A Lunar New Year Theme Park Experience
By: Maggie Ballantyne, Concierge Agent
July 25, 2024
In 2023, I was fortunate enough that my trip to the West Coast aligned perfectly with Disneyland’s Lunar New Year Celebration: Year of the Rabbit! This festival was on my Disney bucket list, and I was happy to check it off. I was even happier that I thoroughly enjoyed this festival and would like to go back in the future. The festival typically runs in early February on the Disney California Adventure side. Specific dates for the festival are announced each year. Taking part in the celebration is included in your park entry; this is not currently a special ticketed event.
The Lunar New Year is only celebrated in Disneyland on the West Coast, not in Disney World the East Coast. I was surprised how extensive this celebration was and I’m glad I had multiple days to try and take it all in as much as possible. The lanterns hanging from the trees, décor around the park, and all the added extras really made for an immersive experience!
Food
This is the first Disney Festival where everything I tried was delicious. I loved it all and didn’t try anything I wouldn’t order again. The highlights were definitely:
Spicy Pork DanDan Noodles
Dalgona Coffee Bundt Cake
Pork and Shrimp Wonton
Grapefruit Melon Wine Cocktail
There are also treats packaged beautifully that you can purchase as a souvenir to take home!
The Characters and Entertainment
I love that with it being the year of the rabbit, Oswald was out for meet and greets. He is rare and this was a first for me. I also had the chance to meet Ortensia, Mickey, Minnie, Mushu, and Pluto in their festive attire. I think it is great that depending on the year’s theme, the rare character meet and greets change. And with each year representing a different animal, you can attend the festival multiple times and have different experiences!
The Lunar New Year-themed Cavalcade called “Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession” was great fun to watch. I loved the dragons, Mushu, Mulan, Chip ‘n’ Dale, Oswald, and the musical performances. It is short, as most cavalcades are, but it was full of bright colors, beautiful costumes, dancing, and catchy music. We watched multiple times from different viewpoints to get the full experience!
Around Pixar Pier there were also crafts and activities for the celebration. I love that most of these activities were free and had little to no wait times to participate. Some examples of activities included: a dragon's pearl coloring craft, experience Chinese calligraphy with local artisans. My favorite activity can be found at the Lucky Wishing Wall. Here, you write down your wishes and tie them to the Lucky Wishing Wall. It is the hope of whoever makes a wish that it will come true in the New Year!
This is not a festival I expected to love as much as I do! I would recommend everyone participate at least once! If your trip overlaps with this festival twice, that is ok because no two festivals are identical! When you are ready to book your West Coast adventure, please reach out to me at maggie@wishesfamilytravel.com.