Disney News: Pixar Fest Starts Today, Digital Keys, New Epcot Art & More

Here are some recent news updates from the various Disney Destinations we proudly represent.

Pixar Fest Starts Today at Disneyland Resort

Starting today through Sept. 3, 2018, you will be able to experience the adorable “Pixar Play Parade” and dazzling “Paint the Night” parade at the Disneyland® Resort during Pixar Fest!

“Pixar Play Parade” features fun, new story elements, adding even more playfulness to this daytime parade at Disneyland® Park. “Paint the Night” makes its way through Disney California Adventure® Park with more than 1 million brilliant lights, high-energy music and cutting edge special effects featuring many beloved Disney and Pixar pals.

Here are 10 fun facts about these popular parades!

1. In “Pixar Play Parade,” which is now in Disneyland Park, the Pixar Lamp and Ball from Pixar’s original short, “Luxo Jr.” now leads the parade in a larger-than-life fashion. The Lamp is 14 feet tall and the Pixar Ball is nearly four feet wide.

2. You will also want to keep an eye out for Kevin, the friendly bird from “Up” who stands nearly 12 feet tall from her toes to the top of her feathers. The new “Up” story element also features Carl Fredricksen and Dug, while Kevin romps through the parade with his friend Russell riding on his back.

3. The new “Inside Out” story element features Riley’s rocket wagon. Nearly 280 memory orbs of all different emotions appear at its base!

4. Baby Jack-Jack sits in one of the claws of the Omnidroid on “The Incredibles” float and, just like in the Pixar film, flames rise from his head when he gets excited.

5. 120-plus performers and crew entertain Guests and dance along to the original songs “Countdown to Fun” and “The Party’s On” by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, who wrote many of the songs for the successful “High School Musical” movies.

6. “Paint the Night” parade requires more than 200 “universes of control” to operate everything from the video presentations on the floats to the lights on individual costumes.

7. Including the video screens, the parade contains more than one million sources of light. The 500 strobes used in the parade are a custom lighting product developed by Disney.

8. Slinky Dog from “Toy Story” is 32 feet long, with his ears measuring at 18 feet tall and 11 feet across! The 10 spinning disks rotate at 120 RPM and are programmed with custom video content.

9. The five animated doors on the “Monsters Inc.” float are more than nine feet tall with 40 individual LED video panels. They were created in collaboration with Pixar Animation Studios.

10. Mack from “Cars” features a 3D display that creates exceptional depth of image. The display contains nearly 27,000 individual orbs. Almost 2,000 feet of LED “neon” helps bring this float to life.

In June, a new float will be added to the “Paint the Night” parade, featuring Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible and Frozone. The fun and excitement of “The Incredibles” will be brought to life with high-tech, pop-art effects!

New Digital Key Feature Coming Soon to My Disney Experience App

At Walt Disney World® Resort, they are always looking for ways to wow Guests with new technology that enhances their experience. The My Disney Experience app is a perfect example, with recently introduced features like mobile order and online check-in that are providing you with additional choices to make your vacation even more enjoyable and convenient. Now Disney has unveiled another exciting app feature: a digital key.

Coming soon to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, a new feature in the My Disney Experience app will allow Guests to quickly unlock their hotel room using a digital key on their mobile devices, providing them with another seamless room entry option that brings added ease and flexibility to their experience.

Guests can also use their digital key to unlock the hotel entrance gate and common area doors requiring a key, which may include pools, fitness centers, elevators and club level lounges. Arriving travel parties that have checked in online may even use their digital key to bypass the need to visit the front desk, giving them the opportunity to go directly to their room when it is ready and start their vacation even faster.

The feature represents the latest evolution of keyless room entry, which Disney began offering with the MagicBand, the unique all-in-one device that effortlessly connects the vacation choices you make in My Disney Experience. You may use either or both options to enter your room during your stay.

So how does it work? To use their digital key, Guests can opt in and activate the feature on their check-in day through a brief set up process in the app. To enter their room, Guests tap the “Unlock Door” button and then simply hold their phone against the door lock.

Bluetooth®-enabled mobile devices with the latest version of the My Disney Experience app are required to take advantage of a digital key for room entry. Be sure to wear your MagicBand for all other uses including park entry, FastPass+ redemption, room charges and more.

Stay tuned for more information about the digital key feature and other future enhancements to the app.

Alien Pizza Planet Landing Soon at Disneyland Park

Everyone’s favorite Aliens from Disney•Pixar’s “Toy Story” will be invading Disneyland® Resort for Pixar Fest, and for the duration of the festival, Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port in Disneyland Park will transform into Alien Pizza Planet – “A Better Place.”

The Aliens have sourced the finest ingredients from across the universe to deliver fresh, hot pizzas that are out of this world. A specialty of their home planet Pepperonia is a special pepperoni pizza topped with green peppers and mushrooms. They’ll also be cooking up a hearty cheeseburger pizza with ketchup, yellow mustard and pizza sauce on a sesame seed crust and topped with cheese, caramelized onions, diced tomatoes, slider patties, a house-made burger sauce, and pickles.

This exciting transformation is just one of the many offerings coming as part of Pixar Fest at the Disneyland Resort, which begins today and runs through Sept. 3, 2018. The festival will span both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure® Park, bringing not only creatively-themed food, but also a new fireworks show, “Together Forever—A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular,” the return of the “Paint the Night” parade and much more!

“Return To Sleepy Hollow” at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground Begins September 28

We’re excited to share that “Return to Sleepy Hollow” offering is coming back this fall at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and you can book this experience now!

Like last season, “Return to Sleepy Hollow” includes a group viewing of the 1949 Disney animated classic film “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” inside the resort’s historic Tri-Circle-D Ranch stables. And during event nights, you will be able to see galloping ghosts and experience an up close and personal encounter with the Headless Horseman.

The “Return to Sleepy Hollow” begins on Sept. 28 at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground: Sept. 28-30, Oct. 3-7, Oct. 10-14, 17-21, 24-31 at 8 and 10 p.m.

Also, new this year, there will be a dessert party at 9 p.m. after the movie if you are viewing the 8 p.m. show or prior to the movie if you’re viewing the later show.

This experience can be reserved now. General seating costs $22 per person, while premium seating, which includes a priority photo opportunity with the Headless Horseman and a Halloween treat bag, costs $38 per person. And the dessert party at 9 p.m. costs $60 per person.

Space is extremely limited for this offering – so, hurry and book now!

New Art Exhibition Comes To Epcot American Adventure Gallery This Summer

One of the hallmarks of the Epcot® World Showcase pavilions is their ongoing mission to bring authentic cultural experiences to Guests.

From live entertainment, to the cultural representative Cast Members, to film experiences showcasing majestic vistas of the countries, EPCOT strives to give guests a glimpse of the people, culture and history of each country through art, dining and architecture.

For some countries, that includes an exhibition of authentic cultural art. There have been recent updates to the art gallery in Mexico, and more exciting work is underway to refresh the gallery in Norway.

Also coming this summer to the American Heritage Gallery at The American Adventure is a brand new exhibition called “Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change in American Indian Art”.

“Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change in American Indian Art” is made possible through the collaboration of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C.

Among the featured artists with works on display are fashion designer Loren Aragon (Acoma Pueblo), noted doll maker Glenda McKay (Ingalik-Athabascan), and Juanita Growing Thunder (Assiniboine Sioux) from the Growing Thunder family of Montana.

As with other exhibitions that have graced the American Heritage Gallery, this new exhibition will feature interactive elements, where some of the artists will share the creative process and inspirations behind their works in their own words.

Stay tuned for updates to all the of the art exhibitions at Epcot, including an opening date for “Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change in American Indian Art.”

Mobile Ordering Service Coming Soon to Disneyland Resort

A new mobile ordering service will soon be available at the Disneyland® Resort!

Mobile ordering is just one more option for you to further customize your Disney vacation, allowing you to conveniently place orders at select fast casual and quick-service restaurant locations using the Disneyland App from anywhere across the resort.

Using the new mobile ordering service, you will be able to easily search for a participating location, select an arrival time window for pickup, choose items from the menu and place your order. As an added convenience, Annual Passholders will be able to apply their discount to meal purchases using the app. Guests notify the restaurant of their arrival on the app and within minutes, an app notification indicates the meal is ready to pick up at a designated window – without ever waiting in line to order and pay.

The mobile ordering functionality is part of Disney’s continued efforts to enhance the Guest experience. Combined with the recently launched Disney MaxPass, also part of the Disneyland App, you can spend more time with family and friends enjoying everything Disneyland Resort has to offer – including the upcoming Pixar Fest celebration!

Stay tuned for more details – including which Guest favorite locations will be featured.