Pier to Pier - DCA's new Pixar Pier
Disney California Adventure park has seen many changes in its 18 years with many more yet to come. The most recent was the overhaul of its waterfront properties, transforming Paradise Pier into Pixar Pier.
This change comes on the coattails of Disney's "Disney-fication" of DCA which started back in 2010 by changing the Orange Stinger to Mickey's Silly Symphony, adding Mickey's face to the fun wheel; now called Mickey's Pal-a-round. In 2012 Carsland opened and was a hit among visitors and Tower of Terror changed to Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, Mulholland Madness changed to Goofy's Fly School. The Muppet's have left the park...sad. Recently announced, A Bug's Land will be leaving us after summer 2018 and will be replaced by a Marvel themed land with details to be announced.
June 23, 2018 marked the latest big addition to DCA with Pixar Pier debuting with it's bright colors, updated roller coaster and its wide selection of foods. We had an opportunity to see the new pier that Sunday and we were pleasantly surprised with the new changes.
Prior to its opening, Marzz and I were somewhat skeptical on whether or not we would like the changes and if the changes were necessary at all? Upon visiting the new pier, we wondered how we ever got by with the old one.
Before I begin, I do not like all of the Pixar films, some of them for me were just okay and they would not be my choice to make an entire attraction or even themed foods from, including but not limited to The Incredibles.
Having said that, I felt that the new Pixar Pier was exactly what the location needed. As you walk through the new pier the music is upbeat and the new colors shown bright. This sets the mood for you and then as you begin to spot all of the new details in the buildings and characters showing up in various places you begin to feel happy and glad that you are there.
Even though not all of the characters are my favorite, I found myself enjoying their company and smiling at the silliness of the new buildings and the boardwalk games. I also liked that they incorporated the Pixar short films to the area as they are just as much apart of the Pixar family as the feature films are and in some cases, I like the shorts better than the full-length feature. Knick Knack is one of my favorite short films and he can be seen as a large-scale snow globe above his own store, appropriately named "Knick Knack's". The store is filled with nothing but Pixar merchandise from all of the Pixar films.
The new Pixar Pier is not fully operational which is an odd choice and out-of-character for Disney. The carousel is still not open and there are signs posted that it will not open until 2019. They are also constructing a new Inside Out themed attraction where the old Maliboomer used to be, and that will also not open until 2019. The piers attractions are limited and since 2010 when the Maliboomer was removed as part of that billion dollar renovation, there has only been California Screamin', now the Incredacoaster, Toy Story Mania (unchanged) and King Triton's Carousel which will now be Jessie's Critter Carousel; but with that still under construction there are only two operational attractions. The Incredacoaster is also the same track as California Screamin', they've added some features to the tunnels of the roller coaster and transformed the queue and load building, but otherwise it is the same roller coaster.
So the attractions that are available are okay, a fun upgrade to scenery but until the other two open, there's not much new on the pier for rides...
But how about the food?
Ah yes, the food. If you haven't noticed, Disney has really stepped up their food game in recent years and even more so in the last 12 months with the addition of the churro gauntlet for AP's, the Pixarfest themed foods and the Star Wars food items, there are so many options available and the new Pixar Pier is no exception.
As you walk up the piers main entrance you will see the new Lamplight Lounge restaurant and bar, formerly the combo restaurant: Ariel's Grotto and bar: The Cove Bar. This new restaurant and bar look great and the new seating areas look even more amazing than before providing more seating and more of the great views that only that location can provide.
Further down the path you'll come across The Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats, formerly the Paradise Pier Ice Cream Co. with it's specialty soft-serve ice cream treats. The signature item is the lemon dipped cone.
The old photo kiosk for California Screamin' is now Jack Jack's cookies. They offer large chocolate chip and sugar cookies The line for this was very long and we did not attempt to wait for the opportunity to eat a cookie. The cookies looked good but this one did not seem like it was worth waiting 20+ minutes.
Along the waterfront was the addition of a new food kiosk, Poultry Palace from Toy Story. This was a fun themed building which reminded me of the soon to be forgotten Bugs Land, from it's large chicken box shaped building to the larger-than-life juice box on the side of it. It made for fun photos but I agree with some other bloggers that it did feel a bit out of place with the theme making you feel the size of a toy, yet no where else on the pier had that scale perspective.
Next door to that is Senor Buzz Churros. We did not try the churros but we've heard mixed reactions about them. I feel this stand is stretching the story a bit too far. I realize they wanted to take a fan favorite scene and make it into something, but again, this feels like a stretch but given the explosion of the churro market these days, it was probably the right move to add more churros, I just question the theme.
Lastly there is the Angry Dogs hot dog stand featuring the angry dog and the slightly annoyed, not so angry dog. Okay, so if that naming doesn't make you smile, go get a refund and leave the park, because in my opinion that is great stuff! Not only does it fit the theming but adds humor into it as well, along with aptly explaining the product.
We did not try any of the new foods on this trip, that will be another vlog/blog of its own later on. One last note on food, they now offer mobile ordering at select locations! Download the Disneyland app for free, sign into your account and add a form of payment and you can skip the lines and order ahead. We'll do a more in depth blog regarding this later on, but definitely take advantage of this service right away!
The boardwalk games have all been updated, and for the better from what we could tell. First off, they are of course all Pixar themed games; duh!
They have a La Luna Moon game where everyone is a winner no matter what. A classic shoot water into the target game, competing against others to see who's characters can rise up the quickest. This was Wall-e and Eva themed, with matching themed prizes. The next was A Bug's Life, with candy corn bean bags which you threw or tossed into Heimlich's mouth. If you get three or more bean bags into his mouth, you get a prize. Unfortunately I only made 2 of the 8 so we did not win this time. Lastly is another classic game, horse racing, and this was featured Bulls Eye, Woody's trusty steed. You roll the ball into holes which gives your horse varying speeds depending on the holes. The more difficult the hole, the higher payoff for speed in the race.
The games are all played by purchasing a game card and loading it with points. 100 points = $1 and the minimum game play was 400 points. When loading your cards there are four predetermined amounts to choose from, 400, 800, 1600 and 2000 points, so anywhere from $4 to $20. There are several kiosks along the boardwalk games to purchase these cards and using them at the games was easy. The barker (cast member) will let you know when to slide your card and what to do next. You can also check to see how many points you have left using the same kiosks where you purchased them. I did like the new theming of the games, the prizes were also very cute and fun and in my opinion better than the old prizes. I liked that the old pier paid homage to the classic boardwalk games of the various piers throughout California, but it feels so much more at home now that's filled with characters that you know and love.
This was our first trip to the new Pixar Pier, we visited again briefly the following Thursday evening as well, but we will surely be back to ride the rides, eat the foods and spend a bit more time exploring the new area. I was skeptical of the change, probably because it seems likes it has taken so long for DCA to find its identity, but I like the new changes, they're fun and happy and if that's not the point of all this, then I don't know what is? Stay tuned for a future blog regarding the foods once we get a chance to try them.
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