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 and Sip & Savor Pass. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Updated for 2022!

Disney Lunar New Year runs from January 21- February 13th at Disney California Adventure Park and is such a wonderful way to celebrate the Year of the Tiger! There are so many ways to enjoy the Lunar New Year celebration through special Lunar New Year-inspired food, live musical entertainment, and special activities! Whether it’s your first time or 100th time visiting, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Read on to see what’s new for 2022 plus some traditional favorites!

1. Lunar New Year Entertainment

• Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession is back with a BRAND NEW FLOAT for Mulan and Mushu! The float is decorated with red and gold to symbolize good fortune, bright bunches of red firecrackers, golden tassels and delicate red and gold lanterns. For the Year of the Tiger, Tigger joins the procession! Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession also features ribbon dancers, dragon dancers and drum performers. The procession starts at the Pixar Pier Gate and journeys to the Obelisk and back again. Be sure to check the Disneyland App for updated times but showtimes are usually at 1:30pm, 2:45pm, 4:45pm, 5:45pm and 7pm. TIP: You can catch a glimpse of the procession from anywhere along its route but if you wanted to see more of the drummers performing, you might want to view it from the Obelisk because that’s where the float has to turn around and will be in that area for a longer time.

• Watch live holiday entertainment at Paradise Garden Bandstand from authentic Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese folk dancers and musicians throughout the Disney Lunar New Year celebration. Melody of China is back this year! There’s plenty of seating in that area so you can enjoy a meal as you enjoy the live musical performances.

2. Lunar New Year Food

• Sip & Savor Pass is a great way to enjoy the Festival Marketplaces. It’s $43 and if you are a Magic Key holder, it’s $40. They can be purchased at festival booths, Sip & Savor carts, Seaside Souvenirs, Lunar New Year Marketplace, and Merchandise Pergola. These can’t be used on alcohol.
• The Festival Marketplace has 4 booths with various food and beverage offerings inspired by Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures. Want to see all the food items? Check the Disney Parks Blog post here!
  • • Longevity Noodle Co.
    • Lucky 8 Lantern
    • Prosperity Bao Buns
    • Red Dragon Spice Traders

• 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! NEW this year is some Lunar New Year food offerings at Lamplight Lounge.
• TIP: Mobile ordering is NOT available at the Festival Marketplace booths this year but you are able to purchase all the food items you want at one location and then take your receipt to each booth to get your food. So find the shortest line, order all your items you want to eat, then go to the various locations to pick up your food.

3. Lunar New Year Activities

• Character Meet & Greets with Tigger, Mickey & Minnie, Mulan and Mushu, and The Three Little Pigs in their festive attire start at 10:30am. 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.

• Raya and the Last Dragon meet and greet is NEW this year and is located at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail which has been transformed into the land of Kumandra with beautiful lanterns that light up at night. You can wait in line to meet her, take a up close picture and interact with her or there’s a “walk by” option where you can see and snap a quick picture. This option is subject to availability- please ask a Cast Member for more information. Raya’s meet and greet is from 3pm-9pm but the lines can be very long so plan accordingly!

• 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.
• Magic Key Holders can pick up a special button and take advantage of a special photo opp under the Silly Symphony Swings. There’s also table tops for dining! This area is open from 1-7pm and is subject to availability.

4. Lunar New Year Merchandise

You can purchase amazing merchandise inspired by different Easy Asian cultures at the merchandise booth in Paradise Garden Park. The booth is right by the Little Mermaid Ride. There’s a new spirit jersey, t-shirts, collectable pins, Minnie keychain plush, and more.

5. Disneybounding

Since it’s Raya’s debut at Disneyland Resort, I decided to Disneybound in her honor! I pulled pieces from my closet and bought some green pants. I also added a small TukTuk plushie to my bag.

Here are some Mulan Disneybounds I’ve done in the past!

Wreck it Ralph Mulan

Classic Mulan

Mulan & Mushu

6. Make it a Learning Experience

One of the things I love about Disney is how it can tie into education. At 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!

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!

Do you know your Chinese Zodiac sign? You can check the area right behind the bandstand for information on what your Chinese Zodiac Sign is based on your year of birth.

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 2022 (It’s a sample of her packet. This had a cute lantern activity.)
• Year of the Tiger

Special Offer on Tickets

Don’t forget, Disney Lunar New Year runs from now until Feb.13th! 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 weekday ticket. There’s also a Park Hopper option available. Tickets can be purchased on Disneyland’s website! You have to use the ticket by May 26, 2022.

To enter a park, a theme park reservation and valid ticket for the same park on the same dates are required, Park reservations are subject to availability.

Hotel Offers

You can save up to 25% on select rooms, Sunday-Thursday nights through April 8, 2022 at Disney property hotels and must be booked by March 17, 2022.

• 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 2022!

Will you be making a trip out to celebrate the Lunar New Year the Disney way?!