California residents are going to be able to take the Happiest Place on Earth with them wherever they drive. California State Treasurer’s Office and California State Treasurer Fiona Ma announced today a new collaboration with the Disneyland Resort, the California Children’s Hospital Association (CCHA), and the California Health Facilities Financing Authority (CHFFA) to raise money for children’s hospitals throughout the state through the sales of a Disneyland-themed specialized license plate.
“In this time when Californians are struggling to get access to care, we are thrilled to help unlock new funding to help expand care, improve health outcomes, and promote the well-being of children with serious and complex medical needs,” said Treasurer Fiona Ma, CPA, chair of CHFFA. “I applaud the creativity of the Disneyland community in dreaming up this incredible opportunity and am grateful to our colleagues at the California Children’s Hospital Association for sharing this vision and working to make this collaboration a reality. We look forward to advancing this application, revealing the design, and launching preorders in the months ahead.” 
This collaboration is just the start of the process of creating a Disneyland-themed plate. This will then need the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) approval so that it can join the Special License Plate Program. Eventually, this plate will be available for purchase for California-registered vehicles. The process will include the submission of an application, approval of the design, and then reaching a pre-order minimum of 7,500 license plates before it becomes a reality.
The goal of this program is to support essential but uncompensated healthcare services and programs. This includes certain personnel and clinical educational costs along with patient- and family-centered support services that support children’s care, recovery, and well-being.
“Walt Disney was dedicated to bringing the magic of Disney to children’s hospitals, and we are honored to carry that legacy forward,” said Disneyland Resort President Jill Estorino. “By deepening our support for children’s hospitals right here in California, we are reinforcing Walt’s promise to deliver moments of joy, comfort and inspiration to kids when they need it most.”
Walt Disney helped found the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, now known as Rady Children’s Health Orange County. His legacy of commitment to children and the care of children continues today with the Disneyland Resort’s support of this hospital and the annual CHOC Walk in the Park.
Specialized plates cost $50 for sequential and $103 for personalized (plus a non-refundable credit card processing fee), with an annual renewal fee of $40 or $83, respectively, in addition to standard vehicle registration fees. The revenue that is generated from the sale of these plates would be deposited into the program fund and awarded to the 13 children’s hospitals in California. This would be minus administrative fees.
“Children’s hospitals care for patients with the most serious and complex medical conditions like cancer, congenital heart disease, and cystic fibrosis. Delivering that care takes a team of passionate, highly-skilled professionals working together to support every part of a child’s healing,” said Ann-Louise Kuhns, President & CEO of CCHA. “We’re grateful to CHFFA and Disneyland for this initiative, which will support children and families going through some of their toughest moments and help these children get back to the most important job of all: being kids.”
The hospitals that are a part of this program include the state’s five eligible University of California general acute care children’s hospitals and eight nonprofit general acute care children’s hospitals. These include:
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
- Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital
- Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford
- MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach
- Rady Children’s Health Orange County
- Rady Children’s Health San Diego
- UC Davis Children’s Hospital
- UC Irvine Health Children’s Hospital
- UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital
- UC San Diego Health Children’s Hospital
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco
- Valley Children’s Hospital
For those who want more information about the Disneyland License Plate Benefiting Children’s Hospital Program, visit: https://treasurer.ca.gov/chffa/plates. This is where information about the design will be shared, along with opportunities to preorder when they become available.
What do you think of a Disneyland Resort-themed license plate in California? Would you want one? Would you get one? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
