First thing on the tour, you go to a small room and get to try on costumes and watch a history of the mardi gras parade. The best part is taking pictures with the costumes on. Very fun! The movie you could tell was very outdated, probably made in the mid 90's. I would have liked to see that more up to date. At the end, we were treated to the famous King Cake which is AWESOME!

Then, we had a tour guide lead us around the warehouses where they show artisans already crafting next years floats. The larger than life characters are also fun photo ops. The gal giving the tour was a bit shy and not very interesting. Our group was the one asking her more questions, rather than her trying to explain off hand (which I don't like). The tour lasted about 25 mins.

The area of Algiers is dangerous--someone was shot the day we were there. Be careful when taking the ferry over from the city.

You get the real feeling of Mardi Gras when you are there. It's a great tour with lots of history and information. My mom and I LOVED trying on all the head pieces they have worn in previous parades. They were really heavy on our heads but you felt gorgeous no matter what. We have great pictures of this place. There is so much to see and take pictures of. It's very colorful. The driver of the van to and from the ferry was wonderful. He was a great and passionate person and told some great stories while driving us to the tour. It was worth the money and the time. Great for kids. Very interesting and fun. We laughed a lot

emh

We weren't 100% sure about taking this tour. The price of admission seemed a little high and the location itself seemed out of the way. We ended up having a great time and this was one of the highlights of our trip.

The free ferry ride and free shuttle ride to Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World made getting there easy and fun. Our shuttle driver provided some great information on the history of the area with humor.

The tour wasn't very long and full of great information. And we were given a sample of Kings cake. Afterwards, we were allowed to roam on our own and take photos. We had so much fun taking photos.

I visited Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World in July 2006, pre-Katrina. It was a great little excursion on my business trip and I was made to feel welcome by the friendly host, shuttle driver, and tour guide. The ferry dock from New Orleans is not too far from the French Quarter or the Convention center (it is near the Aquarium and shopping mall, and the streetcar stop is close by as well) and the ferry ride itself is free.

A short ferry ride later, I was in Algiers and was picked up by a (free!) air conditioned shuttle that took me through Algiers and by the House of the 7 Sisters Voodoo Shop and to Mardi Gras World.

Guests met by a host and given souvenir Mardi Gras beads in the gift shop. Then we were ushered to the waiting area where I was allowed to take pictures with different costumes, headpieces, and to view a short film on the history of Mardi Gras.

Then, the group was taken on a tour of floats and pieces of the floats used in the parades. Our group saw some pieces that the artists were working on and was allowed to take photos and ask questions at any point of the tour.

It was a good excursion worth a couple (2-3 hours) and I got lots of photos - afterwards a friendly staff member also helped me out and took photos of me as a jester in the photo area.