During Pixar Fest at Disneyland earlier this year, a new daytime parade debuted in Disney California Adventure featuring a variety of popular Pixar characters and stories. Pixar Fest included a Pixar-themed fireworks show, new character experiences, and brand new merchandise and food items, along with the new Pixar parade.
The parade Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! features high energy performances from over two dozen Pixar characters that does a great job of incorporating the newest films like Luca, Soul, Turning Red along with classics from The Incredibles, Coco, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc.
We had the chance to see this parade debut at Disneyland's California Adventure and we have all the best tips for this new parade PLUS our photo review of all the parade floats! Keep reading for everything you need to know about Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! and details that were recently revealed about the parade's return!
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Pixar Parade Returning to Disneyland
A casting notice has revealed that “Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!” is returning, with roles matching the previous casting call that was put out for the parade's original run during Pixar Fest. While Disney has not formally announced the parade's return, the call sheet for Joe Gardner confirms that this casting is for “Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!”
Below is our original review and photo overview of the “Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!” parade from last year. The parade was fun, but not something that we expected to see come back immediately, especially since Disneyland has been making entertainment cuts and last summer created the Rogers: The Musical Marvel show that has not been mentioned since then. You can see some more thoughts on when the parade will likely return below.
Last year when they were developing the parade, the casting notice went out a month earlier, which is likely because it was a new parade at the time and this year it would just be returning. That difference in timeline still gives us a look at when the parade could debut. Assuming the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival is returning in the spring, this event will take over the parade route, so a parade like this would happen after the end of that festival. We do not yet have dates for the 2025 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. The parade could also end up switching over to Disneyland Park rather than running in Disney California Adventure in which case it could start at any point next year.
We can assume that this is likely part of Disneyland's 70th anniversary celebration, which is coming up next year. We do not yet have dates for the 70th anniversary celebration, but this news further makes us think that it will start in summer instead of January as we discussed could be possible. A summer start for the celebration would help Disney to draw in attendance during these months before the popular Halloween and Christmas celebrations. The previous 50th and 60th celebrations started in the summer and ran for a year or longer.
Disney previously teased that the popular Paint the Night parade would return, which we anticipate will be part of the 70th anniversary celebration.
Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!
Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration takes place twice daily at California Adventure during Pixar Fest. Pixar Fest officially begins at Disneyland on April 26th, 2024 and runs through August 4th, 2024.
Currently, the Disneyland calendar shows the parade showtimes as 4PM and 6:30PM at California Adventure.
Magic Happens will still be running during the duration of Pixar Fest which means guests will have the choice of two Disneyland parades to attend. This will also help spread out some of the demand for both parades!
NEW Pixar Fest Parade Review
We had the opportunity to see a soft opening of the Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! at California Adventure today as part of the Disneyland media event for Pixar Fest and here are our thoughts on this new Pixar parade.
Keep in mind, this Pixar Fest parade is much different than the 2018 version that took place during the last Pixar Fest and is much longer. While I did see the reuse of some floats from that parade and the Block Party Bash, the parade was a nice combination of past Pixar callbacks and integration of brand new Pixar characters. This parade features so many characters and it is exciting to see new characters debut in a parade for the first time.
One of the first things I also noticed was the catchy song that weaves throughout the entire parade performance. Disney usually succeeds at catchy parade songs!
The parade features characters from Up which is a fan favorite Pixar film.
Carl and Dug from Up ride this float that follows Kevin and Russell. This parade float was featured in the original Pixar Play Parade and I'm happy Disney brought it back.
And one of the most anticipated parade floats features the characters from Turning Red. Red Panda Mei and her friends are rocking out to their favorite boy band 4*Town on this giant parade float. Disney knocked it out of the park with this one! The crowd was visibly excited for the Turning Red characters. It was great to see these new Pixar characters incorporated in a Disneyland parade!
The characters from the Pixar film Luca also made their Disneyland parade debut! This parade is a great way to see a TON of Pixar characters, especially so many new characters we've never seen in the parks before.
In the grand finale, guests can see a large variety of classic Pixar characters like Woody from Toy Story pictured above.
The Incredibles are also featured!
The finale includes a float featuring Mike and Sulley from Monsters, Inc. plus Jessie and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.
Miguel from Coco is also featured in the finale. I did find myself wishing Coco got its own presence in the parade but that movie is predominantly featured with a pretty impressive float in the Magic Happens parade so it makes sense that other films were included instead.
This is a great mix of characters from classic Pixar films to the most recent films like Turning Red and Luca! Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! is a parade that many guests will enjoy since these Pixar films are so popular with audiences. Most notably, the Turning Red parade float seemed to be a hit!
Pixar Fest Parade Dining Package
There is a Pixar Pals Dessert Package available for the new Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! that includes reserved seating along the parade route at Sonoma Terrace.
The price is $69 per guest ages three and up. Guests ages 2 and younger are free but need to sit on the lap of an adult. Each ticket provides reserved seating for viewing at Sonoma Terrace, unlimited soft drinks and bottled water plus a specialty cocktail, and a dessert place of Pixar inspired desserts and cheese.
Guests can select a time for either the first or second parade of the day. The parade will start about 45 minutes after the start of your dining package reservation time.
Since California Adventure has such a long parade route, I don't think a dining package is necessary to get a good spot but it can be a fun experience to splurge and be seated at a table during the parade rather than sitting on the ground.
Best Pixar Parade Viewing Tips
The good thing about watching a parade at California Adventure is there is plenty of opportunity for great viewing spots since the parade route is so long. The parade route goes all through the park from Guardians of the Galaxy to the end of Pixar Pier.
One of my favorite spots to watch the parades is either near Goofy's Sky School or along Hollywood Land. These spots both make for good backdrops for photos. In Hollywood Land, there's also curbs to sit on and plenty of snack options although this is one of the most popular areas to sit!
We love this new parade and are THRILLED to see Disneyland running two parades again which hasn't happened in years!
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