Come With Us to DCA’s Lunar New Year Celebration Media Event!

It’s an exciting day in Disney California Adventure (DCA)!

DCA’s Lunar New Year celebration starts today and will continue through February 22nd! That means guests can head to the park to honor the Year of the Horse and Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean traditions, with specialty eats and drinks, special character interactions, festive entertainment, and commemorative merchandise. 

We were fortunate enough to be invited to the celebration’s media event, and we’re taking you with us!

2026 Lunar New Year Celebration – DCA

Characters

Here’s the horse of the hour, Horace Horsecollar!

He showed off his festive attire at the media event, and you can meet him, too, at the San Francisco Historic District during the celebration!

Joining him at the location will also be Donald Duck and Daisy Duck in their Chinese attire! Here’s a peek at their outfits:

Goofy and Clarabelle Cow will also be in the area, sporting Vietnamese attire. They weren’t at the media event, but here’s what they’ll be wearing this year:

New to the festival this year is the Red Panda Mei meet-and-greet!

That’s right–guests can finally meet Mei in her red panda form over at the Pixar Pier Band Shell. She wasn’t at the event, but we’ll take you with us when we meet her during the celebration!

Over at the Paradise Gardens Gazebo, several characters will appear throughout the day, including Mulan and Mushu, Mickey Mouse, and Minnie Mouse!

These characters were also not in attendance at the event.

Here’s a peek at the renderings for this year’s new outfits:

Festival Eats and Drinks

6 festival marketplaces are sprawled throughout DCA, offering Asian-inspired food and beverages! (You can also find some specialty event items at select dining locations around the park and the resort hotels.)

This year’s festival has 35 new food and beverage items!

For the media event, we got to peek at various entrees and snack items, including the new Bulgogi Fries from Smokejumpers Grill…

…the new Japchae Noodles from the Longevity Noodle Co. Marketplace…

…the Scallion Pancake Tostada from Award Wieners…

…the Spicy Chicken Wings from the Spice Traders Marketplace…

…the new Spicy Pork Belly Grilled Cheese from Pym Test Kitchen…

…the new Lemongrass Pork Skewers from Paradise Garden Grill…

…the Quesabirria Eggroll from the Wrapped With Love Marketplace…

…the Mickey-shaped Hot Dog Bun from various vending carts around DCA…

…the new Year of the Horse Sourdough Bread from Aunt Cass Café and the Boudin Bread Cart…

…the new Tteokbokki from Studio Catering Co….

…and the new Five-Spiced Popcorn Chicken from the Bamboo Blessings Marketplace.

For dessert, we got to peek at the new Strawberry Green Tea Bread Pudding from Aunt Cass Café…

…the Mandarin Orange Cream Puff from the Spice Traders Marketplace…

…the Chocolate Firecracker from the Lucky 8 Lantern Marketplace…

…the Strawberry Milk Tea Macaron from the Bamboo Blessings Marketplace…

…and the Firecracker Marshmallow Wand from Trolley Treats.

We also got a look at some of the festival beverages, including the new Guava Dragon Fruit Vodka Cocktail from the Bamboo Blessing Marketplace…

…and the Taro Vietnamese Cold Brew from the Wrapped With Love Marketplace (which would pair beautifully with the new Vietnamese Coffee Roulade from Paradise Garden Grill)!

Wanna try it all? (Us too.) Be sure to grab a Sip and Savor Pass, which includes 6 digital coupons redeemable for select food and nonalcoholic beverages at participating marketplaces and dining locations. 

You can choose 1 of 3 collectible designs by Ann Shen, which honor Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese cultures.

Click Here for the FULL List of 2026 DCA Lunar New Year Eats and Drinks!

Merchandise

This year’s Lunar New Year: Year of the Horse merchandise collection has special nods to the Year of the Horse, along with lantern details representing the three cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year.

You can find the collection at Festival Gifts and Elias & Co. in DCA, and at Acorns Gifts & Goods at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. 

At the event, we got the first look at the 2026 Lunar New Year Ears, which cost $36.99 and come with a removable bow!

The 2026 Lunar New Year Spirit Jersey showcases this year’s festival logo on the chest, with festive details on the bottom half of the sweatshirt.

The back features an intricate “2026 Lunar New Year” logo across the shoulders.

It costs $84.99.

The 2026 Lunar New Year Baseball Jersey is red with gold detailing. 

The front features the festival and park logos.

The back has a large Horace Horsecollar Year of the Horse design!

The jersey will cost you $74.99.

Loungefly debuted a 2026 Year of the Horse Crossbody Bag with Coin Purse for $75.

The bag has the same lantern design we saw on the ears, with Mickey and Minnie featured in the center.

The back has the “2026 Lunar New Year” logo shown by the Disney Parks x Loungefly logo plate.

The clip-on coin purse features the large Horace Horsecollar Year of the Horse design…

…with the Disney Parks x Loungefly logo plate placed on the back. 

For $19.99, guests can grab the 2026 Lunar New Year Tea Mug, which features designs shown throughout the collection…

…along with a 2026 Horace Horsecollar design. 

The festival will have a Lunar New Year Envelope Set for $19.99, which comes with 6 envelopes featuring one design. 

The 2026 Lunar New Year Pin is $21.99 and showcases the lantern designs and festive logo we’ve already seen in the collection. 

The Traditional Lucky Foods Shirt is absolutely adorable and features various traditional bites surrounding the phrase “Traditional Lucky Foods.”

You can grab your own for $36.99.

There’s also a traditional 2026 Lunar New Year Shirt featuring Mickey and Minnie with festival-inspired designs.

The shirt costs $36.99.

We also got a peek at two novelty items–the Lunar New Year Stainless Steel Tumbler and the Lunar New Year Straw Clip!

Entertainment

While entertainment wasn’t showcased at the media event, we still want to share a quick overview of what you can expect!

There are daily entertainment offerings in honor of the celebration, like the beloved “Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession,” which will be led by Horace Horsecollar.

The “Hurry Home — A Lunar New Year Celebration” water short will play at night in Paradise Bay, before “World of Color Happiness!” The show boasts a musical score by Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun and tells a story of a lantern that wishes to reunite with its family for their celebration of good luck and fortune. 

Along with those exciting entertainment offerings, guests can enjoy live music and dance performances at the Paradise Garden Bandstand!

Activities

We didn’t get to experience the festival activities at the media event, but we’ll do a brief run through those offerings, too!

Guests can head to Paradise Gardens to partake in the various festivities, including the Lunar New Year Wishing Wall…

…and Chinese calligraphy demonstrations.

Check out a sneak peek of the celebration from the Disney Parks Instagram:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Disney Parks (@disneyparks)

 

Thanks for joining us at the media event! We highly recommend visiting DCA’s delicious, festive Lunar New Year celebration for yourself!

And we’ll keep bringing you along as we explore everything there is to do and see around the parks, so stay tuned to MickeyBlog.com. 

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