Mardi Gras 25th Year begins this weekend at Universal Studios
Mardi Gras 2020 begins this weekend on Saturday February 1st and runs until April 2nd. Guests can expect a new parade featuring a theme of Treasures of the Deep.
Universal Orlando invited us down to check out some of the food offerings this year, look at an all new Mardi Gras tribute store and view some of the new floats on offer this year.
Food & Drink
Universal will be offering a plethora of food inspired from carnivals around the world. This year at a location called the Carnival Around the Universe tent, they will be swapping out the food offerings every two weeks. The food tents will be located in New Orleans Square adjacent to the streets of New York and the Mummy.
The first two weeks will be Trinidad and Tobago inspired foods. Following this will be Louisiana Creole during weeks 3 and 4. Next will be Brazil for weeks 5 and 6. The final weeks will be Germany inspired foods. Guests will still be able to get Mardi Gras favorites such as Po’Boys, Beignets, Gumbo, Jambalaya and King cakes.
Cups!
There will even be two Mardi Gras themed souvenir cups this year with 4 different specialty drinks on offer.
It’s worth noting that not all the drinks will be available at the same time, and some will only be available during certain weeks or when paired with a certain food item.
Bars
Returning also is the much loved bar in the Transformers extended queue line. This bar will feature beers from the Abita brewery just like last year.
Food
We were able to sample some new and returning menu items coming to this year’s Mardi Gras event.
All of it tasted great especially the soft shell crab slider & the Catfish Po’ Boy.
Check out some of our favorite offerings below.
Grilled Pineapple. This will be available at the Trinidad and Tobago stand and is vegan friendly.
Gator Bites – Like a fishy chicken nugget.
Beignets and King Cake will also be served bringing that New Orleans feel.
They certainly have stepped up the food offerings this year with the general consensus that for the 25th year they needed to go bigger and better. After trying the food I can certainly say they have done a good job on this front.
Mardi Gras wont just be contained to Universal Studios this year, with special offerings available at Voodoo Donuts, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and more.
Extras
- Due to popular demand, The Mardi Gras Tasting Lanyard will return, allowing guests to sample multiple dishes and beverages for one price throughout the event. Whether guests are looking to enjoy all of this year’s food and beverage items, or sample just a few of the bold new additions, there are a variety of Mardi Gras Tasting Lanyard options to choose from starting at $30 plus tax. Among these options is an exclusive Passholder Tasting Lanyard, which includes 15 sample dishes for $60 plus tax.
- On select nights, The Bayou Boil – An Exclusive Mardi Gras Experience, will allow guests to enjoy a Louisiana-style boil featuring crawfish, shrimp, potatoes and corn-on-the-cob, as well as an exclusive viewing area for the Mardi Gras parade with king cake, beignets, sparkling wine and assorted non-alcoholic beverages. Tickets for adults are $59.99 plus tax, and tickets for children (ages 3-9) are $39.99 plus tax. Separate theme park admission is required.
- For guests with a sweet tooth, the Mardi Gras Feast & Floats Dessert Party is available on select nights from March 9 through April 2, giving them the best view of the Mardi Gras parade while enjoying specialty desserts, savory bites, hot chocolate, assorted non-alcoholic beverages, and sparkling wine and cider. But the party doesn’t stop there – guests will also have an exclusive viewing area for Universal Orlando’s Cinematic Celebration. Tickets for adults are $49.99 plus tax, and tickets for children (ages 3-9) are $29.99 plus tax. Separate theme park admission is required.
For a list of all the food offerings check out this great blog post from Universal Orlando.
Floats
This year is the first year that Universal has tried to tell a story with the parade floats. The theme Treasures of the Deep will be woven into 6 new parade floats which will be book-ended by the classic floats.
Blake Braswell and his team created the design concept in coalition with Kern Studios who have been creating the Universal Floats since 1996 and Mardi Gras floats in New Orleans since the 1930’s. The new floats feature a plethora of LEDs, lights and glitter. One float will even feature swashbuckling pirates!
We got to take a look at three floats that will feature in the parade.
The first new float is a Treasure Map Float which will contain hints to the floats that will follow.
The next float in the parade will feature a Kraken and be called the Creatures of the Deep. Following this will be a float themed to the Sunken City of Atlantis.
Next up will be the Shipwreck float.
Battle for the Booty…
Next up in the parade will be the best named float – Battle for the Booty. This float will feature the swashbuckling pirates and be mainly pirate themed.
The final float for the new theme will be the X Marks the Spot float. This will be a culmination of all that came before and show that the real treasure is the party of Mardi Gras itself. From here the parade will return to its classic floats, like the Music of New Orleans float, King and Queen float and the final Gator float which has been redone for it’s 25th anniversary.
Remember annual pass holders can still sign up for the chance to ride the floats on select nights here.
Fear not if you miss out, they do have a stand by line in the park in the Kidzone area on the day for the chance to ride the floats.
Tribute Store
For the first time the Mardi Gras event will have it’s own tribute store.
Taking inspiration from the popular Halloween Horror Nights merchandise store, the creatives wanted the 25th anniversary of Mardi Gras to be something more. This two room tribute store invokes the sights and smells of Horror Nights while still being distinctively New Orleans. One room is themed around the Lafayette Cemetery in New Orleans and the other a more traditional Bayou. You’ll be sure to see some thematic elements of horror nights running through the store and even a couple of photo opportunities.
The shop is a great addition to the event and offers some very well designed merchandise.
Check out our photos below of the store and some its wares.
One neat touch about the first photo op inside the Tribute store is that it contains the names of all the people that helped create it. The names however have been given a slight french twist.
Upon entering the second room you are greeted with a very creepy but very cool Bayou.
The aesthetic of the shop certainly emits spooky New Orleans vibes and is a great addition to Mardi Gras 25.
Merchandise
They have certainly stepped up the merchandise efforts this year with lanyards, magnets, t-shirts, hoodies, souvenir glasses and more on offer.
Below is a selection of what you can buy:
This was not all that was on offer. Beads can be purchased, masks, crowns and you name it. It’s a great addition to the event and look forward to picking up a tee-shirt myself.
That was about it for our preview event. We received this excellent signed Mardi Gras poster on our way out. Thanks to Universal Orlando for inviting us.
We are looking forward to Mardi Gras starting this Saturday, February 1st with a concert from The Roots. For the full concert lineup check out it out below.
Concerts
Artists will be performing on select Friday, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the event.
For a full list see below:
| 2020 MARDI GRAS HEADLINERS LINE-UP | |
| Mardi Gras Event Dates | Headliners
(performing in the Music Plaza) |
| Feb. 1 | The Roots |
| Feb. 8 | Karol G |
| Feb. 15 | Bell Biv DeVoe |
| Feb. 16 | +Live+ |
| Feb. 22 | Kool & the Gang |
| Feb. 29 | TLC |
| March 7 | REO Speedwagon |
| March 8 | Dustin Lynch |
| March 13 | Luis Fonsi |
| March 14 | The All-American Rejects |
| March 15 | Diana Ross |
| March 20 | Chris Young |
| March 21 | Earth, Wind & Fire |
| March 22 | Marshmello |
| March 28 | Why Don’t We |
| March 29 | Gavin DeGraw |
