Rising Star is alright -- it can definitely be hard to find a seat, but once you do, the singers are always good and the energy is fun. The drink prices aren't too bad either, and if you're looking for a spot to get up on stage after being in the park, this is your place. It's one of those venues where the crowd really gets into it, which makes the performances even better. The setup feels lively, the staff keeps things moving, and it's a cool way to wind down after a long day. If you enjoy karaoke with a theme‑park twist, you'll probably have a good time here. read more

This place is so cool! I feel like I've heard about venues like this but never actually been to one until I had a chance to experience it with a conference who rented out the entire upper tier of city walk complete with rising star, the Bob Marley Pl. and the Irish pub with dueling pianos. Rising star was such a treat. The band and backup singers and the host were all really talented. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I don't believe food is served at this establishment. If it is, we did not order any. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - This is so cool! - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Spent a Saturday night here with the karaoke. They do karaoke well here with back up singers, an MC and a band. It was a really fun night. The place was packed and has two levels. The restrooms are upstairs and there is an elevator if you need it. There are also stairs, but they are pretty steep. Received great service here, but the drinks are all Universal prices. They have a full bar and a decent selection of craft beers. A mixed drink and a beer was like $33. Still, the show was great and this is definitely a place I would come back to. read more

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So my cousin, brother, and I went out following dinner and had an amazing experience. Initially I had no intention of singing, but after my cousin sang twice, I felt obligated. I put to options down and dropped the sheet of at the stage. The experience is so cool. You are on a stage with a band and back up singers which just amps you up. I ended up singing Sweet Caroline and the crowd was feeling it. Highly recommend, but come prepared. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Me and my friends went for a night out on our Bachelorette trip. The sweetest guy named bradly made our experience so amazing. He approached me and asked if we wanted a table. Even though it looked like none were available. He asked to give him a few mins and he returned to bring us to the best table in the club. We felt like royalty. And like we were bestfriends. And took the night from fun to the best girls night ever. Such a genuine angel. I would 100 percent recommend. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - The group of girls - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

So, so fun. The vibe was 5 stars, no question! We went on a night where there's a live band and backup singers. We didn't get a chance to sing but I'm sure you truly feel like a musical artist up there. The host and DJ were fantastic. I could've stayed all night. The only hiccup was the food. I ordered a pizza and it took literally an hour to arrive. The server kept saying "I don't know what's taking so long", and apologizing, but giving no explanation. once it finally came out, it was the wrong pizza. They comped it and the manager apologized. The issue was that the pizza is made at a neighboring restaurant, maybe something fell through the cracks or she forgot to put it in. They didn't even tell me this much, I just figured it out because the pizza came in a box with another places name on it. It happens but it out a damper on the experience, just getting a constant run around. read more

This place is a good time if you just want to watch and have a good time seeing other people's hidden signing talent... OR seeing how they make a fool of themselves for a little bit it's really fun. I recommend you come after 10:30pm, since the place has more energy then... if you come early (9pm) since it's pretty empty at the beginning. The servers are super nice and helpful, drinks are good too. Food... they are very transparent, it comes from the restaurants downstairs and it can take over an hour. Good experience, have been here multiple times, bring the right crowd! read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Stage - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Pros: What a fun place to go to for karaoke! The backup singers are amazing and fun to watch. Cons: Could use more song choices. One patron was barely able to make it outside, and hanging on their friend to help them outside. The service is good in that it's quick but the attitude from the ladies serving was just terrible. One particular lady (4'11ish, blonde, older) was literally pushing past people instead of saying or even yelling excuse me, hit people when trying to open a cabinet for the trash bin...they looked angry the entire night. Not the vibe you'd want to go for when you're at an amazing karaoke lounge in such a high traffic area. read more

What an amazing atmosphere! We came here on a Sunday so it wasn't as jam-packed as it usually is but the vibes from all the singers and the host and backup were great! My only critique is that the drink options are limited. We tried to order a few drinks but they didn't have them available. I wish it was just a bit more options for us to choose from. Overall though, it was a great time! read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Let's get it Juju!! - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Great ambience where else can you go and sing karaoke with a live band and backup singers. The team on stage were very entertaining and encouraging. Service was odd. They took our order. Gave us the bill and then made us pay then got the drink. Just different when sitting down and not walking up at the bar read more

It's a karaoke place in the middle of an amusement park. Kids everywhere but they don't allow kids. They sell beer,pizza (kids foods) and cocktails. It makes no sense to have a place like this not allow kids in the middle of an amusement park. Even the coconut club (a real deal nightclub next door ) allows kids. Walk down the street and bob marleys, pat o'briens, etc they all allow children. People come to universal studios because they bring guess what, kids. Hopefully universal studios citywalk management starts looking at the rules of who they lease to based on the demographics of the people that attend the amusement park. Also we spoke to some nearby police and they told us pretty much every arrest at citywalk comes out of this particular establishment. read more

First time I was here and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and how fun it was. I love how you have your own personal back up that made you so comfortable. Great place to go with friends read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Love love love the vibe of this place. But then I also love anything Karaoke. A friend recommended this place and it was the best. You actually sing with a live band plus back up singers. Wanna be a star for the night! This is the place to be! This place doesnt have cover. However, gwt ready to spend on drinks. Their drinks are actually $$$ But when you think abt it, how would they actually earn money otherwise?!! I am definitely coming back! Happy Singing!!! read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Rising Star is a great place to go and enjoy yourself. They have seating on two floors waitresses and a bar! The restrooms are on the second floor but there is an elevator. They offer pizza it was overall a fun night out! You will need your ID to enter. This place was entertaining! read more

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Love the concept of City Walk's Rising Star! They have a live band and backup singers perform on the weekends with you as you karaoke. They also had great security and were very good at checking ID. The selection of music is awesome and the MC is always entertaining. My biggest complaint from Rising Star is always the lack of food options. You can now order pizza from a server, whereas before you could not get any food. People can be waiting for several hours for their turn to sing, so drinking for that long without any food can be a challenge. As is a trend with City Walk the drinks are fairly strong. We arrived around 11:30pm and were told they were no longer serving pizza, so we went without. Otherwise great experience! read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Planning to celebrate my 51st birthday along with 24 of my friends, ready to spend lots of money on food and drinks and called for weeks to get a large group reservation. We followed instructions on the message from their phone line instructing us to email for group reservations or leave a message there as well...we did both, daily,and never received a call. I called Guest Services, who couldn't help either. We are Universal pass holders and Orlando residents. You would think they would want to take even more of our money for a large group party like ours, but to not even get a call back and be told by Guest Services, "just show up and come early and hope for a table." Ummmmm, NO! First of all, 23 of us were going to pay Universal to park, then go spend more money at Rising Star. Why in the world would we pay to park and possibly not even get a reservation once there? Where else would 24 people just casually walk in without a reservation and get served. You've lost my business, Universal, and you need to address what taking care of guests looks like. read more

We were here recently with some out-of-town friends. We took an Uber since we were both planning on having some drinks. This place is much more fun after some drinks. The music greatly depends on the quality of karaoke singers. Luckily they have backup singers and a live band on some nights. They are incredibly talented. They don't serve food so you can bring food in from other restaurants. They might still take orders from the nearby pizza restaurant but it's quicker to order yourself. They're still not charging a cover. Drinks are expensive but you're paying for the entertainment as well. If you want to sing, get there early to put your name in. Be prepared for the entertainers to take 30 minute breaks after working one hour. The DJ plays dance music in between sets. It gets really busy on Friday and Saturday nights so if you get here after 10, you may not get a seat. Or you'll be sitting in the back of the balcony. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Singing and drinks from the balcony. - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Great place but a ceiling tile fell from the ceiling by the bar and almost hit the bartender Jordan so I marked a star down because of that. However, service was great! When I arrived I felt welcomed as the security checked me I. And the host answered my questions about the free singing! I love that. And food unfortunately was not available. The vibe and ambience is great. I felt the energy here and the sound system is really great with two back up singers. I highly recommend this spot but a review of the ceilings is important to keep staff and customers safe. read more

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were in a group of 6 last Friday night and we got in 9PM, submitted our names on the box by stage and we never got picked / never had the chance to sing on stage. We spent $300 drinks waiting until 12 midnight and yet most of those who sang were all "white " !!! so disappointing !!! read more

Rising Star at Universal CityWalk in Orlando offers karaoke with a live band and backup singers. It's an excellent experience and much cooler than regular karaoke. read more

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Great place to hit the highs and he lows, or just watch others. The place does not have food. Pizza is delivered from next-door. Our server was fast and attentive. The place is loud but fun. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - a microphone in front of a sign - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Unexpected fun! We were just walking by this place and went in just to check it out , ended up staying for hours ! There is no kitchen in this place so no real food, they offer pizza that comes from another shop downstairs. Full bar , tables downstairs and up. I recommend planning ahead and reserving a table bc they fill up fast then it's standing room only. There is a stage with full band and 2 back up singers. Very entertaining!!!!! read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - a band performing on stage - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

There is nothing like karaoke with a real band! We had so much fun! The waitress is constantly coming around to refresh your drinks and we didn't get food but we could've stayed for another few hours. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

What a fun place. This Live Karaoke is to Karaoke what Live Sushi is to a Sushi Buffet. That might not be the best analogy as no sea creatures are harmed (unless you watch me sing a Phish song). It was my very first time singing in front of people with clothes on, and having a bunch of strangers up there with you was comforting. The whole place has a different vibe than a karoake bar, and the host and band add to the experience. The crowd grows as the night goes on, and they get involved as well. Admission seems to be free which is awesome. Drinks aren't too crazy priced and all of ours seemed to be a bit strong, which could be a good thing. I think beer was like 8 or 9 bucks which isn't bad. Their cocktails are on par with prices at other places (14 bucks). Food was limited to just pizza, but that was good for a nice base for drinking. Service was surprisingly good. I was expecting it to be not-so-great being a touristy area, but our server was excellent and constantly kept asking if we needed anything. I saw the same level of service at other tables too. They can definitely improve on a few things to make it more enjoyable. 1) Why open at 7 when the show starts at 9? Seems like you can get the ball rolling a bit sooner. 2) Take shorter breaks - I understand the band needs a break, but playing for 45 minutes then taking a 30 minute break was a bit much. 3) Have a better method for choosing who sings - I was lucky and got picked (the crowd wasn't so lucky with that choice), but others in our group did not get chosen. And there were people that sang 2 or 3 times. Seems unfair. Also it seems that you have to submit songs for each set. And a lot of other people submitted songs that I'm sure didn't get to sing. 4) Get a better stairwell if you're going to have people go upstairs for the restroom. I felt like I was in a parking garage. 5) Faster Elevator with less confusing buttons - for those who don't take the stairs, there are too many buttons for a 2 story venue. Two big "Stage" and "Balcony" signs would go a long way. We'll probably go back but understand that maybe next time we won't be so lucky and get to sing. If you want to sing more than once, the odds are even less for that. But we had fun, and that's the part the counts. read more

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I came 3 times and didn't get on stage, everytime I came, it was around 8pm when I know it opens at 7. Each night there would be 5-8 people going 8 times and I'm not the only one to experience this. read more

A fun place to go when you're done with the parks! If you're into signing, this place is it. No judgment zone and the bar tenders are very friendly. Free cover fee and you have to be 21+ y/o to enter. The drinks are not that strong, but you get what you pay for. Seating was pretty tough and they had a lot of reserve signs at the more comfortable booths. I recommend coming here with a group of people. Also, the house rules are pretty simple. No cuss words in songs but... it happens anyways! read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

I've never done Karaoke, but I'm glad I was dragged here for a bachelorette party last night. Congratulations Momo on tying the know in a few days! I doubt you'll ever see this review, but the night will last forever in our minds! The atmosphere and energy here were amazing! It was a blast to see others go on stage and the audience was very supportive! They had an extensive list of songs to choose from and it was a nice mix of many styles. It was a bit disappointing that the only food they had was pizza. They weren't doing any of the small plates. Everything was fantastic except the service from the waitress. The bartender was fantastic! The waitress was awful. We were here for a party! The Bride to be was beautifully dressed in ribbon and tiara, and was completely ignored by the waitress! She passed up our party to take a slightly larger table that came in after us!! When asked for service, she was dismissive and told us to go to the bar. I've never had a party be dismissed before! Come for the atmosphere and a good time, but don't expect good service except at the bar! read more

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We came here from California and was looking forward to hear my daughter who was in a choir from UCLA and my husband who almost made it as a professional singer a long time ago. My daughter was never called. They were calling the same people. I'm here for the convention. We waited until almost 2 AM until I told my family we gave to go coz I need to be at the Convention at 7 AM. They just put the request in the bucket and cherry picked they want to play or people they want to perform. I understand that it's all for fun but we didn't even experienced that while visiting this place. All the performers were local. So disappointed. The server didn't even ask if we want to order food, if we're new to the place and where or how to order. It's like trying to find things blindly in a dark room. So if you're planning to sing, I wouldn't recommend coming to this place. read more

City Walk's Rising Stars was fun and a must do when in Orlando! This is not a clasic kareokee place, a life band and back up singers anyone will sound great, well, except for some people, there no help them LoL. We had a great time, service made sure we had constant drinks, which is important to get the courage to sing in front of people. The list of song is actually very large and they update constantly, most song are hits so you are able to sing along, there is something for everyone. You will have a great time and before you know it hours will have been gone by just singing along. read more

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We had SO much fun participating in and watching karaoke with the live band here. Lots of searing. The bar and service were great. read more

This was a fun place to go, however the service was awful. We got there at 7:15 and were told the karaoke would start at 8 pm. No mention that it was actually 9:15 until we saw another couple leave out of frustration. I voiced my frustration with our server, Jessica. She proceeded to add a 18% gratuity for "bottle service" when we had bought two bottles of wine. Sorry, but a screw off top bottle of wine that you brought and left at the table is NOT bottle service. This is also not posted or disclosed anywhere on Rising Star's website. Will not be back due to the lying and thievery that is supported by the managers of this establishment. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

This was the most fun I've had doing karaoke ever, the crowd, the band, everything was great, and for the location the drinks are actually pretty cheap I was honestly shocked, we stayed here for like four hours having a blast read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

The ultimate karaoke shindig. You even get your own set of background singers! Our first night was a few rounds of beverages. The second included appetizers. We returned because we enjoyed the lively and humorous karaoke. I highly recommend visiting The Rising Star if you ever find yourself in Orlando, or at Universal Studio's City Walk -- especially during the evening. read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Wow guys the most incredible experience I've ever had bombing on stage I cried and I fell. I tripped wait I just said I fell well ha ha ha ha you get the gist I had the. Time. Of. My. Life. I am so serious. I quite literally fell in love no seriously I propose to not just one but both of the backup singers and the drummer all knows. I appreciate the authenticity. You really can't get that kind of truth out here anymore. A lot of fakes just lying to your face you know. Anyway. This one is for Mario MARIOO LOOK MARIOO HERES THE LINK ! http://assets.universalparks.com/uniplay/uo/reopen/rising_star_tracklist.pdf read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - The song list QR code for my best friend Mario - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Wow! If you're into karaoke, this place is AWESOME!!! Karaoke with a live band and backup singers is just a whole other level. Such a cool concept. My first time at Rising Star was many moons ago and I actually sang Sweet Child O Mine. Cut to at least 10 years later and we went again to celebrate my daughter's 18th birthday. We had a large crowd with a reserved table right down in front. The hostess explained the process and how the band comes on at 9:15. But you can start putting your song choices into the bucket ahead of time. In fact, you'll want to get your songs in before 9 because they'll come take the cards before they band comes on and prep their set list. They take the song cards periodically through the evening so they can prep the song list during breaks. According to the staff and FAQs, the cards are pulled at random, but there are some general rules such as not performing the same song more than once, so you're highly encouraged to have a backup song or two listed. They also limit singers to one song a night to be fair to all the singers. Exception being if you're singing in a duet with someone else that hasn't sung. Yes, the drinks are pricey, but it's Universal Studios. I wouldn't expect anything less. There is also no cover charge so that helps. You can typically order food through your server from the nearby restaurants, but sometimes (and seems like often) you can only get pizza. You're welcome to go order food and bring it in yourself too so your options are quite flexible. I can see how some folks might be a little disappointed with the fact that being able to sing is not a guarantee. You'll see that bucket of song cards fill up several times/night so there is just no way they could get everyone on stage. Overall, I highly recommend it! read more

They sat us in the back with almost no view of the stage. I explained 3 times that we had reservations and they never listened or tried to accommodate us. Also they said they opened at 7 but never said anywhere when we reserved the table (that they refused to give us) that the Karaoke didn't start until after 9. read more

This was the final place my group and I hit while we were in Universal Citywalk. We had just had an amazing night and one of the guys wanted to go sing karaoke. We were all a little inebriated and decided... yes lets do that! We walked into Citywalk's Rising Star... and my mind was blown. I have been to other karaoke bar's before but never one that looked this good. The stage was professional... lights... backup singers... holy blank this was some crazy karaoke bar. I wanted to sign and a few others did too... sadly we came too close to closing time so we were not able to do it. The performances were phenomenal. My only gripe about this place was the bar... 30 minutes to get a drink? Ridiculous. Still i wish i would have had another day in Orlando to return. read more

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Awesome place to have fun after the parks close. Great energy and vibe. I love the back up dancers and drummer and whole production of this place very extra lol!! This place is awesome. Not many options for songs but that's understandable because of the high production. Highly recommend!! read more

CityWalk's Rising Star - Updated song list - May 2023 - Bars Near Me - Orlando, Florida

If you're looking for a super fun place to sing karaoke, this is definitely it. The wait to sing wasn't too long, and they give you the whole stage and a full band. Honestly it's an awesome experience in and of itself. If you're with a larger party be wary, the service isn't great and the drinks are very expensive. But the atmosphere is super cool! read more

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Always love this club in City Walk! Great time, drinks, and love the karaoke entertainment. They have a live band and DJ on the weekends with back up singers when guests are doing karaoke! Check it out after a day in the parks! read more