Edit – the Pixar Play Zone is no longer open at Disney World as of April 2019.
Josh and I have always loved Disney. In fact, we honeymooned at Disney back in 2007 when we were first married. So we definitely know how fun Disney can be without kids! During our most recent trip to Disney, we wanted to recreate that kid-free fun, so we booked our kids a night at the Pixar Play Zone – Disney’s kids-only experience located at the Contemporary Resort right next to the Magic Kingdom.
Review of the Pixar Play Zone at Disney World’s Contemporary Resort
For $65 per child, your kids (ages 4-12) can play from 5pm to 10:30pm at the Play Zone. They’ll eat dinner, meet characters, do crafts, play games, and even end the night with a dance party! I know the price may seem high, but for five and a half hours of childcare, plus dinner, crafts, and character meet and greets, it really isn’t bad. It comes out to around $12 an hour per child, which seems reasonable for all that’s included. And for us, after almost a week with our kids 24/7, it was totally worth it to get a few hours to ourselves!
I’m usually pretty picky about who watches my kids, but I knew that Disney always does things at 110% and I felt fine leaving my kids there for a few hours. The cast members were all amazing and super friendly. (I also know Disney’s hiring process includes background checks and drug screening, and I’m sure the screening process for employees that work directly with children is even more rigorous.)
The verdict? They had a blast! And so did Mama and Dada on our night off.
The check-in process was easy enough, although did take a little longer than I expected. There is some paperwork to fill out – mostly picking out dinner from a menu and providing basic info like ages, contact info, etc. They let us know that a photo ID would be required to pick up our kids at the end of the night.
The menu had lots of great options to choose from – including healthy foods and dairy-free items (since we’re still limiting the amount of dairy Graham eats).
Once the kids were all set, Josh and I took off for dinner and fireworks. We were given a card with the number for the Play Zone in case we needed to contact them for any reason.
The kids made a few crafts, went through “Space Ranger Training,” played games with Woody and Jessie from Toy Story, built and raced cars in the “Piston Cup Challange,” and had a dance party with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. They also made a few crafts they got to bring home – superhero door hangers and painted window decorations. They each got a Pixar Play Zone bag to bring home too, and a poster with the characters’ signatures.
When we picked up the kids, they were exhausted, but clearly had a blast!
There were only two negatives to the whole experience. First, the kids weren’t able to take pictures with the characters. I really wish we could have had a couple of pics from throughout the night to see what the kids were up to. I also would have loved to have seen the car that Graham built and pictures of both kids with Woody and Jessie.
The only other negative was the bathroom situation. There is no on-site bathroom in the Play Zone. I actually asked about this when we were checking the kids in because I knew Maddie would have to go at some point during the night. I was told the kids are escorted by at least two of the Play Zone employees downstairs to a separate private bathroom. This made me a little wary. I would have preferred there to be a bathroom in the Play Zone that the kids could use on their own. But this is the same way the kids are taken to the bathroom at our church (walked down the hallway to the bathroom with at least two volunteers). So really it wasn’t any different than what my kids are used to.
If you’re looking for a night at Disney with a peaceful dinner and some kid-free park time, the Pixar Play Zone is the way to go!
A few more things to keep in mind:
Reservations are recommended, but they do accept walk-ups if they aren’t fully booked.
Your kids must be fully potty-trained.
A credit card number is required to book.
You have to cancel before 24 hours of the scheduled date or you’ll be charged the full amount.
Want more information? Check out the Red Headed Baby Mama’s post all about the Pixar Play Zone!
