Disney is back with another festival Pixar season!!! I remember the first Pixar Fest they hosted so fondly. It was absolutely perfect.
As soon as they announced this year’s Pixar Fest I reserved by date online and booked a hotel.
I’m IN LOVE with Pixar and announcing an entire summer of Pixar events had me going crazy with excitement.
It was definitely an action-packed first day of the festival but I’m so happy I did it. Here’s the complete breakdown of everything happening and my first impressions.
Pixar Fest Food
I haven’t had the chance to try much of the Pixar Fest food so I can’t review it right now but the lineup does look good.
I will say the food at the beginning of Pixar Fest wasn’t that exciting but the food that came out with the Pixar Fest food festival looks great.
There are a ton of new options from Disney and I appreciate it when they try new things. I am kind of over the “hot Cheetos craze” and having Flammin’ Hot everything but Disney is still on board with that and going hard on their Flammin’ Hot options.
Once I try a few more items I’ll write a full review.
Pixar Fest Merchandise
I always want more from Disney when it comes to their merchandise. Some collections will start so strong and then go off in a weird direction.
I haven’t really loved any of the clothing Pixar Fest merch. Some of the Pixar movie merch has been cute but overall nothing has called to me.
I did buy the new Pixar popcorn buckets because it’s not a new Disney season without popcorn buckets but that’s the only thing I purchased.
Club Pixar
Club Pixar was a complete disappointment. Nothing happened – at all. There was a stage and some lights but that’s it.
I know I’m not alone when I say I was expecting something similar to the Mad T Party Disney used to host in the area back in 2016-ish.
Mad T Party had a live cover band, a DJ, fun glow drinks and lots and lots of dancing. THIS is what people wanted from Club Pixar, not a random stage with lights.
There was no one directing anything. I’m not sure if it was just a 10-minute dance party show or something, but NOTHING was happening at Club Pixar when I visited.
Pixar Drive-In Theater
The drive-in theater is a cute idea. I like where they had it set up but I wish they did a bit more. It would be cute with a bit more seating and maybe some added snack and drink stands.
I feel like Disney has good ideas but they don’t see them through. They don’t go the extra mile anymore.
It’s a nice little area but you’re not going to spend much time there. It’s a cute area to rest for a bit though.
Pixar Pals Playtime Party at Fantasyland Theater
This area is located to the left of ToonTown and Small World. The Fantasyland theater is usually reserved for shows but during Pixar Fest, it’s open for fun character moments.
There’s a lot of seating at the theater so it’s a great place to sit and relax for a bit. You can also grab a bit to eat too.
There are a number of photo backdrops for characters and a few times a day there a dance parties with the characters from Inside Out.
I wish they had more of a schedule posted or some direction in this area. It was kind of crowded and rushed.
Not much direction for when characters would be out or when the next dance party would be. But I still liked the area.
Pixar Parade
The new Pixar parade is called Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! And it was a hit…at least with me.
I absolutely loved the floats. The Turning Red float was my absolute favorite. It was so fun to see all of the characters come to life.
I cried when I saw the SOUL float even though I’ve only seen that movie once. I guess I really liked it because I immediately started ugly crying when I saw it.
Like many other people, I was sad that there wasn’t anything CARS-themed or A Bug’s Life-themed. I saw they added Lightning McQueen to the parade but you can tell it was just an afterthought.
The parade is very cute and I wish it was more of a permanent parade. You can tell they spent a crazy amount of time on some floats and then others weren’t really floats at all – they were just animatronic things going down the street.
Overall, I loved it and I would recommend seeing it. A Disney parade is always worth the wait.
Disney Parks Media Coverage
Sometimes I feel like Disney is doing too much with their social postings. They’re advertising Season of the Force and Pixar Fest at the same time. And on the very first day of Pixar Fest, they started posting about AAPI month and new events for that. Plus, the next week later they announced Halloween dates.
It all just felt very rushed and like they were shoving everything at us at once. I know they have to get people excited about upcoming events but they should give us some time to enjoy one before they announce another.
I’m not feeling the magic much lately. Just them asking for our money.
Beyond that, I actually haven’t seen much chatter about Pixar Fest. The media event was good and I saw a lot of posts from that but not much after the first week.
I’m seeing more Season of the Force content than Pixar content. So not sure how they feel about that.
Anyway, I love Pixar so I’m excited to celebrate. I’m planning a couple more outfits for my summer trips to Disneyland for Pixar Fest and maybe one Star Wars outfit.
How have you liked Pixar Fest so far? Are you planning on visiting during this time or waiting for the holidays?
Tell me everything below in the comments!
I’ll see you at the Parks!
XOXO,
Julia
Posts You May Like:
