Disneyland's New 'Pixar Place' Hotel is Like Visiting the Studio

The Orange County Register reports:

The new Pixar Place Hotel next door to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure is designed to look like you've walked onto the Pixar Animation Studios campus in Emeryville with concept drawings, character maquettes and final designs sprinkled throughout the hotel. 'For those of you who are into the creative process, I think you'll be really happy. This hotel really celebrates that,' Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter said during the opening ceremony for the hotel. 'You get to see rough drawings, color studies and animation sketches as the animators were working. It really feels like you're walking into Pixar in a way when you step in here.'

The multimillion-dollar transformation of the former Paradise Pier Hotel into the new Pixar Place Hotel debuted on Tuesday, January 30 after three years in the making at the Disneyland resort in Anaheim. The front lobby of the hotel is intended to feel like a gallery of curated artwork and custom creations inspired by Pixar's famed studio in Northern California. The rear lobby takes visitors through the animated filmmaking process from hand-drawn sketches to wire-frame character designs. Red, yellow and blue bursts of primary colors serve as bold accents at the front desk in contrast to the muted colors of modern hotel designs.

More details from the Los Angeles Times:

The showcase piece of the lobby is a large mobile, situated above the Pixar lamp and ball, with abstracted, stained glass-like figures from 'The Incredibles,' 'Wall-E,' 'Finding Nemo' and more. They are flanked by colored panels, which react to the music played in the area, an effect that is of course better seen in the evening.

'Pixar is a balance of sophistication and whimsy that really is core to their values,' said Kirstin Makela, an art director at Walt Disney Imagineering, the company's secretive arm devoted to theme park experiences. 'They're a studio that's been at the cutting edge of what they do. They take it very seriously that their characters are represented in that high esteem that they deserve because they are works of art. 'So it really is about creating a space that feels like a living art gallery that allows for the work to be elevated and feel celebrated, and allows for the work to get that dynamic pop of color and energy,' Makela continued...

[I]ncluded in the rooms is the hardbound 'The Art of Pixar' book, and various depictions of the Pixar lamp and ball, from an actual lamp on the desk to traces of the ball and the lamp in the bedding, carpeting and decorative pillows...

In a sampling of room rates throughout the year, I found nothing lower than $405 per night for a standard room, and about $100 more for high-traffic holiday months.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.