Theme parks love after-hours events. They are a great way to use their assets during the off-hours during slower periods. Many of these offerings have found success such as Halloween Horror Nights, Very Merry Christmas Parties, and more. Meanwhile, others such as the Pirate & Princess event haven’t been as well received. It appears that “success” lies in making these experiences annual traditions that guests will want to experience over and over again. Perhaps that is why holiday based events seem to be more popular than others. Even the most successful Disneyland After Dark is Sweethearts’ Nite which occurs around Valentine’s Day.
Now, Universal Studios Hollywood is trying to break through with a new after-hours event that they hope will become an annual tradition for fans of science-fiction, fantasy, and anime. When we attended a briefing on the event — dubbed Universal Fan Fest Nights — it actually sounded like a real blast.
Fan Fest Nights are being billed as if Halloween Horror Nights met Comic-Con. It has the immersive experiences of the spooky event, but around franchises that have passionate fan bases. Each feature is tailored to the franchise so the experiences are different — but all of them will be supported by unique food & beverage as well as a merchandise assortment.
Star Trek: Red Alert is a pulsed walk-through experience that takes you to the Starfleet Museum and aboard the Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Board a shuttle, visit sick bay, ride a turbolift, walk aboard the bridge used in Star Trek: Picard, and then hop on a transporter bay to beam back down to earth. This is not just a walk through sets — there is storytelling throughout, as your visit doesn’t go as planned. The offering, which seems to be located in the old Walking Dead walkthrough attraction, is giving off vibes of the old Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas. I am really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
A similar experience is Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep. The walkthrough quest is designed to cater to D&D fans as well as those who may be less familiar with the game. One neat thing about this adventure is that the finale brings you face-to-face with the legendary beholder Xanathar who was designed by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. The whole thing is featured in an entire soundstage on the lower lot, so I imagine it will be epic in scale.
Sections of the Upper Lot will be transformed into the One Piece: Grand Pirate Gathering. This part of the event takes the form of an experience zone, unlike the linear previous two offerings. This area will feature immersive environments, photo ops, and meet & greets.
Another anime feature is right next door as the Dreamworks Theater will be transformed to host Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of the Cursed. This experience is being brought over from Universal Studios Japan.
Existing lands are also being plussed for the event. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will debut the Hogwarts Always show from Florida. Guests will also get to meet new creatures with the Niffler and Baby Dragon making their Hollywood debut and the Occamy making its world debut.
Super Nintendo World is celebrating Yoshi who will meet guests for the first time. But there will also be a scavenger hunt for Yoshi eggs — and guests who complete the challenge will get to meet an alternate color Yoshi. There will also be a drone show throughout the night.
But perhaps the marquee experience of the event fittingly takes place on the Universal Backlot. Guests will board the famous studio trams and go 88 miles per hour to travel back in time to Courthouse Square of 1955. Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley will feature new decor, performers, an extension of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, and a climatic recreation of the famous clocktower scene. This sounds like a real blast.
While I am not familiar with every franchise being featured in Universal Fan Fest Nights, I am excited to see how they bring these experiences to life. Universal has found great success with their immersive Halloween offerings and I am excited to see what they do when focused on less frightening stories. Hopefully they will make fans of all the franchises have a special event they will remember.
Tickets for Universal Fan Fest Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood will go on sale today, January 29th.
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