Hello and welcome! I hope you will have a very magical stay! You should get lots of great feedback here.
1. I don't know about the beds at
Pixar Place because they're brand new. There will be other people who have stayed there so I'll let them answer.
2. If you stay at a
Disneyland Resort hotel (Pixar, (PPH), Grand Californian (GCH), or Disneyland Hotel (DLH), then no, you don't have to leave the resort property. You can take the monorail into DL or walk into either park. The monorail is in Downtown Disney, between the DLH and GCH. There is a newish gate into California Adventure park (DCA) that is right across from Pixar hotel. You can also go through GCH, though I think it may be limited to the DTD entrance.
3. Worth is too subjective. To many people, yes, it's worth it (I'm one of those). To many others, no, it's not. You will see vagrants and "the real world" if you stay outside the resort, but it's generally not a big deal. It does take you out of the feeling of being in the bubble and to some people, that alone makes it worth the extra money to stay on site. There are plenty of good motels and some hotels that are easy walking distance off site. But you also won't have resort amenities anywhere near what you'll find on site. That may not be a big deal if you're planning on spending all your time in the parks.
4. The tram goes to and from the parking structure. You won't be using that unless you're driving to the resort and parking in the structure.
5. Mid July these days is pretty decent crowd-wise, though weekends may be crowded. I often go in July because lots of passes are blocked and people tend to think it's too hot. I almost always go in July and to me it's fine! It's also Disneyland's birthday month (July 17th).
6. I don't know anything about Pixar now since they just redid it. PPH is closer to the front entrance and to DCA than Disneyland Hotel and the remodel is supposed to be beautiful. But DLH has much better grounds, pool, and history.
7. I'll let others fill you in on off-site favorites. It depends on the size of your party, whether or not breakfast included is an important feature, whether you will be parking a car, how far you're comfortable walking, etc.
I will say that I've stayed in almost all of the off-site hotels/motels and prefer the ones closest to the crosswalk (across from where you enter the resort). Candy Cane Inn is a favorite that is a little farther away, but still walkable and also has a free dedicated shuttle. They recently redid the entire motel and they have a nice expanded continental breakfast. But I still prefer to stay right across the street if I'm going with a motel.
Another consideration is to stay farther away in a hotel that has a shuttle. For instance, you could stay at Knott's Berry Farm hotel for a lot less than in a Disney property. It's very nice and they have a free shuttle to Disneyland. Knott's tickets are very reasonable so you could get to see both DL and Knott's and spend less on the hotel.
There is a hotel that is just a little too far to walk called the Anaheim Majestic (it used to be a Sheraton). Their prices aren't bad, they have a full-service hotel and a shuttle to DLR. However, it's pretty tired looking and nothing fancy.
Hope you have a wonderful trip!
n bed qualities there either or the vagrants issue I keep hearing about
