I do enjoy Pixar movies and after doing a themed Marvel cruise and a Christmas cruise, I wanted to do another one.  Pixar Day at Sea cruises were not offered in 2025 and when I saw that it was back for early 2026, I had to go on one of the cruises.  There were select sailings on the Disney Fantasy in January through March.  I booked a 5 night western Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral for February 1st to the 6th with a friend.

Our Day

Pixar Day at Sea is a full one day special event that occurred on our first full day on the cruise which was a day at sea.  There were lots of people dressing up as their favorite Pixar characters from movies like Toy Story, The Incredibles and more.  People were also wearing shirts or hats with their favorite characters on it.  The ship is decorated with Pixar decor with signs celebrating Pixar Day at Sea.

Hey Howdy Breakfast with Woody and Friends

Our day started early with a booked 8:45 AM breakfast reservation.  This exclusive complimentary character dining experience is held at Animator’s Palette and must be booked in advance and is available to book 30 days before ship departure date.  Space is limited and is so popular that reservations are sold out within minutes.  I was so glad I was actually able to grab a spot.

This musical breakfast has singalongs, characters, and a special themed menu.  I ordered Jessie’s Get Up and Go, which is, scrambled eggs, grilled sausage, and tomato served with fruit salad.  Portions were quite small, so luckily I added hash browns and a couple slices of bacon.  Breakfast was decent but the whole event was lively and fun.

Character Encounters

Like any Disney cruise, there are scheduled encounters throughout the day.  Of course, since it’s Pixar day, there will be a ton of your favorites.  These are all free and no reservation is needed.  The times and locations of each of these characters can be found on the Disney cruise app.  It is best to line up early, as lines can get pretty long.

Through out the day, we did get some cool photo ops with characters like Miguel, Sulley, and Buzz Lightyear.  Some of these characters have photo ops on the other days of the cruise, but it was fun to get into the spirit of Pixar when taking the photos with them on the actual Pixar day.

Booked Pixar Encounters

Similar to the Royal Gathering on Disney cruises, Pixar Encounters are free and can be booked 30 days before we set sail.  This is the same day we can do our online check ins.  There were 2 different Pixar Encounters that could be booked: An Incredible Encounter and Meet Rex.  I stayed up until midnight EST online when it was available and was able to book both of these meet ups.

Our first booked reservation was for An Incredible Encounter at 10:30 AM.  We arrived a few minutes before our scheduled time and before waiting in line, our key cards are scanned to make sure we have a reservation.  Since each timeslot is limited, the lines were never long.

Frozone and Mr. Incredible were the two characters we got photo ops with.  We were able to take a few different poses and were able to interact with the characters so it wasn’t super rushed.

Later on in the day at 1:30 PM, we had the Meet Rex encounter.  This one seemed more popular as the reservation for this sold out faster than the other one.  Both of these 2 booked encounters were available on another day of the cruise but I wanted to keep everything done on just the one day Pixar Day at Sea.

Classic Disney Encounters

There were also a few scheduled classic Disney characters wearing their Pixar Day at Sea outfits throughout the day.  There wasn’t as many opportunities as the Pixar characters, and we missed photo ops with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  We did manage to get a pic of Minnie when passing by.

Themed Activities

There were also themed activities throughout the ship for Pixar day.  Pixar theme music and songs from some of the movies could be heard throughout the ship’s speakers instead of Disney music.  Pixar movies are played at the theaters and the Funnel Vision on the top deck.  There is also trivia, art classes, baby races and even a costume celebration where guests compete to see who is best dressed as their favorite Pixar characters.

Merchandise

Lots of Pixar merchandise could be found at the stores on the ship.  There are shirts, toys, collectables and more.  Items are limited so it is best to go early in the day for the best selection.  At Sweet On You shop there were a bunch of yummy themed Pixar treats like cookies and cupcakes to buy.

 Pixar Pals Celebration!

Pixar Pals Celebration! is a deck party and is a high energy show that features Pixar characters singing and dancing with guests.  It’s one of the few times to see many Pixar characters interacting with each other.  The show includes Joy, Sadness, Remy, Dug, Woody, Miguel, Sulley and more.  It was a fun show but did not have a fireworks finale.  Previous years had the Incredible Deck Party with fireworks.

I saw the first showing of Pixar Pals Celebration! which was at 6:30 PM and lasted about 20 minutes long.  I was in the accessible seating area which was at the front left and provided a great view.  For this cruise, we got the late dining time of 8:15 PM so I had to see the early show.  My friend had an online class so I attended this show on my own and had a cast member help me take pictures and videos.

Style on Parade with Edna Mode

I got a cast member to take me down to the atrium to see Style on Parade with Edna Mode for the 7:30 PM show.  I was put in the accessible seating area which was at the front right.  This fashion show features Edna looking for cruise guests who are best dressed in their Pixar outfits.

Guests are put on the runway and are judged by Edna, Frozone, Elastigirl, and Mr. Incredible.  It was an okay show for me and was something to do for 20 minutes.  By the time the show was over, my friend returned from his online class and we had a few minutes to get to our 8:15 PM dining time.

Special Menu

The same special Pixar menu is offered at all 3 rotational dining locations.  We were back at the Royal Court restaurant for the second night in a row.  The menu looks regular but some of the food items are Pixar inspired, the dessert menu was similar but has a few Pixar characters.  Food on Disney cruises has always been amazing so I was looking forward to dinner no matter what.

For my appetizer, I had Princess Merida’s Smoked Salmon and Smoked Trout Rillette.  This only tasted average for me.  For my main, I had Sanjay’s Murph Makhani-Butter Chicken, while dessert was the signature Playful Pixar Ball.  These two items were delicious, I felt like I could’ve eaten more but didn’t want to overeat.

After our late dinner, we went to The Tube with a few friends to watch Match Your Mate.

Final Thoughts

Overall, my friend and I both really enjoyed Pixar Day at Sea on the Disney Fantasy.  Although it is only 1 full day of the entire cruise, it is totally worth booking a cruise with it if you are a Pixar fan.  I hope Star Wars Day at Sea returns to Disney cruises as they were discontinued after the 2022 sailings.  Look for my full review of the Disney Fantasy ship soon.