On the evening Thursday March 5th fans arrived at Disney California Adventure for Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite. This special ticketed event allowed fans to share their love of Pixar together throughout the evening. It was full of Pixar characters, entertainment, merchandise, food, photo ops, and also a tour of Lamplight Lounge. Annual Passholder could also pick up a commemorative car magnet as well with their valid annual pass. Overall, it was a fun night that wasn’t too busy which made it even better.
Pixar Characters
Throughout the night, there were quite a few Pixar characters to meet at Disney California Adventure. They were scattered around the park and were having a blast meeting guests. Almost all of them were Pixar characters, except for Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They were dressed up as Woody and Buzz and were completely adorable. This event was also the Disneyland Resort debut of the Onward characters, which were quite popular throughout the night.
The characters that could be found around the park included:
- Merida
- Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse
- Lightning McQueen, Mater, Cruz, and Red
- Russel, Carl, Dug
- Flik, Atta
- Remy Emile
- Miguel
- Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Bo Peep, Bullseye
- Nemo, Dory, Marlin,
- Ian, Barley, Guinevere,
- Joy Sadness
Kevin was also a surprise addition that appeared at the party as well near the big Paradise Pier door that was pretty awesome.
Photo Ops
There were also quite a few photo ops to be found around Disney California Adventure. Some of these were really cool and the Disney Photopass photographers really brought their game, making the photo ops even more fun. The Wall-E and Eve photo location was incredibly popular. The For the Birds one was clever and fun as well. The DAPS MAGIC team’s favorite was the Geri’s Game, which had an incredibly fun and creative photographer.
Here are the photo ops that were offered:
- Geri’s Game
- Up!
- Pizza Planet Truck
- For the Birds
- Wall-E and Eve
- Toy Story Toons Hawaiian Vacation
- Soul
Entertainment
There were several different entertainment options offered at Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite. The biggest offering was the Colors of Pixar Fountain Show. This quick show was presented five times throughout the night. The World of Color fountains lit up the lagoon with vibrant colors as music from different Pixar films played. At the Palisades Stage at Paradise Gardens Park the Incredibles Party Zone let guests dance the night away with the Incredibles. Twice during the night Edna took over the stage for Edna’s Fashion Review where guests got to show off their best Pixar outfits. Edna, of course, was the judge. In Cars Land guests could dance the night away on Route 66 at Cars Land Rocks. Hollywood Backlot Stage offered the Monsters, Inc Dance Party! where guests could dance the night away with their favorite monsters from both Monsters, Inc and also Monsters University. Finally, at the Disney Theater in Hollywood Land the Pixar Shorts Festival Presented by Disney+ allowed guests to watch their favorite Pixar shorts.
Food
There was plenty of food to be experienced in Disney California Adventure for this event. While the DAPS MAGIC team did not have time to try out all of the food, this wasn’t because of a shortage of availability. Throughout the night the lines for food was not super long so if we HAD wanted to try the food, it definitely was doable.
Here is what was offered:
- Buena Vista Churro Cart: Bear Cub Churro – Tart cherry sugar-rolled churro with cream cheese icing dipping sauce
- Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe: Pixar Ball Dome – Cherry mousse, vanilla creme brûlée center on chocolate cookie with chocolate pearl crunch
- Cozy Cone #1: Groovy Churro – Rainbow cereal sugar with tie-dye dipping sauce
- Cozy Cone #4: Orange Conefection – Orange cream cake cone bites with vanilla cream dipping sauce
- Flo’s V8 Cafe: Tractor-tipping Burger – Angus 1/3 burger, cheddar cheese, 1000 Island, spices all-beef frank, creamy coleslaw, pickle slices and crumbled BBQ chips with steak fries
- Flo’s V8 Cafe: Luigi’s Tower of Tiers – Chocolate & coffee flavored sponge cake filled with dark chocolate mousse, covered in ganache with chocolate accents
- Grizzly Churro: Adven-Churro is Out There!: Sugar-rolled churro topped with white icing and sprinkles
- Award Wieners: Lava Dog – All-beef hot dog topped with pulled pork, teriyaki and pineapple salsa
- Hollywood Churro: Space Chase Churro – Sugar-rolled churro topped with tart lemon and cream cheese icings
- Schmoozies!: Boo’s Eye-Scream Shake – Blueberry and vanilla shake topped with whipped topping and cereal
- Schmoozies!: Scare Bar – Flaky donut bar with mixed berries ‘n’ cream filling
- Pacific Wharf Cafe: Unforgettable Bread Boule – Dory-shaped bread boule with choice of soup: clam chowder, broccoli and cheese, or baked potato
- Goofy Churro Cart: COCO Churro – Chocolate sugar-rolled churro with cinnamon chocolate dipping sauce
- Corn Dog Castle: Hawaiian Vacation Corn Dog – Barbecued pork belly with barbecue sauce and pineapple
- Angry Dogs: Hot-head Macaron – French macaron, milk chocolate buttercream with sour cream center and spicy cheese puffs
- Poultry Palace: Cowgirl Cookie – Linzer cookie with raspberry filling, topped with brownie cap and white chocolate
- Senor Buzz Churros: Happy Go Ducky Churro – Watermelon flavored sugar with lemon dipping sauce
Merchandise
There was also merchandise available at the event. The highlights of this were a Pixar Nite Tumbler and also a Pixar Nite T-Shirt. They were sold at Knick’s Knacks and had a fairly long line throughout the entire night.
Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite began on Thursday night at 8:00 PM and ran until midnight. The party started right as the park closed. About ten minutes after park closing, the start of the party announcement was made and Pixar music began to be played around the park. The Pixar music gave a nice and relaxing feel to the event. The characters really made for an incredible evening. They were full of energy and really a lot of fun to experience. Many people spent their whole evening just going from character to character location.
The Colors of Pixar Fountain Show was also charming and nice to see presented throughout the night. It would be nice if they did something like this throughout the evenings at Disney California Adventure on normal operating days for guests who are unable to get World of Color FastPasses.
Overall, Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite was a lot of fun. It wasn’t as busy as some parties which made for an even better experience. While the crossover between the closing of Disney California Adventure and the start of the event was a bit clunky, it was nice to have the party over at midnight. This is an hour earlier than most of the Disneyland After Dark events end when at Disneyland.
Disneyland After Dark is a series of special ticketed events that are a lot of fun but also are a bit expensive. People often ask the DAPS MAGIC team if they are worth it. To answer that simply one has to say maybe. If you are excited about what these parties have to offer, they are totally worth the ticket price. However, if you find yourself unimpressed by what is offered then it most likely isn’t for you. Our experience has been that the Disneyland After Dark parties have been a lot of fun. We’ve loved the characters we’ve seen. We’ve loved the photos we’ve ended up taking both ourselves and with Disney Photopass. We’ve also really loved the memories we’ve made at these parties.
Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite was a wonderful evening and a perfect lead-in to the opening of Pixar’s newest film, Onward. The next event is Disneyland After Dark: Villains Nite on April 30th. There are still tickets available for this and they can be purchased at Disneyland.com After that, Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Nite will be on August 27, 2020 and is already sold out.
What do you think of Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite? Share your thoughts and observations in the comments below!
Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite
Mr. DAPs’ Photos
Caitie’s Photos
