I was invited by Disneyland Resort to experience the first day of their Disney Lunar New Year Celebration. I was given a one day ticket to Disney California Adventure Park, Sip & Savor Pass, and a one day park hopper to come back to experience it again! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Disney Lunar New Year runs from January 17- February 9th and is such a wonderful way to celebrate the Year of the Rat or in this case Mouse! There are so many ways to enjoy the Lunar New Year Celebration through food, entertainment, decor! Here are some things you shouldn’t miss!
Lunar New Year Entertainment
- Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession is back! Mulan and Mushu lead the celebratory parade that honors Lunar New Year as talented performers dance, perform martial arts, and play drums. Because it’s the Year of the Mouse, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse join the procession in their new celebration outfits designed by Guo Pei! Goofy joins in his “god of Good Fortune” attire as well as Chip ‘n’ Dale in their red vests. Be sure to check the Disneyland App for updated times but performances are usually at 11:45am, 1:00pm, 2:45pm, 4:00pm.
- Watch live holiday entertainment at Paradise Gardens Park from authentic Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese dancers and musicians throughout the Disney Lunar New Year Celebration. Melody of China performs Monday- Friday on the stage by Paradise Garden Bandstand.
- Hurry Home – Lunar New Year Celebration– a beautiful water show before the World of Color show that tells the tale of a little lantern’s journey to return to their family for the new year. You can learn more about it here.
Lunar New Year Food
- NEW- Mobile Ordering for food at the Festival Marketplace. Don’t know how to use mobile ordering, check out my post here!
- Sip & Savor Pass to enjoy the Festival Marketplace foods. It’s $42 and if you have an annual pass, it’s $39. They can be purchased at festival booths, Sip & Savor carts, Seaside Souvenirs, Elias & Co, & Kingswell Camera Shop. These can’t be used on alcohol.
- The Festival Marketplace has 4 booths with various food and beverage items inspired by Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures. Want to see all the food items? Check the Disney Parks Blog post here!
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- Longevity Noodle Co.
- Lucky 8 Lantern
- Prosperity Bao Buns
- Red Dragon Spice Traders
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- Paradise Garden Grill has a special Lunar New Year menu as well as the Festival Cart inside Paradise Gardens. Lucky Fortune Cookery in Pacific Wharf also has special food options!
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- MY FAVORITES so far- smoked beef bulgogi short ribs, Lychee Grapefruit Gin Spritzer, and Orange Tempeh. I want to try the Peach Sojito as well as the Korean Chicken from Paradise Garden Grill. The Black Sesame Mochi Donut doesn’t have the true mochi texture that I’m used to. The flavors were good though!
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Lunar New Year Activities
- Character Meet & Greets with Mickey & Minnie (in new festive outfits!), Mulan and Mushu, Pluto and The Three Little Pigs! The characters rotate in and out so even if the line is long, you will get to meet one of the above. If there’s a certain character that you HAVE to meet, I would ask the Cast Members what time that character will be there and schedule your day accordingly.
- Get face painting for a small fee and do a free coloring craft of the Dragon Pearl at the tables by the Little Mermaid Ride.
- Lucky Wishing Wall in Paradise Gardens to write down wishes and tie them to the wall. Afterwards, get in line to get a free Chinese Brush Lettering and Calligraphy done by local artisans.
Lunar New Year Merchandise
You can purchase amazing merchandise inspired by different Easy Asian cultures at Five & Dime or at the merchandise booth in Paradise Garden Park. The booth is right by the Little Mermaid Ride. There’s a new spirit jersey, beautiful Minnie Ears, Chip & Dale Bobble Head figurine, Longevity Noodle Co. hat, and so much more. The booth in Paradise Garden Park has all the merchandise but the line to purchase might get long so if you just want the spirit jersey or ears check Five & Dime first!
Everything below was found at both Five & Dime and the merchandise booth in Paradise Garden Parks.
The red envelopes, pin and phone case were only found at the merchandise booth.
Disneybounding
Since Mulan is such an iconic figure for Disney Lunar New Year, I thought it would be fun to do three different Disneybound looks. I can go more into detail on another day but check it out below!
Wreck it Ralph Mulan
Classic Mulan
Mulan & Mushu
Make it a Learning Experience
One of the things I love about Disney is how it can tie into education. In Paradise Garden Grill, there’s an area where you can learn more about how Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures celebrate Lunar New Year.
As a Korean American, our family actually celebrates the New Year on January 1st by wearing hanboks and eating rice cake soup. You can check my Instagram post where I talked about it!
Learn from it: You can use my Today’s Magical Theme Graphic Organizer after reading the above with your kids and name one way each of the three cultures celebrates the Lunar New Year. For the last box, you can ask them how they celebrate the New Year. They can either write or draw a picture depending on their age!
Don’t know why it’s called the Year of the Rat/Mouse? Well, Disney has thought of it again. You can check the area right behind the bandstand for information on what your Chinese Zodiac Sign is based on your year of birth. After learning what animal your birth year is, you may want to delve in deeper as to what that means for you and your future by checking out the most accurate free psychic readings online to potentially see what your future has in store.
Want to extend the learning? Check out some resources for free downloads from Teacher’s Pay Teachers! You can also check their website for other paid resources but I just included free ones!
- Chinese Lantern Craft
- Read & Write about Chinese New Year
- Korean New Year
- New Year Lion Coloring
- Chinese Zodiac 2019 (It’s a sample of her packet. This had a cute lantern activity.)
- Year of the Rat
Special Offer on Tickets
Don’t forget, Disney Lunar New Year runs from now until Feb. 9th! You can make it even sweeter by taking advantage of the ticket deals for SoCal residents. For a limited time Southern California residents can visit the Disneyland Resorts for as little as $67/day with the purchase of a three-day, one-park per day ticket. There’s also a Park Hopper option available. You can purchase tickets from now until May 18, 2020. Tickets can be purchased on Disneyland’s website or through travel agents such as Getaway Today! You have to use the ticket by May 21, 2020.
Don’t worry- if you live outside of SoCal, there’s a deal for kids! Kids from ages 3-9 can get the same deal as above. Find out more information here.
Hotel Offers
But there’s more- you can save up to 25% on select rooms, Sunday-Thursday nights through April 16, 2020 at Disney property hotels and must be booked by March 16, 2020.
- Up to 20% on standard rooms, 25% on premium rooms at Disney’s Grand California Hotel and Spa and Disneyland Hotel.
- Up to 10% on standard and premium rooms at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.
What an amazing way to make the most of the Disney Lunar New Year with all these deals plus there’s so much more in store for the rest of 2020!
Will you be making a trip out to celebrate the Lunar New Year the Disney way?!
I had so much fun at last year’s event! Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures!