MASSIVE REVIEW: We Tried 17 NEW Items at Disney’s Lunar New Year Festival!

The first festival of 2024 has kicked off at Disney California Adventure!

It’s the Lunar New Year Festival which runs until February 18th, 2024. There is so much to see and do including meeting new characters, trying out all the food, and enjoying the limited-time entertainment. Now it’s time to review ALL of the booths at this festival, so let’s get into it!

Bamboo Blessings — 4/5

Over at Bamboo Blessings, you can find some classic menu items with a Lunar New Year twist! 

We tried the returning Mickey Mouse-shaped Hot Dog Bun, which is made of Brioche-style Mickey Mouse-shaped buns stuffed with hot dogs and finished with sesame seeds and scallions. It’s available for $7.50. This is a simple yet fun, warm, and unique take on a classic theme park hot dog. The bun was flaky and soft, and the hot dog was juicy and flavorful. We quite enjoyed this dish!

Next, we tried the Mickey Mouse-shaped Purple Strawberry Milk Tea Macaron. It is a Red macaron filled with Strawberry buttercream with a milk tea center, and it’s priced at $7.

Let’s be honest – this is just a standard Disney macaron. It features a sweet strawberry filling that’s not too artificial-tasting, which we appreciated. We loved the crunchy outer shell combined with the soft filling, but keep in mind this can get MESSY – especially with that red food dye.

On to the drink! We ordered the Vietnamese-style Iced Coffee. It is Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. Vietnamese-style Coffee with cocoa powder and condensed milk, garnished with a taro chocolate sweet cream for $7. Wow – this ended up being a GREAT coffee beverage!

The cold foam is sweet and manages to cut through the strong coffee flavor to settle into a well-balanced drink. We tasted a rich chocolate flavor thanks to the cocoa powder. This was a WIN for us!

Finally, we tried the Lunar New Year Punch. This is a Mango nectar drink with tangerine and grapefruit juices and banana and coconut syrups, garnished with mango jellies for $7. This one is quite sweet and is one of those stereotypical sweet theme park drinks with little alcohol flavor and a LOT of sweet fruity juices. It’s got a strong coconut flavor and is the perfect drink for those looking for a light, tropical drink in the middle of winter.

Overall, the snacks at this booth are pretty basic but include some surprise winners. That Mickey-shaped hot dog is a fun snack – even for picky eaters, and the Macaron is a simple yet bright and colorful treat we recommend to those who love Disneyland’s classic macarons. From the drinks to the food, we enjoyed the menu items here and recommend this booth to those looking for some simple festival eats.

Wrapped with Love — 3/5

We were really excited to try this booth as BOTH food offerings are new this year.

Here’s the lineup from the Wrapped with Love booth:
🥟 Fried Lemongrass Chicken Dumplings with plum sauce
♨️ Steamed Pork & Vegetable Dumplings with black garlic sauce
🍍 Yuja-Pineapple Cooler (non-alcoholic beverages)#Disneyland #LunarNewYear #MediaEvent pic.twitter.com/tncCCOkLDP

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 23, 2024

First, we tried the Fried Lemongrass Chicken Dumplings with plum sauce for $8.75. We’re sad to say this dumpling plate was a dud. The chicken’s lemon flavor was way too artificial in taste and the texture of the dumplings was even harder than a fried dumpling should be. It’s possible we just got an overcooked plate of dumplings, but we can’t recommend this dish nonetheless.

With that said, the Steamed Pork & Vegetable Dumplings with a black garlic sauce for $8.75 gets two big thumbs up from us! The garlic sauce was light and, unlike the chicken dumplings, these were perfectly cooked. The blend of flavors is absolutely delightful and the sauce was such a good complimentary side that we used it on some other items as well.

The new drink – the Yuja-Pineapple Cooler – is a non-alcoholic cocktail made with pineapple juice, yuja purée, rice milk, and condensed milk garnished with a cherry and coconut foam. The drink will set you back $7. We were pretty happy with this one! It’s refreshing and tropical with a great mix of pineapple and coconuts. This was definitely our favorite item at the booth.

Overall, this booth shows a lot of promise, and despite the miss of the chicken dumplings, we still think the pork and vegetable dumplings in addition to both drinks make this booth worth a visit!

Longevity Noodle Co. — 5/5

Here, we tried two new options.

The first one was the Shrimp Lo Mein Noodles dish, which is available for $9. These are pan-fried lo mein noodles with sautéed shrimp garnished with green onions. We really enjoyed this one, as it puts a twist on classic lo mein by adding a bit of spice! Don’t worry, though. It’s not so spicy that we wouldn’t recommend it to picky eaters.

Plus, the bright freshness of the cabbage in this dish balances it out. The shrimp is perfectly cooked, not too chewy, and each piece is evenly seasoned. We’d recommend this to anyone who loves Asian-style noodles and doesn’t mind shrimp! 

Here’s a look at what we got from Longevity Noodle Co.
🍤 Shrimp Lo Mein Noodles
🐲 Dragon Cocktail pic.twitter.com/VAzsgTRn14

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 23, 2024

Next up, we ordered the Dragon Cocktail, which is $7 and consists of Dragonberry rum, white rum, lychee nectar, dragon fruit and Chinese five-spice syrups, lime juice, and house-made coriander tea garnished with a dried dragon fruit wheel. We REALLY liked this one. It’s super sweet and fruity, and you can’t taste the rum at all which is quite dangerous. The fresh lime adds some much-appreciated tartness that balances out the sweet flavor of the drink. We’d recommend this to anyone looking for a sweet, refreshing beverage that doesn’t necessarily want to taste the alcohol. 

Also available at this booth are Garlic Noodles for $8. We tried these last year, and it’s basically just spaghetti with parmesan and garlic. Nothing special – but pretty inoffensive. Overall, this booth gets the stamp of picky eater approval. 

Lucky 8 Lantern — 2/5

The first thing we tried at this booth was the Quesabirria Eggroll with Guajillo pepper consommé for $9. We tried this one last year and were disappointed – and we’re sad to say it was much of the same this year.

The outside of the egg roll was soggy but the inside was somehow quite dry. The consommé had a great peppery flavor, but this snack just didn’t do it for us.

Next, we grabbed the Mandarin Mousse Cake for $6.75. It’s made with layers of mandarin mousse with vanilla cake and clementine compote finished with white chocolate crunch balls and a tangerine glaze. This was another disappointment for us – the tangerine glaze on the outside is a jelly-like texture, and the flavors are more artificial orange than natural.

As far as drinks go, we had the Hibiscus Apple Soju-rita for $17. It’s made with Blanco tequila, grapefruit liqueur, soju, green apple and hibiscus syrups, house-made hibiscus tea, and lemon juice garnished with a dried apple chip.

Next booth up: Lucky 8 Lantern!
🥟 Quesabirria Eggroll
🍊 Mandarin Orange Mousse Cake
🌺 Hibiscus Apple Soju-rita
🥭 Mango Melon Cocktail pic.twitter.com/vVkftNtzgJ

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 23, 2024

We tasted more of the grapefruit flavor than hibiscus or apple, which made this drink bitter and sweet at the same time. It was a great balance of flavors and overall very refreshing.

Finally, we had the Mango Melon Cocktail for $17. It’s made with Overproof rum, baijiu, allspice liqueur, mango nectar, rock melon syrup, and lime juice topped with grapefruit soda, and garnished with a lime wheel. This one was definitely on the sweeter side and basically just tasted like a mango soda – but we’re certainly not complaining.

While the food was an overall miss for us this year, we did find both drinks enjoyable. If you’re looking for a refreshing cocktail, give these two a try – but we might skip the food!

Prosperity Bao & Buns — 4/5

First up, was the Kung Pao Bao made with plant-based chicken, toasted peanuts, and scallions for $9. We never would have guessed this was plant-based chicken! The sauce is absolutely delicious and the peanuts blend very well with the other flavors in the dish. The bao bun itself is wonderfully soft, and overall we think this bun is worth your time. However, it does have a little spice to it, so keep that in mind!

The BBQ Pork Bun for $9 was next, which features kimchi mayo and garlic chile crunch. The Kimchi Mayo is really what ties this whole spicy dish together, but it’s fantastic overall. 

The meat is super tender and the bao bun is, again, so soft. As long as you don’t mind spice, we definitely say give this one a try.

All the alcoholic beverage options are new as well, so we got the Dragon Beer Flight, priced at $18.50 to try a bit of everything. This flight comes with the Brewery X Grapefruit Panda Pool Party Bamboo Rice Lager, Harland Brewing Co. Tangerine Dragon Fruit Hefeweizen, Stereo Brewing Co. Jasmine Tea Lager, and Eagle Rock Brewery Lychee IPA.

The Brewery X Grapefruit Panda Pool Party Bamboo Rice Lager is the lightest and only has a very, very small hint of grapefruit. It was good, but wasn’t our favorite. The Harland Brewing Co. Tangerine Dragon Fruit Hefeweizen was more tart than the others. The tangerine flavor is very prominent, which we loved, as well as the aftertaste it has. It’s very light and refreshing – great for a hot day.

The Stereo Brewing Co. Jasmine Tea Lager was next and we ADORED it. The jasmine tea is the standout here, making it so refreshing. The last one we tried was the Eagle Rock Brewery Lychee IPA. Since this is an IPA, the beer taste is stronger here and the lychee is VERY strong. It was our least favorite due to how bitter it is, and it really packs a punch with 7% ABV.

You can grab each of these new drinks individually with prices ranging from $14 to $15.25, but the flight provides you with a nice way to sample each of them. So if you’re curious about them all, we suggest giving this a try.

You can also grab the Tsingtao with Frozen Mango Beer Foam for $15, the NEW Mickey-shaped Macaron Straw Clip (limited to two per person, per transaction at $7.75 each), and the returning Lotus Flower Glow Cube (limited to 10 per person, per transaction at $6 each).

Red Dragon Spice Traders — 5/5

First up, we tried the Red Spicy Fried Rice which was a new item this year. This dish costs $8 and is made with tofu and crispy peas. The spicy fried rice would be a SOLID veggie option and the spices in it really brought the heat! It took us back a bit when we noticed both regular and dehydrated peas in it because the texture on the dehydrated ones looked like they’d seen better days. However, when it came down to actually eating them, they were totally fine! The tofu had a good texture to it against the rice. This was a flavorful dish and we found it to be very enjoyable.

Next up we grabbed a returning menu item (and a past favorite), the Red Spice Fried Chicken Bites. These are made of fried chicken chicharrones in a spicy red chile sauce and are priced at $8.75. This dish was a WINNER in our book again this year! It’s got a good kick to it, without the spice getting out of control. It did make our noses run a bit though, so watch out for that! It was nice and crispy with great flavor and was a decent-sized portion.

Then it was time to wash it all down with the Peach Basil Collins. This is made with Gin, ginger liqueur, white peach purée, lemon juice, and house-made Thai basil syrup. It is then topped with Topo Chico and garnished with a purple pansy and will cost you a whopping $17! We were a little underwhelmed by this one and didn’t feel like it had enough peach flavor to it. It had more of a heavy ginger flavor, however, we also had just eaten lots of spices in the dishes so it could have been hidden by that. It was good to try, but it wasn’t our favorite and we’re not certain we would go back to order it again.

There’s another beverage item that is offered at this booth like the returning Guava Whiskey Cocktail that’s made of Whiskey, ginger liqueur, guava nectar, coconut cream, and lime juice. It is then garnished with a lime wheel which you can grab for $16. We’ve enjoyed this one in the past so we’re confident you’ll find it tasty, too! 

Next up: Red Dragon Spice Traders!
🫛 Spicy Fried Rice with tofu and crispy peas
🍗 Red Spice Fried Chicken Bites: Fried chicken chicharrones in spicy red chile sauce
🍑 Peach Basil Collins pic.twitter.com/gP9VmtbGJV

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 23, 2024

Aside from food and drinks, you can also pick up a few snazzy items to really help celebrate the festival like a Mickey-shaped Macaron Straw Clip and the Lotus Flower Glow Cube.

Overall, these savory dishes really knew how to bring the heat (in the best ways), and it doesn’t hurt that you’ve got a few alcoholic beverages to try out, too!  We’d recommend not missing this booth on your visit to the festival this year.

Additional Locations

Pym Test Kitchen — 3/5

When you head to Pym Test Kitchen, you’ll find a brand new cold brew on the menu for this festival. It is an Almond Cold Brew made with almond cold brew, almond milk, and red foam with blue and gold sugar. You can get this drink for $6.79. We were so excited when we saw this — sometimes we feel like Disneyland is lacking in the cold brew department — we knew we had to give it a try!

When we got the drink — we couldn’t help but notice the sci-fi vibes the red foam and the blue and gold sugar were giving us. We loved the vibe of the drink overall, now it is time for the important part — tasting it. 

When we tasted this drink, we immediately picked up on the Almond flavor. It wasn’t too overpowering, and it mixed with the flavor of the cold brew really well. Overall, we were impressed with the flavor of this drink and thought that it was one of the better cold brew offerings we’ve had at Disneyland.

The biggest con to this was the red foam — and not because of its flavor or texture. There was a lot of food coloring that went into this foam, and it is very apparent when it stains your mouth. So, when you’re drinking this — be mindful of the foam! 

Overall, the flavor of this drink was everything that we wanted it to be. It felt simple, but the flavors were on point. The biggest con to this, like we said, was the red foam. Otherwise, this was a delicious addition for the festival this year!

Terran Treats — 5/5

At Terran Treats, you can find the Strawberry Green Tea Churro for $7.25. This treat is a green tea-cinnamon sugar-dusted churro with strawberry cream sauce, and the description may sound unusual, but it’s honestly FANTASTIC.

The green tea flavor wasn’t too overpowering and balanced perfectly with the strawberry. And speaking of the strawberry sauce? It’s TO DIE for. We wanted to drink it by the bucketful. Seriously, this might be one of our favorite Disney churros of all time.

Don’t miss out on this treat, it’s definitely a must-try this year!

Willie’s Churros — 3/5

Over at Willie’s Churros, you’ll find a special churro just for the festival.

Of course we had to get a churro from Willie’s Churros!
🥥 Dragon Fruit Churro: Churro rolled in coconut-dragon fruit sugar topped with a dragon fruit icing pic.twitter.com/QDzpU28N7R

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 23, 2024

It’s a Dragon Fruit Churro for $7.25. It’s a churro rolled in coconut-dragon fruit sugar and topped with dragon fruit icing. So we’ll warn you now, if you’re looking for a dragon fruit flavor here, you’ll be disappointed. 

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t grab this churro.. You still get a lot of coconut flavor with that classic Disneyland churro flavor. You can never go wrong with a Disneyland churro, after all. If you like coconut, this churro could still be worth it. It just doesn’t really live up to its name.

Paradise Garden Grill — 3/5

Here’s what we got at Paradise Garden Grill!
🐟 Whole Fish with steamed rice, stir-fried vegetables, and black vinegar and soy sauce with sugar, garlic, and red Fresno chile pic.twitter.com/75e9Pa1NDk

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) January 23, 2024

Paradise Garden Grill has changed up its menu for the Lunar New Year Festival, bringing back some old favorites, as well as offering some new dishes. Now, we had the Whole Fish last year, but it was just not good. The fish we received was tiny and burnt. We also didn’t like the sauce. Well, this year’s version is a massive upgrade. For $29.99, you get a whole fish served family-style for two with steamed rice and stir-fried vegetables, and black vinegar and soy sauce with sugar, garlic, and red Fresno chile.

This year’s version has a new sauce and it’s way better than last year’s. We also got a huge fish that had a great texture and flavor. It does have a little bit of a kick, and we do have to warn you that there are a lot of bones to contend with.

The dessert here, though, is brand new. It’s the Mango Pudding for $6.99. It’s made with a hint of coconut milk topped with mango and a chocolate décor and is priced at $6.99. That hint is a lie, though – we didn’t taste the coconut milk at all. However, we liked how fresh the mango flavors were, but we feel like the portion size is too small.

As far as drinks go, you can get the Tiger Milk Boba Tea with brown sugar for $6.99.This non-alcoholic drink is returning – we’ve really liked it in the past. It’s got a lot of sweetness, though, so be warned.

You can also get Yuja Makgeolli Cocktail, made with citrus-flavored rice wine, soju, and a splash of Sprite for $17, as well as Four Sons Brewing Lucky Dragon IPA for $14.25. Be sure to also pick up one of those Lotus Flower Glow Cubes for $6.50.

That was a lot to cover, but you did it! You made it to the end! Keep following AllEars for the latest Disney news.

See the FULL MENUS for the Lunar New Year Festival!

Which of these menu items from Lunar New Year would you try first? Tell us in the comments!

Disclosure: We were invited by Disney to attend the Lunar New Year Celebration. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.

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