From Everything.Sucks
Universal CityWalk is the name shared by the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks & Resorts. CityWalk began as an expansion of Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood, and serves as an entrance plaza from the parking lots to the theme parks. CityWalk can also be found at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida and Universal Studios Japan. CityWalk Hollywood and CityWalk Orlando have some common tenants, but their respective architectural styles are quite different. Where CityWalk Hollywood incorporates a classic modern blend of Hollywood, CityWalk Orlando is almost entirely modern in appearance.
A customer shared their experience at the Universal Studio Theme parks in a review, "I would not stay at a Universal property again. The theme park is fun but way too expensive. We did the express pass that was ridiculously expensive. The Resort need updating. The best part is the free transportation between the resort and the theme parks. Not even the ride between the airport and the resort is included. I had the meal plan but it doesn't include the restaurants at the resorts. I love kids but try to get into the hot tub! Good luck! There were at least 20 kids in it at all times. I've been to Disney and that is where I will go from now on."
One employee also said in an interview, If you have family this job is not for you. If you have anything going on in your life this is not the job for you. If you love working and being alone and getting mistreated then this is the job for you! Hard times in your life they don’t care as long as you come to work your outside life is not important to them. I had a manage tell me “you knew what you signed up for” when I wanted to go part time what kind of response is that."
Reviews
Former Employee - Human Resources Manager says
"I worked at Universal Studios full-time for more than a year Cons: The HR department at Universal Studios Hollywood has been turning over at an alarmingly high rate this past year thanks to mismanagement, being overworked and underpaid. The employee population behave like children and you feel like having to babysit instead of professionally develop them. It's frustrating to expend so much effort disciplining a minimum wage individual who can easily be replaced the next day by someone better. Having to work odd hours during certain seasons also does not help."Current Employee - Food Stand Attendant says
"I have been working at Universal Studios full-time for more than a year Cons: Working in food service at USH is a nightmare because 95% of the time you're dealing with thousands of people in a day. During the summer it's worse because it gets really hot and you have to wear the ridiculous hats. The clientele at USH isn't exactly the best either. For the little pay you get, it becomes unbearable sometimes. The managers in food always use favoritism. The majority of the FOH leads there don't follow up on the stand attendant's breaks and lunches properly. Simply getting to work is cumbersome because the park is far; you have to wait 10 -15 minutes for a shuttle to take you up the hill; and then you have to deal with wardrobe which takes a while as well. Overall, the environment in the food department is very immature. There's a lot of gossip and bickering even amongst the managers when they gossip about the stand attendants they don't like. The manager's communication is pitiful. Most of the time they won't even acknowledge you unless they need something. It really gives off an intimidating feeling. The hours are horrible. Unless you have years and years of seniority the hours you get are few and irregular. Some of the restaurants are very unsafe to work in. Even with my slip and oil-resistant shoes that I'm required to have, I have still fallen and sustained injuries at work because of the type of flooring some of the restaurants have. To sum it all up, working at USH can take its toll on you because charging people overpriced items everyday, dealing with mindless drama between fellow employees, getting very little pay and small breaks, and feeling intimidated by managers and higher-ups can make an employee with mental illness even more ill. There's really no opportunity for growth in this department."Former Employee - Valet Runner says
"I worked at Universal Studios part-time for more than a year Cons: Inadequate training for modified cars."IT Manager says
"I worked at Universal Studios Cons: IT Management is poor. Constant downsizing and outsourcing is GE's mantra. GE eliminates the real workers, and replaces them with incompetent morons in Mumbai. Sad to see my team of 10 fired and replaced by offshore idiots. No reward for innovation or hard work. No reward for loyalty and past successes."Former Employee - Market Research Interviewer says
"I worked at Universal Studios part-time for less than a year Cons: - Lots of standing around doing nothing - Lots of inane bureaucratic rules - Listening to the very short loop of awful CityWalk music drove me insane - Having to reach varying interview "quotas" for different races of people was... questionable, to say the least. Made for plenty of awkward situations when every 20 minutes the Lead would lean over and say something like "Hey guys, no more Hispanics." - You have to be the guy that bothers people about taking a survey literally as soon as they step through the door it just cost them $100+ to step through"Current Employee - Food Stand Attendant says
"I have been working at Universal Studios part-time for more than a year Cons: The worst part about this job is the hours; you have no guarantee for hours so during the off-season you can go weeks without hours in your first few months of work. After about a year, you start to get offered more hours, but it takes about two years before your seniority kicks in and you don't have to worry about it as much anymore. A lack of hours means obviously not as much pay but it could also affect your benefits; there is a minimum number of hours that need to be worked to remain covered and with no hour guarantee this can be hard to manage. You can call in to try to pick up a shift but this is first come first serve (not seniority) based and not as reliable, especially if you live further away since it is very last minute."Ride Operator says
"I worked at Universal Studios Cons: The cons is how quick they are to get rid of people. Also, if you do not like people then this job is not for you."Guest Relations Associate-part time (Former Employee) says
"They don't support the employees during busy times. Management does not want to pay a proper wage. HR department bans the Union representatives from the park when they are assisting the employees. Cons: Mismanagement, low wage, employees treated poorly"Admission Host (Former Employee) says
"Fired me for being pregnant in December 2018. They said I had too many absences but I was extremely nauseous and would get light headed on my drive to work."Admissions (Current Employee) says
"Low pay, over hiring, low hours, no set schedule, favoritism by “managers” over skill for open positions within the company. Cons: Low pay, over hiring, low hours, no set schedule, favoritism over skill for open positions"Baker (Former Employee) says
"This job has severe inconsistent hours. they expect you to live on no hours when the seasons are slow and expect you to work over 10 hour shifts out of no where when the season pick up twice a year. You have to put in a tremendous amount of time and dedication through so much bull before you can advance anywhere. The HR there is a complete joke and nothing ever gets resolved. They just keep sending you in circles all while letting your punishments pile up. They set you up to fail I feel like and even though my personal shift leads were amazing and most of my co workers were amazing- that company and job itself is trash. Beware newbies- they like to make you think you have hours over people who have been there a while so you feel special but once you feel that way- it stops- I promise. Cons: scam of a company on multiple levels-pros aren't even worth it"Cook 2 (Former Employee) says
"Una de las peores empresas para trabajar además de ser racita, esto ocurre cuando las compañías no tiene una unión que proteja los derechos labores de los empleados Si lo comparas con otros parque de diversiones que tiene una unión los beneficios son razonables.! Cons: Salario"Wardrobe Attendant (Former Employee) says
"Managers had their favorites who always got the better schedule and weekends off of course. They were allowed to slack off whenever. Very poor management."Food Stand Attendant (Former Employee) says
"Management there are mainly not educated on how to be a manager they have mainly gotten that position from starting as the lowest position. Most of them will taken advantage of their employees not knowing the contract and making them do things that are against it. It is very fast pace and tough, but if you are determined I'm sure you'll make it. It has changed a lot since I was last there, the company mainly sees the lowest employees as just a number they don't care much about how you feel unless you are good with management which is hard because managers make you kiss up to them. Overall working for the theme parks sucks, the benefits are great, but it will mess with your mind a lot as well as physically. If you want to try it go ahead, but I suggest to look else where. Cons: Short breaks"Guest control (Former Employee) says
"If a fast friendly place to work at me and you see new people of all ethnicities your hours might be short and you might get some hours you might not the people who usually get the hours are in the Union"Food Server (Former Employee) says
"There where times that they did not give you your brake some times you will get an extra brake the next day but that was unlikely. If your late they would make seems like your late ways more then you really where. Cons: Everything"Ride Operator (Former Employee) says
"Job was terrible! felt like I was walking on egg shells the whole time. Union reps was terrible and was best friends with managers overall hated my time there."Retail Sales Clerk and Cashier (Former Employee) says
"Horrible managers. Cons: racism"Carnival Games Attendant (Former Employee) says
"My days started with me going upstairs to change into my uniform. Then I would head down to the games area, put my things in my locker in our break room that was so tiny I'm sure we broke fire codes daily. Then I would go to the Shrek Shack to put on my money pouch and count on my money and possibly receive a radio or microphone for the day. I hated the mics. That meant I had to talk for 4 or 6 hours straight. I loved the radios, though. That meant that whenever I needed change or assistance or a manager, I could be sure they were coming soon, and not just stand around looking like an idiot waiting for someone to look in my direction. Now, for the actual job description part of my day. Basically, it was my job to sell a bunch of really hard, really stupid games to a bunch of little children and their irritated parents. Now, I understand the reasoning in making the games so hard: we're in the selling business, we want them to lose so that they keep trying harder to win, so that we get more money. But honestly, and I mean, I'm just being an empathetic human being with a beating heart here, if you're paying $30+ on a stupid game for your 4-12 year old, and they haven't won yet, then it goes from the game being a little bit challenging to the creators of the game being kinda mean. So, basically, I got paid to disappoint little children all day and possibly even make them cry. Then I had to deal with their irritated and angry parents yelling at me about how my game is impossible and I should have a little sympathy. But what they didn't know is that I have more sympathy than they Cons: unfair games, i was underpaid, management and coworkers were rude"Entertainment Operations (Former Employee) says
"This is a horrible company to work for. They know they treat their employees unfairly, and they don't care. Their turn around rate is quick so they have no incentive to treat employees fairly. STAY AWAY AT ALL COST. This was your warning. Cons: low pay, low hours, awful management, no growth"Guest Services Associate (Current Employee) says
"This place is terrible, do NOT work here. This place only cares about making a profit. Everyday they take away more and more employee perks in an effort to save a dollar. Cons: Everything"CARNIVAL GAMES SALES CLERCK (Current Employee) says
"Working at universal studios is like high school all over again. Full of favorites who always get treated better & full of petty managers who Harass their team members over text for calling in sick Cons: Lack of team work"Janitorial Worker (Current Employee) says
"They do not care about anything that goes on and when it is brought to attention nobody seems to care. The company has amazing benefits, great perks with the company but the management is terrible and if you want to move up it’s just raw favoritism at its finest."In-Park Bartender (Current Employee) says
"-They will put you through 2 weeks of intense training, the training has little to nothing to do with the position of bartender. Cons: Poverty, False Promises of Shifts, Zero Effort to Help Employees who WANT to work"Parking Attendant (Former Employee) says
"all rejects end up in the parking lot they promise you a fun job but its not even remotely fun. Get ready to be stressed out all day by management and rude employees Cons: They Micro manage everything!!!!!"Manager (Former Employee) says
"When working with peers and teams, the work environment can be fun and rewarding. It's awesome to see Guests enjoying their day at the Park and interacting with them. Unfortunately what outweighs all of this is a level of leadership incompetence I've never witnessed before, and a toxic work culture. I routinely encountered executives gossiping about other executives and employees behind their backs, to employees. They executive team does not get along. It's a Department Hunger Games with no cooperation between departments. The President doesn't hold any of the executives accountable for really anything at all. You have a Wild West culture, top down driven and antiquated. I was hired because of my previous experience and expertise but was never allowed to contribute what I was hired for. I observed this happen to many others as well. The "lifers" resist anything that is new or a threat. I would not recommend working here to anyone. Cons: Toxic work culture, a bit underpaid compared to market value."Director (Current Employee) says
"Indiscriminate layoffs and furloughs except for upper management who are all white - no diversity except at lower levels. Favoritism is rampant and HR pays no attention"Social Media
TinkerTink says
"Made a trip to Universal Studios CityWalk in Hollywood today. ?? I picked up: the classic, I miss the original Kin… https://t.co/ZPwKVkzKbZ"Eric Oh says
"RT @carlyewisel: Universal Studios Hollywood CityWalk promoting itself as an outdoor gym is truly not a bad idea since eating a Voodoo Donu…"Jenny Stringfellow ??? says
"RT @carlyewisel: Universal Studios Hollywood CityWalk promoting itself as an outdoor gym is truly not a bad idea since eating a Voodoo Donu…"? VERY AMUSING WITH CARLYE WISEL ? OUT NOW! says
"Universal Studios Hollywood CityWalk promoting itself as an outdoor gym is truly not a bad idea since eating a Vood… https://t.co/zOhzrmiOxF"In The News
KTLA Los Angeles reports
"Universal Studios Hollywood cancels Halloween Horror Nights amid coronavirus pandemic"/FILM reports
"Theme Park Bits: Universal CityWalk Reopened, Halloween Horror Nights, and More"insideuniversal.net reports
"Universal Orlando offering BOGO ticket for Halloween Horror Nights 30"The Motley Fool reports
"Universal Studios Hollywood Has Opened for Business"