Mini Mardi Gras Trip, Opening Weekend 2024

[wdwrule]

Hello and welcome! I feel like I haven’t written a trip report in awhile, even after having several trips in between my last trip report and this one. This will be a brief one as our trip was only a day and a half… hence the ‘mini’ trip .

I will say before I get started that I LOVE Mardi Gras time at Universal! It’s such a fun party atmosphere where it seems everyone is just a little extra happy and vibrant. Love it!!

During this little trip, it was just hubby and I. We were a little leery of opening weekend crowds but it really wasn’t too bad. We stayed at Aventura which has been our go-to lately. It’s reasonably priced, not ever crowded, and very convenient to walk to the parks. We are not ones to engage in much resort time… we’re go, go, go with rides and enjoying park atmosphere so for quick weekend trips, Aventura is our jam. So far we’ve stayed at all of the resorts except for Surfside. Every resort has its own charm. Universal is truly a happy place … parks, Citywalk and resorts.

Anyways, next up… food, rides, Tribute Store, concert, Cursed Coconut Club, and scoring a last minute spot on riding on a parade float!!

 

[DL1WDW2]

Hi I agree with you !
I love USO after a lifetime of loyalty to Disney .
We were there this Friday, Sat& Sunday nights mainly to see the parade and the performers before the parade. And live music and street performers . And water boat transport from Sapphire Falls
And Super Bowl party fun with friends !
We decided to drive along Destination Parkway to view the EPIC Universe construction !
I was surprised to actually see the constructed frame of the luxury resort dome for the Helios .
My favorite character now is the Grinch and every holiday gets better every year at Universal Stdios Orlando !
You can not go wrong staying at a Lowes Resort on Universal property.
And you are right , the Universal Team members just seem happy and want to make the guests Happy . Keep it a secret tho cause a lot of people do not know about Universal if you know what I mean…

 

[wdwrule]

Hi I agree with you !
I love USO after a lifetime of loyalty to Disney .
We were there this Friday, Sat& Sunday nights mainly to see the parade and the performers before the parade. And live music and street performers . And water boat transport from Sapphire Falls
And Super Bowl party fun with friends !
We decided to drive along Destination Parkway to view the EPIC Universe construction !
I was surprised to actually see the constructed frame of the luxury resort dome for the Helios .
My favorite character now is the Grinch and every holiday gets better every year at Universal Stdios Orlando !
You can not go wrong staying at a Lowes Resort on Universal property.
And you are right , the Universal Team members just seem happy and want to make the guests Happy . Keep it a secret tho cause a lot of people do not know about Universal if you know what I mean…

Yes the wonderful performers seem to truly and genuinely enjoy what they do and have such a passion for pumping up and loving their guests. They create the festive, fun atmosphere at Universal and I highly appreciate them!

Sounds like you had an amazing time too

 

[Robo56]

During this little trip, it was just hubby and I. We were a little leery of opening weekend crowds but it really wasn’t too bad. We stayed at Aventura which has been our go-to lately. It’s reasonably priced, not ever crowded, and very convenient to walk to the parks. We are not ones to engage in much resort time… we’re go, go, go with rides and enjoying park atmosphere so for quick weekend trips, Aventura is our jam. So far we’ve stayed at all of the resorts except for Surfside. Every resort has its own charm. Universal is truly a happy place … parks, Citywalk and resorts.

So good to hear you had a good time at Mardi Gras. I went up for a couple of days during the first week. I was surprised how busy it was on Wednesday the 7th. I thought during the week it would be more quiet.

I usually go over to Aventura for my Starbucks and fruit bowl in the morning. The lobby there is huge and open. I have never stayed there. I’am so glad you and your hubby enjoy it there.

You bring a unique perspective on the Resorts as you have stayed at all of them expect for one.

Looking forward to reading your report.

 

[wdwrule]

So good to hear you had a good time at Mardi Gras. I went up for a couple of days during the first week. I was surprised how busy it was on Wednesday the 7th. I thought during the week it would be more quiet.

I usually go over to Aventura for my Starbucks and fruit bowl in the morning. The lobby there is huge and open. I have never stayed there. I’am so glad you and your hubby enjoy it there.

You bring a unique perspective on the Resorts as you have stayed at all of them expect for one.

Looking forward to reading your report.

Thank you so much for your kind words. Wow it sounds like we almost bumped into each other!

I do love the full service Starbucks there and the staff is so friendly. Now and then the line is long but it goes fairly quickly. Yes, their fruit is so good and fresh at the quick service. I sometimes top the oatmeal bowl with it.

 

[wdwrule]

Wooo times get busy but here we go…

Hubby and I left early Saturday morning to head to the airport. When I say early, I mean EARLY. We woke up at 2:30am to leave the house around 3:15 for a 5:15am flight. Yikes!

As tired as I was, the adrenaline always wins and keeps me going. I was going to my happy place after all.

The 2 hour flight was uneventful but peaceful with the beautiful sunrise.


Almost ready to land, overlooking the coast.


We then walked outside of the airport to catch an Uber right around 7:30am which was around $27 to Aventura. We laughed out loud because we were the ONLY ones outside waiting for a ride. Usually this area is packed with people waiting for their rides. I guess that’s a bonus with having a super early flight.

After about a 20 minute ride, we were at Aventura. In my previous post, I described why this has been our go-to hotel. I love them all but this one is so reasonably priced and it’s perfect for a quick weekend trip, especially for those who spend most of their time at the parks. Haha we try to relax and we do during some of our trips but 9 times out of 10 we’d much rather be on rides and soaking up the parks instead of at the pool or hanging out in the room. I think it’s because we take numerous weekend trips. When we take weeklong trips, then we do relax a little bit more… well kind of .

Anyways, after checking into Aventura (no one else in line) and leaving our luggage at luggage services, we walked over to IoA. We headed straight to our favorite, Velocicoaster. We were there for early admission. Amazing to think that a few hours ago, we were in Pennsylvania and here we were for early admission at Universal!!

The wait time listed was 45 minutes but often those times are slightly inflated so we waited. Well… after 15 minutes of slooowwwllyy moving, we bailed. Glad we did because apparently that was the start of all kinds of issues with Velocicoaster. I think it was down shortly after this and remained down for most, if not all of the rest of the day. Even currently when viewing wait times for this ride it seems much higher than typical. Not sure if they’re running less trains?

After bailing, we walked right onto Hogwarts Express and headed to Studios for breakfast at Leaky Cauldron. So glad they changed Hermoine’s voice as it sounds more authentic.

Next up, more rides, Mardi Gras themed Tribute Store and checking into our king room.

 

[Skywalker3]

Looking forward to more of the TR. We'll be there in a couple of weeks, and excited for some Mardi Gras fun.
our last trip in Oct, VC was down all day....after we waited almost 2 hours in line, we got a Ruby Pass, Tried to kill time for it to come back up, but it didn't until after we'd left. We used our pass on Hagrids. I sure hope VC is running when we go .
One of these days, I'll get over my fear of flying, and just do that instead of driving. Right now I'm looking at around a 12 hour drive, and this time, I'll be doing the whole thing. (but plan to split it up,) The idea that we could be there in about 2 hours, ( plus a little extra here and after ward at the airport) is much more appealing.

 

[wdwrule]

Looking forward to more of the TR. We'll be there in a couple of weeks, and excited for some Mardi Gras fun.
our last trip in Oct, VC was down all day....after we waited almost 2 hours in line, we got a Ruby Pass, Tried to kill time for it to come back up, but it didn't until after we'd left. We used our pass on Hagrids. I sure hope VC is running when we go .
One of these days, I'll get over my fear of flying, and just do that instead of driving. Right now I'm looking at around a 12 hour drive, and this time, I'll be doing the whole thing. (but plan to split it up,) The idea that we could be there in about 2 hours, ( plus a little extra here and after ward at the airport) is much more appealing.

Oh so excited for you!! Mardi Gras is one of my favorite times at UO. The atmosphere is incredibly fun!

Stinks you had to wait that long in the VC line but awesome you got a Ruby pass. We’ve never received one of those yet. It’s nice to know that that is a possibility when a headliner ride goes down and guests have waited hours in anticipation only to have to walk away.

Yes sometimes I get nervous with flying but listening to music or watching a downloaded movie/show helps to pass the time and keep the mind busy. Maybe someday you’ll give it a whirl. You’ll probably become spoiled once you do.

Good luck with your drive although that would be an adventure as well… kind of like a pre-mini vacation. I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time!! Thanks for reading along.

 

[wdwrule]

After breakfast we walked on to Gringott’s (single rider line) and MiB several times.

Then, after a bit we strolled down to check out the Tribute Store. I really enjoy and appreciate the creativity and planning that goes into each Tribute Store. I love how it keeps changing to keep things fresh and seasonal. At this moment, the ‘store’ is like a shipyard which offers River Cruises. It’s fun to see the merchandise, creative treats but most of all, the amazing decor and ambience.









I realized I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I had hoped. I think I just get so into viewing everything and taking it all in that I often forget to take pictures. Haha every time I tell myself I’m going to do better at taking more pictures.

Anyways, it’s so much fun visiting the ever changing Tribute Store. It’s really cool that they use some former props including HHN props. It’s good reminiscing.

On our way to Villain Con, we saw Scoob and the gang out visiting. Love their Mardi Gras wear!





We then got on Villain Con and I think we only waited about 10-15 minutes. This isn’t a favorite of ours but still fun to do. I actually made the high score board this time!!

We then looked around at all of the fun, festive Mardi Gras decor.



I don’t know why but the above pic is always my favorite Mardi Gras decor! Something about the king and queen of the party I guess.



Haha if you zoom in above you’ll see Taylor Strickland! He was creating a food vlog. I’ve met him before and he seems very kind.





At the New Orleans booth, we split the fried green tomato poboy with house made chips. We both enjoyed this and thought it was good. It was a bit much bread on the bread ratio scale but still good. We thought about getting some beignets but last year when we got them they were a bit dry. That, and we were full.

So off to Mummy in the single rider line and waited about 10 minutes. Then fast and furious (haha tradition and the corniness cracks us up!) then transformers. Everything single rider line about 10 minutes or less. Long express line for transformers.

Then we walked over to Islands and had gin and tonics at backwater bar and sat outside which was glorious. This was incredibly relaxing! The weather was perfect… I think in the mid 70s if I’m remembering correctly. Sunny and gentle breeze. We had such an enjoyable time sitting at this bar at their outside seating, just chatting nonstop and people watching. So fun!

After this we walked around Citywalk then went to Jake’s (RPR) for lunch and split a burger and had some Jake’s red lagers. This is one of our go-to’s. The burger is consistently good here and the bar staff (and all staff) are very friendly. If you’re in the mood for a burger, this is a great on-property burger.

We had received our room ready text around 3:30 so off to Aventura next to settle in. We had reserved a standard king bed room. We’ve had this room in the past and it’s nice for two people (or one). My favorite room is the deluxe 2 queen room which we’ve had several times.

In the next post I’ll show pics of our room…

 

[wdwrule]

… continued …

Our spot at Jake’s bar


As mentioned in previous post, we came back to Aventura from Jake’s at RPR… grabbed our luggage and headed to the elevators.

I always mention if staying at Aventura, a little trick is remembering your hallway color. This way when you exit an elevator you’ll remember which hallway your room is in. Here is a picture of the main floor area (elevator area) on each level.


If your room is in the blue hallway, upon exiting the elevator, look on the floor, find blue then head that way. Otherwise with 6 elevators in one central spot, it gets a little disorienting with which direction to head.

Our room was on the 16th floor… the higher the floor the better for me because I love the views from this resort. Depending on which side you’re on, you can have an amazing view of the parks and even Epcot, etc off in the distance.

Here was our room:











I should note that I took these pics on our departure day so the pics don’t necessarily depict the pristine condition that we had when we first arrived.

We’ve stayed at this resort many times and every time the rooms have been spotless and very quiet. Not highly themed or fancy but it suits us just fine. We love the beautiful walk to and from the park. There’s just something about being in control of your own transportation.

I will mention that the king room was a bit small but perfectly fine for the two of us. The 2 queen standard rooms seem bigger. I just wish the king bed would be a few more inches away from the window as it made it tight to get in from that side but no real biggie.

After a very brief rest (we had been up since 2:30am after all) we headed back to Studios in hopes of snagging a VQ spot on a Mardi Gras parade float…

 

[wdwrule]

We headed back to Studios after getting settled into our room and having a short rest.





I should note… there were a LOT of things going on in Orlando this particular weekend. The Olympic women’s marathon trials were happening. The NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando… and Megacon in Orlando. I saw that some actors from Stranger Things were going to be at Megacon and I was soooo tempted to reserve and meet them and have a photo taken but I never did. The actors who played Dustin, Mike and Chrissy were there. There were also some actors from Harry Potter and Star Wars, etc there. Maybe someday….

We headed straight to Animal Actors in hopes of a VQ spot to ride a float and throw beads in the parade. Because it was opening day, there were a lot of glitches which was understandable.

At first they said it would be standby only. Then they said you could get a spot via the app but they were dealing with a glitch.

Long story short, they dropped spots with an announcement which you could try for in the app. Well…. No luck. Then they announced they’ll do another drop. No luck. Lots of people walked away at this point. Another drop then another. Finally hubby yelled “I got it!!” Phew!! What a stressful time!

We checked in and got…. The Gator float! Wow the iconic float! Our son and girlfriend were lucky enough to score that float last year.

This was incredibly fun!! This was my third time overall and it’s just an amazing experience. The float captains are super energetic and enthusiastic. I love them! We also had such a great time with our float mates. Now one thing I noticed about this year is we ran out of beads towards the end. This has never happened to us before so I felt so bad for the spectators. Other than that though, it was a blast!

The crowds were dense and energetic.


If you zoom in, the guy lifting up his shirt cracks me up…. I didn’t even notice it until I looked back at my pictures. Overall, what a fun, pumped up vibe! The staff in the parade such as the dancers and entertainers are AMAZING!! Some of them chat with you briefly before and after the parade and you can tell that they just genuinely love what they do. Haha they make us feel like we’re so important even though they are the heart of the parade.

Next up, Walker Hayes concert and Cursed Coconut Club; keeping in mind we’ve been awake since 2:30am

 

[wdwrule]

Ok phew I’m back. I actually just got back last weekend from another short Mardi Gras trip. I’ll probably include some pics from that trip at the end of this one.

Walker Hayes concert…
We are not big into country music but we do like his song ‘Fancy Like’ and his Christmas version of that song this past holiday season was hilarious!

It was very busy but we just stood in the back for awhile and watched him on the big screen.




He was good but he did a looottttttt of talking in between. I probably only minded it because at this point we had been awake for about 18 hours. I still wanted to check out Cursed Coconut Club and hubby was going strong and really wanted to hear Fancy Like. I told him I was going to swing by CCC then head to bed. He did meet up with me as I was exiting CCC.

I really love visiting the club during each seasonal change. Reminds me of the Tribute Store and how it changes. So much creativity goes into each one!

Here’s the entrance…


… and a few pics from inside.







It was awesome inside and the vibe was pumping!! I love when they have the upstairs open and decorated. I enjoy going up there where there’s an additional bar and people watch from up above.

I really wasn’t in here too long because by this point I was exhausted. Hubby met me outside of the club’s entrance and we took a leisurely walk back to Aventura. He said Walker finally sang Fancy Like as his last song of the concert.

Haha as exhausted as we were, we made a stop before Aventura. You can’t be too tired for Strong Water can you?! Oh we love this place! Our favorite is to sit up at the bar and just take it all in. At this point I believe it was around 10:30pm. We were a little hungry so we split their chicken tenders, beefsteak empanadas and each of us had gin and tonics. Their drinks are not light on the alcohol

After that and being up for almost 24 hours, we easily drifted off to sleep. I really enjoy Aventura’s great location to everything and its own very small footprint… lobby then just a quick elevator ride to the short hallway where our room is.

The next day was our departure day and our flight was mid-afternoon. Rain in the forecast so we debated whether to have a park morning or just sleep in and have a nice breakfast somewhere. To be continued…

 

[wdwrule]

The next morning we woke up refreshed. However… there was a high chance of rain in the forecast and possible heavy rain. We had a mid-afternoon flight back home and really didn’t want to chance getting soaked for the trip back home. We went back and forth a bit but finally decided to just stay near the hotel and explore. It would also be a good opportunity to have a nice, slow leisure breakfast which we never do because we’re normally go, go, go.

We ended up having a very lovely morning. Haha we’re not used to a slow pace but we slowly got ready and organized our stuff.

We then walked around Sapphire Falls and checked out the breakfast menu at Amatista. It looked decent but it seemed very noisy and with tables close together. I do want to try it there though sometime but this particular morning, it just wasn’t calling me in.

So we meandered around Royal Pacific and decided to have breakfast at Islands Dining Room. We’ve never been to this dining location before. Jake’s yes… tons of times and love it there but haven’t been to Islands yet. We put our name in and waited maybe a half hour or so but had fun looking in the shops nearby while waiting for the table ready text.

Once seated, we were near the buffet and decided it looked pretty good so that is what we did. I thought this was a good deal if you’re really hungry of course and just want a slow, leisure breakfast. I believe before AP discount that it’s $30 per person.

Our server was so attentive and friendly and he insisted that we get the POG juice so we did and enjoyed it. We had also ordered hot teas. The buffet has a good variety and was plentiful. There was a made to order omelet station and some other dishes included smoked salmon, charcuterie, pastries, breakfast potatoes, bacon, pancakes, oatmeal, eggs and so much more.



I loved my egg white mushroom spinach omelet! Haha I didn’t go all healthy though as you can see the cinnamon roll with tons of icing on it. Omg that was so good! Everything I had was good though. Most of the items weren’t jaw-dropping stellar but it was just breakfast food after all. This made for such a lovely serene morning. We enjoyed chatting and reflecting about our previous day. In such a short time, we had accomplished so much. It reminded us of our one day trip for my 50th birthday which I’ve written here about from January last year. With the exception of summer, most of our trips are short weekend trips but I love getting here frequently to experience the seasonal changes. The vibes are so different for each theme/season, each magical and joyous in its own way. I just love it!!

Then off we went back to Aventura with majorly full bellies to grab our luggage and catch a Lyft to the airport. I have in my notes it only cost us $20 for the ride back.

Next up, final thoughts and pics from our recent St. Patrick’s Day trip. In the meantime I’ll leave you with this…

 

[wdwrule]

Oh boy, so sorry. I’ve been busy, busy, busy… haha I’m hearing the magician’s voice saying that line from Frosty the Snowman.

Anyways, we had such a wonderful trip and Mardi Gras is an amazing time with excellent atmosphere. It’s definitely worth the trip if you’re able to make it there during that time period.

On another note, the kids and I visited during St. Patrick’s Day weekend. It was myself, DD, DS and DS’s girlfriend. DD is 20 years old and DS is 22. They all love Universal as well. We’re all thrill roller coaster ride lovers. Here are some pics from that trip:



My go-to breakfast at Leaky Cauldron (kids’ meal)…


More pics from the Tribute Store:




A pretty night-time view of IoA shop:


Nice views from Aventura’s rooftop bar:




Diagon Alley






Continued in next post…

 

[wdwrule]

Next day (our first time seeing this sign at 0 days left):




Had to get the green beer of course at Finnegan’s on St. Patty’s Day…




While waiting in line for Hagrid’s, some of us sipped on some Hogsmeade brews… I had the original Hog’s Head brew and DS tried the new Daisyroot Ale which he enjoyed. Others had Butterbeer which you can’t go wrong with.


Then back to Studios for Mardi Gras vibes.


DD and I tried the cookie butter liege waffle which we LOVED.


We never did secure a Mardi Gras float ride spot but we still had so much fun!

I forget what everyone had for dinner before our late night flight back, but I had a kid’s portion of the wok bowl at Aventura which never disappoints.




It was a nice double whammy… Mardi Gras AND St. Patrick’s Day! So fun!!

Hubby and I recently went on another weekend trip for our anniversary two weekends ago. We’ll see if I’m able to write up a quick report for or not. We did a fun gin and tonic crawl which was a blast!

Needless to say, we’re addicted to UO and we just love the vibes, team members, rides and much of the food. Hope something helped someone in their planning or just simply reading for fun. Take care!