A Deep Dive Into the Pixar Place Hotel Pool

Photo of mural by pool at third floor of Pixar Place Hotel showing pastel drawings of Nemo and friends. Title says “Deep Dive into the Pixar Palce Hotel Pool!”

Pixar Place Hotel boasts the newest pool area at Disneyland Resort. This Finding Nemo and Pixar animation themed spot charms with its bright colors and family-friendly features. Here is our deep dive into this lively pool area with a pool, whirlpool, splash pad, water slide and various amenities. For an in-depth post on the adjoining Pixar Shorts Court, see our article here, but this post is all about the Pixar Place Hotel pool! Let’s dive in!

Location of the Pixar Place Hotel Pool

The pool deck is located on the third floor roof deck of the Pixar Place Hotel. The third floor is not the top floor of this hotel. The roof deck partially covers the third floor with the remaining part of the floor being made-up of guest rooms, some with private patios opening to the roof deck. The guest rooms are part of a large tower which rises above the pool deck to the east.
You reach the pool deck by elevator. If you take the elevator to the third floor, you will see a set of glass doors opening to the deck immediately beside the bank of elevators.

Pixel Pool at Pixar Place Hotel

The swimming pool is called “Pixel Pool.” We love the commitment to theme here; the tiny colorful tiles linking the pool are like pixels! This pool is large and deep enough for a nice swim, and we loved cooling off here.

While the pool is smaller than its counterparts at the Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, we found there was enough room, even in mid-August!

Whirlpool

At the northeast corner of the pool deck, there is a whirlpool (hot tub). Adults and children are welcome to the use the whirlpool.

Crush’s Surfin’ Slide

The headliner of the Pixar Place Hotel pool area is arguably Crush’s Surfin’ Slide. This “totally awesome” slide twists 186 feet through a leafy corner of the pool deck to a gentle finish at the splash pad. The slide is not particularly fast, but it is thrilling enough that we have lost count of how many times everyone in our family has taken a ride on Crush’s Surfin’ Slide. It’s fun!

One of the things that makes it endlessly re-rideable is the voice of Crush cheering you on with different phrases. Be sure to listen for Crush’s shouted encouragement during your ride!

There is no height requirement for this slide. Rather than dropping you into a pool, the slide comes to a gentle “coasting” stop in a flat splash pad. Lifeguards are stationed at the top and bottom of the slide. Parents and guardians decide whether young children are ready for this slide. Do keep in mind that everyone must ride solo: adults cannot slide with a child.

Nemo’s Cove Splash Pad

While Crush’s Surfin’ Slide is the headliner, the visual highlight of the Pixar Place Hotel pool deck is probably Nemo’s Cove. This is a splash pad themed to the Pixar films Finding Nemo and Finding Dory.
The splash pad has a squishy foam surface similar to the play surface you now find at many playgrounds. Sea creatures from Nemo’s reef are depicted in the foam surface with pop jets springing from these friends of Nemo. The impression that you are splashing along in Nemo’s reef is really solidified by the planter bordering the west end of the Nemo’s Cove splash pad. Coral sculptures and additional characters are mixed in with the living plants to make a charming backdrop to Nemo’s Cove.
We especially like that the close proximity of Nemo’s Cove and Crush’s Surfin’ Slide makes it easy to supervise splashing toddlers and sliding big kids at the same time.

Seating Around Pixar Place Hotel Pool

The pool deck is lined with rows of comfy lounge chairs. Admittedly, we do not use pool deck chairs for more than a kind of home base, so we are not the best target audience for these chairs. Still, they were comfortable for the few moments we sat on them to remove our shoes. We have never seen anyone have trouble snagging one of these chairs, but if you want to reserve a lounging spot, you can…

Rent a Cabana, Daybed or Pod

The Pixar Place Hotel pool has (from largest to smallest) cabanas, daybeds and pods for rent. All of these options provide shade and reserved seating. The cabanas come with the most extra amenities. All of these rental spaces have the option for ordering food and beverage service from the nearby Small Bytes snack stand.
Because we spend basically all of our pool time in the water, we cannot share personal experience with the cabanas, daybeds or pods at the Pixar Place Hotel pool. We have seen them in use and did observe that, while the pods look adorable, they also don’t look like they provide much space to relax! Perhaps the cushions are very comfortable, but the people we saw using them didn’t look like they had enough room to fully extend their bodies like they would on a lounge chair. Instead, they were kind of curled-up sideways.

Amenities at Pixar Place Hotel Pool

The Pixar Place Hotel pool deck is located within the larger recreation roof deck next to the Pixar Shorts Court. Some amenities are located outside the fence around the pool deck and others are within the fenced area. All are within a short distance.

The cast members working on the pool deck will issue you a wristband as well as pool towels. You will need to tell them your name and room number. (Do not bring the towels from your room. Pool towels are always available at the pool.) These cast members are also a great resource for any questions you might have. They helped us find some lost clothing and directed us to the Disneyland Hotel waterslides when Crush’s Surfin’ Slide was closed. We love the Pixar Place Hotel cast members!

The bathrooms are located in the same building as the Small Bytes snack bar, outside the fenced pool area. There is additional seating near Small Bytes and even some fire pits! You can find the current menu for Small Bytes on the Disneyland website or app. All seating for Small Bytes is outdoors, though we suppose you could pick-up some food and take it back to your room. There are some large outdoor couches under substantial lanais.

We also appreciated the nearby water bottle filler and water fountain. Additional amenities include life jackets and swim diapers available upon request. There is a lift assist to help guests enter and exit the pool.

Pixar Decor and Landscaping

As a result of the roof deck location, Pixar Place Hotel pool deck has a bit of a stark setting. There is a—well, towering—tower of guest rooms to the east and parking on all other sides. Still, the Imagineers did a nice job making this concrete covered location into a very pleasant place to play.

There are potted plants and terraced planters everywhere. The pool deck repeats the primary color palette found elsewhere in Pixar Place Hotel, except for Nemo’s Cove, which provides a neat visual break and focal point.

We especially enjoyed the faux vintage travel posters referencing different Pixar films. These signs combined with the plentiful bold umbrellas, lush plants and charming Finding Nemo characters, truly made us feel like we were in a special place.

Tips

You will use your room key to enter the fenced area around the pool deck. There, you will speak to the Pool Concierge to share your room number and receive wrist bands and towels.

The bathrooms are located outside the fenced pool area in the same building as Small Bytes. We find it helpful to note the location and distance ahead of time when swimming with little ones.

The (very) large guest room tower to the east of the pool deck means that the pool is heavily shaded in the morning and has full sun by the afternoon. Depending on the weather during the visit, you may want to time your pool visit accordingly.

Speaking of timing, the elevators at Pixar Place Hotel can get overwhelmed by guests. We mostly had a good experience with them, except for mid-afternoon around check-in time. One day, we were trying to leave the pool around 4:30pm and had to wait ten minutes for an elevator. It’s hard to plan around this, because the elevators are the only way to access the pool from the guest rooms (with the exception of those on the third floor of course), but maybe plan some extra travel time.

Finally, sometimes Crush’s Surfin’ Slide experiences some maintenance downtime. If this is the case, you should be able to use the slides and pool area at Disneyland Hotel, even though you are a guest at Pixar Place Hotel. If the slide is off during its regular hours, ask a Pool Concierge cast member about this option.

Thank you for reading our deep dive into the pool at Pixar Place Hotel.

We love Pixar Place Hotel and have other posts about the guest rooms, Pixar Shorts Court and the hotel overall. We also have a post about Making the Most of Your Disneyland Resort Hotel Stay. For step-by-step help planning your Disneyland visit, check-put this article. Thanks again for reading!