Pixar Place Hotel at Disneyland – Photo Tour, Reimagined Rooms, Details!

The Paradise Pier Hotel has undergone a major transformation as it is reimagined into the Pixar Place Hotel. This is part of a larger retheming from Paradise Pier to Pixar Pier that has been implemented in recent years, inspired by characters and movies from Pixar Animation Studios. In Pixar Pier, the transformation included the retheming of attractions and restaurants to highlight favorite stories like Inside Out, Toy Story, The Incredibles, and more.

Now, the Pixar transformation is completed with the introduction of the Pixar Place Hotel, which features new Pixar decor, artwork, and added conveniences for guests. Keep reading to learn more about this transformation! We will share details on Pixar Place Hotel's offerings, new details on dining locations released, and a photo tour of the newly opened hotel.

The hotel transformation brings a new layer of improved furnishings and lovable theme to the hotel. After months of construction and slow changes, the transformation came together quickly in the final days before the official opening. Now, the complete product exceeds out expectations.

Disneyland Pixar Place Hotel Theme

The Pixar Place Hotel embraces the “artistry of Pixar” into its existing structure, featuring artwork and decorations that highlight the creative processes of artists who brought our favorite Pixar stories to life, from early sketches to finished designs.

The design of the hotel is similar in concept to the Lamplight Lounge, a dining spot that was added to Disney California Adventure during the Pixar Pier expansion, which features “Pixar treasures sprinkled into the California casual décor” and is full of exciting references and details. You can read our dining review of brunch and dinner at the Lamplight Lounge for more information on this popular spot.

In the lobby, guests are greeted by the iconic Pixar Ball and Lamp with a character-inspired mobile hanging above. The mobile “will depict the beginning stages of Pixar filmmaking,” featuring the more abstract designs that animators create with basic shapes and colors for the characters. The appearance of these characters “at the beginning of their journey” is a nice touch that is meant to reflect the guests' experience first stepping into the Pixar Place Hotel lobby to start their own adventure.

See the lobby below, which is a colorful blend of Pixar imagery and a contemporary design. This space turned out beautifully!

“At Pixar, our mission is to tell great stories. And nothing is more exciting than when we see those stories come to life in Disney parks. Pixar Place Hotel at the Disneyland Resort is the perfect example – it’s like walking into a world of Pixar. It’s truly immersive, and we’re thrilled to have collaborated with Walt Disney Imagineering to make such an experience possible for guests,” said Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter.

At the Pixar Place Hotel, guests will have the opportunity to meet Pixar characters like Joe Gardner from “Soul” and Bing Bong (who is appearing for the first time at any Disney property!) from “Inside Out.” Hotel guests can meet Bing Bong, who will make daily appearances with his rocket wagon on the rooftop level near the Pixar Shorts Court area and the pools. Joe Gardner will be playing the piano in a “Soul”-inspired alcove, sharing some jazz tunes and engaging with guests to learn what their passion is! Joe will be appearing five days a week on select days at the Pixar Place Hotel.

See the rooftop Bing Bong meet-and-greet area below:

Pixar Place Hotel will be collaborating with the celebration for Pixar Fest, which will occur at the Disneyland Resort this year from April 26 through August 4, 2024.

Keep reading for a full photo tour of the Pixar Place Hotel, including a look inside the reimagined guest rooms, new dining offerings, and more!

Opening Day Pixar Place Hotel

On January 30, 2024, Pixar Place Hotel opened as the first fully Pixar-themed hotel in the United States, and favorite Pixar characters made an appearance. See Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Frozone, and Edna from “The Incredibles” in the photo above!

Pixar friends like Bing Bong and Joy from “Inside Out,” Carl and Russel from “Up,” Miguel from “Coco,” Buzz Lightyear and Woody from “Toy Story,” and Lightning McQueen and Mater were also present to celebrate the opening of the Pixar Place Hotel.

Pixar Place Hotel Lobby Area

Around the lobby area, you'll find decor highlighting the creative process behind beloved Pixar stories. The creatives behind the hotel expressed how they wanted to highlight the combination of art and technology, showcasing a part of the process of making Pixar films that people haven't seen as much, like wireframes showing when characters go from a sketch to being built into the computer. They also described this as a space that could evolve and adapt to new stories when they come out, so the space could potentially feature rotating characters and stories.

You'll find engaging artwork around the lobby area, like this mural inspired by Pixar's “Luca”:

See this colorful mural depicting characters from “Finding Nemo” and furniture that complements the vibrancy of the artwork:

See this beautifully lit area featuring Joe Gardner from “Soul” playing the piano!

See the counselors from The Great Before from “Soul” in the stairway with a purple-hued background.

Pixar touches are around every corner! See silhouettes of Pixar characters throughout the floor of the lobby like Bing Bong, pictured below:

Sketches portraying Edna with different expressions and a wireframe of Edna are seen against a bold red background.

See sketches and a wireframe of Panda Mei from “Turning Red” striking various poses.

You'll find sketches of Buzz Lightyear in various action poses jumping, landing, etc. and a wireframe of the character against a soft blue background.

Around the lobby, you'll see images of Pixar characters with illuminated, colorful borders, like Lightning McQueen, Joy, and Miguel pictured below. The creatives behind the hotel mentioned that they wanted to highlight emotional moments in the characters' journeys when they've made a discovery about themselves or their world. I think these moments were perfectly captured and especially love the one of Miguel.

See more of the images of Merida and Joe Gardner with illuminated borders:

See these models of the Incredibles family in action stances displayed in glass casing below:

Next to the Disney Vacation Club area is a colorful, interactive play area for kids.

One interesting part of the design is how it incorporates the rear entry of the lobby, knowing that most guests enter the hotel through there coming from the parking structure. The creatives mentioned that they wanted to make the journey through this entrance memorable, so they regarded the space as the “rear arrival sequence” as opposed to just the back door and designed the experience of entering from here to show the different stages of design, from sketches on the walls to wireframes to the renderings in the lobby. See the impressive design of the exterior of this entrance below:

Creators Club

The concierge lounge inside the Pixar Place Hotel called the “Creators Club” will open to concierge-level guests later this year. The second-floor lounge will offer a selection of snacks and beverages operated by the Great Maple. The Creators Club was designed to be a tribute to the collaboration between Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering. You'll find attraction posters, concept art, maquettes, a playlist of music from Pixar experiences from Disney Parks around the world, and more in this space.

See an attraction poster for Radiator Springs Racers and concept art of Cars Land decorating the walls of the space:

Here is an idea of the kinds of foods that will be available at the Creators Club:

See more attraction posters, concept art, and furniture decorating the space.

You'll find concept art of Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World:

See a Toy Story Land poster and maquette of a Woody’s Round-Up vehicle from Shanghai Disneyland.

Here is a closer look at an Alien Swirling Saucers ride vehicle maquette:

You can also study the concept art of the Alien Swirling Saucers ride:

See the concept artwork for Jessie's Critter Carousel on the walls of the space along with a snake ride vehicle from the attraction:

The Creators Club is a really interesting space with much to explore!

Pixar Place Hotel Reimagined Guest Rooms

Pixar Place Hotel features reimagined guest rooms with Pixar-inspired touches throughout. In the rooms, you will find cute decorative touches like Pixar Ball-themed pillows, lighting resembling the Pixar Lamp, artwork of favorite Pixar characters on the walls, headboards with concept art from Pixar films, and more. A great detail is that these are arranged from warm to cool colors, which is meant to emphasize the importance of color in establishing the tone of a scene. Also, some of the art was created by Pixar Animation Studios artists specifically for Pixar Place Hotel!

On the opening day of the Pixar Place Hotel, we toured a suite that sleeps nine people and a standard room. See the bed from the suite below with headboards featuring concept artwork:

See some of the really fun artwork of Pixar characters featured on the walls of the room!

Here is a look at the bathroom of the suite, with cute decorative touches like a bubble design on the wall:

See Pixar touches incorporated here with artwork of the Pixar Ball and Lamp:

Here is a look at the living area of the suite:

A Pixar Ball and Lamp pattern is featured on the lamp above the table area:

See the kitchen area of the Pixar Place Hotel suite we toured:

Here is a look at one of the standard rooms we toured. These standard rooms we saw are unique in that they have direct access to the pool, which standard rooms on other levels would not have but are otherwise the same.

This is a look inside the bathroom of the standard room:

We love the cute and clever design of the “Up” house in the elevators!

When the final touches are finished for Pixar Place Hotel later this year, Pixar Place Hotel will offer 479 total guest rooms, including two new, two-bedroom themed signature suites, as well as a new concierge lounge.

The Coco Suite will feature vibrant Oaxacan art paying tribute to Miguel and his family, and the midcentury modern Incredibles Suite will include “Parr family memorabilia with a spy-fi twist.”

New Dining At the Pixar Place Hotel

The Great Maple has opened a flagship restaurant on Pixar Place Hotel's first floor, and it also operates other dining locations at Pixar Place Hotel. The Great Maple is a contemporary restaurant known for its comfort food with a twist, and its menu offers a wide variety of brunch, lunch, and dinner options.

The restaurant features signature dishes including the Cajun Shrimp & Cheddar Biscuit Benedict, Soda Pop-Braised Baby Back Ribs, Charred Cauliflower Hummus, Maple Pecan-Crusted Salmon, Market Fish, a variety of inspired salads, and Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Maple Bacon Doughnuts. Great Maple also has a full bar including beer, wine, and cocktails.

Great Maple also operates a new grab ‘n' go coffee shop, will provide food and beverage service to the Creators Club when it opens, and will operate the rooftop pool bar when it opens.

The Sketch Pad Cafe

The new grab-and-go coffee shop in the lobby called The Sketch Pad Cafe offers assorted pastries, coffee, and tea.

The design of The Sketch Pad Cafe is eye-catching with bright pops of color!

See some of the sketches on the wall of iconic Pixar characters against vibrant backgrounds:

Small Bytes 

A new menu will be featured on the rooftop pool bar called Small Bytes, which will serve salads, wraps, assorted cheese plates, and more menu items alongside signature beverages. Small Bytes will be opening in early March. The outside of the bar has 22 pixel-art style portraits of Pixar characters designed specifically for the hotel, as seen in the photo above!

Pixar Place Rooftop Recreation Areas

The Pixar Place Hotel has a new Finding Nemo water play area on the hotel's rooftop pool deck. Guests can enjoy the Pixel Pool, Crush's Surfin' Slide, and the pop-jet splash pad at Nemo's Cove with Hank from Finding Dory.

Disney Parks shared a fun POV glimpse of Crush's Surfin' Slide in a video on Instagram:

 

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Here is a glimpse of the pool area at the Pixar Place Hotel:

See a look at the cabana rentals near the pool:

Here is a look at the hot tub in the pool area:

In the pool area, you'll also find couches and fire pits inspired by “hotheaded” Pixar characters like Jack-Jack from Pixar’s The Incredibles and Anger from Pixar’s Inside Out.

Look at how cute the new fire pits are!

The pool deck is also the ideal place to take in the view of the Disneyland fireworks.

Pixar Place Pool Deck

On the Pixar Place Hotel deck, there is a family play court featuring fun activities. At the Pixar Shorts Court, you can enjoy outdoor games themed to Pixar short films, such as Bao Toss, Follow the Leader, Shuffleboard, and Burrow Path, themed to “Bao,” “For the Birds” “La Luna” and “Burrow.” Guests can also relax under the love-struck umbrellas from “The Blue Umbrella.”

I imagine this area will invoke a similar sense of inclusive play and freedom we have seen in the recent redesign of Disneyland's Toontoon area. 

New Expanded Fitness Center at Pixar Place Hotel

Pixar Place Hotel recently opened a new and expanded fitness center featuring cute Pixar details like a mural of Mike and Sulley running on a treadmill that is inspired by Monsters University. The fitness center offers treadmills, free weights, and additional complimentary workout features for hotel guests.

Pixar Place Hotel Gift Shop

The Pixar Place Hotel gift shop is called STOR-E, a cute take on the beloved Pixar film name WALL-E.

The store features Pixar-themed apparel and toys as well as Disneyland Resort souvenirs and sundries.

Entrance from Pixar Place Hotel to California Adventure

A new walkway allows Pixar Place Hotel guests direct access to Disney California Adventure. It used to be that just Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa offered direct access to the park, but now both hotels provide a convenient entrance for their guests.

As a Disney Resort Hotel, Pixar Place Hotel will also offer the benefit of Early Entry to the parks, where hotel guests can experience the park 30 minutes prior to the official opening. To make the most of your mornings at Disney California Adventure, make sure to check out our Disney California Adventure Morning Strategy!

Guests can enjoy Pixar Pier, which features rides like the Incredicoaster, Pixar Pal-A-Round, Jessie's Critter Carousel, Toy Story Midway Mania, and more. Be sure to read our guide to Pixar Pier for everything you need to know about the land, including reviews of the experiences offered!

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