Disneyland Resort Update: Lunar New Year 2017 Festivities

Disney California Adventure, Anaheim, CA

After yesterday's shenanigans, we're here today with a more straightforward update that covers this year's Lunar New Year celebration at Disney California Adventure! The event kicked off last weekend, and this year brings an added weekend to the events, upping the total to three. This year also introduces a "Food and Wine Festival" element to the line-up, joining the entertainment, character meet-and-greets, and activity line-up. Lets take a look at some of what's going on, shall we?

General

This year is the year of the rooster, and as past Lunar New Year celebrations have occurred, the activity takes place over in Paradise Pier, which, has really taken on a bit of a mini-World Showcase (EPCOT-style) over the past year or so with the seasonal offerings the park has brought on. Guests can engage in face painting, buy holiday souvenirs, write their own new year's wish on a red tag, and make some arts and crafts.

Banners are up for the Lunar New Year celebration at Disney California Adventure, running Friday, January 20 - (Super Bowl) Sunday, February 5.

The bulk of activities are clustered near Goofy's Sky Swing and the Boardwalk Restaurants.

It's the year of the... well, you know...

Fake stone lion's got them flirty eyes.

Here's a schedule of the Lunar New Year events.

And a map of what's going on where.

Descriptions of the entertainment can be found at every Lunar New Year Marketplace, adjacent to the food menu sides.

Need to know to which animal of the Chinese zodiac you belong?

This trio of displays behind the Garden Grill Bandstand tells you!

Interestingly enough, the twelve Disney characters chosen to represent the twelve animals are the same ones as in the Garden of Twelve Friends at Shanghai Disneyland.

Some Lunar New Year merch, if you're interested.

For anyone who ever wanted a dragon on her face...

Or who wanted to make a lantern. Shout-out to my old home town!

Guests can also write wishes on red tags and hang them for good fortune.

What do you wish?

If the wish is less updates by me, sorry, not happening.

Characters

Disney characters are also on hand in prosperous red for meet-and-greets. Bring some patience if you come on the weekend. The line to meet Mickey, Minnie, Mulan, or Mushu can be well over an hour, although Chip and Dale are around, roaming to meet guests here and there. It's a cool chance to see these Disney characters in seasonal garb for a limited time.

The meet-and-greet area occurs at the gazebo next to Goofy's Sky School, near the Garden Grill.

Mickey and Minnie are pleased to meet their adorable guest.

Awww, this is precious.

It's magic, right there.

Mickey and Minnie pose for a photo with their new friend.

Outside, Chinese Chip and Dale roam the grounds.

There's Chip.

There's Dale, cheering on a wish writer.

Posing for a photo. They're so nice!

They were all sorts of entertaining as they worked the crowd.

Back to the gazebo... when Mickey and Minnie aren't there, Mulan and Mushu are.

Deep in conversation.

These two are VERY popular.

Which makes sense, given the holiday, right?

The Food

A very low-scale version of the Food and Wine Festival (and Festival of Holidays Marketplace food offerings) has been added this year, with three stands highlight cuisine from China, Korea, and Vietnam--the countries and cultures that traditionally celebrate the lunar new year. As with previous examples, the servings are tapas sized, designed for snacking rather than for filling, and the prices are more or less on par with recent patterns. This means there is a premium to sample the flavors, simply because they are specialty items. Those who want a little better value can head over to the Garden Grill, where full size dishes are available for the three weeks this event runs.

Here's the Lunar New Year Marketplace - Korea. China and Vietnam are together next to the Golden Zephyr.

What's offered at the Korea stand, and the prices.

What's offered at the China stand, and the prices.

What's offered at the Vietnam stand, without the prices (sorry, forgot, but I believe the Macaron was in the $4 range, while the others were ine the $6 -$7 range).

Specialty menu items at Garden Grill.

The Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer was tasty with the garlic vinaigrette dipping sauce.

The Purple Sweet Potato Macaron was very tasty, with a particularly sweet berry filling in the middle that I didn't mind, though others may find it a tad too sweet. The Vietnamese coffee, however, was pretty lackluster compared to Vietnamese coffee I've had outside the park.

Pork Soup Dumplings... tasty but not really worth the cost (especially when you can go to get a whole basket of these for the same price at a dumpling house). The dipping sauce was good.

Kimchi Vegetable Fried Rice... actually very tasty and full of garlic flavor, and probably the best Marketplace value in terms of fillingness per dollar. The Steamed Vegetable Dumplings were also delicious, especially when dipped in their sesame-garlic soy sauce. Likewise, the price would have been better $1 or $2 less, though, given how skimpy the portions were.

The Almond Milk Iced Tea with Assorted Jellies comes with a nice glow lotus and is available at the Garden Grill.

The Cassava Coconut Cake from Garden Grill was also quite nice. Mellow in sweetness, with nice texture despite the coconut flakes (of which I'm normally not a fan).

The Fried Tilapia is done in a traditional Vietnamese style. This was the one dish no one in my group ordered, but it certainly looked delicious and fairly popular! It came with soup, white rice, and Chinese water spinach (ong choy or tong sum choy).

The Vegetable Japchae was pretty run of the mill. With a bit of a watered down soy sauce flavor, it seemed to be intended as the healthy food item.

The Beef Pho was unfortunately lacking. Pho is all about the broth, and the broth here was nowhere near simmered long enough and unfortunately rather low in flavor. You're much better off getting pho at a real Vietnamese noodle shop, unless you really want the claim of having eaten pho at a Disney park.

Of the Garden Grill dishes we tried, the Kalbi Beef Short Ribs were definitely the best. It's hard to mess up Korean short ribs anyway, and these were smoky, flavorful, tender, and delicious!

Also worth mentioning... one of the stands in the area was selling a pork bao (steamed bun) with dipping sauce. This wasn't quite up to Tokyo Disney standards (but then again, those are REALLY high standards), but the bao was still decently tasty. The sweet chili dipping sauce was an odd pairing, though.

Entertainment

There are plenty of entertainment acts with this year's Lunar New Year celebration, including performances I wasn't able to catch and document.

At Paradise Park's center stage, the Acrobats of China give several performances showcasing impressive gymnastics, rope twirling, Chinese yo-yo, and silk dances. The show lasts nearly twenty minutes and attracts a pretty good crowd in front of the regular World of Color viewing area. The tricks and flips are dazzling, sure to elicit some wow's from the crowd.

The Acrobats of China performing with diabolos at the Paradise Park stage.

At the Paradise Garden Bandstand, there are several acts that rotate throughout the day. This group of girls was not listed on the bill and might be a rotating or one-weekend act, but they showcased a selection of Korean and Vietnamese dancing and arts. First was an exhibit of Samgo-Mu Drum Dance, followed by a Geommu Knife Dance, culminating in a Vietnamese hat dance. It was certainly nice to see these cultural traditions showcased at DCA.

Three young ladies perform a Vietnamese hat dance.

Also at the Bandstand are two billed rotating performers. Jie Ma, who I was not able to catch, showcases the traditional Chinese pipa instrument, which is a bit like a lute. Blind Vietnamese musician Dat Nguyen, plays guitar, melodica (the harmonica with keys), and also lute, and brings his infectious and charming optimism (having overcome the odds to pursue a career in music) to the stage.

Musician Dat Nguyen sings traditional Vietnamese folk songs with a message of thankfulness and positivity.

Also part of the Lunar New Year DCA celebrations are Mulan's Lunar New Year procession--a not-quite-parade featuring everyone's favorite heroine of China, and the Hurry Home--Lunar New Year Celebration, which is effectively a mini World of Color style show commemorating this Asian holiday.

Lanterns hang along the Boardwalk Restaurants dining area.

They make for artful shots.

At night, the red lanterns and decorations contrast nicely with the warm lighting.

It's truly fantastic to see this event get larger and larger and celebrate the customs of Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese culture. Having personally grown up around Chinese New Year activities, I feel a bit of pride seeing that a bit of my own culture is on display for others to experience and learn about. It's also wonderful to see Disney California Adventure cultivate an identity of diversity. As various holiday seasons roll across the year, this area has shown a proclivity to produce overlays celebrating various cultures, and everyone could benefit from the exposure to the arts and ways of different human beings.

That's it for today. We'll be going overseas again the next two days for some more Japanese amusement park tours. And if you boys and girls are really good, maybe something colorful and classic to end the week.

Gu Ba!!