I think I am crazy... thinking of Mardi Gras

[SonyaShay]

Long time lurker on the Universal boards. Long post ahead...

Background story- daughter will be 10 in April and is a Harry Potter FANATIC. She found the movies on TV a few years ago and was sucked in immediately. I had watch bits and pieces of some movies but never got into them until she did. Now I am just as big of a fan as she is. Husband is not so much a fan but watches the movies with us.

As of now I have a 8 day trip planned for June 8-16 staying at RPR. We would be driving in order to do things away from Universal. Trip includes 5 day 3 park tickets with park to park. We will also take a day trip to KSC and hopefully catch the launch scheduled for early June. We have been lucky to see 2 launches while in Port Canaveral for Disney Cruises but have never actually visited KSC. Will also take a day to do an airboat tour and some other things around Orlando. Possibly adding in Discovery Cove and Sea World.

For almost a year I have wanted to take a trip to Metarie for Mardi Gras but it wasn't in the cards for this year. Then I found a local Mardi Gras festival that has great reviews and a fantastic parade but the weather forecast now shows rain ALL DAY Saturday. Because of this we are going to cancel the hotel room and not attend MG .

NOW FOR THE CRAZY- I have been pricing out taking a last minute trip to Universal during Spring Break. My daughter is out of school March 26-30 and I am also off work March 30 so it would take one less vacation day for me. If we flew it would be around $1500 RT. Or we could drive 9 hours (central Alabama) but that would take an entire day for the RT drive. If we take this last minute trip we would more than likely stay offsite and not have EP. I know it will be STUPID busy this time of the year.

The other option would be to go around Presidents day. She has a History Fair project and multiple tests on Feb 16th and couldn't miss that day. But we could fly out right after school and keep her out on that Tuesday so she would miss 1 day of school. That isn't a huge deal because she rarely misses school and is a great student. RT for this time frame would be around $800.

If we do this trip I could get tickets from UT and get the 2 day P2P tickets and upgrade to an AP before leaving. This would then give me AP's and the chance at an AP rate for the summer. That would then reduce the cost of the summer trip (which wasn't bad to begin with when comparing to DCL pricing). We would only focus on HP and MG festivities.

I know "worth" is subjective but I need opinions if I should continue trying to plan a MG trip? Or just give up on my hope of going to MG?

 

[davidfromtennessee]

Worth it is subjective of course, but my 9-year old daughter (who is also a Harry Potter fanatic) thinks the Mardis Gras parade is absolutely amazing. She always meets performers before the parade and some of them remember her during the parade and the music before hand is fun and the food is good if you go in without expecting it to be New Orleans level food. There’s a little jester kids section for viewing the parade which seemed to get extra attention for the kids from the performers. After the parade passes the kid section, we always go catch the end of the parade again. She gets an insane number of beads. And if you get the annual pass now you can try next year to ride the float and throw beads (I’m hoping we get packed in two weeks). I’d jump at the chance to go to Mardis Gras there anytime I could. I may or may not be singing “feet don’t fail me now” in my head. It’s a lot of fun.

 

[RalphinSC]

We did something very similar last year to squeeze in a Presidents day trip and got AP's to add value to a potential Summer trip.

The one thing I have to warn is, you can become addicted!

Five trips and 25 park days later, we are finishing up our AP this President's Day weekend.....


PS Depending on trip length for the Summer and the exact dates, the Stay More Save More rate often ends up being a better deal than what you would get for an AP discount. I think we ended up using the SMSM for our long Summer trip last year.

 

[davidfromtennessee]

If your daughter is into sci fi/ fantasy and Mardis Gras look into the Krewe of Chewbacchus if you ever end up in Nola during carnival season. It’s a sci fi/fantasy parade that has plenty of kids dressed up and marching in it. It’s 42 dollars (the answer to life the universe and everything) for adults and half that for kids.

 

[schumigirl]

No real advice, except.......go for it........you won’t regret it!

 

[SonyaShay]

Airfare has increased since I started pricing it at the beginning of this week So now the only way we could justify the trip would be to drive the 9 hours. I HATE driving long distances for short trips. My rule has always been to never drive more than 4 hours for a trip less than 1 week. But all the YouTube videos make it look amazing. UGH...decisions

 

[klo1335]

For what it's worth, we drive 14 hours from Pennsylvania and wouldn't do it any other way. In the past we've stopped overnight about halfway but this time around we are leaving super early (to get through the DC crazy area) and soldier through. I feel more comfortable having my own car and being able to bring stuff. But that is just us. If I could swing it, I would do it

 

[hhoope01]

Note that airfares can go down sometimes (i.e. sale fares, etc.) So it is possible the rates could go back down again. You might "plan" on driving, but keep watching those airfares and if they drop again, grab them and fly instead.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Maybe I'm crazy but isn't Mardi Gras over this Tuesday? And Lent begins?

Of course, parks probably celebrate it well into Lent.

 

[schumigirl]

Maybe I'm crazy but isn't Mardi Gras over this Tuesday? And Lent begins?

Of course, parks probably celebrate it well into Lent.

Mardi Gras at Universal Orlando runs till April 7th

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/things-to-do/events/mardi-gras/index.html

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Mardi Gras at Universal Orlando runs till April 7th

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/things-to-do/events/mardi-gras/index.html

Wow, okay. Easter is April 1st this year.

 

[RalphinSC]

hehehe. Yeah, Mardi Gras at Universal is more a "Season" than a specific event, especially in accordance to the traditional dates.

I'm glad they keep expanding it and turning it into more of a thing every year. The concerts, the parades, the festival. Such a cool event!

 

[Sparkly]

We went to see Universal's Mardi Gras parade back in 2011 and it was brilliant! Got a vase full of beads which still lives on the side table to this day. Didn't try any of the foods or see any of the performers though. Totally go and do it!

 

[schumigirl]

hehehe. Yeah, Mardi Gras at Universal is more a "Season" than a specific event, especially in accordance to the traditional dates.

I'm glad they keep expanding it and turning it into more of a thing every year. The concerts, the parades, the festival. Such a cool event!

It certainly seems to get better every year going by friends reports.........we are so looking forward to experiencing it this year.........

 

[RalphinSC]

It certainly seems to get better every year going by friends reports.........we are so looking forward to experiencing it this year.........

Awesome! When are you guys going? We will be down a couple days next week.

 

[schumigirl]

Awesome! When are you guys going? We will be down a couple days next week.

We don’t arrive till March 14th and there till the 24th.......a month tomorrow

 

[Robo56]

No real advice, except.......go for it........you won’t regret it!

Ditto on this advice.

Universal just Keeps getting better They know how to put on a Celebration.

 

[SonyaShay]

Thanks for all the advice. I am still trying to figure out how to get there for a short trip. Looks like an extended Presidents day weekend isn't going to work out. Now trying to convince my boss to let me have off a few days during my daughter spring break (last week of March). I work in Finance and her rule is that we aren't allowed any vacation days during the last or first week of the month.

 

[soniam]

It sounds like you might be from Louisiana or nearby. Most people don't know where or what Metarie is In which case, you might be disappointed in the parade. I have not been to NOLA Mardi Gras, but I am very familiar with it. I have been to the St Joseph's and St Patrick's parades in NOLA though. I would say the Universal parade is somewhere between the two. I liked it, and it was better than I expected. We have only been once, but we will be heading back mid-March. Not so much for Mardi Gras but because it's our son's Spring Break. We plan to see the parade though. The parade does draw a decent number of drinkers. Not that I mind, as long as they don't physically damage me while trying to get beads. Watch out for the concerts. Some of the bigger acts draw insane crowds. The food looks OK but is probably disappointing to anyone who has eaten in Southern Louisiana. We didn't have any of the food, because we have an amazing local Cajun restaurant. I wouldn't feel like I had to do Mardi Gras at Universal. However, I think your June trip will be amazing. I don't think you would regret waiting.

 

[SonyaShay]

It sounds like you might be from Louisiana or nearby. Most people don't know where or what Metarie is

Nope, from Central Alabama and never been more than halfway through Mississippi heading West. Have a few friends that have been to Metarie for MG and talk about how family friendly it is compared to New Orleans.