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Spring in Orlando Theme Parks

March 7, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

I know that lots of people plan trips to align with school breaks. So, I thought I would do a post highlighting the various festivals happening during spring in Orlando theme parks!

Spring in Orlando

March and April tend to be very popular times to visit the theme parks since lots of kids have school breaks. So, many of the theme parks have special events to give the crowds more to experience as well as to draw more people in. Here’s a look at those special events happening in spring in Orlando in 2023!

Flower and Garden Festival

Walt Disney World hosts the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival every spring and it’s one of the most beautiful times to visit this park. In years past, I have loved walking around the park and viewing the topiaries. Disney brings out some of the same topiaries every year, however they also refresh a few and add a couple new ones every year. So, it never gets stale. This year, they added a Princess Tiana and Encanto topiaries! Plus, there’s loads of beautiful landscaping around every corner!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the food at this festival. Unfortunately, I don’t have as much experience in eating food at this festival as I do with Epcot Festival of the Arts. However, in 2019 I really enjoyed the grilled street corn and would love to eat it again! This festival does a great job of highlighting fresh, in season fruits and vegetables.

Not to be out done in the entertainment category, Disney also hosts the Garden Rocks Concert Series during this festival. Some of the performers I’d be quite excited to see. Others, I’m not as familiar with, but I’d be happy to give them a listen. Note: the last concert is on July 3rd.

If you are heading to Walt Disney World between now and July 5th, I highly recommend spending at least half a day at Epcot just for this festival.

Mardi Gras at Universal Orlando

I already wrote an entire Universal Orlando Mardi Gras 2023 Guide. So, you know that I’m a huge fan of this fun spring event. I also wrote a review of the Mardi Gras Float Ride and Dine add-on last month. If you are planning to visit Universal Orlando Resort between now and April 16th, then you too can experience Mardi Gras at UO! Unfortunately, the last concert has already taken place here. However, there’s still the awesome parade and great foods to try!

Spring at SeaWorld Orlando

Lastly, SeaWorld Orlando is hosting the Seven Seas Food Festival on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until May 7th! If you are visiting this weekend or next, then you may also catch their St. Patrick’s Day Celebration as well! The park will also be celebrating Cinco de Mayo during the last weekend in April and first weekend in May. Both of those events will add some food and entertainment to the park.

Last year, I tried some tasty food at the Seven Seas Food Festival and really liked it. Unfortunately, we missed the Seven Seas Concert Series as we were tired from a full day in the park. The concert series is a mix of well-known artists, smaller bands, and tribute bands! I recommend looking up the schedule if you are heading there before May 7th.

Orlando Theme Parks in Spring

As you can see, all three theme parks celebrate spring with a special festival. So, which is your favorite spring in Orlando festival?

You can check out my other seasonal theme park guides here:

Lombard’s Seafood Grille Review

March 1, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

I started writing my review of Lombard’s Seafood Grille in my Universal Orlando Mardi Gras Float Ride and Dine post. However, the original post quickly became too long (around 800 words). I thought it was best to make the review of the restaurant a separate post, so here’s my review of it.

Lombard’s Seafood Grille

Lombard’s Seafood Grille is one of the few table service restaurants in the parks at Universal Orlando Resort. It is located in the San Francisco section of the Universal Studios Florida park. As the name implies, it features lots of seafood as well as some other dishes. It has nice theming inside. You are greeted by the water fountain pictured above when you walk in, which kind of sets the tone for the whole restaurant.

Meal Review

For this review, I ate at Lombard’s Seafood Grille in early February 2023 with my mom. As it was part of the Float Ride and Dine experience, we were both able to get a drink, appetizer, entrée, and dessert! My mom got a diet drink, which made her happy. I got a glass of water and a frozen lemonade. That was really refreshing after getting a little hot in the park.

For an appetizer, my mom and I both chose calamari. I will admit that we didn’t know what that was when we chose it! Haha! Needless to say, my mom was quite surprised to discover it was squid and immediately lost interest in the dish once she learned that fact. I ate about half of mine as I found it to have a good flavor. While the texture was a little weird, I assume that’s just because it’s squid.

I chose a lobster roll for my entrée and was very pleased with it. It had pretty big chunks of lobster and tasted fresh. I loved it! My mom got the filet mignon and she seemed to enjoy hers as well. It was a 6 oz steak, so not the biggest steak, but adequate for my mom.

For dessert, I went with the key lime pie and mom got the chocolate cake. I liked the key lime pie as it was a good combination of tartness and sweetness. I was happy I chose it. My mom’s cake seemed like it had been frozen and just removed from the freezer. The frosting was still kind of frozen. So, it wasn’t a bad dessert, but I think mine was better.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a pretty good meal. Our server was awesome and everyone working here was super nice! So, if you are looking for a nicer place to sit down in the park, I recommend considering Lombard’s Seafood Grille.

Hyatt House Tampa Airport Hotel Review

February 23, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

Last month when my mom and I attended Mardi Gras at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, we stayed at the Hyatt House Tampa Airport/Westshore Hotel. While it had lots of good reviews on Google, I didn’t see many posts about it online. So, I thought I would do a quick review in case someone else is considering staying here.

Hyatt House Tampa Airport

Initially, I wanted to book a tickets and room package with Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. However, we nixed that idea when we realized it was cheaper to buy an annual pass as it came with free bring a friend passes and parking. So, then we decided it was a good idea to stay in a hotel near the airport. After reviewing several options, we went with the Hyatt House Tampa Airport/Westshore hotel. It is pretty much next door to the airport! So, if being near the airport is important, I highly recommend considering this hotel.

Den Guestroom – Two Queen Beds

We booked a standard double queen room (also called a Den Guestroom) and were pleased with the accommodations. The beds were quite comfortable and there was amble room to spread out. The little couch was an added bonus place to sit! It was a nice extra that not many hotel rooms provide. The bathroom was sleek and modern. Overall, it was the perfect place to rest our heads at the end of a long day.

Food Options

One of the main reasons we ended up choosing this place over others was the food options. The Hyatt House Tampa Airport/Westshore has a bar on the first floor! This is where we ate dinner two nights! It was just the thing we needed when we were too tired to find dinner elsewhere. Plus, the onion rings with beer cheese was really good!

Another added bonus of staying here is the free breakfast! I liked that they mixed up the options from day to day. On Sunday we had pancakes (frozen, but still edible) and on Monday we had French toast sticks! I preferred the French toast sticks, but that’s personal preference. I wish they had a waffle maker or something besides the frozen mains, but it’s good for a free breakfast buffet. They also had sausage and/or bacon, if you are into that. Ha!

Overall

If you are looking for an affordable (around $200/night) option near the airport with a bar and breakfast, then this may be just the place for you! Plus, I have to say that everyone working here is super nice! They were all very helpful and kind!

Universal Orlando Mardi Gras 2023 Guide

February 21, 2023 By Lindsay Leave a Comment

Universal Orlando Mardi Gras is one of my favorite events at the resort. I love the parade and chance to try different foods. So, here’s my review/guide to the 2023 event.

Universal Orlando Mardi Gras

You can experience Universal Orlando Mardi Gras in 2023 from February 4th to April 16th. It’s the perfect excuse to visit the resort during spring break or to head down during the cooler months. This year’s theme is International Flavors of Carnaval, which alludes to the fact that there are foods from all around the world to try. The parade theme is Mythical Creatures.

International Foods

New this year, UO announced that it was going to have an International Flavors of Carnaval spin the event. This means that they have food booths around the resort featuring food from several different countries! New this year is the addition of a few food booths in Islands of Adventure and City Walk. I think it’s great that the party is expanding out of Universal Studios Florida so that there is more to enjoy.

Unfortunately, with a jam-packed schedule including the Float Ride and Dine experience, I didn’t get to try many of the delicious foods. I was able to try the Fried Green Tomatoes Po’ Boy and Beignets though. The Po’ Boy was really good. The beignets were a little small, but also tasty. I would totally eat both of these things again. Last year, we tried to King Cake and enjoyed it. My mom is still kind of sad that we didn’t make time to get another one this year. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

Parade

As usual, the parade is amazing! I viewed the parade twice in 2023 and enjoyed it both times. I loved seeing the mythical creatures this year. From unicorns/pegasus to dragons and phoenix, the parade is a sight to behold. There are some old school, traditional UO floats too, like the gator I got to ride. The combination of the old and new makes for a memorable parade.

People start lining up to view the parade pretty early. I’d recommend lining up 45 minutes early if you want a good spot up front. The parade times can vary, so be sure to check the app for the time. Also, it helps to make eye contact with the bead throwers if you want to catch lots of beads!

Concerts

One of the major perks of visiting Universal Orlando Mardi Gras is the chance to attend a concert! These concerts are included with the price of admission! So, it’s a neat way to experience a concert without paying concert ticket prices or dealing with trying to get tickets. On the Saturday we attended we got to see Patti LaBelle in concert! My mom was excited to see someone she grew up listening to.

It appears that most of the concerts this year are on Saturdays in February. However, there is a random Friday and Sunday as well as two concerts the first weekend in March. So, if you are visiting on a weekend before March 6th, check out the concert schedule to see if you can catch someone interesting performing! Also, make note that the nights with concerts have different parade times.

Tribute Store

Universal is in the habit of making a new tribute store for every season. This year’s Mardi Gras Tribute Store is pretty cool! Each room has a different vibe and I love it! It’s so much fun to just walk around and look at everything. Plus, you can grab some cool merchandise or food! My mom purchased a zip-up hoodie this year. I may have also purchased a t-shirt. You can also buy some beads here if you didn’t catch enough free ones in the parade.

Daytime Entertainment

A neat daytime treat is that you can see the parade performers in the park! I saw the jazz band out performing last year. This year, I saw the gator people on stilts during the day. So, keep an eye out if you want a unique photo opportunity.

Mardi Gras Fun

As you can see, there’s lots to see, do, and eat if you visit Universal Orlando during Mardi Gras. So, have you ever attended? What were your favorite parts?

Mardi Gras Float Ride and Dine at Universal Orlando Review

February 16, 2023 By Lindsay 4 Comments

Last year, my mom and I visited Universal Orlando Resort during Mardi Gras and had a blast. This year, we decided to visit again, but we wanted the chance to be in the parade and throw beads! So, when Universal introduced their Mardi Gras Float Ride and Dine add-on experience, we signed up almost immediately! Keep reading to see if we think it’s worth it!

Float Ride and Dine

This Mardi Gras Ride and Dine experience is the only guaranteed way to ride in the parade. We paid $55.24 each (after AP discount) to eat at Lombard’s Seafood Grille and to ride in the parade. This experience booked up quickly as did some of the more popular restaurants for our dates. So, if you are interested in this experience, I recommend booking asap. We did this experience on Monday, February 6, 2023 as the two days prior had already booked up by the time my mom called to book it.

Lombard’s Seafood Grille

For our dinner, we were allowed to choose a non-alcoholic drink, appetizer, entrée, and dessert from the regular menu at Lombard’s. I got a frozen lemonade, which was a nice surprise as the server initially told me I couldn’t have it. However, he checked with management who said we could have any non-alcoholic beverage. With it being the third day of this offering, they were still learning everything, so it’s understandable that my initial request was denied. My mom was content with her diet drink.

I initially was going to publish my entire review of the meal in this post. However, the post grew to around 800 words! If you are interested in reading my Lombard’s Seafood Grille review, you can click that link. Otherwise, I will just tell you what we had here. We had calamari for the appetizer. I had the lobster roll and key lime pie. My mom went with the steak and chocolate cake. Overall, it was good meal, especially for a theme park restaurant. You can see our food in the Instagram post below.

Riding a Float

I will say we were disappointed with the lack of communication from Universal prior to and on the day of this experience. It was hard to plan the day not knowing what to expect. Unfortunately, we were never told how to retrieve the pictures that were taken before or during the parade. The code I was given to retrieve pictures never brought any pictures up and the UO Twitter account told me that we were supposed to purchase pictures in the park up to 24 hours afterwards! So, we missed out on getting any of our pictures! The chaos of the event reminded me a little bit of our experience doing the Universal Holiday Tour.

At dinner we were given our lanyards, which instructed us to meet at 4:55 to begin lining up. Everyone put on an apron-like thing and sat with their assigned float group after signing a waiver. Team members did a good job of getting everyone hyped up for the parade. Then, they led us backstage to our floats and went over some general guidance before the parade started.

Aside from the confusion, we absolutely loved riding the float! It was amazing to be able to look a stranger in the eyes, toss them some beads, and make them happy. My mom has already said that riding in the parade was the highlight of this trip for her! Pro tip: pack light for this event as we weren’t told we could store our stuff anywhere and had to just put it in the floor of the float.

Is it worth it?

While the Mardi Gras Float Ride and Dine is an expensive experience, it is worth it in my opinion. If they offer this experience next year, we will probably book it again. So, have you ever tossed beads in the Universal Orlando Mardi Gras parade?