Walt Disney once said that Disneyland would never be finished. The theme park, as well as the larger resort that would eventually be built, was designed to see regular additions and updates. And so there’s always something new on the horizon. As we speak, construction is underway at Mickey’s ToonTown at Disneyland and at Downtown Disney, but today Disneyland Resort officially confirmed that even more big changes are on the way. These include even more changes to Downtown Disney that we initially thought, and a complete re-theme of the Paradise Pier hotel which will fix one of the biggest gaps in the resort.
Recently, concept art was making the rounds that showed the Paradise Pier hotel at Disneyland Resort re-themed as a Toy Story hotel. Considering that a Toy Story hotel just opened at the Tokyo Disney Resort, it seemed quite possible that the concept art would become reality. However, today it has been confirmed that, while the Paradise Pier hotel is getting a bit of a redesign, the theming will encompass all of Pixar, not simply Toy Story.
While the concept art for the new hotel lobby, which is all we really have to go by at this point, looks good, the biggest update to the hotel will be a brand new walkway that will connect the new Pixar Pier hotel directly to Disney California Adventure. This is a wonderful new addition because one of the biggest issues with the hotel previously is that it never felt like it was really part of the resort.
While the other two Disneyland Resort hotels, the amazing Grand Californian Resort and Spa, and the famous Disneyland Hotel, are connected to Downtown Disney. And the former spot is connected directly to Disney California Adventure, the Paradise Pier hotel has been off by itself. It requires a bit of a walk to get anywhere else in the resort, and that walk is longer than it is from many of the non-Disney hotels in the area.
A dedicated walkway into one of the parks will go a long way to making the hotel simply feel like it’s part of the larger resort. Exactly where this walkway will go is unclear, though it will likely enter right into the Pixar Pier area of DCA, which makes a lot of sense.
There is even more coming to Disneyland Resort, however. Downtown Disney is already under construction, as the former location of the AMC theater, which has been closed since Disney planned to build a new hotel there, as well as surrounding areas, are currently behind construction walls. What’s planned for that space is largely unconfirmed, but the changes coming will extend beyond those walls.
The current Catal restaurant and the Uva Bar are set to be replaced by a restaurant and courtyard bar called Paseo and Centrico from Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytan, In addition, while the popular Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen isn’t going anywhere, it is set to get a décor update as swell as a significant menu change.
A fan favorite location that closed as part of the current construction, Earl of Sandwich, is set to get a pop-up location somewhere in the district as welllater this year, though that is set to be a limited time only affair. One entirely brand new spot, that may be going into the under construction area, is Din Tai Fung, which is set to bring Asian cuisine into Downtown Disney and will be a welcome addition to the current offerings.
Exactly when all these changes will be begun, much less complete, is unknown. But they are likely only the tip of the iceberg. The previously announced Disneyland Forward expansion is still very much in the cards and that will mean a lot more changes, and a lot of additions, in the very near future.
