Pixar Pier utilizes Pixar properties that haven’t been able to make it to the parks. Similar to Disneyland itself Pixar Pier uses every square feet to make a better experience. Disneyland doesn’t have size. So they are constantly building on top of things, and making new experiences out of old ones. Even as a first time guest I noticed that right away.
Pixar Pier has been getting a lot of flack. Yet we can examine the foundation it was built on. Disney’s California Adventure first opened in 2001, and now has gone under so many different transformation just to make the park feel more Disney. Paradise Pier is a vision of the amusement parks that spurred the creation of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. So the foundation was already broken. The wooden coaster and ferris wheel were below Disney’s standards and lacked the magical charm. In a land full of flat rides. It was time to rebuild something that was once frowned upon into something that could be better.
That is Pixar Pier. Disney essentially doing a redo to try to make it better, and by the looks of the guests at California Adventure they are doing a pretty good job. Disney is trying to erase that frowned upon past. That’s hard to do considering the obstacles they built in Paradise Pier. After watching a piece on the Imagineering behind Pixar Pier at Walt Disney Imagineering’s Blue Sky Cellar I was amazed at the amount of hard work and creativity that went into redoing this land. It made me sympathetic towards Pixar Pier. Something that Twitter told me to hate.
Pixar Pier utilizes Pixar franchises that probably won’t be getting full out, immersive lands. The Incredibles and Inside Out for example. Although Inside Out has a lot of options for a better attraction than swings. They can only do what they can do at Pixar Pier. It sometimes is better to tell small stories than not tell a story at all.
The Incredicoaster is prime example of taking something okay and making it slightly better because of intellectual property. Guests are now racing to be the first on The Incredicoaster to avoid the long waits. Disney’s retheming theory has been proved right. Consumers will still be attracted to attractions even if they are redone and are not positively welcomed online.
I also wonder if Disney has been doing blue sky for an entire Pixar land for years but never had the right spot to put it. Then Disney decided getting rid of the out of date Paradise Pier would bridge the gap between the struggle of where to put a Pixar dedicated land.
Some may call Pixar Pier a cheap overlay. I won’t argue that it is a overlay and there was obviously budget restrictions (*cough cough* Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or #ThanksFox). Los Angeles Times called Paradise Pier “the antithesis.” Now with the incorporation of Pixar characters that “antithesis” went away.
Now I’m going to break Pixar Pier down. Area by Area. Games of Pixar Pier is simple carnival style games but with the chance to win nice Pixar plush prizes. It’s a fun cool down activity from the hustle and bustle of the parks. King Triton’s Carousel of the Sea will reopen as Jessie’s Critter Carousel. Based off of the Woody’s Round Up show from Toy Story 2. Not a lot of thoughts on a carousel overlay but I’m sure this will be a nice touch up.
Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind will open in 2019. At least Inside Out will be receiving an attraction of some sort. Long overdue to get something related in there. It may not be the best but still it fits the Disneyland/Pixar Pier “stay small” motif. (I’m waiting for a Inside Out dark ride to come to Epcot and rip all of our hearts out, it will probably replace Imagination).
Incredicoaster is now one of the most popular attractions at Disney’s California Adventure. The resurgence of The Incredibles came this summer with the sequel. The slight updates were made to the former California Screamin’ now it is a immersive Incredibles experience. At least as immersive as a wooden roller coaster can be.
Pixar Pal-A-Round isn’t affected because a Ferris Wheel is a Ferris Wheel. I should plug that Boardwalk will have merchandise soon and our Ferris Wheel logo is going to look really cool.
Toy Story Midway Mania which is a existing attraction. It has been one of the most popular attraction in Disney Parks for years.
We now move on into the restaurants and food stands. Sadly, we couldn’t get a reservation at Lamplight Lounge. It was all booked up. So that Pixar Pier move didn’t hurt. I was bummed because I wanted to have Lobster Nachos and be in a Pixar atmosphere.
Food stands serve a purpose. Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats provides some good lemon-vanilla soft serve. Content Director Ryan Dorman can testify. Also my family really enjoyed it. I hate when people get fussy about the theming of Disney food stands. Some Imagineer show wrote this stand, and they executed it. It is better then a generic stand. I also wonder what people were comparing the Pixar Pier food stands too? To me they make logical and thematic sense. You could definitely tell someone was show writing the stands and then the designers executed it.
Poultry Palace was based off of the Toy Story short “Small Fry” and it was a clever idea. I give props to whoever dug into the Toy Story material and figured out they could replicate Poultry Palace into a real thing. I’m just surprised so much of the budget was dedicated to the design of that instead of Jack Jack Cookie Num Nums. I mean even though Poultry Palace isn’t a physical, walk-in place it still has the largest feel on the Pier.
Angry Dogs served the purpose of being an extra food stand. Imagineering is still developing the Inside Out neighborhood. Once again they can only do simple adjustments given the space provided. No immersive dark ride could of been done without further deconstruction of the area.
Now one of the biggest draws of Pixar Pier is the Jack Jack Cookie Num Nums. It is a delicious and gigantic chocolate chip cookie. If you don’t get in line at the right time you may face a 15–25 minute wait. The cookie is incredible, and that isn’t just a pun. Yeah, they could’ve enhanced the design of Jack Jack Cookie Num Num’s but at the end of the day it didn’t matter. The product is so outrageously good it didn’t even need a sign!
The merchandise at Pixar Pier was weaker than I expected. Considering Pixar is a darling of the Consumer Products division. Disneyland as a whole doesn’t do merchandise as well or at least during the time I was there. Yet Knick Knacks was a charming ode to one of Pixar’s original short films. The store was small but the artwork was good.
Despite criticism Pixar Pier charms guests. It proves Disney’s strategy of quick retheming prevails. The normal guest doesn’t care about how Pixar is used as long as it is used. Hardcore fans care about Pixar’s usage in the parks, but normal fans just see it as Disney making attractions. Disney had the uphill battle of changing Paradise Pier, “the anti-thesis” of their parks. Although the structure remains the same, the story of it all changes to make it a better distinctly Disney addition to the park.
If they didn’t tear it all down it was best to update it. As Disneyland continues to evolve Disney’s California Adventure is now anchored by Cars Land, Pixar Pier, and the future Marvel Universe. Pixar Pier will come in handy with the crowds they will generate during the opening of the Marvel Universe.
Pixar Pier has it flaws but then again Disneyland has its flaws too. I actually enjoyed my experience in Pixar Pier, and what the Imagineers did to the area. I’m sure the budget wasn’t huge but for what they had to work with they did a terrific job.
Pixar Pier will always be a debated subject but in this case I think the hate directed towards it was highly unnecessary. Out of all the things that could be picked on this wasn’t it. This was rebuilding an area that didn’t belong in the park in the first place.
Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
