Universal Orlando is making it very clear that it’s no longer satisfied with being “the other option” in Orlando.
Now, it’s actively challenging one of Disney’s most reliable strategies: EPCOT festival season.
Disney has spent years turning EPCOT into a rotating calendar of seasonal festivals that keep crowds coming back again and again. It’s become the place for food booths, specialty drinks, limited-time entertainment, and that classic “walk around and snack all day” vibe.
But Universal’s Mardi Gras 2026 is starting to feel like it wants that same reputation.
Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras celebration will run February 7 through April 4, and with the newly revealed menu details, the event looks more like a full-scale food festival than ever before.
What makes this especially interesting is the timing.
Universal’s Mardi Gras will overlap with the final stretch of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, which ends February 23, and then it continues straight into the early weeks of the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, which begins March 4 and runs through June 1.
So instead of Disney owning the seasonal festival conversation, Universal is giving guests another option during the exact same window.
And it isn’t just competing quietly.
Universal’s Mardi Gras menu includes a long list of globally inspired booths and dishes, including offerings themed to Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica, Chile, Austria, Puerto Rico, and Ireland. Guests will also find New Orleans-inspired favorites like beignets, king cake, and other Cajun-style options that match the spirit of the celebration.
Universal also seems to be doubling down on the drink experience, with specialty cocktails, mocktails, and themed beverages that follow the same style of EPCOT’s festival drink booths.
But the real crowd-puller could be the concert schedule.
Universal’s Mardi Gras concert lineup includes major names like Kaskade, Shaggy, Zedd, Bebe Rexha, Barenaked Ladies, The All-American Rejects, and Portugal. The Man, along with other fan-favorite performances spread across February and March.
At this point, Universal isn’t just hosting Mardi Gras.
It’s building a festival-style event that looks like a direct challenge to EPCOT’s seasonal dominance—and it’s doing it at the most strategic time possible.
