CW Update: CityWalk Promenade

Universal CityWalk has seen a good number of changes in the past couple years with many new restaurants opening throughout the complex. But when it comes to the nightclub district, now branded as the CityWalk Promenade, things remain largely the same as when we first started covering the complex shortly after Pleasure Island closed.  For our newer viewers who may not be familiar with CityWalk, here's a snapshot of what it's all about!

CityWalk's largest and most traditional dance club is The Groove. There was a time back in the 00's and earlier that this was a club that played EDM, or "techno" as we used to call it back then. In the post-PI era it's more of a fast-paced Top 40 featuring hits both old and new. It gets packed! A few years ago we published rumors of TG closing but that has proven to be false and in fact we've seen Universal invest greatly in the venue with improved DJ's, lighting, spraydowns and more.  It seems that it's here to stay!

The Red Coconut Club is a smaller dance venue that carries a Vegas ratpack vibe to it. They still have a live band at times and DJ's the rest of the time. The music is mostly Top 40 but there is also a popular Latin night on Wednesdays and you're likely to hear more EDM in here than at any other club in CityWalk.

Rising Star is a karaoke club where you're the star.  What makes it unique is that the club provides a band to support the singers and backup dancers too. In between sets a DJ plays Top 40. There are usually long lines to get in here too!

Bob Marley's is a unique Jamaican-themed venue that is a restaurant early turning into a reggae dance club later at night. Another unique feature is that it's mostly uncovered outdoors so weather can impact it during rare evening rains or cold winter nights.  The lines here can be long too!

Pat O'Brien's is a New Orleans-themed club that is two venues in one. There is an outdoor courtyard at the rear where DJ's often play and then upfront and inside is a dueling piano bar similar to JellyRolls at Disney and Howl at the Moon on International Drive.

Those 5 venues are what make up the ticketed part of CityWalk.  Margaritaville is a large restaurant that has a live band late at night playing Top 40 and Rock'n'Roll hits. While I have seen tickets scanned here several times, most visits have allowed free non-ticketed entry.

Latin Quarter was formerly a ticketed club featuring DJ's playing various genres of Latin music.  It closed and was replaced with Mexican restaurant Antojitos. Have only seen DJ's playing here for private events so it's no longer considered a nightclub.

With all the recent restaurant build-outs, the promenade section of CityWalk only has this one remaining space.  Inside it's a mirror image of the interior of The Groove. We're not aware of any plans to add anything here at this time.  One thing that has not changed at CityWalk since the Blog began covering it is the price of admission. Admission to a single club is still $7.00 while an all-club Party Pass is $12.77.