Pixar Pier

Paradise Pier
Paradise Pier from across the bay in Paradise Park
Location	Disney California Adventure
Status	Operating
Opening date	February 8, 2001
Replaced by	Pixar Pier (opening in 2018)
Theme	A Victorian era seaside amusement park
Attractions
Attractions	29 total
Roller coasters	2
Other rides	7
Shows	1

Paradise Pier is a themed land at Disney California Adventure, based on that of Victorian boardwalks that were once found along the coast of California. Despite its name and the presence of a nearby man-made lake, Paradise Pier is not actually a pier, but merely a waterside area of the park. The roller coaster California Screamin' sprawls across much of it, with various other attractions and forms of entertainment scattered around it.

A new attraction, Toy Story Midway Mania!, opened on June 17, 2008. The attraction is the first in a series of theming upgrades to the land and park as a whole. This was followed by changes to the Sun Wheel to become Mickey's Fun Wheel and new Games of the Boardwalk in 2009. In 2010, World of Color and Silly Symphony Swings were added. To complete the Paradise Pier makeover, Disney opened Goofy's Sky School and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure.

At the 2017 D23 Expo, Disney announced plans for the Paradise Pier area to be re-themed to Pixar Pier, which is expected to open in 2018.

When the park first opened in 2001, Paradise Pier originally resembled a modern seaside amusement park, similar to that of the Santa Monica Pier, or Santa Cruz Boardwalk. As part of the Disney California Adventure $1.1 billion expansion project, Paradise Pier was re-themed to evoke the charm of Victorian era seaside amusement parks of the 1920s. The first change was the addition of Toy Story Midway Mania!, which opened on June 17, 2008. The boardwalk games were then re-themed to incorporate more familiar Disney characters (completed on April 7, 2009), and the Sun Wheel was transformed into Mickey's Fun Wheel with a new color scheme, new lighting effects, and a "pie-eyed" Mickey Mouse face replacing the original sun face (completed on May 4, 2009). Following these changes, the "Route 66" area was completely re-themed, with the "S.S. rustworthy", and "Dinosaur Jack's Sunglass Shack" being completely demolished. The Orange Stinger underwent extensive re-theming to become Silly Symphony Swings, based on Walt Disney's short film "The Band Concert". Silly Symphony Swings opened on May 28, 2010. Cosmetic changes have also been made to California Screamin': the Mickey Mouse silhouette was altered to represent a sunburst pattern, with the large Paradise Pier sign that once sat below now hanging above the loop.