PHOTOS: We’re at Disneyland’s Lunar New Year Festival — Here’s What It’s Like!

It’s officially the beginning of the Lunar New Year Celebration in Disneyland Resort!

This year, Disney is ringing in the new year (which is the Year of the Tiger!) with a big celebration over at Disney California Adventure from January 21st to February 13th and we’re covering EVERYTHING you need to know! We’ve already seen some new merch roll out for this Lunar New Year, so let’s dive in and check out the new food, entertainment, and more!

What is Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated in cultures where a lunar calendar is used instead of the solar calendar that most of us are familiar with. In this case, Disney is highlighting and celebrating the Lunar New Year found in East and Southeast Asian countries like China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia! 

Disneyland celebrates the holiday in a BIG way, and we’re bringing you along with us to out all the offerings for the year of the tiger!

Food Booths

Over in the Paradise Gardens area of Disney California Adventure near Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and the Golden Zephyr, you’ll find some new food booths with delicious treats & eats inspired by Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Cuisine!

For example, the ​​Studio Catering Truck is home to the NEW Hoisin Pork Sliders, which are made with marinated pulled pork on Hawaiian rolls with apple slaw for $7.99.

Plus you can also get a Mulan Sipper from spots like Lucky Fortune Cookery and Paradise Garden Grill! We saw this sipper in 2020, so here’s another chance to add it to your Disney sipper collection.

Mulan Sipper is also available 🤩

Retweet if you agree – Mulan NEEDS more merch‼️ pic.twitter.com/Y1UKiOl4T1

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

Now let’s check out all the booths!

Red Dragon Spice Traders

If you head over The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, you’ll find Red Dragon Spice Traders right next to it.

This is the booth to go to if you’re in the mood for some spice!

You can get the Spicy Three-Cup Chicken for $8, or try the Impossible Lion’s Head Meatballs for $7.50.

Impossible Lion’s Head Meatballs 🦁 from Red Dragon Spice Traders!

-Mini plant-based 🌱 pork meatballs served with cabbage and Shaoxing wine reduction pic.twitter.com/ngMGfbSMy2

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

 

 

You get three plant-based pork meatballs served with cabbage and a Shaoxing wine reduction.

Want something sweet? Get the Mickey Purple Sweet Potato Macaron, which is a red Mickey-shaped macaron filled with purple sweet potato buttercream and a creme fraîche center for $6.50.

Mickey Purple Sweet Potato Macaroon 🍠 from Red Dragon Spice Traders!

Because everything tastes better when it’s shaped like Mickey, right?! pic.twitter.com/DIoUU9isQa

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

And for drinks you have two choices, including the Dancing Firecracker, made with pineapple juice, guava purée, spicy honey syrup, hibiscus syrup, and lime juice for $6.50.

From its fiery color to its exciting name, this drink is pretty cool!

Dancing Firecracker 💥 from the Red Dragon Spice Traders!

– Pineapple Juice, guava purée, spicy honey syrup, hibiscus syrup, and lime juice 🍍🌶🍯 pic.twitter.com/XZ7iZiX5cn

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

Prosperity Bao & Buns

A short walk from Red Dragon Spice Traders is Prosperity Bao & Buns.

This booth is home to the famous Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun!

You can order the Char Siu BBQ Pork Bao for $8.00, or get the Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun, which is a brioche-style Mickey-shaped bun stuffed with hot dog and topped with sesame seeds and scallions for $7.00.

This isn’t just any old hot dog, that’s for sure!

I think we’d prefer if all of our hot dogs were Mickey shaped from now on😋

-Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun from Prosperity Bao & Buns✨ pic.twitter.com/4a6HmyPPOi

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

 

There are some interesting drinks here too! The Prosperous Tiger is made with vodka, cream of coconut, bitters, triple sec, mandarin purée, and vanilla bean paste for $15.00.

This drink is a little pricey — would you give it a try?

Prosperous Tiger 🐯 drink from Prosperity Bao & Buns!

-Vodka, cream of coconut, bitters, triple sec, mandarin purée, and vanilla bean paste 🍊 pic.twitter.com/nydZYQ9z5A

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

 

And the Lychee Celebration is made with gin, prosecco, lychee purée, lychee syrup, grapefruit juice, and yuja for $14.00. You can also get the Panda Pool Party Bamboo Lager for $13.00.

https://twitter.com/AllEarsNet/status/1484635904807366660?s=20

 

Lucky 8 Lantern

If you make your way down the pathway so that you can see Pixar Pal-A-Round right across the Paradise Bay, you’ll find Lucky 8 Lantern.

Lucky 8 Lantern has rice-based dishes, and some fun and fruity drink options.

First up, we grabbed a little snack!

Shrimp 🍤 Fried Rice with garlic bacon edamame from the Lucky 8 Lantern! 🏮

What are your thoughts on adding bacon to things?? 🥓 pic.twitter.com/H2Or4ed6AU

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

The Shrimp Fried Rice is served with garlic bacon edamame for $8.00…

…and the Beef Bulgogi Short Rib comes with rice and green onion salad for $8.25.

You can choose between a few drink options, such as the non-alcoholic Peach Yuja-Ade drink made with peach syrup, yuja, dragonfruit, lemon, and butterfly pea flower tea for $6.50. There is also an alcoholic Soju Peach Yuja-Ade drink for $14, as well as a Korean Original Gravity Lager for $10.50.

Longevity Noodle Co.

Walk right next door from Lucky 8 Lantern to Longevity Noodle Co.!

Which means — you guessed it — it’s time for noodles!!

There are two bowls of noodle dishes to choose from, as well as two drink options.

You can get Garlic Noodles for $7.00, and they come with long noodles tossed in a zesty garlic butter with Parmesan cheese.

And you can also order the Spicy Pork Dandan Noodles, which are pan-fried noodles with ground pork and a spicy tri-chile blend sauce for $7.50.

You might say that there are oodles of noodles!

Spicy Pork Dandan Noodles 🌶 & Garlic Noodles 🧄 from the Longevity Noodle Co.

Now, should we get a third bowl of noodles to make a Mickey shape? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/eyKhCE9IBH

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

And the interesting Salted Pistachio Cold Brew features Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. French Bistro Blend Coffee for $6.50. You can also get a Neon City Pale Ale for $13.25 if that’s more your jam.

Paradise Garden Grill

At Paradise Garden Grill not far from Pixar Pier, you can grab quite a few new items!

There’s a Korean-style BBQ Chicken dish, which comes with half chicken with steamed white rice, kimchi, pickled cucumbers, and sesame seeds for $15.99.

The Pork Banh Mi is $13.99, and it comes with grilled pork belly with pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro, and seasoned mayonnaise on a crispy baguette.

Spicy Kung Pao Tofu comes with deep fried tofu with zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, red peppers, peanuts, and fried rice garnished with garlic deep-fried chips for $14.99.

And you can even get a whole fish! The Whole Fried Fish is a crispy whole fish served with sweet and sour sauce, steamed rice, stir-fried vegetables and chicken soup for $24.99. It’s served family-style for two people!

If you’re looking for something sweet, the Green Tea Raspberry Parfait comes with green tea mousse, raspberry jelly, white sponge cake, white chocolate mousse, and candy pearls for $6.99.

There is also a non-alcoholic Tiger Milk Tea, made with brown sugar boba for $5.49…

…and the new Soju Cocktail which is made with Soju, ginger beer, lemon, basil, Fresno chile, lychee flavor-filled boba and costs $14.

Paradise Gardens Special Events Cart

Paradise Gardens also has a Special Events Cart, where you can find exclusive dishes like the Gochujang Wings, which are chicken wings covered in spicy gochujang sauce for $8.00.

There is also Asian-style Street Corn available, which is steamed corn on the cob rolled in spicy gochujang sauce for $6.00.

And check out the Mango Pineapple Pie! It’s a tiny pie filled with mango and pineapple for $6.50.

Lamplight Lounge

At Lamplight Lounge, you can get some new offerings, like the Korean-style BBQ Nachos, made with bulgogi pork belly, cheesy corn sauce, gochujang crema, fresh radish, and spicy cucumbers on house-made chips for $23.00.

The Kung Pao Bao is made with kung pao-glazed crispy pork belly, chili peanuts, a steamed bao bun, red pepper, and green onion slaw for $21.00.

Kung Pao Bao from Lamplight Lounge✨ Are you drooling? Because we are 🤤

-Kung Pao-glazed crispy pork belly, chili peanuts, steamed bao bun, red pepper, and green onion slaw 🌶 pic.twitter.com/VwitXqHQgR

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

The Oolong Donuts are oolong-dusted beignet donuts served with oolong crème anglaise, and orange soy pudding dipping sauces for $10.00.

Want a drink? The Lunar Cocktail is made with Baiju Chinese liquor, smoked orange syrup, orange bitters and lemon juice garnished with orange peel for $15.

Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Holiday Cart

You can get some special holiday items (Lunar New Year AND Valentine’s Day!) from the Grand Californian Holiday Cart!

One of the Lunar New Year items is the Lantern Whoopie Pie for $9.

Pacific Wharf Cafe

It’s not a Lunar New Year treat, but you can also stop by Pacific Wharf Cafe to grab the new Cherry Cheesecake Bread Pudding for $5.99. Yum!

Currently drooling over the ✨NEW✨ Cherry Cheesecake Bread Pudding from Pacific Wharf Café in DCA 🤤🍒 pic.twitter.com/X5joiOFwRT

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

And, if you looking to save a little bit of cash and try lots of delicious eats, you might want to grab a Sip and Savor Pass! This pass entitles you to 8 food or beverage items for a flat fee of $40 for Magic Key Holders and $43 for regular guests, at any of the festival booths.

You can check out photos of the Sip and Savor menus too!

The booths are opening up and we are ready to try all the goodies for the Lunar New Year 😍 pic.twitter.com/MHV9BbE8du

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

So, if you’re really looking to do some sampling, this can be a cheaper way to do so.

Entertainment

Delicious eats and drinks may be one of the main attractions for the Lunar New Year Festival, but there are also quite a few other offerings around the park.

For example, at the New Year’s Wishes activity, you can write your “New Year’s Wishes” on a red tag and then tie it to the wishing wall! Whether you want to write down your goals, a message of hope, or just scribble something down, head over and add your note.

Plus, you can also do some coloring at The Dragon’s “Pearl of Wisdom” station.

Here you’ll receive a fan that is known as the “Pearl of Wisdom” and is used in the traditional dragon procession. The idea is that the dragon captures the pearls of wisdom into its mouth to get the power to soar to the heavens.

Character Meet and Greets

During the Lunar New Year Celebration, there are also some new meet and greet opportunities around Disney California Adventure where you’ll spot some more rare Disney characters including Mulan and Mushu!

Mulan & Mushu are out greeting guests for the Lunar New Year Celebration 🎊 pic.twitter.com/3po32TrLXD

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

You can even visit Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon for the first time in Disneyland Resort! She’ll be greeting guests at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at select times — so make sure you double check the Disneyland app or ask a Cast Member for times.

We can’t help but love her.

AND HERE SHE IS✨ Making her debut at the Lunar New Year Celebration at DCA‼️ pic.twitter.com/WyOvqUDKSz

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

Mulan’s New Year Processional, led by none other than Tigger for the Year of the Tiger, is a show celebrating traditional Asian dancing, and you might spot a dragon (or two!).

Tigger is out to help lead Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession to celebrate the Year of the Tiger 🐯 pic.twitter.com/9dsNB53VZG

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

Mulan herself also makes an appearance!

Mulan! 👋 Her Lunar New Year Procession is making its way through Disney California Adventure 🏮🐉 pic.twitter.com/a0kvUU0PSw

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 21, 2022

Make sure you check the Disneyland app so you don’t miss any of the Lunar New Year celebrations!

You can check out ALL the Lunar New Year Entertainment here!

Merchandise

Of course, if you’re looking for something to commemorate your visit to Disneyland for the Lunar New Year Celebration, there’s A LOT of new merchandise to choose from!

For example, there’s a special Lunar New Year Spirit Jersey which has a tiger on the front for the Year of the Tiger, of course.

The back of it says, “Celebrating the Year of the Tiger.” There are a few other shirts as well!

There’s also a Lunar New Year Tumbler for $39.99…

…and there are also plush Lunar New Year Mickey and Minnie for $29.99 each!

And don’t forget to check out the Lunar New Year Mystery Pins for $17.99 per box!

You can find the merchandise at various stores and festival kiosks throughout the park.

Magic Key

Disney is also offering an exclusive button for Magic Keyholders!

The beautiful artwork was designed by artist Ann Shen. You can read all about her over in Pixar Pier!

There’s also a special Magic Key photo op in Pixar Pier, located next to the iconic Pixar Pal-A-Round attraction!

See more of the lunar new year merchandise available this year both in the park and online here!

We’ll be updating this post throughout the day with all of the exclusive Lunar New Year Festival offerings, so be sure to check back often! And, stay tuned to AllEars for more of the latest Disney news and updates!

You Can Buy Disney’s Lunar New Year Merchandise ONLINE!

Have you ever been to Disney California Adventure’s Lunar New Year Festival? Let us know in the comments! 

Disclosure: We were invited by Disneyland Resort to attend a media preview. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.

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