Lunar New Year 2019: Universal Studios Hollywood!

Exciting Lunar New Year festivities are taking place at Universal Studios Hollywood from now through February 18.

Are you familiar with Lunar New Year? It was during my college years that I became familiar with Chinese New Year. My Chinese friends would celebrate this holiday with their family. This holiday is referred to globally as Lunar New Year & marks a celebration of the beginning of a new year. The date of the new year changes from year to year & is based on the Chinese lunar calendar.

The Chinese Zodiac is based on a twelve-year cycle. Each year in that cycle is related to an animal sign. 2019 is the Year of the Pig!

One of the most famous Lunar New Year traditions is giving red envelopes. This is where adults put money inside red packets or envelopes & hand it to children in the family. At Universal Studios Hollywood, you can do a modified version of this tradition by writing your wish for the new year & hanging it on the Wishing Trees for good luck!

After we rode some of the rides & enjoyed a cup of Hot Butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we went back to Universal Plaza.

I think the Chinese lanterns & Wishing Trees make this the prettiest AND most colorful area of the theme park!

Mr. Ping’s Noodles served up some yummy Chinese food!

While eating our food, we got to enjoy “Hangzhou’s Showtime” a special performance steeped in Chinese tradition.

Also on this very same stage, Master Po Ping from the Kung Fu Panda movies taught kids how to do kung fu!

Other fun activities include:

• Visit Mr. Ping himself at the Noodle Shop & snap souvenir photos.
• Hello Kitty will be available to meet guests at the Hello Kitty Shop located within the new Animation Studio Store. You won’t want to miss this photo opp!
• A Mandarin-speaking Transformer’s MEGATRON will greet guests at the entry of the festivities, engaging guests in Mandarin & in real time conversation!
• Take pictures with the Minions from the popular Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride. They will be dressed up in brightly colored traditional Lunar New Year attire.

Thanks Universal Studios Hollywood for hosting me & my family. We had a great time celebrating Lunar New Year!

For more information about Lunar New Year at Universal Studios Hollywood, check out the website here. Also, don’t forget to visit their Facebook page to get the latest updates!

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. I received complimentary tickets which helped facilitate this review. All images & opinions are 100% my own.