Pixar Place Hotel Now Open

Officially open at the Disneyland Resort is the newly re-branded Pixar Place Hotel. This is the first fully Pixar-themed hotel in the United States! Pixar Place Hotel is Inspired by the stories from Pixar Animation Studios. This is a 479-room hotel is filled with nods to beloved films like “Toy Story,” “Ratatouille,” and “Elemental.” There is actually a nod to every Pixar feature film to date!

Unique Characters

Pixar Place Hotel will be unique in that Guests will be able to interact with characters who have previously been unable to be seen anywhere. This includes Bing Bong from “Inside Out.” Bing Bong makes his worldwide debut, as this is the first time he is being seen at any Disney property!

In addition, Guests will also be able to hear Joe Gardner from “Soul” playing piano near the hotel lobby staircase. Joe will drop in on occasion to play piano for passersby.

So Many Pixar Touches

The iconic Pixar Ball and Lamp now welcomes Guests at the front lobby entrance. Guests will also find an abstract mobile of Pixar characters floating from the skylight above. Oh and you may even catch a glimpse of Carl and Ellie’s house from “Up” as it travels up and down the lobby elevator.

The lobby will feature a colorful blend of different art galleries. Seven giant portraits of Pixar characters surround the front desk including Sulley from “Monsters, Inc.” and Merida from “Brave.” Nearby, you’ll also see maquettes of Elastigirl from “The Incredibles,” Flik from “a bug’s life” and more!

Make sure you listen, because there’s even new music that has been composed for Pixar Place Hotel! Celebrating favorite themes from many Pixar films, 10 new arrangements can be heard in the hotel lobby. Oh and the album is available now digitally for you to listen to!

The rear entrance of the hotel is inspired by the stages of character design development, as artists bring ideas from pencil and paper illustrations to something built in the computer. In this part of the hotel, you’ll see animator thumbnail sketches and lit wireframes of Buzz Lightyear from “Toy Story,” Edna Mode from “The Incredibles” and others in action poses.

Throughout the lobby and elevator flooring, Guests will find 16 silhouettes of Pixar friends randomly embedded in the porcelain tiles. See if you can spot them all!

Dining at Pixar Place Hotel

The first new restaurant that Guests can visit is called Great Maple! This will be the hotel’s flagship restaurant. The restaurant serves an all-day menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner using seasonal ingredients. (All day breakfast? Finally! Be fair to Florida and bring my diner!) Dishes includes things like Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Maple Bacon Donuts.

The restaurant features green leather seating, a beautiful bar area and seamless transition to an open-air patio. There are black and white portraits of Pixar characters throughout the space that were originally created for the Pixar offices in Emeryville, Calif., and this is the first time they are being publicly displayed!

Just off the lobby, Guests will find The Sketch Pad Café. This eatery serves assorted pastries, sandwiches, grab-n-go items and offers a full espresso bar. Along the cafe walls is a timeline of Pixar films conveyed through character design and early concept art from Buzz Lightyear to Mei Lee from “Turning Red.”

Opening adjacent to the Pixar Shorts Court in early March will be Small Bytes. Guests will be able to enjoy inventive floats and tasty “bytes,” such as ceviche, soft pretzels and nachos. This spot will be open to non-hotel Guests. Guests will want to be sure to see the pixel-art style portraits of 22 Pixar characters, created expressly for Pixar Place Hotel!

As the sun begins to set on a great day, cozy up by the firepits (cleverly reminiscent of some hotheaded Pixar characters), enjoy drinks and appetizers, and watch the fireworks of Disneyland park light up the sky on select evenings.

Guest Rooms

Now, to the guest rooms! The headboards feature concept art from feature films, the accent pillows include a Pixar Ball motif; there are Pixar touches to be found all around.

More Areas

Guests will want to make sure they check out the third-floor rooftop deck, where Pixar touches abound! At the new Pixar Shorts Court, the whole family can play games inspired by the animation studio’s iconic shorts “Bao,” “For The Birds,” “La Luna” and “Burrow.” You can even lounge and enjoy a bite to eat beneath umbrellas from “The Blue Umbrella.”

At the pool area, hotel Guests can enjoy the “Finding Nemo”-themed splash pad at Nemo’s Cove, take a ride on Crush’s Surfin’ Slide and splash in Pixel Pool. Guests may choose to rent private daybeds, cabanas and pods to lounge the day away in comfort and style.

In the elevator hallways, Guests will find some unique art along the way. Each floor of the 15-story hotel displays a mural outside of the elevator banks giving an homage to a different Pixar film, from “Finding Nemo” to “Cars.”

And there’s more! Pixar Place Hotel also has a fitness center where guests can see a mural of Mike and Sulley from “Monsters University” on treadmills and the STOR-E retail shop offers more unique art, Pixar apparel and toys, and Disneyland Resort souvenirs and sundries.

More to Come

Later this year, the hotel will offer its new lounge, the Creators Club, to its concierge level Guests. This lounge will showcase the collaboration between Disney Imagineering and Pixar Animation Studios. It will feature concept art, maquettes and attraction posters. There are even repurposed light fixtures from the former “a bug’s land”. Plus, Guests will find a snake ride vehicle from Jessie’s Critter Carousel in Disney California Adventure! When visiting, concierge level Guests will be invited to enjoy snacks and beverages throughout the day. Also, a dedicated concierge may assist with any requests during their visit.

Additionally, two new 2-bedroom themed signature suites will be available for arrivals later in 2024. The Coco Suite will pay tribute to Miguel and his family’s legacy through vibrant Oaxacan art, and the Incredibles Suite will have a midcentury design with a “spy-fy” twist, complete with Parr family memorabilia.  

Final Thoughts

One thing is for sure, this newly updated hotel definitely has crossed my list of hotels I now want to stay at when visiting the Disneyland Resort. Before, when it was Paradise Pier Hotel. It looks incredible and I love that it has touches of every single Pixar film, as well as many of their shorts. What do you think? Will you want to stay here on your next Disneyland visit?