CityWalk Hollywood General Discussion

[highdefrex]

What are the odds of something like the BTTF/Jurassic escape rooms on the way at Orlando's CityWalk coming to Hollywood's?

 

[Wesker69]

I'd say it's pretty likely. Hollywood's Citywalk just needs life pumped into it. It was a nice gimmick way back when, but just like Downtown Disney, it needs a revamp

Both USH & Disneyland could seriously benefit from a mini-golf like their Orlando parks have.

Outside of a movie theater & some restaurants, there needs to be a reason to go there. Getting rid of Blaze pizza was as bad as DTD purging Earl of Sandwich.

USH doesn't exactly have the same amount of space as Orlando obviously, but they can amp it up here. Hell, give us a Classic Monsters restaurant in Citywalk.

 

[Viator]

Some people have spoken that Hollywood was planned (And that it was even permitted), but got scrapped right before Orlando began work on theirs.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

Would rather have that SNL-themed comedy club, tbh, but maybe COVID killed that idea?

 

[Ron101]

Why did Blaze pizza leave? They were almost always busy when I would walk by.

 

[tacalert]

USH Citywalk only a year ago did start the plans for an escape room. The description read, "As described in the attached Project Description, the applicant proposes the Escape Room Project which will remodel the former Howl at the Moon space within CityWalk for the new entertainment attraction."

 

[Clive]

USH Citywalk only a year ago did start the plans for an escape room. The description read, "As described in the attached Project Description, the applicant proposes the Escape Room Project which will remodel the former Howl at the Moon space within CityWalk for the new entertainment attraction." View attachment 16554

Really disappointing they abandoned work on this… but then again, they can barely staff their current crop of restaurants, and Toothsome is years behind.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

Really disappointing they abandoned work on this… but then again, they can barely staff their current crop of restaurants, and Toothsome is years behind.

All the more reason to bring back a comedy club, imo. Much more of a reliable revenue stream than an escape room. The talent is local (not to mention plentiful), so you don't need to pay for their trip, room and board; locals love going to see standup and sketch comedy -- it's always "in season," in other words; it matches the culture of USH and Hollywood in general much more than escape room; and it's evergreen -- if you live in L.A., you'll do an escape room once, maybe twice if it's fun and you wanna show your friends. Booking fresh comedy lineups means revisiting customers.

 

[Clive]

All the more reason to bring back a comedy club, imo. Much more of a reliable revenue stream than an escape room. The talent is local (not to mention plentiful), so you don't need to pay for their trip, room and board; locals love going to see standup and sketch comedy -- it's always "in season," in other words; it matches the culture of USH and Hollywood in general much more than escape room; and it's evergreen -- if you live in L.A., you'll do an escape room once, maybe twice if it's fun and you wanna show your friends. Booking fresh comedy lineups means revisiting customers.

While I agree a comedy club would be fun, it really seems like Universal is trying to get away from those types of environments at the Hollywood location. A comedy club can quickly result in controversy, which is something the risk averse property will want to avoid.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

While I agree a comedy club would be fun, it really seems like Universal is trying to get away from those types of environments at the Hollywood location. A comedy club can quickly result in controversy, which is something the risk averse property will want to avoid.

That would depend 100% on who you book. There's no lack of comics who work PG, PG-13. Our park is mostly locals; CityWalk needs things that have repeat value. If revenue is an issue, then adding something people will only do once is a terrible idea.

 

[Wesker69]

If we can't have B&T at HHN or Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue in the park.... Citywalk doesn't "need" or deserve a Comedy Club

PG & PG13 "comedy" can & will still offend anyone & everyone in this current backwards era we live in

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

If we can't have B&T at HHN or Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue in the park.... Citywalk doesn't "need" or deserve a Comedy Club

PG & PG13 "comedy" can & will still offend anyone & everyone in this current backwards era we live in

It’s not a zero sum game; it’s not comedy club = automatically offending the masses resulting in catastrophic losses for the park. Your comment about our “backwards era” sounds way more like a personal grievance than any semblance of reality.

Sure, if they booked Joe Rogan and Own Benjamin, there’s a problem. Your average touring comic who makes a living playing in venues across the country, and therefore requires a clean-ish act? Not so much.

I get that organizations are risk averse these days, but I see no evidence that USH is transforming itself into the new Holy Land Experience or something.

Live performance of some capacity would do great at our CityWalk because, again, our CityWalk is mostly locals. Give them something they can only do once, they’ll only do it once; give them a reason to come back multiple times, and that’s more money. But I get it, math is hard.

 

[Wesker69]

With your logic, theme parks have no repeat value

Also, I can assure you, Citywalk isn't just a locals thing. It gets more tourist traffic than local vloggers.

Nobody said anything about "catastrophic losses", but it is literally no secret that people are easily offended by humor, no matter how clean and/or harmless.

An escape room has more repeat value if it has multiple scenarios. Add a mini-golf like Orlando has. Have Universal owned/branded dining rather than generic eateries that can be accessed anywhere (Food Loft is fine for quick to-go)

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

With your logic, theme parks have no repeat value

Also, I can assure you, Citywalk isn't just a locals thing. It gets more tourist traffic than local vloggers.

Nobody said anything about "catastrophic losses", but it is literally no secret that people are easily offended by humor, no matter how clean and/or harmless.

An escape room has more repeat value if it has multiple scenarios. Add a mini-golf like Orlando has. Have Universal owned/branded dining rather than generic eateries that can be accessed anywhere (Food Loft is fine for quick to-go)

I've never had the same day twice at a theme park, even a relatively small one like USH. Maybe you have, but again, it seems like you're bringing a lot of personal hangups here rather than looking at things objectively.

Also, who said anything about vloggers? The people who go to CityWalk aren't just tourists and vloggers. They're often average, everyday L.A. residents looking for something to do on any given night of the week. "Should we do the CityWalk Escape Room tonight?" "We did it already; we know how to escape; seems kinda boring. Who's performing at the comedy club?" "Oh, it's Joe Schmoe, we love that guy. Plus it looks like Jane Schmoe is gonna be there next weekend! " "Awesome, let's get tickets for both." It's logical.

"Multiple scenarios"? The Orlando escape room has two experiences; that's two scenarios. A comedy club or performance venue has new "scenarios" weekly, if not nightly. Operating costs are probably about the same, if not lower for a club -- no need to spend money on maintaining immersive environments and all the infrastructure that goes with it.

If the point is revenue -- which, duh, of course it is -- a live performance venue makes total sense, even a comedy club; this idea that people will get offended over any little thing just strikes me as a reactionary attitude toward "wokeness" or something -- like, it's clear you have a gripe but your gripe isn't reflective of anything beyond your own gripe.

 

[zto8411]

Escape room, mini golf, comedy club, those are all a good start. Something other than another Universal owned expensive restaurant, merch store or out of place retailer would be great. There was a thread on the Los Angeles subreddit the other day that mentioned CityWalk and most of the other locals didn’t even realize it still existed. Few thought it was torn down with the Gibson Amphitheater, others stated how it was basically dead with no foot traffic these days.

Right now there’s just not enough to offer. Throw in the parking fees and you’re better off going elsewhere. Anyone who’s been in the park all day has seen the merch, they’ve purchased what they’ve wanted. How many Universal stores are in city walk now? I really don’t see the need for more than the one we have by the park entrance, unless one becomes a west coast tribute store.
Sit down restaurants need to offer something unique or have some sort of benefit to them. For example, I’ve never been to Antojitos, but is there anything special about it besides maybe the theming? What separates it from all the other amazing, and most times cheaper Mexican food restaurants in LA? Like I said, I’ve never been so I might be ignorant. The inclusion of random stores like Sephora are a head scratcher too. There just doesn’t seem to be a theme or plan, and they’re just throwing stuff at a wall seeing what sticks.
I’m guessing Howl at the Moon left on their own accord to relocate but even another place like that would be welcome along with mini golf or an escape room. If they don’t want to do that then relocate the offices and use the space for the park.

 

[tacalert]

Having recently returned from Universal in Florida, our CItywalk needs to be revamped. The Citywalk in Florida has only one clothing store, some surf shop. Everything else is restaurants and bars. People want to be entertained. They are not going to pay to park at Citywalk to go to Skeckers, Shoe Palace, Lids, Abercrombie, etc. Get rid of all the clothing stores and turn them into restaurants and entertainment.

 

[Jamesh22]

Having recently returned from Universal in Florida, our CItywalk needs to be revamped. The Citywalk in Florida has only one clothing store, some surf shop. Everything else is restaurants and bars. People want to be entertained. They are not going to pay to park at Citywalk to go to Skeckers, Shoe Palace, Lids, Abercrombie, etc. Get rid of all the clothing stores and turn them into restaurants and entertainment.

I'd go further than that and demo half of CW. They really don't need it to be that big, make it higher quality/smaller to allow for hotels/parking/theme park expansion.

I'm surprised they didn't persue another concert venue like Gibson, I thought they said that was the plan when it closed for Potter?

 

[Stonecoldfreak1]

I've never had the same day twice at a theme park, even a relatively small one like USH. Maybe you have, but again, it seems like you're bringing a lot of personal hangups here rather than looking at things objectively.

Also, who said anything about vloggers? The people who go to CityWalk aren't just tourists and vloggers. They're often average, everyday L.A. residents looking for something to do on any given night of the week. "Should we do the CityWalk Escape Room tonight?" "We did it already; we know how to escape; seems kinda boring. Who's performing at the comedy club?" "Oh, it's Joe Schmoe, we love that guy. Plus it looks like Jane Schmoe is gonna be there next weekend! " "Awesome, let's get tickets for both." It's logical.

"Multiple scenarios"? The Orlando escape room has two experiences; that's two scenarios. A comedy club or performance venue has new "scenarios" weekly, if not nightly. Operating costs are probably about the same, if not lower for a club -- no need to spend money on maintaining immersive environments and all the infrastructure that goes with it.

If the point is revenue -- which, duh, of course it is -- a live performance venue makes total sense, even a comedy club; this idea that people will get offended over any little thing just strikes me as a reactionary attitude toward "wokeness" or something -- like, it's clear you have a gripe but your gripe isn't reflective of anything beyond your own gripe.

Wasn't there a comedy venue in City Walk already? I think it closed in 2015/2016...

 

[Jerroddragon]

We have plently of Comedy Clubs in LA

While escape rooms are common as well at least this are unique and should be theming wise top tier.

Also I hope Universal one day cuts off 1/3 of citywalk for more theme park because they can double deck many more stores and stop wasting space on shops you can go to down the street at another mall

 

[tacalert]

Wasn't there a comedy venue in City Walk already? I think it closed in 2015/2016...

The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club Has Closed | Inside Universal
Close. It was 2014