Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Strolling Through the (Theme) Park One Day: DCA’s Lunar New Year Celebration!

Today was the last day for the Lunar New Year Celebration at Disney California Adventure Park. It had begun on January 20th and finished, today, on February 15th. One of the standout parts of the celebration was the character appearance of Ortensia the Cat, the girlfriend of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This is her first US theme park appearance! She is described in the Orange County Register, “Ortensia will wear a golden skirt with lotus, apricot and peach flowers inspired by the traditional Vietnamese ao dai gown and a matching Vietnamese khan dong headpiece embroidered in reds, pinks and golds.” This fit in perfectly with the Lunar New Year, especially the celebration in Vietnam, Tet, of the Year of the Cat. The other part was the foods and lastly, the parade, Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession. I also saw somewhere, the Lucky Wishes Wall, which I did at the Festival of Holidays, but special was a Chinese calligrapher. I was early so went to check on Pacific Wharf since it will change at some time to Big Hero 6’s San Fransokyo. 

                                                                  Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession, Disney California Adventure, photo by the author. 

Then, it was a walk to check the food booths and end up at the Paradise Gardens. There were posters of celebrations in Vietnam, China, and Korea. On the other side is the Lucky Wishes Wall. There is a dish of Mickey shaped papers where you can write your New Year’s Wish, there is a gold string to tie it to the collections of wishes hanging from a wall.To the right of the wall is the calligrapher, where you point out your birth year and find your Chinese Zodiac year. On a lucky red piece of paper, the calligrapher paints in Chinese the year. It is such an unique, personal, and beautiful souvenir. There are many food carts and kiosks around the park. The new Bamboo Blessing features Mickey Mouse-shaped Hot Dog Bun, this was just a Lunar New Year twist on a common food so I passed on it. Prosperity Bao & Buns has Char Siu BBQ Pork Bao and Peach Yuja-Ade, a drink wth Yuja-Lemongrass puree and other flavors. Lastly, there was Longevity Noodle Co. that has Spicy Pork DanDan Noodles. I tried the last one with the Raspberry Oat Milk Tea. It was delicious, but painfully hot! I drank all of the milk tea and some of my water bottle. 

Ortensia, Disney California Adventure, author’s photo. 


Still, it was some time before reaching the Redwood Challenge Trail. This is where a meet and greet with Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon took place. There is not too much signage to the see Raya, but a line forms to the steps below the entrance. This leads to a path with clusters of lit lanterns. There is a stage right out of Kumandra. The short parade, Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession, is incredible. It is narrated by George Takei who voiced the First Ancestor in the animated Mulan (1998). The parade runs from Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout to the area next to Paradise Gardens. Dancers flow in outfits like flower petals. Dragon carriers guide the dragon in long, curved shapes. The VIP Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is carried on a bike. There is also a float with Mulan, Mushu, drummers, and at the end, Goofy! Chip and Dale follow behind it. The Lunar New Year Celebration is a special time at Disney California Adventure. If you missed it or would like to return to it, there is always next year and Festival of Holidays at the end of the year! 


#DisneyCaliforniaAdventure, #LunarNewYearCelebration, #LuckyWishesWall, #MulansLunarNewYearProcession, #OswaldTheLuckyRabbit, #OrtensiaTheCat, #BambooBlessings, #ProsperityBaoAndBuns, #LongevityNoodleCo

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