7 Ways to Celebrate Lunar New Year at Disneyland

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{Consideration provided by the Disneyland Resort}

Culture is an integral part of the Disneyland Resort, and most recently, the Festival of Holidays showcased some of the world’s most important holidays through food, music, dance, and crafts. The celebration of Latin American, Asian, European, Jewish, and African cultures was beautiful and inspirational, and I loved the opportunity to talk to my kids about these important global traditions.

While Thanksgiving, Christmas, and our traditional American holidays have passed, Asian cultures across the globe commemorate Lunar New Year. Based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar, celebrations include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Mongolian, and Tibetan New Year. This Saturday is the first day of the Chinese New Year, commencing the year of the Rooster. The Lunar New Year is often celebrated with friends and family through food and festivities such as parades. It is also common practice to gift money in red paper envelopes as red is the symbol of good fortune.

Celebrating the Lunar New Year – Disney Style

This year, the Disneyland Resort will celebrate Lunar New Year with one of their largest celebrations, spanning 17 days. To celebrate the Year of the Rooster, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Mulan, and Mushu will greet guests as they enjoy live entertainment, festive decor, authentic cuisine, and more. There is so much to see and do at the Disneyland Resort during this time. Here are 7 Ways to Celebrate Lunar New Year at Disneyland.

Celebrate Lunar New Year with authentic, Asian-inspired cuisine. Three Lunar New Year Marketplace locations will serve foods inspired by Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese culture. The dishes include the following:
- Korean: (Kimchi Bokkeumbap – Kimchi-vegetable fried rice, Yachae Mandu – steamed vegetable dumplings with sesame-garlic soy sauce, Yasik – sweet rice and dried fruit cake, Banana Milk, Black Beer Stout, and Hite Pale Lager)
- Chinese: (Xiao Long Bao – Pork soup dumplings with black vinegar and ginger, Luo Bo Gao – Turnip cake with sausage and oyster sauce, Egg Tart, Passion Fruit Green Iced Tea with Lychee Popping Pearls, and Tsingtao Lager)
- Vietnamese: (Banh Chung – Sticky rice cake with pork, Chao Tom Voi Nuoc Cham Chua Ngot – Sugar cane shrimp skewer with sweet and sour sauce, Purple Sweet Potato Macaron, and Ca Phe Da – Vietnamese iced coffee)
- Paradise Garden Grill will also serve additional Lunar New Year items including Japchae (stir-fried vegetables and noodles with tofu), Galbi (grilled beef short rib with steamed rice and kimchi), Cach Chien Ca Gion Ngon (whole crispy tilapia with chili-lime vinaigrette and steamed rice), Pho (Beef Noodle Soup), Mango Pudding, Banh Khoai Mi Nuong (Cassava-coconut cake), Almond Milk Tea with Fruit Jellies, and Max Beer Lager.

Commemorate that moment when the sun and moon begin their journey with your favorite Disney characters! During Disneyland’s Lunar New Year Celebration, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip ‘n Dale, Mulan, and Mushu will welcome guests in their Lunar New Year attire. Be sure to visit them at Paradise Gardens where a beautiful gazebo is adorned with peach blossoms, bamboo, golden flowers, and Lunar New Year decor banners in English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Welcome the Year of the Rooster with Mulan and Mushu. Usher in the Lunar New Year with grace, beauty, and a bit of Disney magic during Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession. This spectacular parade is hosted by Mulan and her dragon friend Mushu and features Chinese umbrella dancers, drummers, and performers as they celebrate family and friendship to the sounds of Disney’s Mulan.
Be mesmerized by The Acrobats of China. During this special Lunar New Year celebration, the Acrobats of China will perform a mix of traditional and classic Chinese dance with human performance art. This troupe has been riveting audiences for more than 2500 years through their feats of strength, balance and grace. Watch the incredible Acrobats of China at Paradise Pier at 12:30, 3:30, 4:30, and 5:30 pm daily.

Share your wish for the Lunar New Year. Visit the Lucky Wishing Wall in Paradise Gardens to write and display your message of hope, health and happiness.

Enjoy live performances by authentic musicians from Asia. Take a moment to relax with a delicious meal while Chinese concert musician Jie Ma performs on the pipa instrument or Vietnamese concert guitarist, composer and teacher Dat Nguyen lulls you with his extraordinary talent.
Be inspired by a Little Lantern’s journey home for Lunar New Year. One of my favorite nighttime spectacular’s at the Disneyland Resort is World of Color. The show is a majestic display of lights, music, and animation across an aquatic backdrop. Created specifically for this Lunar New Year Celebration, Hurry Home will prelude each nightly performance of World of Color and tells the tale of a Little Lantern returning home for the annual celebration of fortune and good luck. There are three dream sequences in this six-minute feature and include an appearance by Mulan and Mushu. Unique to this sequence, Hurry Home will utilize two contrasting animation styles with fully rendered CG animation and sequences inspired by traditional Chinese paper-cut style animation. The accompanying score includes music created for the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort Award-winning composer Tan Dun.

Lunar New Year Celebration Crafts

The Lunar New Year Celebration takes place at Disney California Adventure Park through February 5th, 2017. Along with beautiful, inspirational décor, exquisite Asian cuisine, and breathtaking musical performances, guests can take home a custom-drawn memento of Chinese calligraphy, craft a paper lantern or enjoy a complimentary face painting (in front of The Little Mermaid Ariel’s Undersea Adventure). These inspired cultural experiences are provided by local artisans from the Chinese Cerritos School.

Lunar New Year Celebration Merchandise

Be sure to take home a commemorative gift to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Merchandise includes a specially designed t-shirt, a pin, a decorative trinket box and traditional red envelopes to gift.

Lunar New Year Annual Passholder Corner

If you’re a Disneyland annual passholder, be sure to visit the AP corner (in between Paradise Garden Grill and Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta) between 11 am and 7 pm daily for a special photo opportunity and interactive activities including an AP adventure.

For more information about the Lunar New Year Celebration at Disneyland, visit Disneyland.com/LunarNewYear.

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Caryn Bailey

Caryn is a NICU nurse by day, blogger by night and mom 24/7. She savors the warm Southern California sun and loves to travel, shopping, baking, reading and frequenting her local tea room. Caryn created the column Lavishly Green for Peekaboo Picks Magazine to share her best tips for going green in style, she is the Former editor for Family Review Network, former OC Family Magazine online contributor, former Orange County Moms Blog contributor, former Evenflo Savvy Parent contributor, former member of the Totsy Advisory Board and former freelance writer for CBS Los Angeles.