Celebrating Lunar New Year at Disney California Adventure

Every year, Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim transforms into a festive Lunar New Year celebration. This year they’re celebrating the year of the horse with vibrant decor in red and gold, special entertainment, lots of food, characters in themed traditional attire and of course limited-time treats & merch.

Typically I’m in Korea around this time of year doing my own Lunar New Year preparations, but luckily I got to squeeze in a quick last minute visit this year. So, here’s everything you need to know.

Merch

Like with any special event at a Disney theme park, there’s limited edition merch and Lunar New Year is no exception. There’s not a ton to choose from, but there is a little bit of everything including t-shirts, a spirit jersey, a baseball style jersey with Horace the horse on the back, Loungefly crossbody and coin purse, red envelopes, mug, keyring and Mickey plush.

But the the thing that had me running straight to Elias & Co. was the Korean inspired Minnie Ears. I immediately feel for these ears the moment I saw them on Instagram and they look even prettier in person. These red ears come with a detachable bow that has a jokduri on it (a traditional Korean hair piece). The ears themselves come with lanterns printed on them along with some beautiful dancheong (단청) inspired embroidery. If you can only buy one thing from this collection, this would be the THE thing.

Food

One of the biggest draws of the festival are the Lunar New Year food marketplaces. There are six themed booths serving dishes inspired by Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean flavors with creative Disney twists. There are also other seasonal snack scattered throughout the park. I think it’s important to note that coming to a theme park for authentic Asian cuisine is a bit of a fools errand. The goal should definitely be to try food that’s tasty and not necessarily authentic.

On that note I did opt out of most of the Korean inspired food (as I am incredibly particular about it), but I did try the Mickey Hotteok Waffles because I can never resist a good Mickey Waffle. These were red batter waffles with brown sugar & cinnamon custard inside. They were really good, but were just giving more churro/horchata rather than hotteok. I also tried the Scallion Pancake Tostada and it turned out to be one of the best things we had. It was a crispy fried scallion pancake topped with flavorful beef bulgogi, kimchi aïoli and spicy scallion salad. It was so good that we ended up buying another at the end of the night.

Some other favorites were the massive Year of the Horse Bread, which was a sourdough bread made fresh that morning. It was the perfect thing to snack on throughout the day. The Strawberry Milk Tea Macaron was also really tasty with a soft and crisp shell and strawberry buttercream filling with a milk tea center. And as far as drinks go, I absolutely loved the Taro Vietnamese Cold Brew. It was nice and strong and the taro chocolate sweet cream gave it the perfect amount of sweetness.

Some things I would recommend skipping are the Quesabirria Egg Roll and Spicy Chicken Wings. While I love the crispy the crispy texture of the egg roll and how packed with meat it was, it was incredibly bland. It even came with a Guajillo Pepper Consomé for dipping, but that didn’t really have much flavor either. The Spicy Chicken Wings on the other hand were caked in what tasted like a soy sauce and gochujang sauce. The thing about gochujang is that a little goes a long way, so having this much sauce on the chicken made it incredibly salty! They were so salty we had to eat some sourdough bread with it just to cut through the saltiness.

One thing that’s not part of the Lunar New Year menu, but is a definitely try, is the Baymax Macaron. It’s filled with a tart raspberry jelly and lightly sweetened matcha buttercream. So good! And of course a Disney trip is never really complete with out a classic churro. They were so fresh, crispy, covered in cinnamon and well, just pure magic.

Pro Tip: Sip and Savor Pass

The Sip and Savor Pass is a limited-time food pass available during the Lunar New Year Festival. It costs $49 and includes six digital coupons you can redeem for tasting-size food items or non-alcoholic drinks at the Lunar New Year Marketplaces and some participating restaurants and carts. You even get to choose from three limited-edition collectible designs celebrating Chinese, Vietnamese, or Korean culture, each with cute Disney characters dressed in traditional outfits, so the pass also doubles as a little souvenir. Of course I had to get the one with Mickey and Minnie in Hanbok. Adorable!

I’d say the Sip and Savor Pass can absolutely be worth it especially if you go in with a plan to taste a variety of savory festival food and share it with someone else like I did. But it’s not a guaranteed “save money” deal unless you’re deliberate about how you use it, so definitely be sure to look up the menu items in advance to get the best bang for your buck.

Mulan’s Lunar New Year Parade

Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession is one of the centerpiece experiences of the festival. It’s a 20 minute street parade that winds through Disney California Adventure with music, performers, and some of your favorite Disney friends. The procession is of course lead by Mulan and Mushu, but also features Chip n’ Dale along with the guest of honor Horace Horsecollar.

The parade is so colorful and lively with all kinds of different dancers, drummers, and traditional dragon performers. It’s definitely something you won’t want to miss, especially if you want to truly take in all the Lunar New Year festivities. It’s also only 20 minutes, so there are several shows throughout the day, making it easier to fit into you itinerary.

Character Meet & Greets

There are quite a few special characters to meet during the festival like Mulan, Mushu, Horace Horsecollar and Red Panda Mei. But you can also catch other characters in colorful outfits inspired by traditional cultural styles, including Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in Korean hanbok, Goofy and Clarabelle in Vietnamese aó dài and Donald and Daisy in Chinese hanfu.

I don’t usually wait in line for character photos because they generally take way too long, but I simply had to see Mickey and Minnie in their hanbok and I’m so glad I did. They look so adorable and honestly I had forgotten how magical character interactions are. We took some memorable photos, had a few laughs and Minnie complemented me on our matching ears. I highly recommend doing at least one meet and greet.

Hurry Home – A Lunar New Year Celebration

The final show of the night at California Adventure is World of Color. This is a nighttime water and light show that uses fog, projection mapping, and choreographed flame bursts set to music and soundtracks from Disney and Pixar films. On it’s own, it’s absolutely stunning, but for Lunar New Year they’ve added a special 6 minute pre-show. Hurry Home – A Lunar New Year Celebration follows a little lantern on a heartfelt journey home. Along the way, the lantern meets Mulan and Mushu, weaving in Disney touches while celebrating Lunar New Year themes of family, good fortune, and reunion. I loved it and it was such a perfect way to wrap up the day’s festivites.

Lunar New Year 2026 at California Adventure is festive, delicious, and just an overall visually stunning event. So whether you’re there for the eats, the characters, the merch, or just the celebratory atmosphere, it’s such a fun way to experience Lunar New Year with a touch of Disney magic! California Adventure’s Lunar New Year celebrations will be held from January 23 – February 22, 2026, so be sure to check it out if you get the chance.