5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Staying at Disney’s Pixar-Themed Hotel

There is a lot going on over at Disneyland Resort!

Disneyland is turning 70 years old, and that means lots of new additions for the celebrations. If you’re heading over for the celebrations, you might even consider staying on property! One of the places you can stay is the Pixar Place Hotel, and I’m finally sharing the 5 things I wish I knew before staying at this Disney Resort! 

Have you ever wanted to be immersed in the world of Pixar? There’s finally a place for you where you can be in your favorite movies 24/7, but there are 5 things I think you need to know before staying at Disney’s Pixar hotel!

First thing to know is these rooms aren’t necessarily new! Pixar Place Hotel opened officially on January 30th, 2024, and while it was celebrated as a new resort, it was really a rethemed resort! Before it was Pixar themed, it was called Paradise Pier Hotel.

While we love a good retheme, I think it is always important to remember that this isn’t necessarily the newest, swankiest hotel you’ll ever stay in. In my opinion, Disney did an awesome job on the retheme, and you wouldn’t necessarily know that the building itself has been around since the 1980s.

When you see what the old rooms look like, it gets more impressive when you see the rethemed rooms. The new rooms have big murals dedicated to different Pixar films. They’re simply designed but have so much color and life in them.

I’ve been lucky enough to stay here twice and enjoyed the rooms both times. The second thing to remember is that this hotel has more limited food options. There are three spots to enjoy at this resort — Small Bytes, The Sketch Pad Cafe, and Great Maple Modern American Eatery.

Small Bytes operates as the hotel’s pool bar. Sketch Pad Cafe is the breakfast and coffee spot. Great Maple is the only table service option in the hotel, and it isn’t operated by Disney. While these are three solid options (I have a strange affinity for Sketch Pad), they are pretty limited.

Sketch Pad closes at 5 PM, Great Maple is open for brunch and dinner, and, at the time of writing, Small Bytes isn’t showing any available hours and hasn’t been open since February 2025. It can be frustrating when you stay at the parks late to find everything closed. You also might have picky eaters who can’t find anything at these spots, forcing you to leave the hotel.

Third, you need to know that this Disney hotel is across the street from the parks! Now, if you’re a Disney Worlder, this is absolutely nothing. It isn’t a far walk (it’s literally across the street), but if you’re expecting to be right next door to the theme parks, you won’t be.

Disneyland Resort has 3 official hotels: Pixar Place, The Grand Californian, and The Disneyland Hotel. The Grand Californian has its own entrance into California Adventure, and the Disneyland Hotel is only a short stroll through Downtown Disney to both theme parks.

If you’re anticipating leaving your hotel room to immediately walk into the park, you’d sadly be wrong. If you’ve never been to Disneyland, this might catch you off guard. You do get to access the special hotel entrance, but it just isn’t right next door.

Speaking of that special entrance, you need your room key to access it (and they will make you go back without it). I can speak from personal experience on this one because I have literally had Disney security turn me away when I forgot mine. (Which is fine, it was my mistake!)

If you’re someone who only uses their magic band or keyless entry on your phone, this might be an issue! Now I will say when I went back to get a key from the front desk, they did share that my phone should have worked (it didn’t when I tried), so maybe it was just a fluk,e but my advice is make sure your key is on you at all times. 

Finally, this might seem like a small issue, but the elevators can be insanely slow! Why do I bother to bring this up? When the hotel first opened, this was a huge issue, especially in the mornings and the evenings, because lines would get backed up for a while.

There are 3 main elevators in the center of the hotel and one a bit off to the side (but it has a really neat design). When the hotel is full, this can be an issue of crowd flow, which can be frustrating when you’re in a rush to get to rope drop.

Overall, these 5 things are things I wish I had known before staying at this resort, but honestly? I love this hotel! Every time I’ve stayed, I’ve felt immersed in the Pixar fun, and I’ve loved the views of Disney California Adventure from my room. So is this spot for you? That’s up to you, but now you can make a fully formed decision before heading into the world of Pixar! As always, be sure to keep following AllEars for more Disney takes.

Which Hotel Should You Choose for Your Disneyland Trip? 

Will you be staying at this resort? Tell me in the comments!

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