Welcome to the Year of the Snake!
The last Asian Lantern post we did was in a peak COVID year, and I felt it deserved an updated experience.This is my year for the festival as I was born in a Chinese Snake Year, so it's the best year to go back! You can visit the event page for pricing and dates (this year's is over, but you can always plan for next year!) as this is a separately ticketed event that isn't included with general zoo admission. The event offers walking nights and drive-thru nights, and this year they offered a Wild Ride night where guests could ride their bike through the event. They also have some Asian-style food and drinks available in the picnic area during the event, as well as a live acrobatic show. This festival has a reputation for the displays getting bigger and better every year, and I would have to agree. I am a fan of any type of nighttime event, and it's a great opportunity to see the nocturnal animals and beautiful lights while staying late at the zoo.
The last time we were at this festival, the picnic area was full of different food vendors and had themed alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks with souvenir cups. It appears they've drastically cut down on that. There were only 3 food vendors: one chain restaurant, one local sushi restaurant, and a vendor selling frozen items you can buy in the grocery store. It was a far cry from the authentic options in previous years that were made-to-order fresh. There was only one bar with no themed drinks or souvenir cups and no Boba Tea stand, which was one thing I really wanted.
We opted to just get a couple snack items from the Wow Bao stand. This is the one where their products are sold in the freezer section of grocery stores (we couldn't agree on a rice bowl or sushi from the other stands). We got the Cheeseburger Bao Buns, which are the closest thing to the Cheeseburger Pods at Santu'li Canteen in Pandora at Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World. I do buy these for home because they hold me over until the next Disney trip. These were very cheesy and not dry. They have good flavor and are great hand-held snack if you want to walk around with them. We also tried the Chicken Ginger Potstickers, which we have not had before. We loved these! They had great flavor and were very tender and not chewy at all. You can taste the ginger, but it's not overpowering or too strong. I could've ordered another one or two helpings of those.
Cheeseburger Bao Buns 
Chicken Ginger Potstickers
I'll let you in on how we personally do this event: We do a lap around the zoo while it's still light out to see the animals and preview the displays. We then eat while we wait for it to get dark, and do a final lap to see the displays in full lit up action. I admit, we haven't seen the acrobatic show yet as we haven't timed that well. Some of my favorite displays this year were the stained glass ocean animals, the fire and ice dragons, and I love all of the themed tunnels. I really enjoyed the addition of Dragons Landing, but they weren't lit well at night as they were animatronics and not lanterns. It was easier to see them during the daylight. As far as merchandise, they have festival items at the main gift shop at the front entrance of the zoo, and a tent selling hand-crafted and painted tea sets, lanterns, metalwork, keychains, etc...They were so beautiful that I bought a hand-painted keychain and a cherry blossom lantern.
The displays do get better every year, and each year is a different experience. The displays were stunning and exciting to see what was around every corner. While we enjoyed our snacks, the food was a letdown as we expected the variety that used to be there. We liked Dragons Landing with all the mythical dragons, but they were difficult to see and read about when it got dark. It's still a beautiful and fun event that we will continue to attend. What are your thoughts on this festival? Let me know in the comments!
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