Since I made it to opening weekend of the Lunar New Year Celebration at Disney California Adventure, I figured it was my responsibility to try some of the new food items at this year’s Festival Marketplaces. I picked up a Sip and Savor Pass [$48] that allowed me to try 6 items and headed over to the Disneyland app to check out the menus.
Lucky for me, not counting beverages, I found exactly 6 items that were new for 2025, so I made it my goal to try each of those.
My first stop was Bamboo Blessings, where I was actually able to order all 6 items from several different marketplaces in advance. This is a great time saver, but there are times during the day when this practice is suspended.
From Bamboo Blessings, I chose the Mini Char Siu Park Shanks [$9.25 without Sip & Savor] with rice and pineapple chutney. I know that the servings are always small, but a portion of just two pieces of pork seemed too small. In addition, one of my pieces was half fat, so there really wasn’t a lot of meat. I did enjoy the flavors, though, and there was a nice portion of rice.
My next stop was at Red Dragon Spice Traders, which featured two new items.
I really enjoyed the Spicy Gochujang Chicken Taco [$8.00] with yuja citrus cabbage slaw. The meat was slightly sweet, with just a bit of heat that kept building as you ate. This was actually my favorite of the savory dishes I tried.
I also tried the Fire Chicken Wings [$9.00] with sesame-seaweed crunch. This item had a good flavor and quite a bit of heat but had too much sauce for my taste. Definitely grab extra napkins if you order the wings.
I needed something sweet to try and cool off my mouth, so I headed to Lucky 8 Lantern for one of the new desserts.
The average price using the Sip and Savor is $8, so you’ll want to keep that in mind when choosing items to use with your card. The Chocolate Firecracker [$7.50] is the only item I had that was below the average, and I am not sorry about that. This was my favorite of all the items I tried.
The surprisingly large dessert featured Dove Chocolate with a light chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, chocolate almond dacquoise, and a sprinkle of popping candy. I usually don’t share pictures of items with bites taken out of them, but I can’t resist sharing what the firecracker looked like on the inside. I’m not always a chocolate dessert person, but this was light and not overly sweet.
My final stop was at Wrapped With Love to grab one more savory item and one more dessert. This booth is tucked away near the Grizzly River Run water wheel.
First was the Pho Dip [$9.50] with rice noodles, sliced beef, shaved jalapeños, pickled onions, and pho broth. For me, this was the least successful of the new items. The idea was interesting, but it shouldn’t have made it out of the test kitchen. It was way too unusual and difficult to navigate and add to that the small portion of thinly sliced and very tough beef. This was the only item that I didn’t devour entirely. If you enjoyed this, please let me know what I was missing.
My final item was the Mandarin Orange Cream Puff [$8.50] filled with citrus cream and mandarin compote.
This was another beautiful dessert that wasn’t overly sweet and one where I need to show you what it looks like on the inside.
My 6 items would’ve totaled $51.75 had I not picked up the $48 Sip and Savor Pass, so I did save a little money. Magic Key holders can save even more with a discounted Sip and Savor (that includes a souvenir lanyard).
Aside from the Pho sandwich, I was not dissatisfied with the flavors of any of the items and would encourage you to try them. After all, trying new items and new flavors is one of the highlights of the California Adventure festivals.
Let us know which of the new items are your favorites and which of the returning items you had to try again. The Lunar New Year Celebration continues at Disney California Adventure through February 16, 2025.
