Review of the Pixar Place Hotel at Disneyland

Exploring the Pixar Place Hotel theme

A welcome booklet in guest rooms calls Pixar Place Hotel “a living gallery celebrating the art of Pixar at every turn.” The hotel includes nods to every single Pixar feature film, highlighting the creative process in varying stages throughout the property.

Pixar Place Hotel location

Setting the stage: The front entrance and lobby

Pixar Place Hotel has both a grand front entrance and a busy rear entrance regularly used by guests parking in the hotel’s garage. Both showcase the early stages of the Pixar creative process, but the main entrance delivers the wow factor.

Guests entering the lobby from the main entrance are greeted by a giant Pixar Lamp balanced atop the Pixar Ball. While the duo, first introduced in the 1986 Pixar short “Luxo Jr.,” are “iconic to Pixar Animation Studios,” their pose is “brand-new to our hotel,” said Walt Disney Imagineering Art Director Kirsten Makela. The pose is used in the hotel logo and throughout all branding and collateral “because it really is a signature to our space,” Makela said.

Makela described the space as “a celebration of the start of the creative process.” Overhead, a whimsical mobile featuring Pixar characters in their earliest stages of animation as rough, interlocking shapes in their primary colors hang beneath a huge skylight. The mobile represents early creative ideas “swirling and coming together,” Makela said.

A dynamic, multicolored lighting package is synced to new music created exclusively for the hotel. The 10-song soundtrack, available on major streaming platforms, features contemporary instrumental interpretations of iconic Pixar songs. By day, natural light streams through the hanging characters, making them more prominent. By night, the shifting colors of the lighting program are the stars of the show.

The building’s exterior also gets an impressive nighttime lighting treatment — after dark, the hotel is bathed in bold shades of red, yellow and blue.

Moving farther into the lobby, artwork featuring central characters from some of Pixar’s most famous films is encased in illuminated frames that twinkle subtly when the background music from the featured film plays.

More art will be discovered throughout the lobby, from murals and signs to character maquettes and even unexpected objects like a sofa “bounding” as Heimlich, the caterpillar from “A Bug’s Life.”

With so many details at eye level, you’d be forgiven for forgetting to look down — but trust us, don’t! Hidden within the flooring are 16 small character silhouettes. We suggest challenging yourself to an informal scavenger hunt to find them all.

The back entrance

Guests who enter from the parking garage at the back of the building are still greeted with a beautiful illuminated entry and sliding doors featuring famous Pixar Pals Mike and Sulley and Buzz and Woody. Doors slide open to bring the friends closer together, and — another fun detail — blue and yellow panes overlap to turn Mike green when the doors open.

Entering from the back takes you along a different creative journey inspired by the early stages of Pixar’s animation process. Along the walls of this entry, wall art showcases the stages of character design development.

Guests can see examples of this process, reproduced from the work of real Pixar Animation artists, for characters including Edna Mode, Buzz Lightyear and Remy. The process starts with pencil sketches and illustrations and then moves into computer wireframe models built before textures, colors and additional refining details are added.

Pixar Place Hotel rooms

Each floor of the tower is set apart by a different wall mural at the elevator bank. Guest room hallways feature an accent color that complements that mural. For example, my 13th-floor hallways were green and featured a “Monsters, Inc.”-inspired mural.

Standard rooms

The majority of the hotel’s 489 guest rooms are a standard room type, sleeping up to five guests in either one king-size bed and a queen-size sleeper sofa or two queen beds and one day bed. Theming and decor are largely the same in these rooms, with variations in wall art and layout depending on whether the room is a king or two-queen. Bathrooms can also vary, offering either a bathtub and shower combination or just a shower.

Standard rooms are also differentiated at booking by view type — Standard View with a view of Disneyland Drive or the Parking Area or Preferred View, with a view of the resort or Disney California Adventure Theme Park.

Guests familiar with Disney’s Paradise Pier’s guest rooms will find the new PIxar-themed rooms downright unrecognizable. These updated rooms are sleek, spacious and modern — but also unmistakably Pixar, with colorful character-filled artwork and bold nods to the Pixar Lamp and Ball.

Some themed details are obvious: bolster pillows prominently feature the Pixar Ball’s star design on the ends. The primary color scheme of red, yellow and blue can be seen in the blue curtains and rug, red sofa and yellow walls.

Others are hidden in plain sight, like subtle white Pixar Balls that occasionally dot the bedsheet pattern, and the rugs include a more abstract take on the Pixar Lamp.

Artwork over the headboard showcases iconic Pixar characters in an ombré of warm to cool hues, an homage to the impact color has on the emotional tone of a scene.

Perhaps the most charming detail: every guest room gets its own Luxo Jr.-inspired desk lamp.

Standard rooms also include a minifridge, single-cup coffee maker, ceramic and disposable coffee cups, stemless glassware, an ice bucket and adorable Pixar Ball coasters. There’s also a safe, ironing board, alarm clock, hair dryer, phone and plenty of USB and USB-C charging ports.

The sleek, modern bathroom is mostly white, with just a few pops of color from the Pixar Ball in the artwork. Shampoo, conditioner and body wash are dispensed from red, yellow and blue dispensers with Pixar Place Hotel branding. Additional bathroom amenities like a shower cap and shaving kit also come in Pixar Place Hotel-branded packaging. In the bathroom, guests will also find a cozy robe bearing a Pixar Place Hotel logo.

King rooms have a queen-size sofa bed and my two-queen room had a twin-size sofa bed. To convert the bed, rather than fold out like a traditional sofa bed, the seats essentially flip upside-down to reveal a single mattress. This means the mattress is a full, solid mattress that doesn’t need to fold up.

Despite traveling alone, I actually opted to test out the sofa bed my first night. For context, I’m 5’10” and fit comfortably on the twin-sized mattress. It was already made with sheets, and I added a pillow and two blankets from the extras stored in the closet. The mattress was firmer than the beds but smooth and comfortable since it’s a full mattress that doesn’t fold up — nothing like the flimsy mattress on a traditional sofa bed that leaves you feeling bars poking into your back.

While I didn’t mind the sofa bed, after a very long day, diving into one of the comfy queen-size beds was heavenly.

The sheets felt softer than the standard Walt Disney World hotel sheets I’m used to. The pillows were plush, the mattress felt like the perfect midpoint regarding firmness and I remember thinking I’d never been so comfy when my very early alarm went off for the airport.

Another thing I loved about the room was the desk. Some new Walt Disney World rooms I’ve stayed in recently haven’t had desks, and as someone who does a lot of work in my hotel room, I really appreciated the formal desk here. It also brought me an extra smile to work under the lamplight of my own personal Luxo Jr.

Club-level rooms

Later this year, a new concierge lounge on the hotel’s second floor will open to club-level guests. Creators Club celebrates the collaboration between Walt Disney Imagineering and Pixar Animation Studios, showcasing nods to Pixar attractions in Disney parks around the world, including attraction posters, maquettes, concept art, models from rides like Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers, a snake ride vehicle from Jessie’s Critter Carousel and a light fixture from A Bug’s Land.

When the space opens, concierge-level guests can take in the details while enjoying drinks and snacks included in the cost of their stay.

Rooms with club (concierge)-level service are the same size and layout as the standard rooms described above and are available in Standard View, Preferred View and Pool Terrace. They include access to the Creators Club and its food and beverage offerings, concierge assistance and nightly turndown service. Pool Terrace rooms are on the third floor and provide patio access directly to the third-floor pool deck and all of its recreation offerings.

Entertainment abounds at Pixar Place Hotel

New characters

Pixar Place Hotel has debuted two new characters — Bing Bong, Riley’s lovable imaginary friend from “Inside Out,” and Joe Gardner, the jazz musician protagonist from “Soul.”

Debuting for the first time worldwide, Bing Bong will meet hotel guests daily on the third-floor rooftop near the pool, weather permitting. Hours won’t be published online, but guests hoping to meet him should expect to find him during the daytime hours and can get more information from hotel cast members.

In a dedicated space in the hotel lobby, Joe Gardner will chat with guests as he tickles the ivories five days a week on select days and times. He plays in a purple-hued alcove adorned with drawings of jazz musicians and counselors from “The Great Before.” On the days he’s performing, expect to find Joe during the afternoon and evening hours.

Pools and recreation

A sprawling third-floor deck is the hotel’s outdoor recreation hub. The Pixel Pool is a simple rectangular pool surrounded by comfy chairs, bright umbrellas, shaded lounge areas and colorful posters from the Pixar film “Luca.” Private daybeds, cabanas and pods are available to rent for the day. There’s also a hot tub next to the pool.

The Pixel Pool itself is pretty basic, but there are still plenty of thrills to be had courtesy of Crush’s Surfin’ Slide, a 186-foot waterslide inspired by the EAC, aka the East Australian Current that Crush loves to surf. Like a waterslide on many cruise ships, the slide doesn’t drop into a pool, making it easier for parents to watch and help kiddos without getting wet.

Nemo’s Cove, a “Finding Nemo”-themed splash pad starring Hank the septopus, gives littles a huge space to splash and play.

When Anaheim evenings are too chilly for pool time after sunset, four different lounge areas surround fire pits themed to Pixar’s most “inflammatory” characters, like Anger and Ember.

The Pixar Shorts Court provides plenty of other dry activities on the third-floor pool deck, themed to PIxar shorts. Play “Bao” Toss into the steamer basket or a stellar game of “La Luna”-inspired shuffleboard.

Players are encouraged to use their imagination in spaces inspired by “For the Birds” and “Burrow.” You can also dine under the lovestruck umbrellas from “The Blue Umbrella” and play a game of chess at one of several tables inspired by “Geri’s Game.”

The hotel’s rooftop has long been a hidden gem for viewing Disneyland’s fireworks, but an elevated space has now debuted with a fireplace and plenty of dedicated seating to watch the show. The soundtrack accompanying the fireworks is also played in sync with the show.

Fitness center and spa

A second-floor gym includes all the basics to squeeze in a workout, including treadmills, ellipticals, a rowing machine, a handful of weight machines and free weights. A wall mural inspired by “Monsters University” features Mike and Sulley on treadmills. Towels and water are also provided.

For spa services, guests can visit the Tenaya Stone Spa at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort & Spa, located just across the street.

Pixar Place Hotel dining

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Great Maple at Pixar Place Hotel. DISNEY

The hotel introduces three new spots for food and drinks, all operated by Southern California Great Maple restaurant group. The flagship table-service restaurant, Great Maple, A Modern American Eatery, is located just off the hotel lobby. The bright open-air space offers a variety of indoor and outdoor seating options and serves elevated comfort food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

My favorite dish I tried from the all-day menu was the Portobello Mushroom Fries ($21). Battered and seasoned with Parmesan and red pepper flakes and served with a basil pesto aioli, these “fries” have a satisfying, meaty texture, with none of the excess liquid you sometimes get with portobello mushrooms. I’d go back just for these!

Another favorite was the Famous Maple Bacon Doughnuts ($18 for three). These giant, pillowy donuts have a cult following. I’m a vegetarian and didn’t try the bacon doughnut, but one bite into a vegetarian cinnamon-dusted version fresh from the kitchen, and I understood the hype. These are huge and filling, so definitely plan to share.

Another favorite among Great Maple regulars is the Hot Honey Fried Chicken Sandwich ($26), served with cabbage slaw and melted white American cheese and slathered in hot honey aioli. This received rave reviews from meat-eating colleagues.

I also sampled an excellent vegetarian option, the VBLAT ($26). This plant-based take on the popular Great Maple BLT is made with maple chili portobello “bake-on” (they seriously know what they are doing when it comes to portobellos here), arugula, tomato, vegan cheddar and smashed avocado on toasted Levain bread. This sammie is satisfying but also felt very veggie-forward, light and healthy — the kind of dish you might crave after too many theme park treats.

How to book Pixar Place Hotel

The bottom line

Walt Disney World regulars often try to assign the same pricing tiers used on property in Orlando — value, moderate and deluxe — to Disneyland Resort hotels. While it’s true that historically, the three hotels (Pixar Place Hotel, formerly Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel; Disneyland Hotel; and Disney’s Grand Californian Resort & Spa) are all consistently priced in ascending order from least to most expensive, Disneyland Resort doesn’t use those categories.