Universal Orlando Mardi Gras 2025: Everything You (and Your Krewe) Need to Know!

Universal Orlando Resort’s Mardi Gras: International Flavors of Carnaval will let the good times roll through Universal Studios Florida from Feb. 1 through March 30, 2025. We were invited to experience the celebration on opening night and soaked in every bit of the fun, from international party food to a T-Pain concert.

Here’s everything you and your krewe need to know before you visit Universal Mardi Gras in 2025.

Universal Mardi Gras Celebrates 30 Years

It’s safe to say Halloween Horror Nights is Universal Orlando Resort’s most popular event, but don’t sleep on the annual Mardi Gras festivities, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary… and the best part is that everything — from floats to live concerts — is included with your park ticket.

What is Universal Orlando Mardi Gras?

Universal Orlando Mardi Gras is a resort-wide celebration encompassing Universal Studios Florida, Universal CityWalk, and Universal’s onsite hotels every year. It’s the next best thing to traveling to New Orleans, with a nightly parade, international carnaval-inspired food, a themed Tribute Store, and more.

But don’t worry. You can still do all the Universal Studios staples like riding Revenge of the Mummy or strolling through Diagon Alley, but you can also eat red beans and rice, catch beads along the parade route, and on select nights, attend a free concert from A-List musical acts.

Throughout the park, there are NOLA-themed photo ops, street performers, and special food booths, and did we mention that it’s all included with regular park admission?

Global Carnaval Flavors

Each year, the Universal Orlando culinary team brings iconic carnaval-inspired dishes from to Universal Studios Florida, crafting cuisine inspired by flavors from all around the world – and of course, from New Orleans. This year, food booths offer foods from China, Germany, Italy, and India, all featuring menus that are truly worth celebrating. 

Did You Know? Universal chefs consult with international Team Members to create authentic menu items.

Here’s a look at some of the delicious dishes offered this year:

Hot Maple Lacquered Salmon (Canada) – Get a taste of freshly grilled salmon topped with a Canadian maple syrup glaze, served with a mixed salad of chickpeas, dried cranberries, tomatoes, baby kale and a mustard vinaigrette.

Spicy Szechuan Chicken Bites (China) – Turn up the heat with a dish inspired by a region in China known for spicy food. Crispy chicken is topped with Szechuan powder, chili and sesame seeds, served in a takeout container with white rice.

Colombian Burger (Columbia) – It’s time to sink your teeth into a freshly grilled, all-beef burger with a Colombian twist, topped with monterey jack, pineapple cabbage slaw, cilantro garlic sauce and potato sticks.

Duck a L’Orange Crepe (France) – Get ready for a mouthwatering meal combining two French specialties. Buckwheat crepes are cooked fresh, filled with shredded duck, onion and cheese, topped with orange segments and orange sauce.

Pinchos de Lechón (Puerto Rico) – Savor pork char-grilled on an open flame, topped with guava barbecue sauce and served with pan sobao (bread).

Vegan Potato Dosa (India) – Find out why dosas have been popular in India for centuries. These crispy, savory crepes are filled with potatoes, onions and black mustard seeds, and accompanied by a cilantro dipping sauce.

Leberkäse (Germany) – This traditional Bavarian beef and pork meatloaf dates back over 200 years. The meat is griddled right to order and then served on a delicious pretzel bun with sauerkraut and sweet mustard.

Beignets (Bites of the Bayou) – It isn’t Mardi Gras without beignets! You gotta try some of these sweet, fried pastries, served hot and topped with oodles of powdered sugar.

Cajun Mac & Cheese (Bites of the Bayou) – If you love spicy food, just wait ’til you dig into this cavatappi pasta with andouille sausage, onions, celery and green bell peppers with a Cajun cream sauce.

So, what were our favorite bites at Mardi Gras this year? We’re glad you asked! We couldn’t get enough of the Spicy Szechuan Chicken Bites at the China booth and also really enjoyed the Currywurst and Pommes (fries) from Germany (both located in the San Francisco section of the park).

Also high on our list were the Cajun Mac & Cheese from Bites of the Bayou and it’s not a proper Mardi Gras celebration without fluffy, powdered sugar-covered beignets (both in the New York area).

Honestly, we didn’t try anything we didn’t like, but be prepared for long food and drink lines inside the park. Still, we were there on opening night, so we’re hoping things will get better as the good times roll.

Mardi Gras Parade

Each event night, the Mardi Gras parade makes its way through the park, which is definitely a highlight. Universal Orlando’s team debuts new floats every year (depending on the parade theme), which are all crafted with the help of legendary float builders, Kern Studios (the designer of actual Mardi Gras floats in New Orleans).

This year, there are six new floats (and a new float order), so even if you’ve seen the parade in previous years, prepare for some excitement.

The parade is already a fun-filled flurry of confetti and beads, but lucky guests can get an even better view of the festivities from aboard the floats themselves! 

The best (and only guaranteed) way is to book a Float Ride & Dine Experience, which gets you a reserved spot on a parade float and a three-course meal from one of eight restaurants at Universal Orlando Resort:

• Finnegans’ Bar & Grill in Universal Studios Florida
• Lombard’s Seafood Grill in Universal Studios Florida
• NEW Confisco Grill in Islands of Adventure (2-Park ticket required)
• Pat O’Brien’s at Universal CityWalk (dinner only)
• The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar at Universal CityWalk
• NBC Sports Grill & Brew at Universal CityWalk
• Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food at Universal CityWalk (dinner only)
• Bob Marley–A Tribute to Freedom at Universal CityWalk (dinner only)

The price for the Mardi Gras Float Ride and Dine Experience starts at $89.99 per person + tax (gratuity included). Pricing varies by date, subject to availability. Age and height restrictions apply. Separate theme park admission required for same date of experience.

Passholders can save 15% on the Mardi Gras Float Ride and Dine Experience when purchased 24 hours before the event date via Guest Services, Pass Sales, Destination Universal Desks, at the Front Gate or by calling 407-224-7554.

Not an Annual Passholder? No problem! Universal offers a standby queue to fill empty spots when passholders don’t show. The standby area forms near the Animal Actors entrance, and if you’re chosen, you’ll be given a colorful satin tunic to match the float you’re riding and learn the all-important “dos and don’ts” of bead throwing.

The Best Spot to Watch the Mardi Gras Parade

The nightly parade at Universal Orlando Mardi Gras is a spectacle worth catching as many times as possible during the festival’s two-month run.

The parade takes about 20 minutes to pass by, and each float is packed with bead-throwing park guests who take the responsibility of making sure everyone gets lots of colorful strands very seriously. Street performers walk between each float and interact with guests, and floats wow with lighting and pyrotechnic effects throughout the parade. 

Now For Our Hot Tip:

Our favorite spot to watch the Mardi Gras parade is where it starts, between Cafe La Bamba and the theater that houses Universal’s Horror Make-Up Show. Be sure to grab a spot along the side street (near the gate that opens for the parade) and you won’t have to wait long for the floats and performers. What’s more, after the parade makes its loop through Hollywood and New York, it returns to the same spot to exit through the gate, so if you stick around, you can experience it twice!

Mardi Gras Concerts

On select nights, guests can see performances from some of the biggest names in music from yesterday and today, and you guessed it, all the performances during Mardi Gras are also included with park admission.

We were lucky to see Grammy-winning rap artist T-Pain perform, and the area was so packed the concert lawn was at capacity.

But at MiceChat, we pride ourselves on being resourceful, so we found a great spot outside Minion Cafe, where we could see the stage and hear the performance loud and clear, so if your concert is “at capacity,” fear not, as there are plenty of spots to watch the show.

Here’s the remaining all-star lineup for this year:

• • Feb. 8, 2025 – Joe Jonas
  • Feb. 15, 2025 – Kool & The Gang
  • Feb. 16, 2025 – Juanes
  • Feb. 22, 2025 – Scotty McCreery
  • March 1, 2025 – Foster The People
  • March 8, 2025 – Illenium
  • March 15, 2025 – All Time Low
  • March 16, 2025 – Lawrence
  • March 21, 2025 – Coco Jones
  • March 22, 2025 – DJ Pauly D
  • March 29, 2025 – TLC

The 2025 Mardi Gras Tribute Store

If you’ve visited Universal Orlando during Halloween or in the summer, chances are you’ve walked through a Tribute Store, which is a highly-themed merchandise location focusing on an event (like Halloween Horror Nights) or a specific movie (like Jaws or Jurassic Park).

Each year, Universal Orlando Mardi Gras gets its own version of a Tribute Store and this year’s theme is all about myths and legends. Inside the Legends of the Bayou Tribute Store, you’ll see everything from werewolves to aliens as you roam the bayou looking for Mardi Gras merch.

We especially loved the room styled to feel like a screened-in front porch, complete with buzzing insects and creepy noises out in the bayou. It was also fun to see familiar monsters like Bigfoot and Chupacabra, and even a few niche pals like the Honey Island Swamp Monster and the Grunch Road Monster. 

This year’s Tribute Store is a fun walk-through, and if you’re looking for Mardi Gras merchandise like t-shirts, beads, and that infamous King Croc popcorn bucket, you’ll find all of them here. You’ll also find Mardi Gras merch at merchandise kiosks, CityWalk shops, and more.

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