Pixar Play Parade was a parade at the Disneyland Resort. The parade features floats and characters based on Disney·Pixar films such as Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles and Toy Story. In a first for Disney California Adventure, the floats feature small water jets that shoot water into the crowd of spectators (this parade effect was first introduced in 1993 for "Aladdin's Royal Caravan" at Disneyland). The music used in the parade is derived from Hong Kong Disneyland's Mickey's WaterWorks Parade, both having the same tunes with changes in lyrics.

History

Due to the large construction phase in the park, the parade went on hiatus starting on January 4, 2011. It was originally set to return in November, however it did not as construction was still ongoing. During the hiatus, it was replaced by "Pixar Pals", an interactive show that only featured characters from Monsters, Inc. and The Incredibles. Pixar Pals concluded in May 2012 and Pixar Play Parade returned on June 15, 2012, to coincide with the grand reopening of Disney California Adventure. During the 2016 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival, the parade was put on hiatus and Pixar Pals temporarily returned to the park with "The Incredibles", but "The Monsters Inc" float did not return this time. The parade later returned when the Food and Wine Festival ended. In January 2011, a similar parade called Pixar Pals: Countdown To Fun! debuted at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This parade reused floats from Block Party Bash and used the same theme tune. The former Army Men floats were turned into single character floats. This parade was not received very well and was retired in April 2013, leaving Disney's Hollywood Studios without a main daytime parade outside of the Frozen Royal Welcome Ceremony which appeared throughout the summers of 2014 and 2015. On July 15, 2017, at D23 Expo, it was officially announced that the Pixar Play Parade would be moving from Disney California Adventure to Disneyland Park as part of the "Pixar Fest" event. On December 5, 2017, new floats for Luxo Jr., Inside Out, and Up were revealed for the parade, and later seen when the parade began its official run on April 13, 2018. On December 4, 2023, Disney California Adventure announced that a new Daytime parade, Better Together: A Pixar Pals California, would premiere on April 26, 2024, and take place until August 4, 2024 before the Halloween season, as part of the Pixar Fest celebration.

Parade units

Pixar Play Parade

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun!

Luxo Jr, Inside Out, and Cars only appeared in the other iterations of the parade. This version of the parade re-themed the float structures to different Pixar franchises:

Accident

A week after the parade debuted, an accident took place on the "A Bug's Life" float. One of the platforms on a swing in the back portion of the float broke off during a performance, but the performer had gotten off the swing before it broke. The float was taken off the corridor for almost three months, with only the front portion remaining in the parade. This accident caused Disney to suspend all acrobatic acts in the parade for a small amount of time, but they all returned less than a month after the accident. The back portion of the float itself returned to the parade in July 2008.