Want to see Disney's Pixar Pier early? Get ready to pay

May 14, 2018, 12:14 PM · The Disneyland Resort is opening its rethemed Pixar Pier land at Disney California Adventure on June 23. But fans who want an early look at the new area can get in during a $299-a-ticket special event the night before.

Yep, that's right — $299 a person. But Disney's not just dropping the velvet rope and letting you into what used to be the boardwalk section of the former Paradise Pier. The party ticket includes parking and admission to DCA, as well as vouchers for one food item from each of the new eateries in the land: Poultry Palace, Angry Dogs, Jack-Jack's Cookie Num Nums, Senor Buzz Churros, and Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats. Admission also includes access to the Incredicoaster (the former California Screamin'), the Pixar Pal Around (the former Mickey's Fun Wheel) and Toy Story Midway Mania. There will be a DJ, too, and everyone takes home unlimited Photopass downloads and a swag bag (that's coming to eBay immediately after the event, no doubt.)

Tickets go on sale Wednesday on Disneyland's website, and quantities will be limited.

Replies (25)

May 14, 2018 at 12:34 PM

Cool opportunity for those that can afford it. Disney is the master of getting every last penny out of you and I love it! Capitalism baby!!

May 14, 2018 at 12:25 PM

Wow! And some complained when Cedar Point charged $70 for the first ride night on Steel Vengeance where all the money went to charity. I don't suppose that Disney is sharing any of that $299 with any local good causes, are they?

May 14, 2018 at 12:32 PM

Barry. Or those bold enough to try and get a return on their investment as Robert hinted at. And like you said. Capitalism baby!

May 14, 2018 at 12:35 PM

@David.. yes that too!

May 14, 2018 at 12:38 PM

Man, 300 dollars to experience reskinned attractions. What a deal.

May 14, 2018 at 12:43 PM

So no discounts for APs? No refunds for changes and cancellations. They really figured this out.

I imagine Star Wars will be an even higher price.

May 14, 2018 at 1:02 PM

$299 to preview Pixar Pier? How much will it cost to preview the new Star Wars Land? $2,000? (And there will be fans who will gladly pay $2,000.)

May 14, 2018 at 1:11 PM

Great point James...You would think a sneak peak event like this would see at least a small portion of the proceeds going to charity.

Disney is essentially giving the general public the ability to buy their way into a glorified media preview event. I would hope nobody is stupid enough to pay for this, but I'm guessing they'll be more than enough Disney Drones lining up for an event like this that it will sell out.

May 14, 2018 at 1:24 PM

Anton .... got to agree on Star Wars @ DHS. Frightening to think what they might charge if they do the same next year with the new land.

May 14, 2018 at 1:35 PM

Ugh, it's hard to imagine Disney could ever do anything to sour my love for their parks, but their recent catering to the one percent is really starting to bum me out. When Disneyland opened, it was open to ALL people, not to the richest first.

But now the rich can have breakfast on the Jungle Cruise, the rich can get in sooner, the rich can hire line-jumpers. And the hotels, lord. The cheapest room at the Grand Californian is $450 a night, and their are 7 or 8 classes of rooms ABOVE that price point.

I get it, capitalism, they can charge what people will pay. But that's not what Disneyland was all about, as I seem to recall, and I seriously hate to think that Walt is being recast as Trump.

May 14, 2018 at 2:11 PM

This is perfect! I'd love to pay $300 to go experience three attractions I've already done numerous times. After all, it's only So Cal's second best new roller coaster for 2018 and second best new flat ride for 2018. Certainly it's worth three times a regular ticket to try them out one day early. /end sarcasm

Yeah, I'll be waiting until after the summer blockout to experience Pixar Pier, and in the meantime I'll get my new ride fix with plenty of spins on HangTime (which, after riding it yesterday, is probably Orange County's best roller coaster).

May 14, 2018 at 3:09 PM

this is capitalism. But, it is also voluntary socialism, too. Those rich one percenters who choose to pay 299, will essentially be subsidizing research and development for new rides for all of us.

May 14, 2018 at 3:27 PM

Universal Orlando was thinking about doing this upcharge for the Fast and the Furious ride....but then they cancelled it because they would have to actually pay people to show up....lol

May 14, 2018 at 4:23 PM

I suspect this has less to do with Pixar Pier than it does with testing the viability of significant upcharges for advanced access to a newly constructed land prior to the opening of Star Wars.

May 14, 2018 at 5:44 PM

"Societies that fail to control the forces of Capitalism will cannibalize themselves from within until they die". Welcome aboard, folks.

May 14, 2018 at 9:07 PM

Make Disneyland Great Again!

@64.125.180.233...in what part of the plan was it that Walt created Disneyland not to make a profit? I must have missed that.

May 15, 2018 at 1:10 AM

As noted in the comments, Disneyland is following other parks.

Several commenters have also questioned Disney’s philanthropic efforts. They do an AMAZING job with volunteer hours and, in cash donations.

From a high level perspective, all theme park companies could do better!

May 15, 2018 at 5:42 AM

@Barry Zuckerman: I’d suggest taking some time to read some biographies on Walt Disney’s life and the Walt Disney Company.

Walt Disney was all of the creative side of the company with the endless imagination and a life long dreamer.

Roy Disney handled the finances and watched numerous times while his brother Walt pushed the company near bankrupty many, many times to finance all of those endless dreams Walt could come up with (pushing animation, television, theme parks, etc)

It wasn’t until the 80’s/90’s with Michael Eisner and the other corporate executives at the time turned the company into the sometimes often associated cold hearted money making multi billion conglomerate it is today.

Ironically I’d never really associate Walt Disney the person and money/profit together.

May 15, 2018 at 6:01 AM

What a waste of money but fools are easily parted with their money.

May 15, 2018 at 8:48 AM

This is magical! I hope Disney is going to do this every day. Buy a ticket for 3 rides, some food and a crappy DJ for 300 bucks. This company is DINO (Disney In Name Only). I'll hope it gets extinct.

May 15, 2018 at 8:49 AM

Barry Zuckerkorn, no one is complaining about Disney making a profit, and trust, they make a very sizable one.

The point of my complaint is that Disneyland is increasingly segregating their parks between the very rich and the rest of us (just like Trump is doing with the country). If you can pay FAR more, you get all sorts of perks that are off-limits to the rest of us.

I'm sure if you're in the 1% you'll gloat and suggest that poor people can't buy Mercedes, either. But Walt wasn't in it to build Mercedes; he built Disneyland as a place where all families could come and experience magic. As it stands, Disneyland is increasing the place where the amount of magic you can experience depends upon how rich you are. It's wrong, and it's injecting the sour taste of one-percenterism into what should be a universally happy place.

May 15, 2018 at 9:32 AM

Well hold on just a second guys. It includes more than JUST 3 rides. You get admission to DCA for the day valued at $119, plus parking valued at $20 (provided you and anyone you travel with to this event each drive separately), food vouchers for 5 food booths (I'm guessing the value here) valued at $50, some sort of a swag bag probably worth $10, and of course a dance party with a DJ valued at $110, for a grand total of $309. So you're actually saving $9!... wait what do you mean my math is flawed? It all looks legit to me.

May 15, 2018 at 11:06 AM

Lord can you imagine the price for Star Wars.

May 16, 2018 at 5:27 AM

Wow! I don't see the point of this unless you just really don't like heavy crowds. And if that's the case, who says you have to go right away? Wait til it dies down some. I'm hoping by 2034 I'll be able to walk at a regular pace throughout Star Wars Land.

May 19, 2018 at 2:23 PM

If you have been to Disneyland you know from experience, it's overrun with Annual Passholders. Special events REQUIRE special pricing. Passholders harbor serious feelings of entitlement bordering on hostility. Disneyland is still a privately owned business isnt it? This price should weed out the suckas! I LOVE that Disney is making an effort to improve the experience for those who still see the resort* as a place to enjoy spending time with your loved ones/family for vacations/reunions.They have to, it's overpopulated. Besides, you've spent $300 for much less, see you there!

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