Lunar New Year at Disney California Adventure is a celebration of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese traditions that runs January 20 by way of February 15, 2023. It’s the primary huge occasion of the yr at Disneyland Resort, and on this publish, we’ll share ideas & information for visiting, plus pictures from the annual occasion. (Updated November 22, 2022.)
Disney is ringing within the Year of the Rabbit through the Lunar New Year celebration at DCA! The Chinese zodiac calendar performs a major position in shaping the traditions, holidays, and meals loved in Asian communities everywhere in the globe. In Chinese tradition, the rabbit has the distinctive attribute of ready for an opportune second after which leaping into motion. More than every other zodiac animal, the rabbit symbolizes luck.
Disneyland can even be recognizing the Vietnamese zodiac calendar through the Lunar New Year celebration, which marks 2023 because the Year of the Cat. During this restricted time occasion, you’ll be capable of partake in a joyous cultural celebration with a contact of Disney magic, that includes Asian-inspired meals and drinks, vibrant décor, souvenir merchandise, uncommon characters, and thrilling leisure.
Lunar New Year celebrates the celestial journey of the solar and the moon on their voyage towards one other yr. Disneyland Resort’s particular competition invitations you to make recollections with your loved ones and pals whereas sharing needs for good well being, luck and prosperity all year long to return.
Culturally, Lunar New Year is a multi-day annual custom that’s the customary time to replicate on the previous and step into a brand new lifetime of hope, prosperity, and happiness. Much like ¡Viva Navidad!, which is like an occasion straight out of circa-1982 EPCOT Center, Happy Lunar New Year additionally combines genuine tradition with Disney enjoyable.
It’s an excellent little celebration, and actually makes me want that Disney went by way of with its plan for a collection of “Small World Celebrations” that started a number of years in the past with Opa! A Greek Celebration. Perhaps now that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is open, DCA will begin providing some counter-programming to attract locals away from Disneyland.
The Lunar New Year leisure is nice. There’s an academic part that feels impressed by precise Lunar New Year celebrations. This supplies friends an genuine slice of tradition alongside the enjoyable of the Mulan processional and particular character meet and greets.
Thankfully, it’s not merely characters from Mulan and Mickey Mouse in conventional Lunar New Year garb–there’s precise substance to this.
For Lunar New Year 2023, there are a couple of huge modifications. First, Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession is a cavalcade relatively than a small processional with a present cease in entrance of Paradise Garden. In 2023, the procession will probably be prolonged all through all of Disney California Adventure alongside the parade route from Paradise Gardens by way of Hollywood Land.
Second, the culinary panorama will broaden for 2023, with the addition of two new Lunar New Year marketplaces: Bamboo Blessings and Wrapped with Love. They will be a part of the returning marketplaces, together with Lucky 8 Lantern, Prosperity Bao & Buns, Red Spice Traders, and Longevity Noodle Co.
“Hurry Home – Lunar New Year Celebration” additionally returns, offered previous to “World of Color.”
This heartwarming nighttime water present tells the story of somewhat lantern’s quest to reunite with household for the annual celebration of excellent luck and fortune. During the celebration, you’ll be able to test the Disneyland app for showtimes.
Last yr, Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession debuted a beautiful new float with Mulan, Mushu, Goofy, and conventional Chinese drummers. Decorated in purple and gold to represent luck and happiness, the float options vibrant bunches of purple firecrackers with golden tassels, and delicate purple and gold lanterns that come aglow for after-sunset performances.
My favourite viewing spot–and the place I shot these pictures–is close to Prosperity Bao & Buns, with Mickey’s Fun Wheel (or no matter they’re calling it now) within the background.
The costumes are gorgeous within the processions. If you’ll be able to go to a late afternoon present, try this, as the sunshine hitting the performers makes for some very nice pictures.
There are a ton of performers within the Mulan procession–in all probability about 20-30.
We’d additionally advocate catching the final procession of the day, because it happens after darkish and the lanterns on the floats are illuminated.
Given this and the prime quality of the performances, I’m stunned Disney doesn’t attempt to lengthen the Lunar New Year celebration a bit longer. It’s a very nice draw, in all probability not that costly to placed on, and is actually standard with friends.
Additionally, the Paradise Garden Bandstand presents day by day dwell performances that includes enchanting conventional musical devices, together with Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese folks dancers.
The San Francisco-based musical group Melody of China performs a fusion of Chinese folks, classical and modern instrumentals.
Of course, character meet & greets are a part of the occasion, which is a pleasant contact for households. Enjoy particular appearances by Disney characters on the Paradise Gardens Gazebo, the place it’s possible you’ll spot Tigger, Mulan and Mushu, Mickey and Minnie, and the Three Little Pigs–all dressed of their festive finery.
On prime of that, the titular character from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ movie Raya and the Last Dragon, makes her official debut on the Disneyland Resort through the Lunar New Year celebration. Under a forest cover deep within the coronary heart of Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, it’s possible you’ll encounter the heroic Raya.
While in Paradise Gardens, head over to the Lucky Wishes Wall to share your individual particular needs of hope, well being and happiness that roar with confidence for the Year of the Tiger.
There’s additionally complimentary arts and crafts, together with dragon’s pearl coloring craft and Chinese calligraphy with native artisans. Plus, new face portray alternatives have been added to the celebration, out there for buy.
The better part about Lunar New Year at DCA is that it doesn’t really feel prefer it’s merely a ruse to promote some costly occasion merchandise and overpriced menu gadgets to locals (though that’s a part of the equation). There’s a real effort to make this an enriching and entertaining expertise for friends, and that is precisely the form of factor that belongs in EPCOT.
There are a lot of cool decorations up round Paradise Garden.
It could not seem to be it from the pictures right here, however there’s lots to see outdoors of the procession.
In addition to this, there’s different dwell leisure on the band stand stage that you would be able to take pleasure in whereas consuming, plus stations the place friends can get their faces painted, artwork stations for youths, and a number of other spots arrange with instructional information about Lunar New Year within the varied cultures that commemorate it.
Even although it’s the winter “off-season” at Disneyland Resort, Lunar New Year will nonetheless draw crowds. Expect that to carry true at some stage in the occasion. The meals cubicles are particularly busy, as are the meet & greets, which routinely have hour-plus strains.
On the plus aspect, you’ll be able to seize a final minute spot for the cavalcade and have an excellent view. Same goes for the leisure in Paradise Garden, which is a comparatively uncrowded space of Disney California Adventure.
Now, let’s take a better take a look at the meals being served up at DCA’s Lunar New Year festivities…
Lunar New Year Food Menus
One of the highlights of Lunar New Year at Disney California Adventure is the marketplaces, serving a wide range of Asian-inspired dishes ready with a Disney twist. These embody Longevity Noodle Co., Lucky 8 Lantern, Prosperity Bao & Buns, and Red Dragon Spice Traders.
These meals cubicles are the identical stands used for DCA’s Food & Wine Festival and its Festival of Holidays. While Lunar New Year’s culinary part just isn’t as fleshed out as these occasions, it’s beginning to broaden and are available into its personal. We’ve already tried a number of dishes from the final two incarnations of the occasion, and have usually appreciated what we’ve tried.
Note that as a consequence of there being so few meals cubicles, the strains can get lengthy. We advocate rope dropping the marketplaces, ordering as near 10:30 am as attainable. From what we’ve seen, Longevity Noodle Co. has the longest strains, with friends stretching again by way of the World of Color seating space all through the day for this market. Prioritize this one.
Alternatively, you’ll be able to place orders at a single market, after which go to the pickup strains at different cubicles from there. Those return strains can nonetheless be prolonged, however you’ll save a superb period of time this fashion (assuming Disney doesn’t “disable” the multi-booth ordering, which does occur every so often).
For the perfect worth in your epicurean journey, we advocate shopping for the Sip & Savor Pass. This supplies six vouchers, redeemable for meals and nonalcoholic drinks at Lunar New Year Marketplace kiosks and different choose eating places.
We normally make a go of the marketplaces earlier than redeeming any vouchers, making observe of the gadgets which might be costliest out of pocket, and thus supply the perfect bang for buck with the Sip & Savor Pass. A great rule of thumb is paying for the desserts out of pocket and utilizing the Sip & Savor Pass on the extra bold savory snacks.
Longevity Noodle Co. Food Menu:
- Garlic Noodles: Long noodles tossed in a zesty garlic butter with Parmesan cheese
- Spicy Pork Dandan Noodles: Pan-fried noodles with floor pork and a spicy tri-chile mix sauce
Longevity Noodle Co. Beverage Menu:
- Salted Pistachio Cold Brew that includes Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. French Bistro Blend Coffee
- Pale Ale with mandarin and bergamot zest
- Novelty: Lotus Flower Glow Cube (Sip and Savor Pass not accepted)
Lucky 8 Lantern Food Menu:
- Shrimp Fried Rice with garlic bacon edamame
- Beef Bulgogi Short Rib on rice with inexperienced onion salad
Lucky 8 Lantern Beverage Menu:
- Peach Yuja-Ade: Peach syrup, yuja, dragonfruit, lemon, and butterfly pea flower tea
- Soju Peach Yuja-Ade: Soju, peach syrup, yuja, dragonfruit, lemon, and butterfly pea flower tea
- Lager
- Novelty: Lotus Flower Glow Cube (Sip and Savor Pass not accepted)
Prosperity Bao & Buns Food Menu:
- Char Siu BBQ Pork Bao: Pickled purple onions and jalapeño
- Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun: Brioche-style Mickey-shaped buns filled with scorching canine and completed with sesame seeds and scallions
Prosperity Bao & Buns Beverage Menu:
- Prosperous Tiger: Vodka, cream of coconut, bitters, triple sec, mandarin purée, and vanilla bean paste
- Lychee Celebration: Gin, prosecco, lychee purée, lychee syrup, grapefruit juice, and yuja
- Bamboo Lager
- Novelty: Lotus Flower Glow Cube
Red Dragon Spice Traders Food Menu:
- Spicy Three-Cup Chicken served on a mattress of jasmine rice
- Impossible Lion’s Head Meatballs: Mini plant-based pork meatballs served with cabbage and Shaoxing wine discount
- Mickey Purple Sweet Potato Macaron: Red macaron stuffed with purple candy potato buttercream and crème fraîche middle
Red Dragon Spice Traders Beverage Menu:
- Dancing Firecracker: Pineapple juice, guava purée, spicy honey syrup, hibiscus syrup, and lime juice
- Jasmine Tea Lager
- Novelty: Lotus Flower Glow Cube (Sip and Savor Pass not accepted)
Lucky Fortune Cookery Beverages:
- Hong Kong-style Milk Tea: Black tea sweetened with condensed milk served over ice (non-alcoholic) (New)
- Mulan Sipper with alternative of: Fountain beverage at time of buy, Hong Kong-style milk tea, or Vietnamese iced espresso (non-alcoholic)
- Novelty: Lotus Flower Glow Cube (Sip and Savor Pass not accepted)
Paradise Garden Grill Food Menu:
- Korean-style BBQ Chicken: Half rooster with steamed white rice, kimchi, pickled cucumbers, and sesame seeds (Sip and Savor portion out there)
- Pork Banh Mi: Grilled pork stomach with pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro, and seasoned mayonnaise on a crispy baguette (Sip and savor portion out there)
- Spicy Kung Pao Tofu: Deep fried tofu with zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, purple peppers, peanuts, and fried rice garnished with garlic deep-fried chips (Sip and Savor portion out there) (New)
- Whole Fried Fish: Crispy entire fish, candy and bitter sauce, steamed rice, stir-fried greens and rooster soup — served family-style for 2
- Green Tea Raspberry Parfait: Green tea mousse, raspberry jelly, white sponge cake, white chocolate mousse, and sweet pearls
- Sides of steamed or fried rice
Paradise Garden Grill Beverage Menu:
- Tiger Milk Tea with brown sugar boba (non-alcoholic) (New)
- Soju Cocktail: Soju, ginger beer, lemon, basil, Fresno chile, lychee flavor-filled boba (non-alcoholic) (New)
- Mulan Sipper with alternative of fountain beverage at time of buy (non-alcoholic)
- Novelty: Lotus Flower Glow Cube (Sip and Savor Pass not accepted)
Lamplight Lounge Food Menu:
- Korean-style BBQ Nachos: Bulgogi pork stomach, tacky corn sauce, gochujang crema, contemporary radish, and spicy cucumbers on house-made chips (New)
- Kung Pao Bao: Kung Pao-glazed crispy pork stomach, chili peanuts, steamed bao bun, purple pepper, and inexperienced onion slaw
- Oolong Donut: Oolong-dusted beignet donut served with oolong crème anglaise, and orange soy pudding dipping sauces
Lamplight Lounge Beverage Menu:
- Lunar Cocktail: Baiju Chinese liquor, smoked orange syrup, orange bitters and lemon juice garnished with orange peel (New)
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Holiday Cart Menu:
- Lantern Whoopie Pie: Whoopie pie stuffed with vanilla buttercream and dipped in pearl sprinkles
- Assorted Pretzel Sticks: Tiger-striped chocolate pretzel sticks
- Mickey-shaped Tiger Sugar Cookie: Sugar cookie dipped in purple chocolate with gold Mickey-shaped tiger
- Mickey-shaped Tiger-striped Sugar Cookie: Sugar cookie dipped in purple chocolate with gold tiger stripes
As proven above, Paradise Garden Grill has a particular menu for Lunar New Year, and some different choices will be discovered on the Festival Food and Beverage Cart.
Our favourite tends to be Paradise Garden Grill, because it serves full meals which might be bold and pleasant. One of our favourite “traditions” through the occasion is becoming a member of Guy Selga of TouringPlans.com to devour the Whole Fried Fish, which tastes so significantly better than it seems to be. I’m additionally a giant fan of the Bánh Mì, in order for you one thing a bit extra…standard.
Overall, Happy Lunar New Year is an occasion that’s properly value experiencing when you’re a Disneyland native, actually into cultural experiences, or are pondering of an early-year Disneyland Resort trip. We had been actually impressed by the general high quality of Happy Lunar New Year, and ended up spending about half the day over in Paradise Garden having fun with it. It appeared very standard with different friends, and we’ve by no means seen Paradise Garden this busy–it’s even busier throughout this than throughout Viva Navidad.
As an added bonus, January and February are usually nice months to go to (when you don’t thoughts some refurbishments) because the crowds are at their lowest factors of the yr, and “winter” in Southern California has air quotes round it for a motive. The occasion itself is a really prime quality little providing you possibly can spend a few hours experiencing, and is a pleasant gesture for locals and people who need one thing new or distinctive. For most individuals, it isn’t going to be one thing round which a visit needs to be deliberate, however contemplating that it’s solely working for 4 days, it’s glorious.
Planning a Southern California trip? For park admission offers, learn Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site resorts in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For the place to eat, try our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For distinctive concepts of issues that’ll enhance your journey, try What to Pack for Disney. For complete recommendation, seek the advice of our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides past Disney, try our Southern California Itineraries for day journeys to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of different locations!
Your Thoughts
Does Lunar New Year Celebration appear like a basic “edutainment” expertise, or does it look uninteresting to you? If you’ve got been, what do you consider Happy Lunar New Year? Any ideas so as to add? Hearing from you is half the enjoyable, so when you have further ideas or questions, please share them within the feedback!