New food and beverage offerings, entertainment welcome in the Year of the Snake.
By ERIC HAYASHI
RAFU CONTRIBUTOR
ANAHEIM.–A media event was held at Disney’s Grand California Hotel and Spa to kick off Lunar New Year festivities at Disney’s California Adventure Park, from Jan. 17 to Feb. 16.
In the middle of the lobby of the Grand California Hotel and Spa, there is a large confectionary snake in celebration of Year of the Snake. There are also special Lunar New Year desserts available for purchase, which include a Lunar New Year Mickey Snake cookie, Mushu Triple Chocolate Rice Cereal Treats and chocolate-covered pretzels.
At the event were Kim Eung Hwa & Korean Dance Academy and a Chinese American band, The Fortunes. In addition, Daniel “Duke” Brown, a Disney chef, and Paul Bryant, live entertainment director, spoke about the shows and food available for the Lunar New Year Festival.
Disney focused on Lunar New Year celebrations for China, Korea and Vietnam. With each country, there is an emphasis on authenticity.
Grace Kang, costume designer of the new Mickey and Minnie Lunar New Year costumes, based the costumes off the traditional Korean hanbok outfits. Kang went to various Koreatown shops for design inspiration and purchased fabrics sourced from Korea.
Inside Disney’s California Adventure, the festivities are spread throughout the park. Photos with the characters are available throughout the day at select locations. There are also new costumes for Goofy, Donald and Daisy. Chip and Dale wear traditional Chinese garments. There are also character photos available with Mei Ling and Ming Lee from “Turning Red.” A special Lunar New Year “magic” photo is only available if Lightning Lane with Photo Pass+ is purchased.
Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession, which starts in Hollywood and ends at the Paradise Garden Grill, is a short parade of characters, dancers and the storytelling of Mulan’s favorite New Year’s items. The procession is several times a day at the park.
In addition to the photo opportunities and procession, there are live bands, traditional dancers, and craft activities.
Of course, there is plenty of Lunar New Year merchandise available throughout the park. With it being Year of the Snake, each piece of merchandise has the silhouette of Mickey made by a snake.
However, my personal favorite part of the festivities are the food options. There are 74 different food items with 41 being new for this year. There is a Sip and Savor pass, with your choice of three different artwork designs and six food or non-alcoholic beverages for $48.
As of this writing, I was only able to try six of the food items. Some items were not available for the Sip and Savor Pass. The items I tried included Chef Duke’s Scallion Pancake Tostada, Moo Shu Pork Burrito, Broccoli Beef, Bahn Mi Hot Dog, Bahn Mi and Mickey-shaped Strawberry Milk Tea Macaron.
Chef Duke explained how he is of Korean descent and the bulgogi is his mother’s recipe. Chef stated he was not given the recipe until he was about 25 years old. The bulgogi was excellent and in my opinion, did not need the pancake, as I could eat a big bowl of the meat by itself. When asked, Chef said that his dish was the best, but would recommend the Legend of the Ten Spices Flatbread from the Pym Test Kitchen.
The Moo Shu Pork Burrito was interesting and messy. The burrito was filled with fried rice, vegetables, noodles and a little pork. I tried two different Bahn Mi sandwiches. The Bahn Mi Hot Dog was my favorite of the food items I tried. The Broccoli Beef was surprisingly good as the beef is plant-based and the Bahn Mi sandwich got spicy. Many of the foods seemed to have more chili and are spicier than previous years.
There are many other items available that looked delicious like the Quesaburria Egg Roll, Pho Dip, Mandarin Orange Cream Puff, Fire Chicken Wings, Mini Char Siu Pork Shanks, Red Panda Bao, Kung Pao Bao and many more. I will be trying these items on my next visit and probably more. If you are not able to enter the park, there are special Lunar New Year food and drinks available at different restaurant locations throughout the Downtown Disney District and in the Disney hotels.
The World of Color – “One” water show has a pre-show animation with new original music and animation called “Hurry Home,” a story of a lantern going home before the start of Lunar New Year. The show has projections of a lantern with celebrations from China, Korea, and Vietnam and their traditions.
Park reservations and admission tickets are required to enjoy the Lunar New Year festivities.