Disneyland Resort’s Pixar Fest Begins This Week, But Some Fans Aren’t Thrilled About The Celebration

With summer around the corner, the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim is gearing up for a new themed festival. Previously announced as part of the theme park’s 2024 schedule of events, Pixar Fest is set to officially begin on April 26th. Unfortunately, not everyone is thrilled about the celebration.

As one of the Walt Disney Company’s more popular franchises, it’s surprising that Pixar Fest hasn’t become a staple in the theme parks’ events lineup. The return of the event marks only the second time the animation giant has been celebrated at the resorts.

In addition to divisive decorations that have already taken over Main Street and the esplanade between Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, the festival has many exciting things to offer. This ranges from new themed eats and popcorn buckets to a themed firework show, an updated parade and even the reimagining of a fan-favorite DCA attraction with Club Pixar's debut. And yet, for some reason, diehard Disney fans don’t seem to be thrilled about all the new summer offerings coming to the parks.

While there are a lot of fans who are excited about getting to celebrate their favorite Pixar movies all summer long (myself included), most “DisTwitter” users are keen on nitpicking just about everything that’s been announced. This includes the “confusing” timing of the festival, like this X (formally Twitter) User:

To be fair, the highly anticipated 2024 release Inside Out 2 does hit theaters in June which coincides with Pixar Fest, so the argument isn’t as sound as some people want it to be. However, that’s not the only reason so many people are upset over the Pixar explosion happening at the parks.

In addition to the unnecessary hate over the decorations, others have criticized the festival for being a quick and easy cash grab.

Opinions over decorations are subjective, but the above criticism doesn’t feel just at all. Sure, the Disneyland Resort has scaled back entertainment greatly since the COVID-19 shutdown, but this celebration does seem to have a handful of new entertainment-themed offerings. In addition to the fireworks, parade and Club Pixar, the resort is also promising several photo ops and character greeting experiences.

Could we use a new stage show at the Fantasyland or Hyperion Theater? Of course, but it seems like these sorts of entertainment offerings aren’t high on Disney’s list anymore. Perhaps, because photo ops draw more of a crowd with the age of social media than a theatrical show that asks fans to silence phones.

For some fans, it’s not so much that Pixar is getting a celebration of its own, but rather the fact that it’s taking over both parks. It seems like a popular consensus is that the festival should have stayed at Disney’s California Adventure where the franchise is more prevalent.

While I admit that it does make sense for DCA to host a majority of the Pixar Fest events, I see no problem with Disneyland also getting into the action. In fact, the only thing I’m disappointed about in regards to the celebration is that Paint the Night isn’t being brought out of retirement.

The disinterest and adamant hatred over a fun festival is discouraging to see, but it's to be expected, as Disney fans are always vocable about changes happening at the park. Who knows, maybe their “disgust” with the decorations will keep them from visiting and make the parks less crowded — I certainly wouldn’t mind that.

If you’re interested in checking out Pixar Fest, the celebration runs from April 26th through August 4th. Head on over to the official Disneyland Resort website for tickets and reservation information. In the meantime, you can gear up for the celebration by streaming your favorite Pixar movies with an active Disney+ subscription. And don’t forget to check out Inside Out 2 when it hits theaters on June 14th.