Guide to 2024 Pixar Fest food at Disneyland with photos, reviews
Pixar Fest has returned to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. with dozens of food and beverage items inspired by Pixar films.
By Carly Caramanna
Adventure is out there … for your appetite. Pixar Fest is back — for the first time since 2018 — and it’s bigger and better than ever. The celebration of these beloved films is a journey for the palate, extending directly to the fork with dozens of colorful Pixar-themed food and sips found festival-wide: from hearty dishes with Southern California flair, like the “Coco”-inspired fried huarache, to a “Luca” basil pesto pasta.
I had the opportunity to attend a Pixar Fest preview event and sample some of its food offerings. Here are some thoughts:
Practical Tips for Dining at Pixar Fest 2024
Be prepared. There are dozens of dining options found throughout the entire resort, including at both theme parks, Downtown Disney, and the hotels. Study menus in advance.
Mobile order when available. Take advantage of mobile order in the Disneyland app (in advance, if possible). And if you’re interested in purchasing accompanying merchandise, like the adorable alien macaron straw clip, you’ll want to book those mobile order windows early.
Pixar Fest will expand with even more dining options starting May 10, 2024. The festival will add themed marketplace booths at Disney California Adventure, similar to the park’s seasonal food festivals. Each booth’s food and drinks will be themed to a different Pixar movie, including “Ratatouille,” “Turning Red,” and more. The Sip and Savor Pass will not be offered once the marketplace booths open.
Legitimately Spicy Theme Park Food
As a spicy food lover, I’m often underwhelmed when a theme park advertises a food as “spicy” and then falls short of this promise. And I totally get it. But at Pixar Fest, I found what may be the spiciest bites I’ve ever had in a park.
The Mood Swing Mac & Cheese, which will be available at the Hanger Management marketplace booth (inspired by “Inside Out”), comes with half portions of a mild Joyful Yellow Comforting Mac & Cheese and the Angry Red Hot Mac & Cheese. The mac and cheese itself is delightfully creamy with perfectly al dente noodles. With a high tolerance for spicy foods, the Angry Red Hot version is extremely spicy but flavorful — and I found myself going back for more.
Friends combined both mac and cheese varieties to mild out the flavor, but I preferred to be daring. This is a win for theme park lovers who enjoy spice.
Balanced but Spicy Cocktail
Pixar Fest 2024 is heavy on eats, but also offers specialty drinks, including the usual gambit of flavored Joffrey’s coffee concoctions and sweet cocktails.
I found myself going back for second helpings of one drink in particular (which isn’t always the case with the often cloyingly sweet specialty cocktails). The Exothermic Margarita, which will debut May 10 at the Elemental Table marketplace booth, is incredibly well-rounded. Tequila and ancho chile liqueur is balanced out by passion fruit nectar, lime and grapefruit juices, and agave nectar.
The welcomed level of spice does a nice job of mellowing out the sweetness. The rock candy stick is unnecessary, but makes for a good photo.
Rat Pizza Reigns Supreme
All jokes aside about rat pizza — PizzeRizzo just hits sometimes — but one of my favorite bites at the preview event was the Ratatouille Pizzetta, which will be part of Gusteau’s To-Go marketplace both.
The mini personal pizza has flavorful dough topped with mozzarella, eggplant, squash, zucchini, tomato sauce, and a wedge of cheese. The flavors hit all the right marks and the dish feels elevated. I also loved the generous chunk of French camembert on top.
B is for Bao
Disneyland does bao buns well, with year-round favorites available at The Tropical Hideaway in Adventureland, so I was pleasantly surprised that the heavy presence of “Turning Red” at Pixar Fest introduced a new bun.
The aesthetically appealing Red Panda Bao is of considerable size and loaded with a pork and vegetable stuffing. The bun itself is of perfect consistency. While I could use a bit more flavor from the stuffing, it’s quite solid and a filling offering. This will be available from the marketplace booth named 4*Town Fav*4*ites after Mei’s favorite boyband.
You’ll Have to Really Love Bologna for this Next One
I have very few hard limits when it comes to food, but bologna is one of them. I’m cool with other processed meats, like Spam, but there’s something with bologna that I simply can’t get past.
Pixar Fest is once again offering a fried bologna sandwich from Carnation Cafe. For *science* I did take a bite. The meat (can we even call it that?) is far too thick and the mayo is quite the hefty portion, with no detection of the advertised mustard or Monterey jack. I’ll never yuck another person’s yum, but this dish feels solely for the bologna lover.
The Cake Pops are Quite Sweet
While adorable and totally Insta-worthy, Pixar Fest’s cake pops are quite sweet. The base of the cake pop is ground-up cooked cake, made almost into a sand, mixed with frosting and rolled into a ball form. Disney goes heavy on the frosting, making this very sweet and almost mimicking raw cookie dough.
More Pixar Fest Food Photos
Pixar Fest Videos
Pixar Fest continues now through Aug. 4, 2024 exclusively at the Disneyland Resort. Along with specialty food, the festival offers exclusive merchandise, a new parade, a family-friendly nightclub, and more.
Explore Pixar Fest 2024 in our previous story and with videos from the Attractions Magazine YouTube channel.
If you’re interested in visiting Disneyland Resort, we recommend Mouse Fan Travel for a free, no-obligation quote and free help throughout your trip.
