Disneyland Announces Opening Date, Details for Upcoming Pixar-themed Hotel

23.10.2023 - 21:29 / travelandleisure.com

Fans of Pixar Animation Studios will soon have a new favorite place to stay at the Disneyland Resort.

Disney's Pixar Place Hotel will officially open on Jan. 30, 2024, the company shared with Travel + Leisure on Monday. First announced in 2022, the property is a complete overhaul of Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel, a seaside-themed hotel resort complete with nods to favorites including “Toy Story,” woven throughout its grounds and guest rooms. 

“Pixar Place Hotel will evoke the inspiration and humor that goes into every Pixar film, while celebrating the artistic process,” Disney Parks Blog post shared. “Showcasing early sketches to finished design, the art and decor will highlight vibrant Pixar stories, revealing some never-before-seen artwork.”

Once the transformation is complete in 2024, guests will be welcomed into a whimsical lobby featuring a larger-than-life version of the brand’s iconic Pixar Lamp balancing atop its ball. High above, guests will get a glimpse of an elaborate mobile.

“The mobile will depict the beginning stages of Pixar filmmaking, when animators create the characters’ designs with their most basic shapes and colors,” Disney shares. “The characters you’ll see are at the beginning of their journey, just as the guests who step into the lobby begin their own story at the Disneyland Resort!”

Reimagined guest rooms will be fully re-themed to incorporate beloved Pixar characters throughout, from the bedding to furniture, like Pixar Ball-inspired pillows. Contemporary in style, rooms will feature artwork created by the animation studio’s artists. Concept art from beloved films, including “Toy Story 3” and “The Incredible,” will be depicted on the headboards “arranged in order from warm to cool colors, sharing the importance of color to the tone of a scene. 

Courtesy of Disneyland Resort

Its flagship restaurant, Great Maple, will open its doors in November ahead of the complete reimagination. The modern American restaurant will serve “upscale comfort food” for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Guests can expect scratch made dishes, like buttermilk fried chicken, maple bacon doughnuts, and soda pop-braised baby back ribs. 

Following Great Maple, a new coffee shop, Sketch Pad Cafe, will open in the lobby along with an all-new menu at the hotel’s rooftop pool bar, Small Bytes. 

Courtesy of Disneyland Resort

Guests visiting now amidst the remodel can enjoy the rooftop Pixar Pool along with a new “Finding Nemo”-themed splash pad and pool area, Crush’s Surfin’ Slide, and Pixar-themed fire pits. A new play court and pool bar is expected to open later this fall. 

Off the main lobby, STOR-E is the hotel’s reimagined gift shop, featuring Pixar-themed merchandise along with classic Disneyland Resort finds.