Universal's Mardi Gras 2023

By:  Haley Sosnick, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent

Les bon temps rouler!  It's time for Mardi Gras!  This is festive time of year most connected to Louisiana.  And Mardi Gras in New Orleans is fun but the Mardi Gras celebration at Universal Studios Orlando is an experience unto itself.  My family and I were able to take part in this event on the 2023 weekend and it was a fantastic experience for all of us.

Let’s set the stage.  Mardi Gras is celebrated at Universal Studios Orlando in the late winter / early spring each year.  The 2023 celebration takes place from February 4th through April 16th with the exception of March 31st..  This entails specialty food and drink booths set up throughout the park.  Note, the celebration is primarily focused at Universal Studios.  You will find just a small handful of booths set up in City Walk and Islands of Adventure though. 

This year’s theme is “Universal’s Mardi Gras: International Flavors of Carnaval”.  But aside from food and drinks you will see festive decorations, specialty food items in some of your favorite restaurants, live music.

In addition to these great options the entertainment at Universal’s Mardi Gras is a real treat!  There are concerts. This year’s line up features big names like Patti LaBelle, Goo Goo Dolls and Lauren Daigle!

But the real treat to this festival is the parade.  Visitors to the park can enjoy the parade each day.  The time varies depending on whether or not there is a concert that day.  Check your Universal app to confirm the time when you visit.   If you booked with Marvelous Mouse travel planner they can definitely help you with the parade schedule and route.  Now, let me tell you this parade is so fun!  The floats are decked out and beads are thrown but the best part is that you can be a part of the parade and actually ride on the floats yourself!  Did you know that the floats made for this parade are actually made by the same people who make floats for Mardi Gras New Orleans?  

The parade features dancers, stilt walkers and 12 floats.  Six of the floats remain the same from year to year and the six floats in the middle change based on the theme for the year.  The 2023 theme is based upon “mythical creatures”. 

Now for the best part, as a park guest you can actually ride on the float and toss beads to everyone!  Yes, you can be a part of the action.  There are actually a few ways you can ride on a parade float.  The first option is to be an annual passholder.  Universal Orlando annual passholders have the option to reserve a spot for themselves and up to four guests to ride.  Passholders are limited to just one reservation date.  You can also use the Universal Orlando app. You do this the day of the parade and join the virtual line. You can do this from about 3:00 until on hour before the parade start time. Once available you will choose  your party size and return time. If choosing this method you are definitely not guaranteed a spot on a float as it is subject to availability for that day. 

The next option can guarantee your spot on a parade float.  And that is by booking a Float Ride and Dine Experience package.  For $84.99 per person you are guaranteed your spot on a float and a three course meal.  Your meal will take place about three hours before parade time and you can choose to dine at one of four restaurants: Finnegans, Lombard’s, Cowfish or NBC Grill.

These packages can and should be booked ahead of time.  If booked with a Marvelous Mouse travel planner you just need to reach out to them and they can make the reservation on your behalf.  All you have to do is choose one of three restaurants.  

Now let me tell you about the experience my family had with the Float Ride and Dine Experience.  First of all, we are a family of four that includes my husband, daughter(10), son (8) and myself.  And I can absolutely say that a good time was had by all!  This experience is something I definitely recommend for children and adults. 

To begin with, I booked this package as soon as it became available because I knew I wanted to ensure we didn’t miss out as there are only a limited number of spots on each float.  When booking you will need to have a date and restaurant choice made (we chose Finnegans).  The $84.99 cost will need to be paid in full at time of booking.  At this time you will also know what time you eat and what time the parade starts for the date you selected.  For us dinner was at 3:00 and the parade start time was 6:15.

Then about 48 hours before our dinner reservation time I received an email and text confirmation from Finnegans.  I will also note that when checking in at our hotel I went to the vacation planning desk to get our park tickets and the team member working the desk was very thorough and wanted to ensure that we understood the process for this event.  It was here that she gave us four tickets that we would need to secure our meal at Finnegan’s and confirmed that after dinner we would receive further instructions for arriving at the parade. 

First up, Finnegans!  As a part of the Float Ride and Dine Experience each person in your party can choose an appetizer.  Yes, we had FOUR appetizers at our table!  The clear winner was the potato & onion web.  My eight year old extremely picky eater who won’t normally even be in the same room as an onion devoured these!

Then we all got to choose an entree.  We had fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, Finnegan’s Chicken and chicken tenders (remember the picky eight year old I told you about).  Everyone was very satisfied with their meals.  My daughter had been craving fish and she would not stop raving about her fish and chips.   My husband had the shepherd’s pie (one of his all time favorites) and said he really enjoyed it too!  The portions were sizeable too!

Not that any of us had room after all of that but our package did include dessert for each of us, so we just had to!  We had chocolate and vanilla ice cream, bread pudding and chocolate cheesecake.  We wanted a good variety here but let me tell you, if I had the choice we would have just ordered four orders of bread pudding.  If you have never had bread pudding from Finnegan’s I’m going to need you to stop what you are doing and plan a trip just for that reason alone!

Before we rolled ourselves out of there our waitress came by and took our Float Ride and Dine vouchers she dropped off our parade lanyards.  These lanyards had the date, arrival location and time for the parade on the back.  For a 6:15 parade start we needed to be at Animal Actors on Location by 4:55.  We had plenty of time to get there so we took our time and arrived at about 4:50.  

When we got there a line was already formed.  We were instructed to join the line.  It was here that we confirmed our name and party size and were given wristbands and told which float we would ride on.  We were assigned the float “Goddess” (remember the theme is based around mythical legends and creatures this year).  Then we were given waivers to sign for each member in our party.  Once all waivers were signed we were directed to crew members that gave each of us a tabard.  Once we put on the tabards (silky apron looking garments that were described as “one size fits none”) we were directed to an area where all members of our float would be sitting.  

We waited a little while but the Universal team members were so good about reviewing procedures, reminding everyone to take a restroom break and hyping up the crowd.  Before we knew it we were all dismissed one float at a time.  Goddess float held about 20 guests and one Universal Orlando team member who served as our captain.  At this point we did some behind the scenes walking to get to our float.  Once on the float we all had a handsome bounty of beads ready and waiting for each of us on hooks where we would stand.  And after just a few minutes the parade began and our fabulous driver, Barb, took off!  I don’t have any pictures of this part as you are not allowed to take pictures when you are behind the scenes.  

Once we were off everything really was a blur!  It was so much fun.  All four of us had the time of our lives.  We sang, danced, waved and threw so many beads.  It was just such an awesome experience seeing everyone waving at you, hearing the music, watching the parade performers and just being right in the middle of all of the action.  If this is something you have not done before I think you should definitely try it at least once.  And I will say that for our family the Float Ride and Dine Experience was totally worth it!  It’s nice to know you definitely have a place on the float and the abundance of delicious food wasn’t bad either.

I do have some things that I think you should  keep in mind when considering this experience.  First of all, if you also have children there is a height requirement of 48 inches to ride.  You are given a good amount of beads to toss but you will want to ration yourself.  It is very easy to get excited and toss too many too soon.  Also, the walk from the holding area to the floats is a bit of a trek so if walking is a challenge for any one in your party you may want to consider.  When on the float you will be standing the entire time too.  The floats are a bit tight as well.  So if the idea of being in a tight space or standing for long periods of time are not ideal, you may want to reconsider.  

This was the first time any of us have ever ridden on a parade float of any kind and we all agreed that we are so glad we got to do this.  Everyone was so friendly and fun!  This was definitely something that both parents and children can enjoy equally.  There is still plenty of time to get on a parade float for Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras 2023 so reach out to an agent at Marvelous Mouse Travels!