Would you like to experience Mardi Gras but in a totally family-friendly environment? Well, then you should head to Universal Studios Orlando for their Mardi Gras Celebration.
This year, Universal is celebrating its 25th Anniversary of Mardi Gras with food, parades, and plenty of entertainment that the entire family can enjoy! You can catch the festivities now through April 2nd.
Our family recently spent the day enjoying the festivities and we had a wonderful time. Both Eden and Xen are looking forward to catching the parade again, and fingers crossed we get chosen at some point to be on one of the parade floats.
After our day at Mardi Gras at Universal, we left singing “Feet don’t fail me now, Feet don’t fail me now”, partially because we were exhausted from our full day, but we had been hearing that catchy jazz tune playing around the park all day as we had been transported right to a family-friendly version of Mardi Gras.
It was Eden and Xen’s first adventure to Mardi Gras at Universal, but boy did they have fun! From food, entertainment, shopping and more, it was a full day of fun.
Food
There are plenty of opportunities to get a taste of the Bayou during Universal Orlando Mardi Gras.
If you are wanting to experience a variety of true Creole and Cajun food and drink purchasing a Mardi Gras Tasting Lanyard may be a good option for you. These lanyards give you the opportunity to taste sample sizes of the available offerings. There are also special lanyards available for passholders.
Every day at 4 pm, New York is transformed into New Orlean’s French Quarter Courtyard. There is food and drink available for purchase as well as live entertainment.
Here you will find some of the parade “characters” walking around for guest interactions from pictures, conversation, and dancing. The kids loved seeing them again as we watched the parade in the evening.
Also, on select nights you can experience the Bayou Boil, a Louisiana style boil featuring crawfish, shrimp, potatoes and corn-on-the-cob, plus king cake, beignets, sparkling wine, and assorted non-alcoholic beverages.
Have a sweet tooth? Then perhaps the Mardi Gras Feast & Floats Dessert Party featuring specialty desserts, savory bites, hot chocolate, assorted non-alcoholic beverages, and sparkling wine and cider.
Both The Bayou Boil and the Mardi Gras Feast and Float Dessert Party also give you an exclusive viewing area to the parade.
Parade
Speaking of the parade, this year’s parade is not to be missed. With the addition of new floats and entertainment, it is fun for the entire family. Be sure to arrive to a viewing area early if you are wanting to catch beads and take good pics.
Don’t forget if you are an annual passholder there is the exclusive viewing area next to Mel’s Diner. Even the passholder area gets very crowded, so arrive early. We were stuck on a broken down Men in Black while there and missed the opportunity to get prime viewing. Fortunately, there were kind strangers who invited
Eden and Xen to be with their children up front by the rope so we left with really happy kids that had prime viewing and lots of beads, but momma got no good pics of the parade to share.
If you aren’t an annual passholder and have little ones, be sure to take them to the Little Jester’s viewing area in front of the Brown Derby Hat Shop. It is a nice roped off area just for the tikes.
Mardi Gras Tribute Store
We do not typically go into any building that says store but the huge skeleton with its wide-open mouth located just outside the French Quarter in New York was calling me, so I entered and my family followed.
An old piano, record player and pictures from Mardi Gras in New Orleans from years past lined the walls as we entered into the dimly lit store. I felt as I had been transported right into New Orleans.
This tribute store is a great opportunity for nostalgia for those who have been to New Orleans and a great place for photo ops and some specially designed Universal Orlando Mardi Gras merchandise. It is definitely a must-do on your visit to Universal Orlando Mardi Gras.
Concerts
On select nights at the Music Plaza Stage at Universal Studios Orlando, you can catch performances from a wide variety of musical acts. All of the concerts begin at 8:30 pm this year.
The concert area is a standing only open field with grassy areas. If you are wanting to be close to the stage, you need to arrive hours before the concert starts, especially for the more popular acts. Also keep in mind crowd levels, spring break concerts are most likely going to be busier than the concerts in February.
My kids want to see Marshmello in March, not only is he very popular but it is also during the spring break season. I also have concerns as although during the day the experience is very kid-friendly, at night for concerts the environment changes to more of an adult-only scene. With drinks flowing, sometimes inappropriate behaviors do as well.
Although I want to let my kids experience the concert, if we want good “seats” we will need to camp out in the Music Plaza all day. This is just too much for little ones. My plan for the experience is to just catch it from the back of the Plaza. If you do plan on camping out and waiting for any concert, bringing a blanket and snacks to get you through the waiting is definitely a must.
Here is this year’s concert lineup:
Saturday, Feb. 1 – The Roots
Saturday, Feb. 8 – Karol G
Saturday, Feb. 15 – Bell Biv DeVoe
Sunday, Feb. 16 – +Live+
Saturday, Feb. 22 – Kool & the Gang
Saturday, Feb. 29 – TLC
Saturday, Mar. 7 – REO Speedwagon
Sunday, Mar. 8 – Dustin Lynch
Friday, Mar. 13 – Luis Fonsi
Saturday, Mar. 14 – The All-American Rejects
Sunday, Mar. 15 – Diana Ross
Friday, Mar. 20 – Chris Young
Saturday, Mar. 21 – Earth, Wind & Fire
Sunday, Mar. 22 – Marshmello
Saturday, Mar. 28 – Why Don’t We
Sunday, Mar. 29 – Gavin DeGraw
So “Laissez les bon temps rouler“, Let the good times roll at Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras Celebration!
Have you been to Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras with your family? What was your experience? Please share below.