Lunar New Year and CA Food and Wine returns !!

[BadPinkTink]

ok so I'm putting the finishing touches to my touring plan. Are the food booths open all day or just at specific times? Is there a best time to go, morning , afternoon, evening, when the parades/ entertainment are on?? Do people go from booth to booth all in one go or come and go throughout the day? I have no idea how to put the food booths into my touring plan

 

[DLgal]

ok so I'm putting the finishing touches to my touring plan. Are the food booths open all day or just at specific times? Is there a best time to go, morning , afternoon, evening, when the parades/ entertainment are on?? Do people go from booth to booth all in one go or come and go throughout the day? I have no idea how to put the food booths into my touring plan

They open around 10:30 and they close usually around 8:30, but they often run out of food items well before closing time, so I would suggest eating on the earlier side (before 5pm).

One thing you can (and should) do is order ALL your food items for each day at one booth (it can be any booth). Find the one with the shortest line and just rattle off all the items you want that day and pay for them all at once. They will give you one receipt and you bring that to each booth to pick up the food item(s) throughout the day. They will cross off each item as you pick it up and hand you back the receipt. This way you can snack as you feel hungry and/or grab items when you are near those booths, as they are spread out. I wouldn't work them in to your touring plan, per se, but just carve out a time to purchase all your items (best to do it before noon) and then just kind of snack as you go.

 

[BadPinkTink]

They open around 10:30 and they close usually around 8:30, but they often run out of food items well before closing time, so I would suggest eating on the earlier side (before 5pm).

One thing you can (and should) do is order ALL your food items for each day at one booth (it can be any booth). Find the one with the shortest line and just rattle off all the items you want that day and pay for them all at once. They will give you one receipt and you bring that to each booth to pick up the food item(s) throughout the day. They will cross off each item as you pick it up and hand you back the receipt. This way you can snack as you feel hungry and/or grab items when you are near those booths, as they are spread out. I wouldn't work them in to your touring plan, per se, but just carve out a time to purchase all your items (best to do it before noon) and then just kind of snack as you go.

oh wow, thats a great idea, thank you. I would never have though of that

 

[DLgal]

oh wow, thats a great idea, thank you. I would never have though of that

You're welcome! They try to advertise that you can do this, but it doesn't seem like many people do it. You will save SO much time by doing it this way. Those lines to order can get super long.

 

[SherylLC]

They open around 10:30 and they close usually around 8:30, but they often run out of food items well before closing time, so I would suggest eating on the earlier side (before 5pm).

One thing you can (and should) do is order ALL your food items for each day at one booth (it can be any booth). Find the one with the shortest line and just rattle off all the items you want that day and pay for them all at once. They will give you one receipt and you bring that to each booth to pick up the food item(s) throughout the day. They will cross off each item as you pick it up and hand you back the receipt. This way you can snack as you feel hungry and/or grab items when you are near those booths, as they are spread out. I wouldn't work them in to your touring plan, per se, but just carve out a time to purchase all your items (best to do it before noon) and then just kind of snack as you go.

THIS is a GREAT tip! I had no idea!

 

[iHEARTflorida]

In regards to pre-purchasing your food on the pass, if you get full or whatever, can you redeem the food the next day instead?

 

[DLgal]

In regards to pre-purchasing your food on the pass, if you get full or whatever, can you redeem the food the next day instead?

Regardless of how you pay for food items, they have to be picked up on the same day as the receipt is printed.

I don't recommend the Sip and Savor pass anymore. It's a poor value and if you somehow don't redeem all the tabs, you are simply out the money.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I don't recommend the Sip and Savor pass anymore. It's a poor value and if you somehow don't redeem all the tabs, you are simply out the money.

but for some one like me, who might have this one and only chance to ever go to Lunar New Year, I will be getting the Sip and Savor pass. I saw a YouTube video from Lunar New Year 2019 and regardless of whether or not its deemed good value by people who have been multiple times, its a cool souvenir from a unique experience.

 

[DLgal]

but for some one like me, who might have this one and only chance to ever go to Lunar New Year, I will be getting the Sip and Savor pass. I saw a YouTube video from Lunar New Year 2019 and regardless of whether or not its deemed good value by people who have been multiple times, its a cool souvenir from a unique experience.

I missed that you are coming for Lunar New Year. That festival is MUCH smaller than the food and wine one and the booths are clustered all in one area between Little Mermaid and Paradise Gardens. There are only like 3 booths for this one.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I missed that you are coming for Lunar New Year. That festival is MUCH smaller than the food and wine one and the booths are clustered all in one area between Little Mermaid and Paradise Gardens. There are only like 3 booths for this one.

I normally visit in June, but due to the travel bans from March 2020 to November 2021, I have managed to organise an end of January trip. I booked it before Lunar New Year was announced. I found this video from Lunar New Year 2020 I know its before Covid so things will be different but its something I never thought I'd experience.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Last year, people would start at Disneyland to get their shot at Rise of the Resistance virtual queue before heading over to California Adventure for lunch. Therefore, wait times for the booths would be short in the morning and then get to over 1/2 an hour until they ran out of whatever food items. With the new park hopping restrictions and Web Slingers being a better rope drop for frequent visitors, I imagine that the lines may be busier earlier given people will choose DCA start but there will be a second wave of people coming in at 1PM.

It's hard to plan around a Sip and Savor Pass because for a particular food item, you may have no wait or it may be an hour from getting in line to you finishing your food. If you've already pre-purchased, there's not much you can do to avoid that wait because if you don't get the food item before a certain time, you're out of luck. So be prepared to drop rides or other activities from your plan if the wait for food ends up longer than expected. Just be aware when you buy a Sip and Savor Pass that for the novelty of trying the Lunar New Year Booths, you are committing extra time and money for less flexibility than just eating proper quick service meals.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

One thing you can (and should) do is order ALL your food items for each day at one booth (it can be any booth).

That is amazing! Though we go to DL more often, we've only ever done the food festivals at WDW where this is definitely not an option. I wish it were - it sounds fantastic!

 

[DLgal]

That is amazing! Though we go to DL more often, we've only ever done the food festivals at WDW where this is definitely not an option. I wish it were - it sounds fantastic!

It really is great. WDW could totally do it too. It's all the same POS system.

 

[DLgal]

Last year, people would start at Disneyland to get their shot at Rise of the Resistance virtual queue before heading over to California Adventure for lunch. Therefore, wait times for the booths would be short in the morning and then get to over 1/2 an hour until they ran out of whatever food items. With the new park hopping restrictions and Web Slingers being a better rope drop for frequent visitors, I imagine that the lines may be busier earlier given people will choose DCA start but there will be a second wave of people coming in at 1PM.

It's hard to plan around a Sip and Savor Pass because for a particular food item, you may have no wait or it may be an hour from getting in line to you finishing your food. If you've already pre-purchased, there's not much you can do to avoid that wait because if you don't get the food item before a certain time, you're out of luck. So be prepared to drop rides or other activities from your plan if the wait for food ends up longer than expected. Just be aware when you buy a Sip and Savor Pass that for the novelty of trying the Lunar New Year Booths, you are committing extra time and money for less flexibility than just eating proper quick service meals.

There are never lines that long during the Lunar New Year festival. It's not nearly as popular as the food and wine. Frankly, with the exception of the egg tarts, the food isn't good. Or maybe it's that there is so much good Chinese food locally that Disney's attempts just fall flat. The prices are way out of line too, for these items in particular. The serving sizes are comically small (you'll get like, one potsticker for $7).

 

[ej119]

For those going to F&W this year, here is a link to the super thread that will be updated as details come out: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...erthread-read-first-post-for-updates.3862690/

 

[CableKC]

My Wife REALLY WANTED to go to this.....but it falls 1 weekend short of the time that we were planning on visiting ( during the MLK weekend ).

 

[gelatoni fan]

There are never lines that long during the Lunar New Year festival. It's not nearly as popular as the food and wine. Frankly, with the exception of the egg tarts, the food isn't good. Or maybe it's that there is so much good Chinese food locally that Disney's attempts just fall flat. The prices are way out of line too, for these items in particular. The serving sizes are comically small (you'll get like, one potsticker for $7).

The first and last weekend of lunar new year last year were quite busy but I suppose most of the time, the lines aren't as crazy as for food and wine. I mention that because I did wait in a few longer lines on the last weekend of the event last year.

I don't remember the egg tarts being particularly good but I thought the beef bulgogi and mango mouse last year were alright if they were like 1/3 of the price. I also thought the tilapia was not bad although that's not something you can get with the Sip and Savor Pass. But all of the bread things were no good and the almond cookies so bad that I wouldn't eat them again even if they were free. At the prices they charge, I really have no plans to try any of the lunar new year foods again.

 

[DLgal]

The first and last weekend of lunar new year last year were quite busy but I suppose most of the time, the lines aren't as crazy as for food and wine. I mention that because I did wait in a few longer lines on the last weekend of the event last year.

I don't remember the egg tarts being particularly good but I thought the beef bulgogi and mango mouse last year were alright if they were like 1/3 of the price. I also thought the tilapia was not bad although that's not something you can get with the Sip and Savor Pass. But all of the bread things were no good and the almond cookies so bad that I wouldn't eat them again even if they were free. At the prices they charge, I really have no plans to try any of the lunar new year foods again.

Do you mean 2020? There was no LNY festival last year.

I'm not sure why the prices for Lunar New Year food items is so much higher than for the other festivals. Maybe to make up for having less booths?

 

[gelatoni fan]

Do you mean 2020? There was no LNY festival last year.

I'm not sure why the prices for Lunar New Year food items is so much higher than for the other festivals. Maybe to make up for having less booths?

Yeah 2020. I can't believe it's already 2022...

I don't think food prices for Lunar New Year are more expensive. I remember there being a few bread or desert items for around $6, a few items around $7 and a few items around $8. That's pretty much the same as for 2020 Food and Wine.

I think if there were like 5/15 $6 range items items for Lunar New Year vs 10/30 for Food and Wine, there's fewer cheap items which means you may end up buying more expensive items for variety but it's actually the same proportionally.

 

[Raech]

Super hard to get excited about Lunar New Year food quality. I will be there the last weekend of Lunar New Year. Am I crazy? Is this anyone else's least favorite? I love Asian food, but I find it lacking at this.