General Information

Location: The parade enters the park next to the Tower of Terror in Hollywood Land, then passes through the Pacific Wharf, and Paradise Pier to exit the park near the Silly Symphony Swings.

Date Opened: March 14, 2008

Capacity: Thousands along the parade route.

# of Shows: Daily at 2 and 5 p.m.

Characters: Most of the major characters (and several minor characters) from the Toy Story movies, a bug's life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille.

Photos and Autographs: No

Advertisement

Time Commitment

Wait Times: For best spots, get in place 20 minutes early though decent views are available up until parade time.

Length of Show: About 10-12 minutes at each of two show stops, total of 40 minutes from entry of first float into park to exit of last float.

FastPass: No

Queue Description: None

Access Information

Health Restriction:

Ride Access: Viewing of the parade is from anywhere along the parade route from the Tower of Terror to the Silly Symphony Swings; most good viewing areas are wheelchair accessible.

Wheelchair Transfer:

Service Animals: Yes

Audio: Music is used through the parade.

Weight and Size Issues:

Time Commitment

Height Restriction: No

Child Swap: No

Other Issues: Float parades do shoot water into the audience on any day with reasonably good weather (bubbles may replace some water effects when the weather is bad). Obviously, this is a feature of the parade that will please some kids and really upset others. If your child won't enjoy getting wet you should probably avoid taking a front row seat.

History and Trivia

  • At this location: Generally parades are a constantly revolving series, with new parades replacing the old every few years (though the extremely long lasting Electric Light Parade, running the same ground as Pixar Play Parade is an obvious exception. Immediately prior to Pixar Play Parade, the slot was taken by Block Party Bash, which ran from May 5, 2005 to January 6, 2008. While Disney's Electric Parade ran at the park seasonally from 2002-2010, there was actually nearly a three year period without a daytime parade before Block Party Bash. Disney's Eureka was a large-scale dancers-and-acrobats parade that opened with the park in Febaruary 2001 but closed by Labor Day 2002.
  • The Attraction's History: The Cars characters no longer appear in the parade.

Other Trivia

  • The music: Two new songs were written for the Pixar Play Parade. Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, who also wrote the music for the mega-popular High School Musical, wrote "Countdown to Fun" and "The Party's On" for the parade.
  • The costumes: Parade costumes were designed by Mirena Rada, who also did the costumes for the Muppets-based broadway play Avenue Q, and total more than 2,000 pieces.
  • A Rought Start: About a week after the parade opened a cast member on the a bug's life float felt something strange in her swing and dismounted moments before it broke off. The parade had to be canceled for a week while the floats were inspected; when the parade returned, the afflicted float had been removed.
  • Until Shanghai Disneyland opens, this is the longest parade route in any Disney park.