It starts off between New York and San Francisco (by the Beetlejuice entrance), continuing on down through New York (passing by the Mummy and Twister) and straight down through Hollywood, where it stops in front of Terminator and along Hollywood Blvd. After the whole dance party, it ends between Horror Makeup Show and Cafe La Bamba/ET showbuilding.
My general thoughts on the parade is that it is way too short. I get that it stops, but only in one location. So for everyone else watching it, they essentially get three minutes of parade (maybe less...it starts at 5 and is at Hollywood Blvd., the last leg of its route, by 5:05). People are lining up for a very, very small bit of entertainment. I don't see why it needs to stop, and I don't think it's an excuse to make it shorter--in fact, I think the opposite, that it stops BECAUSE it's so darn short and Universal doesn't want to be in the business of ripping people off. There's so much they could do--they already have a Simpsons trailer, so throw that in there. Shrek is a huge missed opportunity, though maybe there's so issues with Dreamworks or something.
And like others have suggested, it doesn't have to be a kids parade--there's nothing intense about a parade, and adding a few non-kid oriented properties wouldn't turn it off to families. Some Fast and Furious cars, Transformers, etc could all be fine additions that don't ruin the family friendliness of it.
As of right now, I think the parade is a joke, and I know I'm not the only one.