By Lindsay Brookshier
Originally posted on mickeyvisit.com.
This article contains affiliate links from Mickey Visit.
Disneyland Lunar New Year is an annual tradition that recognizes Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures and celebrates the celestial journey of the sun and the moon toward another year. Disneyland's Lunar New Year honors this celebration with festival food marketplace booths, great multi-cultural entertainment, and themed merchandise.
The 2024 Disneyland Lunar New Year will take place from January 23, 2024, through February 18, 2024. This year the celebration rings in the Year of the Dragon with Asian-inspired food and beverages, vibrant décor, and Mushu leading the way in “Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession.”
This celebration is a great addition to your Disney California Adventure day.
Mulan’s Processional
Disneyland Lunar New Year Celebration includes limited-time entertainment featuring rare characters along with a special World of Color nighttime spectacular.
Mulan’s Processional is a cavalcade that travels from Pixar Pier to Paradise Garden Park (see Disney California Adventure map). When the cavalcade comes to a stop, the show begins with music, costumed performers, Mulan, Disney characters, a Chinese dragon puppet, warriors, drummers, and dancers. This year will debut a brand new parade float that will join the processional carrying Mulan and Mushu from the Disney film Mulan. Disneyland has announced that a new float will join the processional this year to carry Mulan and Mushu.
We recommend lining up anywhere from 15-30 minutes before the show begins to get the best view as this is a popular event for Disneyland Lunar New Year. Many guests love seeing Mulan since she is a rare Disney character we don't often see in the parks.
Lunar New Year World of Color Pre-Show
Hurry Home- Lunar New Year Celebration is another popular entertainment option at Disneyland's Lunar New Year. This six-minute show takes place before the first nightly showing of World of Color in Disney California Adventure.
The show's story is about Little Lantern who journeys home to celebrate the new year with family and friends. He meets Mulan and Mushu and joins them in a celebration of friendship. The show features sky-high fountains, light effects, and a musical score that was created for the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Disney Resort.
Disneyland Lunar New Year Entertainment
Guests can visit The Lucky Wishing Wall in Paradise Garden to write special messages of hope, health, and happiness for the upcoming year under the strings of ornamental lanterns.
Lunar New Year at Disneyland also includes daily performances by authentic Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese dancers and musicians throughout Paradise Gardens Park. This year’s festival includes performances by Vocal Seoul, New Tradition, Melody of China, and Luna Lee.
Kids can enjoy a variety of crafts in front of The Little Mermaid attraction including Chinese calligraphy, dragon’s pearl coloring crafts, and face painting.
Rare Character Meet and Greets
You can also look forward to special character meet and greets at Paradise Gardens Park. These meet and greets are popular since Disney brings out some rare characters for photo ops.
New characters from Disney and Pixar's "Turning Red" will debut at the Disneyland Lunar New Year Festival this year. Meilin Lee and her mother, Ming Lee will be available for meet and greets during the festival.
"Turning Red" fans can also look forward to Meilin appearing in the new Pixar Play Parade in her full Red Panda form. Disneyland Pixar Fest will run after the Lunar New Year Festival from April 26th, 2024 through August 4th, 2024.
This is a great addition to the lineup of rare characters we often see at Disneyland Lunar New Year Festival including Mulan, Mushu, Oswald, and last year's debut of Ortensia, Oswald's girlfriend.
Lunar New Year Food Festival Marketplaces
Disneyland celebrates the Lunar New Year in the same style of food festival marketplace booths you will see during the holiday season and the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival, which you can find located on the pathway to Paradise Gardens. There are even special foods added to Downtown Disney.
We have a FREE printable of all the Disneyland Lunar New Year foods that is just for Mickey Visit newsletter subscribers. For those who are already on the Mickey Visit newsletter, you will have already received an email with the link to the printable.
These festival marketplace booths include Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean favorites including:
- Bamboo Blessings
- Wrapped with Love
- Lucky 8 Lantern
- Prosperity Bao & Buns
- Red Dragon Spice Traders
- Longevity Noodle Co.
These marketplace food booths are extremely popular which means lines can get long around peak lunch and dinner times so hitting the booths outside those normal 'eating' times can save you time spent in line.
Disneyland Resort also offers guests the option to purchase a Sip and Savor Pass. This pass allows you to redeem six coupons for select food or nonalcoholic beverages from participating marketplaces and dining locations in Disney California Adventure Park. For the first time, the pass has a barcode scanner rather than redeemable physical tabs.
There are plenty of great options to enjoy Lunar New Year at Disneyland this year making it a must-see on your trip to Disneyland!
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