Opening in 1999, Universal CityWalk is the gateway from the parking structure to the Universal theme parks.

Consisting of shops, restaurants and nightclubs, Universal CityWalk is Universal's answer to Downtown Disney.  It's hip, modern, and comes to life each night after the parks close.  The younger, trendy crowd arrives each night as the theme park families head home.

Universal CityWalk is what completes the daily Universal experience.  From arrival in the modern parking deck to walking through the Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure turnstiles, CityWalk fills in the gaps with its own style of sights and sounds in the Universal way.

As much as this completes the experience, it does have two drawbacks.  First, the main street tends to be extremely crowded at night, especially during the summer and other peak times of the year.  Families leaving from the parks (which tend to have the same closing hours most of the year, so you have two parks emptying at the same time) have to push their way past everybody trying to enter the complex.  Throw in the loud music and DJs, and it's easy for tempers to flare at night, especially in the hot and humid summer weather.