I spent 2 days last week attending the media preview and opening day of Pixar Fest at Disneyland. It was a whirlwind adventure with lots of Pixar fun crammed in. I will publish my Pixar Fest guide soon but for now, I wanted to share a fun Pixar Fest Scavenger Hunt.
Disney has created a truly immersive Disney Pixar experience in the parks for Pixar Fest. From food and merchandise to characters, shows, and rides, it’d be hard to have all the Pixar experiences on your trip unless you did a little research ahead of time. Or you could just print one of my Pixar Fest Scavenger Hunt printables and check off each Pixar activity as you go.
What’s included in my Pixar Fest Checklist?
I tried to include every type of Pixar related activity at the parks right now. I did not include a list of every single food item because that’s crazy talk. First of all most people won’t eat dozens of different food items, and second, Disney keeps adding fun Pixar related food, so the list would never be 100% complete anyway. What did I include? Keep reading to find out!
Pixar Attractions at Disneyland
Everyone should ride at least one Pixar attraction at Disneyland. Pixar attractions include Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and the Pixar themed monorail! Bonus points if you stop and get your ride picture from Buzz Lightyear emailed to yourself!
Pixar Attractions at Disney California Aventure
There are lots more Pixar attractions at Disney California Adventure including Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue and Turtle Talk with Crush in Holly Wood Land. A Bug’s Land has several fun attractions including Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train. Please keep in mind that Disney has announced this land will be closing later this summer to make room for a new superhero area.
Toy Story Mania is the only Toy Story attraction open at the moment but Jessie’s Critter Carousel will be opening on Pixar Pier later this summer. Let’s not forget the best-themed land at the Disneyland Resort, Cars Land with 4 different attractions! Plus The Incredicoaster launches on Pixar Pier in June.
Trade for a Pixar pin
I make searching for fun Disney pins to trade for my own personal scavenger hunt on every Disney trip. I always bring a couple spare pins to trade for anything that catches my eye. On this trip, I made it my mission to find a Pixar themed pin in honor of Pixar Fest! If you aren’t a pin trader, you can simply buy an awesome Pixar pin, there were lots of fun new pins available in the gift shops.
Visit Knick’s Knacks
Knick’s Knacks is chock full of Pixar merchandise. It should be your first stop when searching for the latest and great Pixar shirts, stuffed animals or “knick-knacks”. 😉 Even if you aren’t buying any souvenirs, it’s worth a peek inside to see the cool merchandise and the fun new wall featuring scenes from Pixar films.
Watch Pixar Play Parade
The Pixar Play Parade is now at Disneyland with some fun new additions including the Pixar Lamp and Luxo Ball leading the parade. The crowd favorite was clearly the Up float featuring Carl, his floating house, Dug, Russell, and Kevin. Personally, I loved the Inside Out float with Joy, Sadness, and Bing Bong. Who’s your friend that likes to play? 😀
Watch Paint the Night
Disney swapped the parades between parks and moved Paint the Night to Disney California Adventure. It features more than 1 million LED lights and pals from some of your favorite Pixar films like Toy Story, Cars and Monster’s Inc. In June, the Incredibles will debut their own float to showcase their awesome superhero powers.
Watch Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular
The Together Forever show is amazing and worth sticking around late to see in the park, not from your hotel room. Not only do you get an awesome Disney fireworks show but it’s themed to Pixar music and clips enhanced by projections in four key areas of the park. It’s best to watch the show on Main Street, U.S.A., at it’s a small World, at the Rivers of America, or in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Watch a Pixar Short
Head over to Holly Wood Land where you can catch a rotating selection of Pixar shorts including Lava and For The Birds.
Disneybound as Pixar character
I think it would be so fun to Disneybound as your favorite Pixar character while visiting Pixar Fest. If you don’t want to disneybound yourself, then just watch for someone else disneybounding as a Pixar character. I saw a lot of fun outfits during Pixar Fest’s opening day. My family disneybounded as Inside Out characters for Mickey’s Halloween Party a few years ago.
Watch the Pixarmonic Orchestra
We watched the Pixarmonic Orchestra’s first ever performance and it was so much fun. It’s a zany band playing Pixar songs mixed in with comedic touches. What’s even more fun is that the seven-piece band relies on many unconventional instruments during their show including kazoos, duck calls, slide whistles, and cowbells!
Find another Disneyland group performing Pixar music
The existing Disney musical groups also get in on the fun with several performing their own special renditions of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story, along with other Pixar songs. Keep your eyes out for the Disneyland Band, Straw Hatters, Dapper Dans, Main Street Piano Player, Royal Street Bachelors, Jambalaya Jazz Band, and the Mariachi Divas.
Take a selfie with a Pixar Character
A surefire way to get a picture with a Pixar character is to head to the Pixar Pals area at Paradise Gardens in Disney California Adventure where a rotating set of Pixar characters will be available for meet and greets. Over in Disneyland, you can find Merida in Fantasyland and Woody and Jessie in Frontierland.
Eat Pixar themed food in Disneyland
Ok, so I did include eating Pixar food on the scavenger hunt. I just can’t list all the options, seriously there are a ridiculous amount of fun foods to try. Suffice to say you can find Up, Toy Story, Coco, Ratatouille and more Pixar themed food options at Disneyland.
Eat Pixar Themed food in Disney California Adventure
You can find Monsters Inc, Incredibles, Up, Cars and Coco themed food at Disney California Adventure. Check out this short video to get a sneak peek at some of the options you will find at both parks.
Pixar Pressed Penny
Take home a little piece of Pixar fun by pressing a Pixar design on a penny. There are several Pixar themed designs available including a Zurg option at the pressed penny machine in the Buzz gift shop.
Disney Scavenger Hunt Bonus Ideas
There are a few bonus ideas for your Pixar Fest Scavenger Hunt to consider:
- Head to Paradise Gardens or Bugs Land for some fun kids crafts and activities.
- Spot a Pixar themed window display on Main Street.
- Learn to draw your favorite Pixar character at Animation Academy.
- Visit other Pixar photo opportunities like Monsters Inc props on Buena Vista Street or the adorable Buzz and Woody Cars in Cars Land.
- Ride it’s a small world to find Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Nemo and Dory among other toys and dolls.
- Dance with your friends during the Pixar Pals Dance Party at the Tomorrowland Terrance in June.
- Possible Pixar dance parties are headed to the Disneyland Resort pools this summer.
- Snag a Pixar sticker at one of the DVC booths at the resort.
Pixar Fest at Disneyland Scavenger Hunt
Can you create your own Pixar Fest Scavenger Hunt? Sure, but I’ve made it easy and already created a fun printable for you. In fact, I made two different Disneyland scavenger hunt printables because I am awesome. 😉 One version is visual with pictures for each idea and the other one is a simple Disney checklist version. You can even kick it up a notch by turning into a Disney photo scavenger hunt but it’s also fun just checking each thing off the list as you do it.
Download Pixar Scavenger Hunt Printables
- Download the simple checklist version of the Pixar Fest Scavenger Hunt
- Download the Pixar Fest Scavenger Hunt with pictures version
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Disclosure: Disneyland hosted during the Pixar Fest media preview event. As always, all opinions are my own.
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