Celebrating Universal Mardi Gras 2026. “Feet don’t fail me now”. Dancing Crawfish, Gator’s, Barron Ton Ton’s House, Parade, Beads and more.

Robo56 · Mar 24, 2026

It was time to head out of IOA. They do a nice job of lighting up the various signs throughout the parks.

I caught the water taxi back to Sapphire Falls.

I was glad to get back to my room, shower and get ready for bed.

I called my hubby and told him of my adventures of the day and then I was off to sleep. I think I was out before my head hit the pillow.

More to come

Worfiedoodles · Mar 24, 2026

Hogsmeade at night really is gorgeous! I love the castle. And I couldn't agree more about actually being able to shop in the fake storefronts. I agree, the options are unlimited, especially since Universal has additional land available and would be able to do some exciting expansions with Epic.

Actually, everything at night is beautiful! I love that you had a nice boat ride back to Sapphire Falls. Very relaxing before bed!

Robo56 · Mar 24, 2026

Worfiedoodles said:
Hogsmeade at night really is gorgeous! I love the castle. And I couldn't agree more about actually being able to shop in the fake storefronts. I agree, the options are unlimited, especially since Universal has additional land available and would be able to do some exciting expansions with Epic.

There are some things that would have to go to fit in the extension of Hogsmeade, but since Harry Potter is a major draw it would probably work out. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Lost Continent.

Yes, It will be nice to see what will be added to Epic over the years to come.

Worfiedoodles said:
Actually, everything at night is beautiful! I love that you had a nice boat ride back to Sapphire Falls. Very relaxing before bed!

It is so beautiful approaching Sapphire Falls at night. The Water Falls is so pretty when it is lit up.

Robo56 · Mar 28, 2026

Wednesday, February 11th

I slept in a little this morning. I’am usually up by 6 am. I left the room for my walk over to Starbucks at Aventura about 7:15 am.

There was a bit of a line, but no problem I was in no hurry this morning.

After getting my coffee and juice I headed back to my room at SF and sat at the table doing some quick paper work.

I found this Gator Key ring at one of the Kiosk’s in CityWalk and added it next to my Halloween Key ring on my sling bag……LOL now I have a Black Bat and a Gator. A little bit of HHN and Mardi Gras.

I wanted to go to Mall at Millenia. I always try and make a visit to this Mall while I’am in Orlando. I read about It in one of Schumigirls trip reports many moons ago. It is one of my favorite Malls with plenty of shops to choose from. They have a very nice Macy’s Store.

I went to Macy’s and did a little Christmas shopping in their jewelry section. After I was done there I did a little looking at another few stores then decided on lunch at CheeseCake Factory.

I do like the Rene’s Special. It includes 1/2 turkey or chicken salad sandwich, small salad (either house or caesar) and small bowl of soup. The Mexican veggie soup is delicious.

After I was done with lunch I went back to the resort and my room and made a few phone calls and before long it was already 3:30 pm. I wanted to get back to the studios as the parade was at 5 pm today and I wanted to walk around a bit before the parade.

The band came out and were playing some fun Mardi Gras music to the delight of everyone.

I stopped for a quick pic of Bart and his dad Homer.

Then it was on to Diagon Alley.

I had a plan for an ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s. There was a line out the door and I decided to stick it out. It was pretty hot in the shop. Guess the airconditioning was not working. I did persevere and was able to get a mixed soft serve with Orange Marmalade on top and Strawberries and cream on the bottom in a waffle cone…….yum…..

It was very warm out so there was no messing around enjoying the ice cream. It was melting fast.

Robo56 · Mar 28, 2026

I stopped for one last photo of the Dragon in Gringotts.

Picked up a cold Gilly Water and it was time to leave Diagon Alley and go look for a spot for the parade.

More to come

Worfiedoodles · Mar 29, 2026

Aww, the Mardi Gras gator is the cutest!

And I've never had Rene's Special at The Cheesecake Factory, but that looks like a winner for sure.

Of all places for the AC not to work, the ice cream shop has to be one of the worst. Melty, melty

I love that you are seeing plenty, but not rushing.
Very nice to have a relaxed trip!

Robo56 · Apr 3, 2026

Worfiedoodles said:
Aww, the Mardi Gras gator is the cutest! And I've never had Rene's Special at The Cheesecake Factory, but that looks like a winner for sure.

Of all places for the AC not to work, the ice cream shop has to be one of the worst. Melty, melty

I love that you are seeing plenty, but not rushing.
Very nice to have a relaxed trip!

The Rene’s special is a nice way to sample a few things at the same time.

There were people leaving Florean’s because it was so hot inside. Don’t recall it ever being like that before. I was a woman on a ice cream mission so I just stuck it out and was rewarded with some yummy ice cream.

I have not always been that way in the relaxing trip situation. As I have gotten older I’am trying to stop and smell the Roses so to speak more on vacation. Getting older I think helps a little with that.

Robo56 · Apr 3, 2026

Before get back to the trip report wanted to share a little on what I was up to on Wednesday.

A couple of my friends and I are big fans of Rocket launches. I have dubbed us the Rocket Sista’s.

We are big fans of Mr. Elon Musk and watch his SpaceX rockets launch as often as we can.

We watch his ships launch from LC 39A and SLC 40
from by back yard as well as driving up to Banana River sometimes.

These photos are from my back yard.

I wanted to make sure we were able see the historic launch of Artemis 2. So we packed up my SUV with chairs, coolers, swim suits etc…we did not know where we would end up for launch viewing. I had a good idea where I wanted to be so off to Titusville we went.

A few prayers were said and we were blessed with the last parking spot at the park I had wanted to go to.

Thankfully there were restroom facilities close by at the park and a few new restaurants since I had made the trip up last year.

We arrived at 11:15 am and there were a lot of people already staking their real estate for the take off at 6:24 pm.

We met a lovely young couple from Virginia and someone that flew in from Montana for the lift off.

I will share with you everyone we had the pleasure to talk to were so happy and excited to be there.

We had a really really nice Amateur Photography enthusiasts next to us that was keeping us updated on the weather and all the lift off banter from NASA.

These are from my 12 Pro Max

The nice photographer shared a couple of his photos with us.

It was so fun to be able to see Artemis 2 take off with my Rocket Sista’s and what a joyous crowd there was when the ship took off.

Robo56 · Apr 3, 2026

Back to the trip report.

Wednesday, February 11th continued

I decided to walk over and stand near the street in front of Schwab’s Pharmacy Ice Cream Shop.

Not long after I arrived the parade started.

The parade takes on a different look during the daylight hours then when it is held during the dark.

Barron Ton Ton

Robo56 · Apr 3, 2026

Robo56 · Apr 3, 2026

I love the hats on these lovely TM’s on stilts. If you look closely it has a Raccoon on it and another has what looks like an Opossum and her babies. Another one that is not on stilts has what appears to be a frog. They were walking in front of my favorite float the Gator AIrboat.

My favorite float the Gator Airboat. This float has some of the most beautiful swamp scenery. Definitely a stand out.

You can tell all the parade TM’s are having a blast as well as the riders who were throwing the beads. This is a joyful good time for sure for all.

More to come

WDWNan · Apr 3, 2026

Robo56 said:
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My favorite float the Gator Airboat.
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More to come

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Thank you for sharing your report! We had our first visit ever the week of January 19. I read through previous reports before going to get some familiarity with Universal and am enjoying this report because I know better what you are talking about! I appreciate you taking the time to do this

Robo56 · Apr 4, 2026

WDWNan said:
Thank you for sharing your report! We had our first visit ever the week of January 19. I read through previous reports before going to get some familiarity with Universal and am enjoying this report because I know better what you are talking about! I appreciate you taking the time to do this

You are so welcome…I’am so glad you are enjoying the trip report.

I hope you had a great time at Universal.

Worfiedoodles · Apr 6, 2026

I love the photos from the launch. I am of an age that I was one of the millions of school kids traumatized when the Challenger didn't make it, so I'm not watching any launches. But I do love to see the photos later!

What a fun parade! Each float is more colorful than the last. How could anyone not have a good time?! party:

Robo56 · Apr 7, 2026

Worfiedoodles said:
I love the photos from the launch. I am of an age that I was one of the millions of school kids traumatized when the Challenger didn't make it, so I'm not watching any launches. But I do love to see the photos later!

What a fun parade! Each float is more colorful than the last. How could anyone not have a good time?!

I know that was a very traumatic experience witnessing the Challenger explosion in January 1986 as well as the loss of the Columbia on re-entry February 2003 were so devastating.

There is a memorial to those brave Astronauts at Kennedy Space Center if you go to visit. It talks about each of the Astronauts and shares some special momentos in the display with information on each on them. It reminds us all that these were just not a few folks who died on a ship. They were wonderful folks with families and dreams. Their loss was profound. May they rest in peace

It for sure has helped to make sure that future rockets are being built far safer and are checked and rechecked for any system issues before they are allowed to take off.

Artemis 2 was supposed to have taken off in February, but there were issues and it was postponed to be fixed before this post recent take off.

I’am so glad you enjoyed the photos. I will share there were thousands of folks who traveled to see the lift off and they were some of the happiest folks you could ever want to meet. There was a collective shout of joy and clapping when the ship took off.

I felt so fortunate to witness it.

The parade is so much fun…..there is a lot of dancing to the music and folks are having a blast jumping for beads.

Robo56 · Apr 7, 2026

The end of the parade had arrived with the Gator Float. I had noticed the other night that there appeared to be fewer floats then last year, but irregardless it was awesome.

After the parade I left the park and made my way to CityWalk and have a look at The Cursed Coconut club. Alas it was closed for a private event.

I made my way back to the boat dock to catch the boat back to Sapphire Falls. Everyone was tired after a day in the parks and it took a couple of Water taxis to get back, but the boats were running efficiently.

After getting back to the room I showered and called my sweet hubby and off to sleep I went.

I woke early and checked out and was on the road home by 7:30 am..

I had the most wonderful stay at Sapphire Falls. What a surprise to be treated to an upgrade Sapphire Suite.

I also can’t say enough about the wonderful kindness of the Staff at Sapphire Falls. This is a Beautiful resort with the kindest folks who work there,

The Mardi Gras parade and overall festivities were awesome as always.

This was another fun trip to Universal for Mardi Gras.

I thought I was done with my trips up to Universal for Mardi Gras this year, buttttttttttttttt noooooo. I didn’t know it at the time, I was coming back.

More to come

Robo56 · Apr 14, 2026

I will call this an extension of my trip report 2.0. I did not get to experience everything I wanted to do during my short first 3 day stay so I decided to go back up for another day and do some more Mardi Gras celebrating.

I got up early on Sunday, March 22. I had a lot to pack into the day so I think I pulled out of the driveway at about 6 am.

I stopped at Starbucks for some people fuel and off I went on I 95.

I pulled into the Sapphire Falls front doors at 7:45 am. It pays to leave early and beat some of the traffic on I 95 and the 528 and the short stretch of the I 4 I use to get to Universal.

I was welcomed kindly on check in. I will say again the SF staff are wonderful.

I decided to look around the Universal Store in the Lobby. They do a wonderful display of the various Universal products.

Universal has really embraced the character head bands. I have seen more folks wearing them at Universal so they are catching on.

This Niffler one is cute.

Those who are Harry Potter fans know that the Pygmy Puff was one of the original products sold on the opening of the parks. They have expanded the Pygmy Puff product line.

I like the Quidditch gym bag.

When I was done looking around the store. I went and caught the Water Taxi to CityWalk. It was a little cool this morning so I had a sweatshirt over a summer top. I would be ready to peel that off once the sun was full out.

I saw this Sponge Bob bag at one of the kiosks in CityWalk. I had never seen these before.

Then it was time to look into the Big Universal Store in CityWalk. These candles smelled really nice. I did not see as much Mardi Gras merch here as I have in the past.

I walked to the other end of the store and look what I found.

Hedwig purse

Hedwig backpack.

The Gryffindor Bear was so cute.

Robo56 · Apr 14, 2026

There was a even bigger display of Pygmy Puff merch here.

Don’t remember seeing Ron Weasley’s pet rat Scabbers before.

These Hedwig cups were really nice.

They had Stoles for all the Houses of Hogwarts that were new just since my most recent visit 6 weeks ago. Of course you have to have a corresponding Stole for your House Robe. I bought this one.

They had the suspenders and Bow Ties for each of the Houses also.

Classic HoneyDuke Merch.

These T-shirts were new.

Robo56 · Apr 14, 2026

After I was done in the store at CityWalk I walked over to IOA. I stopped for a photo of Toothesome on the bridge.

The AP entrance was still in use to the very left of the gates

I had a quick look around in the Island’s Adventure Trading Company Store.

I had not scene the Jaw’s merch before.

The Hedwig shirt and T-shirt were nice.

Robo56 · Apr 14, 2026

Something else that had changed since my visit 6 weeks ago was the closing of the All Hallow's Eve Boutique in the Lost Continent and the creation of the All Hallow’s Eve Lost Emporium. This is located right outside the back door as you are leaving Island’s Adventure Trading Store.