Disneyland Lunar New Year Celebration 2026: Everything You Need to Know

Disney California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort hosts several festivals year round. One of the lesser known but growing events is the Disneyland Lunar New Year celebration. This yearly multi-day festival of Asian culture features food, entertainment, and merchandise fused with an authentic spirit of prosperity and hope for the new year.

Disneyland Lunar New Year Basics – The Year of the Horse in 2026

When. The Disneyland Lunar New Year celebration takes place in late January and early February every year. This year, the event is being held from January 23 to February 22, 2025. Event highlights include popular characters in Lunar New Year traditional outfits, decor, kid-friendly craft activities, and live performances. Guests visiting the Parks should make time in their schedule to experience at least some, if not all, of the celebration's special offerings.

Who. As the lunar calendar changes each year to feature a new animal, so does Disneyland's Lunar New Year mascot. In most years, Disneyland selects an animated character to match the year's animal and displays that character on festival banners. In 2026, the year of the Horse is being represented by a deep cut character - Horace Horsecollar.

Previous year's festival mascots have included the following:

• 2018 Year of the Dog: Pluto
• 2019 Year of the Pig: the Three Little Pigs
• 2020 Year of the Rat: Mickey (Disneyland decided to go with the Year of the Mouse instead - of course!)
• 2022 Year of the Tiger: Tigger
• 2023 Year of the Rabbit: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
• 2024 Year of the Dragon: Mushu
• 2025 Year of the Snake: golden snake icon in the shape of a Mickey head

Where. The focus of the Disney Lunar New Year celebration is in the Paradise Garden area of Disney California Adventure, starting in front of the red-ribbon wrapped obelisk near Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. You can’t miss the towering gold and red archway and the hundreds of stunning red ornamental lanterns decorating the area. Nearly every inch of the that section of the park is transformed for Lunar New Year, with traditional decor including firecrackers, flowers, and hanging lights. The celebration extends elsewhere in the park and even into the Disney hotels as well.

Related: Special Events at Disneyland: Your Guide to Every Season

Disneyland Lunar New Year Characters & Activities

Special activities abound during the event, many of which are totally free. Kid-friendly Disneyland Lunar New Year highlights in 2026 include the following:

• Meilin and Ming Lee Meet & Greet. The mom and daughter team from Pixar's "Turning Red" are appearing for the second year in a row on San Francisco Street. Look for Meilin's partial transformation into her Red Panda side.
• Character Meet and Greets. Look for other Disney Characters celebrating the Lunar New Year, dressed in traditional outfits. Under the pavilion near Paradise Garden Grill, characters like Mulan, Mushu, and Goofy - as well as Mickey and Minnie (wearing new traditional Korean costumes) - are regularly available for photos.
• Find Your Birth Year. Wondering what animal you were born under on the lunar calendar? Find your birth year on the signs posted at the festival each year. You’ll be able to see which sign you were born under (I was born in the Year of the Ox!)
• Wishing Wall. Visit the Lucky Wishing Wall located just inside the Paradise Garden area. This free activity allows guests to write their wishes onto a provided Mickey-shaped paper and tie it to the wishing wall.
• Kid’s Crafts & Activities. Small tables and chairs are set up along the parade route with complimentary coloring crafts for kids to decorate and take with them.

Trips With Tykes Tip: Note that some of these Lunar New Year activities close early in the evening, so be sure to carefully time your visit. Check the Disneyland app for accurate times.

Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession

If you can only see one thing during the Lunar New Year celebration, do not miss this incredible showcase! Dozens of dancers, drummers and characters travel the full length of the parade route in DCA from Hollywood Boulevard to Paradise Garden Park, where they perform in a street party-style show. While waiting in line at one of the marketplace kiosks, I was able to catch the procession as they danced towards Paradise Garden Grill after their show.

Parasol dancers, ribbon-twirlers and impressive dragon dancers celebrate the arrival of Mulan and her dragon friend Mushu to the Lunar New Year celebration. Chip ‘n Dale are a fun part of the celebration. Goofy is here too, dressed as the “god of Good Fortune”.

The show (which lasts around 10 minutes) features live drumming and music with exuberant dancing. The combination of beautifully detailed costuming, fantastic music along with colorful flags and ribbons make this a perfect attraction for all ages. There’s a very authentic feel to this celebration; a definite can’t-miss if you’re attending Disneyland’s Lunar New Year.

Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession happens several times daily. Check the Disneyland app for exact show times during your visit. This high-energy show is extremely popular, but now that it runs the full length of the parade route, it's much easier to see than it used to be! A great way to see it (especially with little kids who might be impatient waiting!) is by grabbing food from one of the marketplace kiosks and sitting on the stairs in the Paradise Garden park stage about 30 minutes prior to showtime for a view of the action.

Live Entertainment From Across the Globe

Multicultural performances are scheduled at different venues throughout the day during the Disneyland Lunar New Year celebration. I had the opportunity to watch several of the shows and can tell you that they were of excellent caliber. Check the Disneyland app for times and locations during your visit.

International and local artists perform at both the Paradise Garden Park stage and the Paradise Garden Bandstand. Note that the sun can be very intense in the Paradise Garden Park area, without any shade covering. We chose to enjoy an authentic Asian meal from the Paradise Garden Grill, then sat back in the shady area and enjoyed one of the shows!

Sip and Savor at Disneyland Lunar New Year

No special event at Disneyland is complete without some unique and tasty food. For Lunar New Year, authentic Asian foods are available at various marketplace kiosks and dining locations throughout the festival area.

If you plan to snack your way through the Disneyland Lunar New Year celebration, consider purchasing a Sip and Savor pass. Like the passes offered at Disneyland's Food and Wine Festival, the pass entitles guests to multiple items for a set price. The cost in 2026 is $49 plus tax. Magic Keyholders can save $3 off that price when they present a valid pass and identification at the register.

Guests are now given a scannable digital pass instead of the pass used in years past with pull-off tabs. Redeem the pass at select locations for six food items or non-alcoholic beverage. The Sip and Savor may be purchased at the Sip and Savor Cart, Seaside Souvenirs, festival marketplaces, and a few other locations. To ease the process of choosing what to eat and drink, a food guide with photos comes with your purchase of the Sip and Savor Pass.

Lunar New Year Festive Foods Marketplaces

In 2026, six marketplace kiosks (up from four in previous years) focus on Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese dishes in a smaller sample size. This allows you to taste several dishes from the various marketplaces including savory, spicy and sweet flavors. There are also alcoholic beverages including several beers and cocktails using traditional flavors and ingredients from various Asian countries.

Larger entrees like a whole fish are available at the Paradise Garden Grill. You can also usually redeem Sip and Savor allotments for smaller portions of popular dishes including the Bánh Mì pork belly sandwich, but this varies year to year so check the food guide carefully. Nearly all the restaurants in DCA have special items on their menus for the event, including at Lamplight Lounge.

Menus change each year, but be sure to check out the Official 2026 Disneyland Lunar New Year Foodie Guide for lots of photos and descriptions of each food item, along with the location it can be found.

Saving Time and Money

The Sip and Savor Pass can be a money-saver, if used wisely. Peruse the menu options and pricing through the Disneyland app ahead of time. Then only order the highest priced items when using the Sip and Savor to make best use of the cost. 

To save time in line, guests may order any of Lunar New Year marketplace items at a single kiosk. The cast member will give you a receipt to present at the individual kiosks for redemption. Keep the receipt in a safe place! This option only works at the marketplace kiosks and not at any of the restaurant locations.

For restaurant locations, however, guests have one other tool not available at marketplace kiosks - mobile ordering. You’ll simply use a credit card to order and prepay via the Disneyland app. Then pick up at each restaurant using the special mobile order pick-up line.

Unfortunately the Sip and Savor Pass cannot be combined with mobile ordering. However, mobile ordering is a big time-saver, particularly on busy weekends.

Lunar New Year Celebration Souvenirs

Commemorate your visit to Disneyland’s Lunar New Year festivities with Lunar New Year themed souvenirs. Guests were lined up during my visit to pick up these limited souvenirs including trading pins, t-shirts, lucky red envelopes, plush and home decor items. Minnie Mouse Ears headbands and red spirit jerseys celebrating the festivities are always popular picks. There are special kiosks in the festival area with the year's character merchandise, which can also be found at Elias & Co. and Seaside Souvenirs.

World of Color “Hurry Home” Pre-Show

As night falls, the Pixar Pier area sparkles with a nighttime spectacular. The 6 minute “Hurry Home” plays immediately before the World of Color - Happiness evening show.

This water show combines lighting and special effects. “Hurry Home” features Mulan, Mushu, and a little lantern with traditional elements relating to Lunar New Year celebrations, including all of the delightful foods! The musical composition played during “Hurry Home” was originally played for the opening ceremony of Shanghai Disney Resort.

If you want to see World of Color, reserve viewing areas for the show are available as a Virtual Queue selection in the Disneyland app. Note that this is entirely independent of Lightning Lane Multi and Single Pass services at Disneyland and does not cost extra. The virtual queue opens in the app at noon daily. Guests must have scanned their ticket and physically entered California Adventure (or Disneyland if you also have a park hopper ticket) in order be eligible to secure a spot in the queue.

Disneyland regularly offers other ways to get good views, like with its World of Color dessert party offering seating and a delightful array of sweet treats and drinks.

Final Thoughts

Although Lunar New Year is fairly short Disneyland celebration, it is well worth your time if a January or February trip to Disneyland fits in your schedule. The food is tasty and unique and the entertainment offerings are extensive for this smaller scale special event.

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About the author: Contributing author Julie Bigboy is a San Diego native who calls Disneyland her second home! She is owner of the site Mom Rewritten. She and Leslie are two of the four co-founders of the 40,000+ member Disneyland with Kids Facebook Group.

Additional reporting and photos by Leslie Harvey.

Disclosure: Disneyland provided Julie with complimentary tickets in some years past to cover Lunar New Year as a contributor for Trips With Tykes. Leslie has attended Lunar New Year at her own expense. As always, all opinions are our own.