than the Happiest Place on Earth, a place where hope gets celebrated. Seven walkers turning into a reach in the millions is a lot of ground to cover from one message to a group of friends.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
Discover more from Theme Park Shark
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
