Disney’s Port Orleans Resort hosted another successful Mardi Gras parade this year, featuring Princess Tiana and golf carts decorated by Cast Members.
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort Mardi Gras Parade
Cast Members were dressed in purple and green with Mardi Gras beads. A Cast Member led the Mardi Gras parade in a surrey bike.
The Walt Disney World Ambassadors carried a purple banner reading “Walt Disney World Park Parades Past & Present! 2024 Mardi Gras Parade” with the Port Orleans Resort wordmark. Behind them was a jazz band.
Princess Tiana followed in a horse-drawn carriage. In honor of Mardi Gras on Tuesday, Disney announced Tiana’s Bayou Adventure would open at Magic Kingdom this summer and later in 2024 at Disneyland. An advanced Tiana animatronic on the ride will sport her new adventuring outfit.
For the Mardi Gras parade, Tiana stuck with her lilypad-inspired dress and some extra velvet layers for warmth.
The parade traveled from Riverside to French Quarter, where the carts stopped for guests to take a closer look.
Tiana was followed by a generic Mardi Gras-themed golf cart. It had a purple, green, and gold-striped awning around the top of it.
A giant crown was on the top and a giant jester’s mask was on each side. Purple, green, and gold tinsel covered the bars and hung from the seats.
Cast Members walking alongside the carts passed out Mardi Gras beads.
For the rest of the carts this year, Cast Members opted to stick with a theme of real Disney floats, mostly from extinct parades. Each unit was created by a different team of Cast Members (like the merchandise team or housekeeping team).
First up was the Main Street Electrical Parade, led by a small cart decorated like the park’s merchandise glow carts.
The golf cart was decorated like the train that leads the Main Street Electrical Parade. Tinsel representing the float’s lights was around the edges of the golf cart.
A Main Street Electrical Parade drum was on each side.
The next unit was inspired by Share a Dream Come True, a parade that ran at Magic Kingdom from 2001 to 2006. It celebrated Walt Disney’s 100th birthday and began with a performer dressed as Walt drawing Mickey. A similarly dressed Cast Member led the unit in the Mardi Gras parade.
“It was all started by a mouse” was on the front of the golf cart, with film strips down the sides. The golf cart pulled a giant snow globe behind it. These globe features were one of the iconic elements of Share a Dream Come True.
The float was also decorated with silver tinsel and gold stars.
Inflatable figures of Mickey and Minnie were in the globe, although during the real parade, only Mickey was in the globe.
The next golf cart was inspired by Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade. This parade also launched in 2001 for Walt’s 100th birthday. It was at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and ended in 2014.
The golf cart is decorated like Goofy’s float, with the Cast Member driving dressed as Goofy. The cart is covered in green and blue panels. A suitcase sits on top and a surfboard is in the truck bed.
There’s a “Gawn Fishin'” sign hanging from the truck bed.
This golf cart was “pulled” by a small inflatable horse. It was decorated to look like the Main Street, U.S.A. trolley, representing the trolley show.
A “Main St. Transportation Co.” sign was mounted on top.
After that was a Rainy Day Cavalcade unit. The Rainy Day Cavalcade runs at Magic Kingdom on days when it’s not safe to perform the full parade (currently Festival of Fantasy) due to adverse weather. Instead, the Main Street vehicles and select characters head down the parade float.
Cast Members mounted a Rainy Day Cavalcade sign on the front of this golf cart and decorated it to look like the red jitney with pictures of Minnie, Mickey, Donald, and Daisy. Cast Members driving and walking alongside the cart wore yellow ponchos and red hats.
The cart had white fluffy clouds on the top of it and on the back, which read “When life throws you a rainy day, play in the puddles!”
Next is SpectroMagic, a parade that ran at Magic Kingdom from 1991 to 1998, and then from 2001 to 2010. Cast Members with this golf cart wore black shirts with the SpectroMagic logo on them and two waved large shiny wings.
The golf cart was covered in black cardboard, with a clown sitting on a disco ball on the front. The cart was covered in giant flowers, musical instruments, and stars.
On the side was the SpectroMagic logo in a golden archway with fake lights. This is inspired by the lead float of SpectroMagic.
The next golf cart represents Move It! Shake It! MousekeDance It! This street party parade began as Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! in 2009, then became Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It!, before ending as MousekeDance It! It closed permanently with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The golf cart is decorated with giant colorful gift boxes, ribbons, and tinsel. There are swirly Mickey heads on the front and sides.
Cast Members dressed like the parade’s dancers followed the golf cart. They even did some of the dances.
Most of the Cast Members wore colorful vests over white shorts and purple T-shirts.
One Cast Member pulled another gift box “float.”
While most of the represented parades are defunct, two units represented ongoing holiday parades.
Cast Members dressed as Haunted Mansion Cast pulled a luggage rack featuring a sign inspired by the real sign for Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade.
The golf cart was decorated like the parade’s final float, with some more Cast Members dressed like Haunted Mansion Cast and others dressed like villains.
Sitting in the float was a Cast Member dressed like Maleficent.
A makeshift Chernabog leaned on a castle tower with a cauldron on the back of the golf cart.
The cart was followed by a Cast Member dressed as the Evil Queen.
This golf cart was inspired by the Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade, which ran at Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 2001 to 2008, and then at Disneyland Paris from 2009 to 2014. This cart is specifically decorated like the “Lilo & Stitch” car.
It looks like a teal green car painted with white tropical flowers and featuring wood paneling. An inflatable Stitch is in the back of the float with a surfboard.
The last golf cart represented Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. The front resembled a black train engine, although there is no train in the real parade. The rest looked more like the parade’s final float featuring Santa Claus.
Snowflakes and a medallion reading “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade” were above the cart’s window. Silver tinsel was wrapped around the roof of the cart and the front of the train.
An inflatable Santa in his sleigh with three reindeer appeared to fly over houses in a bed of snow.
Guests could vote on their favorite decorated golf cart with QR codes presented at the end of the parade.
Watch our video of the 2024 Mardi Gras parade at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort:
After the parade’s conclusion, guests and Cast Members celebrated at French Quarter. The band played live music.
They ultimately announced that the Boo-to-You Parade float by the French Quarter front desk team won first place.
The second place award for most creative went to the Engineering team for the Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade float.
The third place award for most spirited went to the Sassagoula Recreation team for their Move It! Shake It! unit.
Which “float” in this year’s Mardi Gras parade was your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
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Shannen Ace
