Complete Guide to Pixar Pier at the Disneyland Resort

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Summer at Disneyland has just gotten cooler because Pixar Pier at California Adventure is now open! The newly themed area changed from Paradise Pier to Pixar Pier with themes and characters from your favorite Pixar movies. I was able to visit Pixar Pier opening weekend so I’ve got all the fun details you need to know on all the rides, food and more. For this trip I used Get Away Today and booked a package deal. Get Away Today is one of my biggest money saving tips when it comes to Disneyland vacations. You can buy individual tickets at a discount or package deals (I almost always go with the package deals, because it saves me the most).

You will find new billboards decorating the boardwalk of Pixar Pier. This Up billboard is my favorite. It’s so bright and happy. They’ve also switched out the light bulbs with star shaped light bulbs. Disney thinks of everything!

When Pixar Pier is complete is will consists of four Pixar-inspired neighborhoods, Incredibles Park, Toy Story Boardwalk, Pixar Promenade and Inside Out Headquarters. Inside Out headquarters will be completed in 2019.

Probably the biggest highlight of Pixar Pier is the Incredicoaster. California Screamin’ has been transformed into a roller coaster featuring the Parr family. You can join the Incredibles in their mad dash to catch baby Jack-Jack as he wreaks havoc throughout every inch of this high-speed chase!

I recommend riding the Incredicoaster at night! The neon lights stand out better during the nighttime. It’s fun during the day, but it’s another level of cool at night.

Toy Story Midway Mania is a family favorite of ours. This ride has a Fast Pass, so it’s much easier to play without a long wait. Before Pixar Pier opened, we would usually skip Cars Land first thing in the morning and make a mad dash for Toy Story Midway Mania. We could ride it 2-3 times in a row before the lines started getting long. I’m wondering if now everyone will make a made dash for Pixar Pier leaving Cars Land more open.

Mickey’s Fun Wheel is now the Pixar Pal-A-Round (which is not as easy to say). The ride is essentially the same, you can still choose between a non-swinging and swinging car. It’s a non-swinging car for me!

You will find each car/cage is decorated with some of your favorite Pixar Pals.

Jessie’s Critter Carousel is a bright and fun carousel filled with fun critters from the Toy Story films.

The Pixar Pier now has the Lamplight Lounge restaurant, this was formerly Ariel’s Grotto and the Cove bar. This is a popular restaurant, so making reservations in advance is highly recommended. You can make restaurant reservations 60 days in advance, and this one fills up quickly. If you don’t see a time available for your date, check back later. The restaurant was completely booked the first time I checked, but on my third try, I found an opening.

The theming at this restaurant is amazing! There are so many fun details to check out. You’ll find Pixar images and movie quotes. Even the coasters have fun Pixar drawings on them.

The beloved Lobster Nachos are back! I was happy to find out you can also order the nachos with chicken or steak. I recommend the nachos and the Donuts with raspberry and chocolate dipping sauce are definitely a must. They were so good! The have an extensive drink menu with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. We tried the 2319, which is a a Non-Alcoholic Mocktail with Frozen Strawberry Purée, Cream of Coconut, Pineapple Juice topped with Coca-Cola.

Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats opened before the grand opening of Pixar Pier and it has already been a big hit with Park goers. They serve frosted treats like lemon, chocolate and vanilla soft serve in cones and cups. They also have the “It’s Snow Capped Lemon” which is lemon soft serve topped with white chocolate.

The biggest seller seems to be the Pixar Pier Frosty Parfait, which is lemon soft serve with a blue raspberry swirl. This is so refreshing on a hot day! I love the tart mix of the lemon with the sweetness of the blue raspberry It was really good! Lines form early for these treats, but they are totally worth it. I’ve also heard great things about the lemon and vanilla swirl cone, that is next on my list of things to try.

I recently tried the It’s Snow Capped Lemon Cone and I would pass on this one, the lemon is a little too much on it’s own. Plus, as soon as I took a bite, all my white chocolate broke and fell on the ground. I do think the lemon is great with the blue raspberry float or swirled with vanilla, but on it’s own not so much.

A brand new quick service option is the Poultry Palace. How cute is the take-out box shaped building? Here you can get a take-out box with 3 Chicken Drumsticks and Coleslaw or a Jumbo Turkey Leg. They also have corn on the cob with either chili-lime or butter.

I tried the 3 drumstick box and I was impressed. I love the take-out box! Drumsticks aren’t usually my favorite (I prefer white meat), but the drumsticks were super moist and the seasoning was really well. It did have a little kick to it, but it wasn’t bad, I’m not a fan of super spicy food. The coating on the outside kind of reminded me of a lighter version of Shake-and-Bake. That probably sounds weird and not like a compliment, but it is. I like the fact that it comes with 3 drumsticks so it makes it super easy to share, and at $9.99 I didn’t think the price was all that bad. I will definitely hit up the Poultry Palace next time I visit California Adventure.

Churros are a must on every visit with several members of my family. Now you can feed your Churro addiction on Pixar Pier with Señor Buzz Churros. They have two flavors to choose from the Cinnamon Super Galaxy Churro or the Caliente Churro.

The Cinnamon Super Galaxy Churro is the regular cinnamon-sugar churro with a sparkly sprinkles. The Caliente Churro has a coating with a flavor similar to Red Hots.

Angry Dogs sells hot dogs, you can choose either the Slightly Angry Dog, which is a regular hot dog with chips or the Angry Dog which is a spicy all beef hot dog. The Angry Dog is served with “hot fries”, which are essentially flaming hot Cheetos fries.

You can top your angry dog with different condiments ranging from “Keeping it Together” (Ketchup) to “Raging” (Buffalo Hot Sauce). I had the Slightly Angry Dog, because like I mentioned before, I don’t do spicy. The hot dog was full of flavor and actually pretty good.

You’ll find Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums at the exit of the Incredicoaster. Don’t pass this one by! They have 3 different varieties of cookies, warm Chocolate Chip, Shortbread Cookie with frosting and a gluten-friendly Blackberry Jam-filled Cookie. You can wash it down with regular, chocolate or strawberry milk. They also have vanilla almond milk and soy milk too.

I had the Warm Chocolate Chip cookie and it was amazing! I’d give it a 10 out of 10. It’s thick and gooey you can eat with with a fork. The chocolate is just the right amount of melty. The only thing I think would make it better is a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

You will find Boardwalk Games along the right side of Midway Mania. These games were previously on the Paradise Pier too, but now they have been themed to match some of your favorite Pixar movies.

You will find the following games:

Laluna Star Catcher
Wall-E Space Race
Heimlich’s Candy Corn Toss
Bullseye Stallion Stampede

At the Pixar Promenade you can listen to music and meet your favorite Pixar characters. While we were at Pixar Pier there was a dance party with Sully and other Pixar characters at the Promenade.

Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff is open and you will find Pixar souvenirs and sweet treats throughout the store.

The entire store has a fun colorful theme. With a rainbow on the ceiling and a candy design on the floor.

You can order Memory Refreshers here, which are fruit slushies in the following fun flavors: Rainbow Unicorn, Sunshine in a Cup, Imaginary Pal, Slow Burn and Gloomy Blues.

You can also get the yummy Churros Toffee here at Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff.

Don’t forget to stop by Knick Knacks for even more Pixar souvenirs.

Coming later:

Inside Out Headquarters (coming 2019)

When booking our Disneyland trips I use both Get Away Today and Costco Travel for the best package deals. This time around we used Get Away Today and stayed at the Four Points Sheraton (previously Menage). I have priced numerous vacations and Get Away Today is usually always priced the lowest. I usually save hundreds of dollars with the packages from Get Away Today.