Pixar Place Hotel celebrates grand opening at the Disneyland Resort

Formally Paradise Pier Hotel, the completely reimagined Pixar Place is the first hotel fully-themed to Pixar in the U.S., celebrating the process of Pixar animation, from sketch to screen.

Pixar Place Lobby

Since many Pixar Place guests enter through the rear lobby, Imagineers paid extra attention to this area to guarantee the Pixar experience starts from moment one. The hallway features original rough character sketches and computer-generated wireframes, including Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies and Red Panda Mei from “Turning Red.”

Fun Fact: Every single Pixar film (to date) is represented at the hotel – even the Pixar shorts (and more will be added as new films are released).

The check-in desk features character renderings with colorful illuminated frames, which twinkle when the music from their films plays as part of the hotel’s custom soundtrack.

But the stars of the show are the massive Luxo Jr. lamp and yellow Pixar Ball located in the hotel’s atrium below a whimsical character mobile suspended from the skylight.

There are also 16 character silhouettes embedded into the lobby floor, a nod to the Pixar campus in Northern California, which has similar “Easter eggs” – though they have different characters.

One more fun feature in the lobby is the sliding doors at the main entrance. When the doors are open, Mike and Sully from “Monsters Inc.” are far apart, but when they close, the two pals come together, and Mike turns green.

Exclusive Characters

Guests at Pixar Place Hotel can meet two exclusive Pixar characters, both making their first appearance at Disneyland.

Five days a week, Joe Gardner from “Soul” appears in the lobby to play jazz on the piano (his “spark”) and interact with guests to find out about theirs.

Every day, Bing Bong from “Inside Out” will meet guests by his rainbow wagon on the pool deck, but according to Hotel General Manager Ron Silagyi, he will also roam around the hotel, so guests will never know when the imaginary friend may pop up.

Pool Deck

The third-floor pool deck includes the newly re-imagined Crush water slide and all-new “Finding Nemo-“themed kids splash pad.

In addition, the “Shorts Court” play area features family-friendly games themed to Pixar shorts, including Shuffleboard themed to the Oscar-nominated Pixar short “La Luna,” and the Bao Toss themed to the Academy Award-winning Pixar short “Bao.”

A nearby seating area features fire pits themed to the four Pixar characters who (conveniently) have fire coming out of their heads: the volcano from “Lava,” Anger from “Inside Out,” Jack Jack from “The Incredibles,” and Ember from “Elemental.”

There’s also a new fireplace area, which, according to Imagineer Joey Caporaso, provides the best view of Disneyland’s fireworks outside the park. Here, hotel guests can watch the fireworks while the show’s soundtrack plays.

Last but certainly not least, Small Bytes (which will open in March) serves burgers, salads, snacks, and signature floats. During the media tour, we were able to try sample-sized versions of the cheese and pepperoni Pizza Bagel (described as an elevated version of the childhood classic), the SoCal Fruit Cart (seasonal fruit with lime juice, tajin, and cinnamon yogurt), and the nonalcoholic Limoncello Float (Italian lemon soda, yuzu sorbet, crushed sour lemon candy, and whipped cream).

Guest Rooms

The redesigned guest rooms feature updated – and, of course, Pixar-themed – bedding and rugs with the Pixar ball and lamp, respectively. The desk lamps are (naturally) replica’s of Pixar’s mascot, Luxo Jr.

Original artwork that includes a rainbow mural of characters above the beds and a series of characters in a “run cycle.”

“If you take a photos of each character and play it back on your phone, it will be an animated run,” says Creative Director, Theme Parks at Pixar Animation Studios Tasha Sounart. “ And the curved lines in the background are the animator’s computer program that we would use to adjust the timing of their run.”

Rooms on the third floor have the extra benefit of direct access to the pool deck, Crush water slide, “shorts court” play area, and, let’s not forget, the Bing Bong meet-and-greet location.

Later this year, the hotel will debut two new specialty suites themed to “Coco” and “The Incredibles.”

Dining at Pixar Place Hotel

In addition to Small Bytes by the pool, the hotel has two eateries in the lobby. Sketch Pad Café serves grab-and-go breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and a few items made to order). The café features sketches that illustrate how Pixar characters evolved from animators’ rough ideas to their appearance onscreen.

The main restaurant, Great Maple, is a Southern California-based restaurant serving American comfort food with a twist. Although everything on the Great Maple menu is delicious, they’re famous for their Maple Bacon donuts – and, really, is that a surprise to anyone?

Benefits of Staying at Pixar Place

Along with the other two onsite hotels at the Disneyland Resort – The Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian – Pixar Place Hotel offers early park entry to Disneyland or California Adventure (depending on the day), but Pixar Place guests can also take advantage of an exclusive entrance to California Adventure, which lands them right in the middle of the park rather than having to battle crowds at the main gates (a huge plus, in my opinion).

Exclusive activities only available to resort hotel guests include “learn to draw classes,” pre-park opening in-park yoga and fitness classes, and, of course, the chance to meet Bing Bong.

But that’s not all.

While nothing has been officially announced, Silagyi told the media that the hotel is looking forward to partnering with the parks for special activities tied to Pixar Fest, which returns to Disneyland for the first time since 2018, from April 26 through Aug. 4, 2024.

Pixar Fest will include “Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular” fireworks show (with new scenes) in Disneyland and the all-new daytime parade “Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration” in California Adventure, which features the first appearance of Red Panda Mei from “Turning Red” – not to mention all five members of 4*Town.

Click here for more information about Pixar Place Hotel.