Welcome back to another WDWNT Photo Report from the Disneyland Resort. This week we bring you the ‘Opening Day Edition,’ with all our coverage from the Pixar Pier Premiere Party paid event, and the official opening day of the new land as well. We have a long photo report for you this week, so grab some popcorn and enjoy!

Pixar Pier Premiere Party (June 22, 2018)

On Thursday, June 22, 2018, Disneyland hosted a special paid event for guests who wanted a sneak peek at the new Pixar Pier before its opening date. The event was $299.00 per guest, and came with the opportunity to not only preview the land and all its new attractions but to also sample one new food item from every new food location.

Guests attending the premiere were given a lanyard with detachable tabs on the edges, that allowed them to exchange each one for the different food items throughout the land. This concept is similar to the Annual Passholder options they offered during Festival of Holidays and Food & Wine Festival.

After check in and lanyard distribution, guests entered the land with a ‘blue carpet’ entrance and multiple photo opportunities on your way in. We will have a full review on the Premiere Party coming at a later date.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Construction Update

With all the hubbub over in Disney California Adventure Park, construction is still continuing at a frenzied pace at Disneyland Park. With now exactly one year until the premiere of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the one year timeline seems like barely enough time to finish a fully immersive 14-acre land.

With the people in the above second photo, you can truly get a sense of the size and scale of the massive show building for the ‘Battle Escape’ attraction.

Over at the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure, we have some construction updates for you on their new addition.

Disneyland Park celebrates Tiki Room’s 55th Anniversary

In addition to the opening day of Pixar Pier, Disneyland Park celebrated Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room’s 55th Anniversary with special t-shirts, random merchandise, pins, and of course the very sought after Funko Pop Vinyls of Jose and Pele. They were also handing out commemorative buttons, but guests only received them if they purchased a souvenir sipper mug with pineapple juice at the Tropical Juice Bar.

Where’s Fawn?

Over at Pixie Hollow, we noticed a large tree was missing from the front entrance of the meet and greet area. The tree used to be a major focal point for area, and more importantly used to house one of Tinkerbell’s fairy friends Fawn. There are statuettes of all of the Disney Fairies throughout Pixie Hollow, but with the removal of this tree Fawn is now the only fairy missing.

Below is an image of the original tree with the statuette of Fawn. The image was sourced from www.wdwinfo.com.

Here a few photos from Pixar Play Parade that day from Disneyland Park.

Mr. Incredible striking a pose for the crowd.

The Jack-Jack on the Incredibles float is back to emitting fire again from the top of his head.

Joy, Sadness and Bing Bong on one of the new float additions for Pixar Fest.

Pixar Pier Opening Day (June 23, 2018)

The day had finally arrived! Pixar Pier was going to open to the public and the vibe was electric. We started early that morning lining up outside the main entrance to Disney California Adventure Park.

We were posting live on our Instagram story to document the morning lines, rope drop, and journey into Pixar Pier. If you don’t already follow us on Instagram, please visit us at @wdwnt and give us a follow!

Just prior to opening, the line had stretched all the way across the Esplanade to the Disneyland side.

Here is a video from our Instagram story of the crowd waiting for rope drop inside the park.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTXU3QKqFe4&w=560&h=315]

Then we have here the video from when we were finally walked up to Pixar Pier just after park opening.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbtWwZrZQc4&w=560&h=315]

You can see in the video Cast Members holding various lollipop signs to direct guests where they should start to queue. They had a queue starting for stand by of the Incredicoaster, another queue for the Fastpass distribution center for Incredicoaster and Toy Story Midway Mania, and then guests formed their own queue for the Lamplight Lounge. The Lamplight Lounge had already fully booked all of its reservations for opening day the morning they went live, so Guests only had the option to walk up or queue.

MaxPass proved to be very efficient and the best option for opening day when trying to ride the Incredicoaster. While we were waiting for rope drop, we were already able to purchase MaxPass and make our first selection for Incredicoaster before the rope drop had even happened.

The queue for Incredicoaster almost immediately ran from the attraction all the way outside the land itself.

Below is our full video of the queue, pre-show and on-ride footage of Incredicoaster. If you have not watched it already, check it out!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2NhtwHkafg&w=560&h=315]

Here are some random photos of inside Pixar Pier on the opening day throughout our visit. Enjoy!

A look at some of the crowds down on the pier shortly after opening.

Just adjacent to the new Poultry Palace is the new combined FASTPASS location for both the Incredicoaster and Toy Story Midway Mania.The area where California Screamin’ FASTPASS distribution used to be, is now additional standby queue space for switchbacks.

The Toy Story Midway Mania attraction’s old entrance has also been closed off, and turned into a meet and greet with your favorite Toy Story characters. Additionally the Mr. Potato Head barker at the front of the attraction is now open for guests to just walk up to and approach, and is no longer part of the queue. The attraction entrance has been moved down the Pier closer to the Games of the Boardwalk.

Another nice touch in Pixar Pier were the trash cans. They had themed trash cans in each neighborhood area of the pier to match their corresponding movie.

Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums were delicious and probably my new favorite Disneyland treat.

Here are some pictures from inside the Lamplight Lounge.

We also had the opportunity to check out the ‘secret room’ at the Lamplight Lounge, which requires a Cast Member escort as the room is in a backstage area.

Here are the views from outside the ‘secret room.’

There were so many details to photograph in the Lamplight Lounge, we could have spent all day there just taking pictures of everything. The lounge was easily my favorite part of the new Pixar Pier.

We also have a full video walk-through and tour of all the new Games of the Boardwalk in the Pixar Promenade. Check it out below!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1eA5WxbqZ4&w=560&h=315]

For our fellow foodies if you are curious about the treats and eats available at the Pixar Pier, be sure to check out our full reviews on Senor Buzz Churros , Poultry Palace , Angry Dogs , Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums , and the Lamplight Lounge (small bites and drinks) as well.

That about covers our opening day photo report, and we hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for our photo report of Pixar Pier at night, and our full review on the Premiere Party and Lamplight Lounge entree menu. See you soon!

Gavin Moore