AntSol Travel

When I heard the Great Maple Restaurant will be at the now renovated Pixar Place Hotel during D23 2022, I had to give Great Maple a try before then. I went to their Newport Beach location at Fashion Island Shopping Center back in January 2023 and posted on my blog. Surprisingly, I only twelve views, maybe it did not help that it was just titled “Great Maple Review“. However, I was still learning how to write blogs at the time, not the most compelling title.

In this post, I will compare the Newport Beach location I ate last year and the new Pixar Place Hotel location, along with checking out the public areas of the Pixar Place Hotel.

Excerpt: Impressions of Great Maple Newport Beach Location

The menu is not cheap to date to put it frankly, coffee is $6, appetizers average $10, the most expensive items are the entrées at $22, 16 oz pour of beer is $8 which is cheaper than California Adventure that would be double the price. I got three doughnuts for $14, the maple bacon doughnuts were delicious but really sweet for one sitting, It is more of an appetizer for a larger group. I also got a $6 Fair Trade coffee, at least I know the coffee was sourced and sold at a fair price for the coffee bean farmers. Since I was bike riding both ways, I could not get a beer, but they do offer several SoCal breweries, including Anaheim’s Brewery X Ducks Beer, the official beer of the Anaheim Ducks.

Overall, the coffee & doughnuts were good but not cheap, and neither is anything else on their menu are not cheap. However, Great Maple is a SoCal-based higher-end sit-down restaurant chain, with this location in Newport Beach, the more expensive zip code in Orange County, so it is bound to be expensive anyway with staff wages, inflating food costs, and rent. When Great Maple opens at the Pixar Pier Hotel, I am it will be popular, but their menu will be just as expensive, maybe even cost a bit more.

In conclusion of Great Maple Newport Beach, it was a nice upscale place to eat brunch, lunch, dinner, and even grab a drink. Their signature maple bacon doughnuts were delicious and balanced the sweet maple syrup frosting with the savory bacon. However, is it on the expensive side, but that comes with the upscale sit down experience.

What is the Pixar Place Hotel?

Later in November, Great Maple formally opened still at the time refurbishing from Paradise Pier Hotel to Pixar Place Hotel. Then the hotel was formally opened as Pixar Place Hotel on January 30, 2024 with great fanfare of the opening ceremony. I wanted to wait until the conversion was complete so Great Maple can get their operations figured out since they lease the space for the restaurant. With that in mind, lets go to Pixar Place Hotel!

The former Paradise Pier Hotel, was christened to be now the Pixar Place Hotel on January 30, 2024. This is a full-blown refurbishment for the hotel’s 481 room units, 3 food & beverage outlets, 24,000 square feet of event space, and fully Pixar-themed recreation facilities. Information from the AAA Travel Guide listing of Paradise Pier Hotel. There are so many nuances, references, and art pieces for the many Pixar characters, it looks so amazing. Rooms are either sold out or cost nearly $900 later in the month, so no stay tour for a while, or probably never. To not be too awkward there to look at the hotel’s public areas, we are going to have lunch at a Great Maple Restaurant, which took over all food & beverage outlets at the hotel, and then check out the lobby.

Great Maple At Pixar Place Hotel

Great Maple is a sit-down restaurant that does modern American comfort food, ranging from breakfast, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and their signature maple bacon doughnuts. They have four locations, Pasadena at the Paseo Shopping Center, Newport Beach Fashion Island Shopping Center, San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood, and now at Pixar Place Hotel which opened in November. I have been to their Newport Beach location twice and got their maple bacon doughnut, which was good, but let’s get something different. Let’s check it out and see how it compares.

To enter the Great Maple, you enter the Great Maple entrance or through the Pixar Place Hotel entrance. At the host stand, you’ll tell the host about your party, in my case one, and they will take down your information. Since it was a Friday at noon, there were plenty of tables and no wait. Inside is a modern interior with a mix of white and wood paneling that is similar to their Newport Beach location. There are booths, tables, a bar, and outdoor seating to fit most parties. They also have these cool black-and-white art pieces of Ratatouille and Toy Story characters.

I had the French toast log tower, consisting of four pieces of really thick brioche toast for $23, and the sides were extra. I was stuffed after eating and sides were not needed. It was really good by itself and they put enough syrup to not necessitate the three-dollar syrup. All entrees can fill you up, especially if you pick high-carb dishes like doughnuts, pancakes, or French toast.

There is a full bar and something for the drinkers. For the morning drinkers, you can have a glass of mimosa for $15, and no, it is not bottomless. You can also get a mimosa party kit with a bottle of sparkling wine and a mixer for $62. The beer drinkers can also grab a beer if they want to as well from local breweries, such as Brewery X’s Duck Beer. For the coffee drinkers, if you need caffeine for your day at Disneyland, coffee is $6 with refills. However, I wanted a coffee later, so I just got water, which you pour yourself from a bottle.

In conclusion, I recommend eating Great Maple if you are visiting Disneyland and want a modern high-end experience for brunch, lunch, dinner, and even drinks before or after visiting the park. The Pixar character portraits added the Disney touch to a restaurant that is not operated by Disney. That was delicious, let’s check out the Pixar Place Hotel public areas.

Pixar Place Hotel Public Area

If you are staying at the Pixar Place Hotel and want a quick bite instead, they have Sketch Pad Cafe for pastries and coffee.

Their gift shop with Pixar movie merchandise is called Stor-E, like Wall-E sound.

The main entrance rotunda has a cool sculpture of the Luxo Jr. lamp on a ball with a mobile hanging from above of Pixar characters.

There was also a cool Heimlich from Bug’s Life-themed sofa, I want that in my living room! Then I felt awkward to go past the lobby cast member, so I decided to head out. Theming was an amazing and integrative of the Pixar characters into a modern hotel design.

Mentioned on the Disney Parks Blog post are a Pixar characters-themed pool and splash pad area. Along with character meet & greet with Joe from Soul, who like in the movie, plays jazz piano and does at the meet & greet as well. The rooms are well decorated and even topped off with an architect lamp similar to Luxo. I want to stay at Pixar Place Hotel, however, demand & room rate will be higher for the foreseeable future, so no full review, for now.

In conclusion, if you are not able to get a reservation Pixar Place Hotel, you can still at least check out the well Pixar character integrated interior design and try the delicious dishes & drinks at Great Maple.