The Incredicoaster and Pixar Pier are now open at Disneyland’s California Adventure,
What’s new at Disneyland’s California Adventure
ANAHEIM – Only Disneyland can hype a makeover as the theme-park event of the summer. ❚ But only Disney could pull that off, and it has with Pixar Pier. ❚ The California Adventure area formerly known as Paradise Pier sports much more than a fresh coat of paint. ❚ From an upgraded thrill ride to in-depth rebranding, Pixar Pier proves how adept Disney is at making old things new again. ❚ With four neighborhoods — one of which is still in the design stage — Pixar Pier is little more than an appetizer before the main course (Star Wars) is served next summer. Still, Disney fans are known to feast on anything fresh out of the Imagineer oven, and Pixar Pier is no exception. ❚ Disneyland held a media preview on Thursday, June 21, and the attraction opened June 23. Here’s what’s new on Pixar Pier.
Incredibles Park
It starts at the Pixar Pier archway, which at some point will feature Luxo Jr., a fixture of the Pixar universe and part of the studio’s logo. Luxo isn’t quite ready for his closeup, but should be added in the coming months.
The arch is the entrance to the pier’s most highly anticipated neighborhood and attraction: the Incredicoaster.
The ride formerly known as California Screamin’ is still there under layers of Pixar’s “The Incredibles,” the studio’s first family of super powers. The track and cars are virtually unchanged, offering the familiar smooth and thrilling ride.
The new features start with the queue, which winds through a midcentury modern building that includes the ride’s final scene (and available only to riders — be sure to watch for it as the train heads back into the station).
People in the California Screamin’ queue had to nothing to do but calmly wait for their turn. Those in line for the Incredicoaster learn — through a story that unfolds on a handful of monitors — about the importance of keeping a close eye on super-powered infants.
The difference between the old and new attraction is clear at launch. Where California Screamin’s success relied largely on speed and gravity, guests enjoy a water and sound effect that imply super-fast Dash is racing the coaster as it zips toward the first tunnel.
The new tunnels have allowed Imagineers to add visual and lighting effects, including a fleeting scent familiar to anyone who’s baked cookies. There also are a few 3D figures added, including one of Mr. Incredible who’s seeminly burst through a tunnel to catch Baby Jack-Jack.
When the train pulls into the station after a twominute, 6,000-foot ride, one thing is clear: The upgrade, while short of incredible, is a lot of fun.
Let’s be clear: The rest of Pixar Pier’s changes are largely cosmetic compared to the Incredicoaster (excluding food, which we’ll get to).
Toy Story Boardwalk is anchored by Toy Story Midway Mania!, a Pixar refugee when it landed on Paradise Pier’s shores 10 years ago.
Now joined by its vividly rendered countrymen, the attraction’s inventive combination of ride and video game still shines brightly and will continue to be the second-most popular destination at Pixar Pier.
In 2019, Toy Story will be joined by Jessie’s Critter Carousel, a merry-go-round featuring fanciful creatures yet to be hatched. Or sculpted. Or molded. Wherever it is fanciful creatures come from.
Pixar Promenade
Previous visitors may note how the Pixar Pal-ARound looks like just the former Mickey’s Big Wheel. And it is, only each car now features a Pixar character. This isn’t the pier’s best effort, but there’s not a whole lot you can do with a Ferris wheel. Unless cars could plummet at unpredictable moments. That could be fun.
The midway games are rebranded versions of previous games. Test such useless skills as rolling balls into small holes or firing squirt guns at a bullseye. If you’re good at it, you’ll earn prizes you’ll have to carry around the rest of the day.
Games include La Luna Star Catcher (fishing), Heimlich’s Candy Corn Toss (cornhole), Wall-E Space Race (squirt guns) and Bullseye Stallion Stampede (sink balls to move your horse).
Note to the very young and the exceptionally nonskilled: Everybody wins at La Luna. So, grownups, don’t think you’re showing off by carrying around your prize.
Food and drink
After the Incredicoaster, this is where guests will find the most significant upgrades at Pixar Pier.
The Lamplight Lounge is a must-see, even if your kids give you their “that’s yucky” faces when trying the gastro-pub food. But don’t worry. As you delight in spinach salad or carne asada roll, let them figure out the PB&J Roll. It may resemble sushi, but it’s peanut butter rolled up in white bread and drizzled with strawberry jam. Or maybe you want to order that for yourself.
Gaze at the multi-tiered lamp in the alcove to see dozens of sketches covering its length. You’ll see early renditions of memorable Pixar characters. The lounge is filled with Pixar memorabilia, making it part museum, part chill place to enjoy a drink (without the kids if they’re old enough to roam on their own).
The walls are covered in movie posters and stills, and if you have a “Cars” fan, ask for the table that serves as a display case for the toy cars based on the films.
There’s even a secret booth behind a door that can be unlocked by quickly spinning a centered crank (a rotating handle, not the elderly curmudgeon in “Up.”)
Inventive food kiosks maintain the pier’s playful theme. Grab an ice cream cone or other frozen novelty at Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats, which boasts a facade reminiscent of an early 20th-century ice cream parlor.
Jack-Jack’s Cookie Num Nums is pretty self-explanatory. Yes, it sells num nums, but these are chocolate chip cookies served deep-dish style.
Imagine what hot dogs might taste like if prepared with anger. Turns out they’d be spicy, based on the menu at Angry Dogs, featuring the namesake emotion from “Inside Out.”
Poultry Palace boasts the most playful design. Chicken dishes are sold out of what appears to be a takeout box from said restaurant.
You might be asking, “What, no churros?” Of course there are churros, a snack so ubiquitous at Disney that you’d think sales of the tube-shaped pastry propped up the entertainment giant (and maybe they do).
You will find the cinnamon-sugar delights at Señor Buzz Churros, a cart that references the “Toy Story” character’s Spanish mode rather than employing Spanish-speaking Pixar characters. You know, like the ones in “Coco.”
Merchandise and sweets
Find Pixar-branded merch galore at Knick’s Knacks, named after the animated short in which a snow-globe snowman attempts to escape his plastic-encased world without thinking through the consequences.
While browsing, keep an eye out for Disney artists who will occasionally stop by to practice their craft in public. Their sketches will be for sale, giving you a shot at going home with a unique souvenir in addition to the “Monsters Inc.” fleece everyone has.
You’ll also find all sorts of candy, which will do until the arrival later this summer of Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff, a treat shop based on the imaginary friend in “Inside Out.”
The shop will feature sweet frozen drinks, colorful pastries and candy, the kind of sugar-coated heaven envisioned when you say, “I felt like a kid in a candy store.”
Entertainment
With a roller coaster packed with eye candy, angry hot dogs and a can’t-lose midway game, you still need to be entertained?
Fine.
Swing by the Pixar Promenade band shell to catch the Pixarmonic Orchestra. Calling it an orchestra is an Elastigirl-like reach, but with kazoos, slide whistles and duck calls, have a sense of humor and cut it come slack.
Once the sun goes down, the Paint the Night Parade rises. Thousands of LED lights illuminate floats dedicated to colorful Pixar films. While the parade isn’t new, the opening of Pixar Pier marks the debut of the Incredibles float featuring the Underminer (yes, that’s his not-sosubtle drill bursting from the center).
The World of Color show, with fountains, water-mist screens and pyrotechnics, is still being refurbished and will reopen later this year.
Paradise Gardens Park
Don’t mistake this for a Pixar Pier neighborhood. It’s more the Paradise Pier leftovers.
Enjoy attractions left in their original, California-centric state, including Silly Symphony Swings, Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and Goofy’s Sky School.