Paradise Pier reno timeline?

[kdavants]

Does anyone know when the bulk of the PP hotel renovations will be done? DW and I will be there the first week of Feb 2023.

 

[shosh1530]

I haven't seen anything online about the timeline, but it seems like they are just getting started. I got a notice today for my upcoming reservation about possible lobby construction and the check in location being moved.

 

[Weber Prof]

Just returned from 4 day stay at PP. The lobby is completely closed off from view. The only entrance is in the back next to the parking garage. The "lobby" is now in the ballroom area. Only 3 elevators are working (The glass elevator is also closed off). As you enter the PP from the garage the sign above the door is a picture of Ursula and it says "Welcome Poor Unfortunate Souls". The outside entrance of the hotel is fenced off and covered as well.

 

[shosh1530]

Just returned from 4 day stay at PP. The lobby is completely closed off from view. The only entrance is in the back next to the parking garage. The "lobby" is now in the ballroom area. Only 3 elevators are working (The glass elevator is also closed off). As you enter the PP from the garage the sign above the door is a picture of Ursula and it says "Welcome Poor Unfortunate Souls". The outside entrance of the hotel is fenced off and covered as well.

Were there long waits for the elevators? I'm curious if they are full booking the hotel with all the renovations going on.

Is the gift shop open?

Kind of wishing we had a different option for our trip next week, but everything is so booked up.

 

[Weber Prof]

The hotel is fully booked as far as I know. We tried to extend our stay one day and was told it was fully committed.
The ball room houses the temporary reception desk, bell desk, and concierge desk. There is also small temporary gift shop set up in the ballroom. The regular gift shop is open but seemed to be very limited in selections so I am not sure if that will be closing soon or not. Food options were severely limited and seemed to run out.
You can watch DL fireworks from the pool area on the third floor. Sound from the park is piped in and we enjoyed the show. After wards the elevators were very busy and it took us three cycles to return to our room on the 11th floor.
The only times the elevators were crowded and we had to wait were during check in and after fireworks. We left for the park before 6:15 am so didn't have a morning rush.
The room to watch Disney movies is open with small beach chairs for children to sit in.
The hotel doesn't have any open restaurants. Printed material given at check in has a QR code for free delivery from Downtown Disney to use when ordering food from selected restaurants. Actually all DL hotels have the option for free delivery form Downtown Disney so make sure you use the right QR code for PP.
Only one entry and exit into the parking structure to access the only one entrance to the hotel could be problematic but the CM seemed to have a good handle on keeping traffic moving efficiently.
We checked in the last day the Lobby was open so got to have pictures with Goofy before he was removed forever.
THe pool area was not crowded the two days we were there. The night we watched the fireworks there were still open lounge chairs. Not having onsite dining can be problematic if you are not prepared. We picked up groceries on the way in for breakfast each morning, had lunch delivered twice, ate dinner in the parks twice, had character dining once, and ate on the beach twice.
We disn't use the PP direct entry into DCA to begin the day because rope drop from the main entrance is closer to the Cars Land and Avenger Campus but we used when returning to the hotel midday and when leaving for the night. The direct entrance was not crowded midday or at night but I heard it can get crowded in the morning.

We enjoyed our stay. We had DCA view and connecting rooms. We were told that because we were guests our park reservations could be changed even if the park we wanted to visit was sold out. CM were helpful and answered questions.

 

[shosh1530]

The hotel is fully booked as far as I know. We tried to extend our stay one day and was told it was fully committed.
The ball room houses the temporary reception desk, bell desk, and concierge desk. There is also small temporary gift shop set up in the ballroom. The regular gift shop is open but seemed to be very limited in selections so I am not sure if that will be closing soon or not. Food options were severely limited and seemed to run out.
You can watch DL fireworks from the pool area on the third floor. Sound from the park is piped in and we enjoyed the show. After wards the elevators were very busy and it took us three cycles to return to our room on the 11th floor.
The only times the elevators were crowded and we had to wait were during check in and after fireworks. We left for the park before 6:15 am so didn't have a morning rush.
The room to watch Disney movies is open with small beach chairs for children to sit in.
The hotel doesn't have any open restaurants. Printed material given at check in has a QR code for free delivery from Downtown Disney to use when ordering food from selected restaurants. Actually all DL hotels have the option for free delivery form Downtown Disney so make sure you use the right QR code for PP.
Only one entry and exit into the parking structure to access the only one entrance to the hotel could be problematic but the CM seemed to have a good handle on keeping traffic moving efficiently.
We checked in the last day the Lobby was open so got to have pictures with Goofy before he was removed forever.
THe pool area was not crowded the two days we were there. The night we watched the fireworks there were still open lounge chairs. Not having onsite dining can be problematic if you are not prepared. We picked up groceries on the way in for breakfast each morning, had lunch delivered twice, ate dinner in the parks twice, had character dining once, and ate on the beach twice.
We disn't use the PP direct entry into DCA to begin the day because rope drop from the main entrance is closer to the Cars Land and Avenger Campus but we used when returning to the hotel midday and when leaving for the night. The direct entrance was not crowded midday or at night but I heard it can get crowded in the morning.

We enjoyed our stay. We had DCA view and connecting rooms. We were told that because we were guests our park reservations could be changed even if the park we wanted to visit was sold out. CM were helpful and answered questions.

Thank you so much for the detailed report. So helpful!

We have two different rooms booked at PP (premium view for 3 nights, and then a standard for our last night). I've been checking every hour to try and see if we can modify to have one room the whole stay, but am guessing we will just have to move.

The construction isn't ideal, but I'm glad to know in advance!

 

[Weber Prof]

Perhaps just ask if your entire stay could be in the same room when you check in?
The sound for the WOC is on the TV. I can't remember which channel. We watched WOC from our room one night with sound from YouTube because I couldn't find the right channel. In hindsight I should have explored the TV channels more.
We were in DCA on Monday, Sept 26. It was crowded and hot in DCA. The posted prior daily schedule had only one showing of WOC for that night but when I tried to check in for the WOC queue there were two showings. I am not sure when the second WOC showing was added but it was so nice to have! I asked a CM when and why the second showing was added but they didn't know. The park stayed open an extra hour as well.
We ended up watching the second WOC from our room instead of the park. We found doing so very nice because we had comfortable chairs, cold drinks, and plenty of room. On OBB nights there is not WOC but the green and purple Halloween lights from Cars Land are impressive.

FYI, for anyone not staying in a Premium view, try going to the big glass windows in the hallways (when leaving the elevators turn to the left) and watching WOC from there. You can use YouTube to have sound and, viola, a view of WOC!

I remembered some other details about the construction.
All Pixar Pier signage is removed from the exterior of the hotel and most of the "waves" on top of the building are gone as well. During the day construction crews can be seen entering and exiting the property but we never heard any noise inside or out. We did smell fresh paint one pool day on the lobby floor.

 

[Weber Prof]

Perhaps just ask if your entire stay could be in the same room when you check in?
The sound for the WOC is on the TV. I can't remember which channel. We watched WOC from our room one night with sound from YouTube because I couldn't find the right channel. In hindsight I should have explored the TV channels more.
We were in DCA on Monday, Sept 26. It was crowded and hot in DCA. The posted prior daily schedule had only one showing of WOC for that night but when I tried to check in for the WOC queue there were two showings. I am not sure when the second WOC showing was added but it was so nice to have! I asked a CM when and why the second showing was added but they didn't know. The park stayed open an extra hour as well.
We ended up watching the second WOC from our room instead of the park. We found doing so very nice because we had comfortable chairs, cold drinks, and plenty of room. On OBB nights there is not WOC but the green and purple Halloween lights from Cars Land are impressive.

FYI, for anyone not staying in a Premium view, try going to the big glass windows in the hallways (when leaving the elevators turn to the left) and watching WOC from there. You can use YouTube to have sound and, viola, a view of WOC!

I remembered some other details about the construction.
All Pixar Pier signage is removed from the exterior of the hotel and most of the "waves" on top of the building are gone as well. During the day construction crews can be seen entering and exiting the property but we never heard any noise inside or out. We did smell fresh paint one pool day on the lobby floor.

Sorry, my error, all Paradise Pier signage is removed

 

[shosh1530]

Thanks for even more tips. For some reason WOC is not on the schedule during any of park days (no shows 10/10, 10/12) so our only hope of catching it will be from our room on our check in night (unless I somehow upgrade our tickets to 4-days). I'll be sure to explore the channels first thing so I'll be ready.

 

[Weber Prof]

I am writing a trip report with more information. On OBB nights there is not WOC. I am sure most everyone knows what I learned while staying at PP but am trying to be helpful to pay forward what others helped me to learn.

 

[kdavants]

Thanks for the info so far. Hopefully some sort of schedule will appear soon.

 

[GoofyGoofyGoofy]

Anyone know what restaurants will be put into this hotel?

 

[Pluto468]

The hotel is fully booked as far as I know. We tried to extend our stay one day and was told it was fully committed.
The ball room houses the temporary reception desk, bell desk, and concierge desk. There is also small temporary gift shop set up in the ballroom. The regular gift shop is open but seemed to be very limited in selections so I am not sure if that will be closing soon or not. Food options were severely limited and seemed to run out.
You can watch DL fireworks from the pool area on the third floor. Sound from the park is piped in and we enjoyed the show. After wards the elevators were very busy and it took us three cycles to return to our room on the 11th floor.
The only times the elevators were crowded and we had to wait were during check in and after fireworks. We left for the park before 6:15 am so didn't have a morning rush.
The room to watch Disney movies is open with small beach chairs for children to sit in.
The hotel doesn't have any open restaurants. Printed material given at check in has a QR code for free delivery from Downtown Disney to use when ordering food from selected restaurants. Actually all DL hotels have the option for free delivery form Downtown Disney so make sure you use the right QR code for PP.
Only one entry and exit into the parking structure to access the only one entrance to the hotel could be problematic but the CM seemed to have a good handle on keeping traffic moving efficiently.
We checked in the last day the Lobby was open so got to have pictures with Goofy before he was removed forever.
THe pool area was not crowded the two days we were there. The night we watched the fireworks there were still open lounge chairs. Not having onsite dining can be problematic if you are not prepared. We picked up groceries on the way in for breakfast each morning, had lunch delivered twice, ate dinner in the parks twice, had character dining once, and ate on the beach twice.
We disn't use the PP direct entry into DCA to begin the day because rope drop from the main entrance is closer to the Cars Land and Avenger Campus but we used when returning to the hotel midday and when leaving for the night. The direct entrance was not crowded midday or at night but I heard it can get crowded in the morning.

We enjoyed our stay. We had DCA view and connecting rooms. We were told that because we were guests our park reservations could be changed even if the park we wanted to visit was sold out. CM were helpful and answered questions.

Thanks for the update!

 

[pharmama]

Anyone know what restaurants will be put into this hotel?

It was announced via the Disney Parks Blog during D23 the primary restaurant would be run by the team behind Great Maple and they would run other food establishments in the hotel as well. From DPB:

 

[GoofyGoofyGoofy]

It was announced via the Disney Parks Blog during D23 the primary restaurant would be run by the team behind Great Maple and they would run other food establishments in the hotel as well. From DPB:
View attachment 708420

Thank you for your quick response. I haven't heard of this eatery, but it sounds good.

 

[kdavants]

Any update on the timeline? I'm really considering just cancelling for February and booking DLH instead and paying the extra. Are there typically discounts for Feb?