Tom attended the first two nights of the inaugural Universal Fan Fest Nights event at Universal Studios Hollywood and is now here to bring his honest review.
Honest Review of Universal Fan Fest Nights
Universal Fan Fest Nights is a special ticketed event taking place on select dates from April 25 though May 18, 2025. The event includes special food, merchandise, and activities themed to seven different franchises including Back to the Future, Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, Star Trek, Yoshi for Super Nintendo World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Dungeons & Dragons. The general ticket price is $74 for just Universal Fan Fest Nights, with add-ons or additional time in the park increasing the cost.
For the sake of our honest review, we will break the event experiences into categories by franchise. We will also focus more on our thoughts and opinions about the event rather than the overall mechanics or offerings, since we already have detailed overviews of all the individual activities (which we will link in their respective sections if you want to read more).
First things first: this is an honest review. We paid for the Universal Fan Fest Nights tickets with our own money and attended regular opening night, not any sort of media preview. If you’ve come in with an open mind and want to hear why we like or dislike the event or certain parts of it, then keep reading.
Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley
To start off the event, one of the largest draws for Universal Fan Fest Nights is the chance to visit the original Hill Valley set during Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley. The way Destination Hill Valley operates is not dissimilar to the Terror Tram during Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. Guests board the tram at the upper lot, travel to the lower lot for a relatively-self contained experience, and then return to the upper lot when the experience is complete. In the case of Destination Hill Valley, one complete storyline lasts roughly 45 minutes.
In a single sentence, Destination Hill Valley is undoubtedly the best part of Universal Fan Fest Nights. Just this experience alone is well worth the cost of a Fan Fest Nights Ticket. The whole thing feels like a time-condensed version of the Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World. Like the Starcruiser, trained actors playing characters from Back to the Future reenact certain set story points that all lead to an epic conclusion at the end of the event, but guests can also interact with the characters and have a notable effect on the story. All of the characters are walking freely though the Hill Valley set, so it also gives Destination Hill Valley an immense re-experience value because you can follow a different story every time.
We don’t want to spoil everything, because discovery is definitely part of the fun. However, one of our favorite moments included the scene on the clocktower steps where Marty convinces Doc Brown he really traveled back in time. Guests who chose to interact with the “save the clocktower” lady near the entrance to the experience will be holding one of the flyers with the date on them. During the scene, Marty asks guests if they are holding one of the flyers for him to help explain how he knows when lightning will strike. You can see guests’ eyes light up as they realize they just became part of their favorite movie, in a simple setup that could have been a throwaway moment.
In a similar vein, we absolutely have to applaud all of the performers bringing Destination Hill Valley to life. Not only were they extremely enthusiastic and ready to interact with guests, but they were also astoundingly similar to the original characters from the film. Several times during the night, we were caught off guard by how accurate the appearance, mannerisms, and voices of the performers were to their film counterparts. There was not a single weak link out of all the characters, and they were simply perfect. We would also shout out the singers for the gas station show (they are the Texaco dancers, but remain unbranded for the sake of this experience) as well as the live band playing time-appropriate songs for the dance. Again, they were all perfect.
We were also impressed with the way the original film is twisted to fit the space for Destination Hill Valley, since the whole experience takes place in the single outdoor set. The original Enchantment Under the Sea dance did not take place outside, but Universal has created a really lively festival atmosphere that helps the outdoor nature of the events make sense. It feels as though you have time traveled to a neighborhood festival or party. This is partially achieved using outdoor pay-to-play carnival games, which we don’t mind as much as we thought we would. While the games are still simple and somewhat expensive, they guarantee each player a prize. When we were there, several of the prizes were special “Back to the Future” plushies that helped them feel worthwhile. The games also lead to more fun character moments, with Biff heckling guests near the strength challenge game being one example.
If we had to nitpick this experience at all, we would simply improve a few of the small effects. When boarding the tram, guests are supposed to be time traveling back to the year 1955. However, as the video hosted by Doc Brown explains, the time travel is so instantaneous you won’t actually feel it. This is used to explain away the fact that there is no real time travel effect while on the tram, you simply arrive at the set in 1955. We would love to see a small lighting effect or even a short drive-through tent to really sell the time travel component.
One other effect that we would love to see improved is the grand finale, which does not literally reenact “Back to the Future” as much as we would’ve liked. Rather than take a more practical approach, the ending involves a projected scene from the original film playing on the clocktower facade with some small spark effects. There is also a small fire trail effect with the spinning license plate positioned near the clocktower as a photo-op. We heard the original plan was for this fire trail to appear after the finale, furthering the idea that the car disappeared, but the effect was built in such a way that it remains lit for the entire night. Again, this is a simple fix that could be made even better if the event returns.
Our only other critique of Destination Hill Valley is more operational. As advertised, guests can meet with Einstein the dog as a photo op near the DeLorean vehicle. This is a highlight of the night and definitely worth waiting for, but it appeared the Team Members were not prepared for just how long the line grew to be. The line started extending into the main guest walkway and was later cut off without warning, leading to some guests being disappointed they missed the photo op. As Destination Hill Valley required coming down to the Lower Lot on the tram, it is not as though guests can simply “come back later” when the line is shorter.
Overall, Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley is definitely a must-do experience during Universal Fan Fest Nights. It will be the event of a lifetime for anyone who is a longtime lover of the film, but there is also plenty to still see and enjoy for a casual fan. We sincerely hope that if Universal Fan Fest Nights comes back next year, this will be back with an even bigger budget and more special effects.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Universal Studios Japan has already done several anime-inspired overlays of attractions and limited events, but they have never brought these overlays over to the United States. Our best guess is that Universal used Fan Fest Nights as an opportunity to test the waters and see if enough anime fans would come to make a bigger anime presence in the U.S. parks worthwhile. As a result, it felt as though Universal didn’t want to spend too much of the Fan Fest Nights budget on Jujutsu Kaisen.
The Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of the Cursed experience is a film that was originally aired in Universal Studios Japan. The film has not been altered in any way apart from being entirely in English. The script literally references Universal Studios Japan in a somewhat awkward moment that drew a few audience chuckles. The Universal Studios Japan version of this film was also 4D, but here it is presented in the DreamWorks Theatre that usually hosts Kung Fu Panda. Without the 3D or 4D effects, the film feels a little flat compared to some of the other Fan Fest Nights offerings.
As a side note, this film also goes right into Jujutsu Kaisen lore with the assumption that guests are already pretty familiar with the franchise. As a result, anyone without at least a basic knowledge of Jujutsu Kaisen may find this show hard to follow. On the other hand, fans who specifically came for Jujutsu Kaisen still found the film unique since it had not been previously available in the U.S., so there did not seem to be any major complaints.
As we will discuss more with One Piece, the anime fans definitely turned up in droves for Universal Fan Fest Nights. We would easily say that there were as many Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece fans as there were Back to the Future fans, and they likely took the crown for most represented franchises amongst guests. As a result, we wished these Jujutsu Kaisen fans had a little more to do during Universal Fan Fest Nights apart from the movie and some themed food.
One Piece
One Piece was represented at Universal Fan Fest Nights with a massive meet and greet experience collectively called One Piece: Grand Pirate Gathering. New York Street in the Upper Lot was rethemed to include some pirate regalia and several pieces of One Piece iconography, such as the skull-and-crossbones of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Thousand Sunny. There were a total of three meet and greet spots. The first spot was used exclusively by Luffy, the second spot housed Zoro & Nami as a set, and the third spot included Usopp & Sanji as another set.
As we mentioned with Jujutsu Kaisen, it was quite apparent that more anime fans turned out for Fan Fest Nights than Universal anticipated. The lines for the One Piece meet and greets were easily the longest of the night along with Yoshi and the DeLorean. However, this was also partially due to the fact that the performers really took the time to interact personally with each guest and spend a few minutes, rather than rushing everyone though with a quick picture. So while the line was long, fans who waited in it said their experience was worth the investment. Overall, we were impressed Universal took so much time to appropriately theme the space for what is an after-hours event.
In one other example of unexpected demand, the merchandise for both Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece also started selling out within the first few days. We visited on the very first night, and a few items Universal had previewed online were already gone. Since many of the anime items are being shipped from Japan, we highly doubt they will return anytime soon.
We had no real complaints about the One Piece activities, the meet and greet characters were all excellent. However, we did feel that the anime fans had less to do compared to some of the other franchises during the night, especially when compared to the level of demand these franchises had. If Fan Fest Nights comes back, Universal should double-down on all of the anime offerings to give them more to do, because we feel it would be more than a worthwhile investment. As one example, we know One Piece has had a water-based pirate show that takes place in the Universal Studios Japan WaterWorld Theater. Could we maybe bring this over?
Yoshi at Super Nintendo World
Moving on to Super Nintendo World, we get to what we considered to be some of the low points for the night. However, a large part of our disappointment was due to operational errors that could be fixed in the future. It just felt like the Team Members in the land were a bit overwhelmed.
For Super Nintendo World, Universal decided to focus the theme of the night specifically on Yoshi. While Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge was operating, it had no special theming and never gathered a large crowd. The two main draws that were unique to Fan Fest Nights were the ability to meet Green Yoshi and a special Yoshi egg hunt. However, one important note that was not well-advertised before the event is that Fan Fest Nights runs until 2 a.m., but Super Nintendo World closes at midnight.
Green Yoshi is unique in that he has never met guests as an official meet and greet prior to Fan Fest Nights. In fact, the only other time Yoshi has been seen as a costumed character was during the 2023 NO LIMIT! parade in Universal Studios Japan.
As one would expect, then, Yoshi was another popular character with some of the longest wait times of the whole night. Despite this, Yoshi’s last meet and greet time was at 11:30 p.m. It was even more strange because they cut the line at around 11:22 p.m., so some guests who knew about the early end still missed the queue. Adding to the confusion, a Team Member at the entrance told guests that Yoshi would come back at midnight, which is actually when the land closed. To be clear, we absolutely don’t blame the Team Member for having the wrong information, we only blame the management for not properly informing everyone working Super Nintendo World what the times were.
We also had issues with the operating time for Super Nintendo World running up against the time for the egg hunt. For the Yoshi egg hunt, guests get a headband at the entrance and get egg stickers from a nearby Team Member whenever they find an egg. Once the headband is filled, the guest can return to a redemption area for a hidden prize.
We arrived in Super Nintendo World at 11:30 p.m., unaware that it closed at midnight. The Team Members simply handed us our egg hunt headbands without mentioning that we likely wouldn’t have time to complete the hunt and get the prize. This is especially true because the Team Members at each station were trying to properly align the stickers to not ruin guests’ headbands, so getting each sticker takes longer than one would anticipate. We also had an issue toward the end where one of the Team Members ran out of stickers, and he only explained it to the nearest group of people before completely disappearing.
By the time we walked back to the front of the land to ask about the missing sticker, the headband table was gone and the land was closing with no warning. We were later told that Team Members continued to hand out the headbands until about 11:50 p.m., so many people were unable to complete the hunt. They did give us a final sticker, but we had no way to get the prize. Later in the night, a Team Member mentioned to us that the same timing issue took place during the Team Member preview for Fan Fest Nights and was never rectified.
Since we had tickets for two nights in a row, we decided to bring back our completed headband the next night for a prize redemption. We had no problem with this and the Team Member let us get in line. The amazing part is that the hidden prize is actually a secret meet and greet with either Pink Yoshi or Blue Yoshi at random. We met Blue Yoshi, and it was an amazing feeling to have a whole secret meet and greet experience for simply completing the scavenger hunt.
However, this also leads to one more major operational issue. Since meeting a character takes several minutes, the line for redeeming the headband prize quickly grew out of control. A group only a little behind us had to wait a total of 90 minutes just for their prize. This meet and greet absolutely needs more capacity, since it quickly became a major event once word got out that you could meet another Yoshi.
As a result, Super Nintendo World was easily the weakest and most disappointing aspect of the night. At least the Yoshi merchandise and the themed Yoshi food was very cute.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter had no major overlays for the event, only a few special interactions with magical creatures. The creatures take more cues from the “Fantastic Beasts” films and include a baby dragon, Occamy, and Niffler. The Niffler and baby dragon were previously seen in Universal Studios Japan, but the Occamy was new for Fan Fest Nights.
These interactions were all wonderful, and the performers working alongside the puppets absolutely sold the experience. The puppets moved and made noises just like they were real, and guests are allowed to get close enough to really see all of the small details. In the case of the Occamy, a few guests were even allowed to pat its head in a great moment. We are glad Universal has finally started to realize the importance of live entertainment, because these simple additions brought the land to life.
This being said, we have to admit that Harry Potter fans were likely the least represented out of all the franchises during the event. There were many more guests wearing Star Trek uniforms, One Piece pirate garb, or medieval cosplay for Dungeons & Dragons than there were Harry Potter robes. At the end of the day, these interactions were probably not enough to sell tickets solely to Harry Potter fans, and most of the guests in this area felt like they were just stopping by on their way to something else.
If this event comes back next year, we highly recommend Universal expand the offerings further by bringing over the Pygmy Puff Lady and the Hippogriff from Universal Studios Japan. It was actually a little strange that the Pygmy Puff Lady was not present, since a large portion of the Harry Potter merchandise for the event was Pygmy Puff-themed.
The only area in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter that drew a bigger crowd was the Three Broomsticks, since it had a special three-course meal specifically for Fan Fest Nights. A reservation to dine is encouraged, but we never needed one. This was easily one of the best meals we have ever eaten at Universal, and sitting down to eat a full meal felt great in the middle of all the walking.
Star Trek: Red Alert
For Star Trek, Fan Fest Nights had the first of two activities that we equated to the houses at Halloween Horror Nights. In a similar fashion, guests go through a themed building as a type of walkthrough experience with a specific plot, effects, and performers. For Fan Fest Nights, it was called Star Trek: Red Alert.
One thing we noticed when entering Red Alert is that since this event is not horror-themed, the space is well-lit and naturally requires many more finished details. In this regard, Red Alert knocked it out of the park. This is not a permanent installation, but the sets felt solid and real rather than hastily put-together. Considering the main bridge of the Enterprise is a screen-used set from “Star Trek: Picard” and the other rooms are not, there was no notable difference in the quality of the rooms. The performers, costuming, and lighting effects for each of the scenes also felt very high-quality for a temporary event.
The excellent set is let down a little by the story of Red Alert, which feels somewhat convoluted. In an effort to get guests into multiple spaces across the ship during what is supposed to be an emergency situation, some of the scenes feel a little rushed and pieced-together. But, this space has plenty of opportunities to create a completely new story, and we would be happy to see it again in the future with a slightly stronger plot.
As a related note, we also enjoyed the themed area for the Star Trek Food. For Fan Fest Nights, Hollywood & Dine is re-themed to Quark’s Cafe. We expected this to just be a few changed menu screens and some unique food, but Team Members actually added Star Trek props and placed temporary signage over the usual decor. Again, it was a lot of effort for a temporary event that we appreciated.
Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep
We will preface this paragraph by admitting we have practically no knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons. As a result, we were a little concerned when entering this activity that it would be a major lore dump similar to Jujutsu Kaisen. We were very, very wrong.
Secrets of Waterdeep is the second activity that is similar to a HHN house walkthrough. But if we were being completely honest, this is even better than several of the horror houses. The sets in this space are amazing, and they feel even bigger because there are fantasy dungeons and forests that are made to look like they extend beyond the actual room. We were shocked by the level of puppets and animatronics; they absolutely nailed the characters in a way that somehow looks both real and accurate to the game.
We also have to give this walkthrough kudos for being so well-written that it was easy to understand, even as someone with no knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons lore. It was clear that there were hidden Easter eggs and inside jokes for longtime fans, but we never felt lost or confused. Between this and Red Alert, we would give the point to Secrets of Waterdeep.
The fact that depressed us the most about Secrets of Waterdeep is that no one seemed to be giving it the respect it deserved. There was practically no line for this activity the entire night, and most people could turn around and enter again right after they left.
We implore you. Even if you care nothing about Dungeons & Dragons, you must absolutely experience Secrets of Waterdeep.
Overall Thoughts
Universal Fan Fest Nights is far better than we anticipated, and well worth a visit for anyone who likes any one of the seven main franchises represented during the event. Back to the Future is definitely the highlight activity of the night, and we would rank Dungeons & Dragons as second in terms of quality. All of the anime themed activities for One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen were well-populated, though we hope if this event comes back that Universal spends the money to make them much bigger. We enjoyed Star Trek for its commitment to theming, and Harry Potter was great if nothing spectacular. Our only major detractor for the night was Super Nintendo World, though most of the problems stemmed from operational issues rather than the concept.
The value for the event is also great compared to the ticket cost, since Fan Fest Nights runs from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. and only costs $74 for a base ticket. There is plenty of time to focus on the franchise you want first and still take part in most of the other activities without feeling the need to rush.
We sincerely hope Universal Fan Fest Nights comes back bigger and better next year, and we could see it rivaling Universal’s other seasonal events once it has a few years to grow. Likewise, we have high hopes this event will make its way to Universal Studios Florida in the coming years. If you have the chance to attend, you won’t be disappointed.
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Will you be attending Universal Fan Fest Nights, or have you already taken part in one of the events? Let us know in the comments.
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