Universal City Walk???

[goNsoon2WDW]

I am looking for information about Universal's City Walk. After a day at Animal Kingdome we are thinking of taking the evening and going for dinner at City Walk, but need a bit more info. There will be four adults and four kiddos ages between 7-9. Any information would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Is there an admission fee?

How much is parking?

Any recommendations for restaurant?

Do we need a reservation?

Any special places to be sure to see/avoid?

Are there fireworks or other nightly entertainment events?

Is it worth the drive from the Disney area?

 

[PlutosFriend]

I am looking for information about Universal's City Walk. After a day at Animal Kingdome we are thinking of taking the evening and going for dinner at City Walk, but need a bit more info. There will be four adults and four kiddos ages between 7-9. Any information would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Is there an admission fee?

How much is parking?

Any recommendations for restaurant?

Do we need a reservation?

Any special places to be sure to see/avoid?

Are there fireworks or other nightly entertainment events?

Is it worth the drive from the Disney area?

I would try to get there earlier, since you have kids along with you. Late nights at City Walk, especially weekends, can get a bit rowdy. I cannot remember off hand, how much parking is. You may want to check the Universal website for that. I know certain times of day, it is free. I have never seen fireworks at City Walk. Reservations are not needed at most of the restaurants there. I have eaten at Nascar Cafe, Hard Rock, Pat O's and Margaritaville. All have the wide variety type of menu.

 

[Detailor]

I am looking for information about Universal's City Walk. After a day at Animal Kingdome we are thinking of taking the evening and going for dinner at City Walk, but need a bit more info. There will be four adults and four kiddos ages between 7-9. Any information would be greatly appreciated. TIA
Is there an admission fee?
How much is parking?
Any recommendations for restaurant?
Do we need a reservation?
Any special places to be sure to see/avoid?
Are there fireworks or other nightly entertainment events?
Is it worth the drive from the Disney area?

There is no admission fee to City Walk but parking, just like Disney, is $12. Unlike Disney, parking is in one of the enclosed parking garages and is free after 6:00 pm.
There are several themed restaurants-
Bubba Gump's - everything shrimp
Margaritaville
a NASCAR sports restaurant
an NBA City restaurant
there's an Emeril's there
Hard Rock Cafe
and a few (probably about a four or five) more

You will want to make reservations.

Most of the restaurants have souvenir shops associated with them along with several other stores in the complex. There's also an AMC theater at City Walk if you want to take in a movie there.

There are no regular fireworks there - that's limited to Fourth of July and New Years.

We like Universal and think that City Walk is okay. City Walk is much smaller than the Downtown Disney Marketplace and Westside so the crowds are also smaller which makes the area easier to deal with.

Check out Universal's City Walk at www.usf.com.

Dick Taylor

 

[goNsoon2WDW]

Great info. Thanks so much.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I am looking for information about Universal's City Walk. After a day at Animal Kingdome we are thinking of taking the evening and going for dinner at City Walk, but need a bit more info. There will be four adults and four kiddos ages between 7-9. Any information would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Is there an admission fee?

The clubs & some of the restaurants (that become clubs late in the evening) charge admission after a certain time. If you just want to eat, do a little shopping, see a movie, etc., you won't have to pay an additional fee.

How much is parking?

I'm not sure exactly how much parking costs, but I think it's around $10 to $11. However, it is free for those arriving after 6 pm.

Any recommendations for restaurant?

This is a tough question to answer, because personal taste can vary so much. Our favorite Universal (& Orlando) restaurant is Emeril's at CW. It's kind of expensive though, & you definitely need to make a reservation well in advance. For a casual meal, Pat O'Brien's patio dining is our favorite. Beware of the hurricanes (frozen alcoholic beverage)! They are strong! We also like Latin Qtr. It would be my 2nd choice, behind Emeril's, for a nicer meal. NBA City, Nascar Grille, Margaritaville, & Hard Rock Cafe are similar, with NBA City having a bit better food than the others & we think HRC has the worst food of the 4. Margaritaville may be the most fun for the kids. That said, I would probably go with which theme & menu you prefer. The food quality isn't that much different. Pastamore is good (not great) Italian at very reasonable prices. I would avoid Bob Marley's. It can be suffocatingly hot in there. We haven't tried Bubba Gump's, but it seems to get good reviews.

Do we need a reservation?

Whether or not you need a reservation depends on when you plan to visit & what restaurant you're interested in.

Any special places to be sure to see/avoid?

None that I can think of. You can easily see all of CW in an evening. Everything is clearly marked, so you decide on whether or not you want to go in, before you enter. For example, there's a tattoo salon/ parlor(?) that we have no interest in. We could see what the shop was w/o going inside.

Are there fireworks or other nightly entertainment events?

You can see the fireworks from Universal 360, but it's limited to the high season, summer months. There is free, family entertainment at CW in the evening. We've seen live bands or a DJ interacting with the crowd to get them dancing (line dancing, etc.).

Is it worth the drive from the Disney area?

If there's a restaurant you're interested in, then I think "yes". Their restaurants really are themed well. For the shops, "no".

ETA: Sorry I posted some duplicate info. I'm too slow! I also wanted to add that I've never seen an unruly crowd at CW & I've been many times. We don't go into the clubs though.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

If you go during the summer (such as now) there are fireworks at US & you can see some of them from City Walk. As far as 7-9pm going with kids is fine. There will not be rowdy drunk people at that hour. Most of the clubs do not start getting crowded until after 9pm anyway, beside, the majority of the clubs are upstairs. You can remain downstairs and enjoy the evening strolling around.
I think the kids might get a kick out of eating at the NBA or NASCAR places.. they are kid friendly themed. They can even try their hand at a couple of hoop shots. There are also a few midway type games the kids can play as well. I can't speak for Bubba Gump since I haven't been there, but it looks good from the outside
You can also even take the boat over to the resorts to check them out (maybe for a future stay). If you feel funny taking the boat since you are not staying there, you can easily walk to the Royal Pacific & Hard Rock. The Portifino is a little longer walk but can be done. Do not attempt to drive to them, they will charge you for parking. Yes, the resorts will charge you for parking, not City Walk.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We've eaten at Margaritaville, Hard Rock Cafe and NASCAR Grill. Our boys, 8 & 11, loved both. MG has a big volcano that erupts every so often and some staff people walk on big stilts. They loved that. We've stayed at their onsite hotels many times and enjoy the hotel restaurants too.
Blue Man Group was hilarious and kids loved it too.

Check out the Universal Boards for more info.
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=30