Disney’s Secret Mardi Gras Party
Did you know that Disney goes ALL OUT for Mardi Gras? BUT did you know that you won’t find it in the theme parks? The party happens at Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter Resort. This was our first year experiencing it ourselves and WOW was it a blast!
Please note that these activities ONLY happen on actual Mardi Gras, so you may need to check the calendar to make sure you have the correct day. They don’t really put out info about the event until day of, so it takes just a teensy bit of planning ahead of time.
Check out the full experience in our Vlog:
Golf Cart Parade
The BIGGEST draw is definitely the Cast Member Golf Cart Parade! Cast Members work super hard to make these ‘floats’ come to life in a fun and vibrant parade. This year the theme was ‘Disney Parades of Past and Present’, so each float represented a different Disney parade.
This year, the parade ran from 10am-11am and started outside building 80 at Port Orleans Riverside, continuing down the river and finishing at the courtyard area at Port Orleans French Quarter.
You of course had your typical Mardi Gras floats with a small band and LOTS of beads.
And Tiana herself!
My Favorite was the Rainy Day Cavalcade and the Animal Kingdom Jungle Jam float!
It was honestly pretty crazy what these cast members could do with these floats.
I recommend watching from anywhere along the riverfront. I watched at the very beginning of the route and the very end. At the beginning, it was definitely less crowded, but kinda weird to know exactly where they would come out from. At the end, it was super fun with all the people, but the floats got VERY spaced out and took much longer to get through them all. Next year, I’ll probably opt for somewhere in the middle!
Afternoon Activities
After the Parade, there are a variety of crafts and activities. I opted for the Mosaic activity! This is actually an activity they do every week (Wednesdays at French Quarter, and Sundays at Riverside) but for the event, they did it outside in the courtyard.
You can choose from Mickey, Minnie, a Mardi Gras Mask, or a Magnolia. Keep in mind, the normal price is $35+ tax, but for this day, I only paid around $25.
You’ll be able to pick from a variety of colored glass tiles and then you’ll arrange them on your board. Once you have the design, you’ll glue them in place and then grout them over.
They’ll send you home with your project in a pizza box and later that night you’ll wipe off the excess grout with the wet wipes provided.
Other activities included parasol decorating and lawn games.
Evening Block Party
5pm is when the party really gets going! There are even more crafts and activities to experience! The main event is a dance party with live DJ. All throughout the night they do music, games, and even a ‘King Cake Walk’.
Our favorite was playing trivia to win a light up umbrella to hold during the ‘Second Line’ which is basically a mix between a parade and conga line.
Some of the other games were a donut eating contest, and of course lots of dancing!
For sale near the gift shop, you could find some specialty merchandise like tshirts, pins, and wine tumblers, as well as specialty masks straight from Venice! These are similar to the ones you’d find in the italy pavilion in Epcot.
You can make your own Mardi Gras mask or hat for $5 a piece too. We did this and it was super fun to glue jewels, sparkles, and feathers on.
Characters
We even got to meet some fun characters! Tiana and Louis were doing meet & greets all night. They switched back and forth, so we did have to re-enter the line a few times, but it moved relatively quickly. I think this is one of the only times you can meet Louis!
River Boat
The Ferry Boat that goes back and forth between French Quarter and Riverside was ready to party too! They had the boat decked out in lights, gave everyone light up tamborines, and we jammed to fun music while we made the trip!
At the end, they gave us little Mardi Gras rubber duckies and more beads! This was honestly one of the highlights of our night!
Scat Cat Club
Scat Cat Club is open every night, but typically the live Jazz musicians are only there on the weekends. This night, they made a special appearance to celebrate!
This was a great way to wind down at the end of the night (and avoid the long line for beignets).
How to Get There
I won’t lie, this resort isn’t the easiest to get to, so you kinda have to know where you are going. If you are staying there, no problem, you’re already there!
If you are coming from another Disney resort and you want to catch the parade, honestly the easiest is to just take an uber or minnie van (or drive if you have a car).
If you want the ‘free way’ just know that you need to plan EARLY! You can take a bus (or whatever transportation option is available) to one of the parks, preferably whatever one opens the earliest. Then you’ll hop on another bus over to Port Orleans French Quarter or Riverside depending on where you want to watch from.
If you are coming later in the day, you can use either of these methods, or you can head to Disney Springs and take the Ferry Boat to French Quarter!
If you are planning on driving your own car, be aware that you’ll still want to arrive early as when the bulk of the crowds arrive, that parking lot gets FULL! Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t crazy crowded and overwhelming at the actual party, but the parking lot isn’t very big so it does fill up.
Don’t overthink it! Just make sure to have a plan before you go.
This was a FANTASTIC free event that has made Mardi Gras one of my new favorite holidays to celebrate at Disney! If you happen to be at Disney during this time, definitely make plans to check it out! (but don’t tell everyone so that we can keep it a secret!)
