Universal Hollywood hosted its first-ever Fan Fest Nights event on nine select nights this past May. The best news is that it was a fantastic event and will be back in spring 2026! Fan Fest Nights included interactive walk-through experiences like Star Trek: Code Red and Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley, plus character meet and greet experiences from One Piece and Jujutsu to Wicked, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Dungeons & Dragons. The event was rounded out with themed menus, merchandise, and music that made the entire event feel like the ultimate fan event with something for everyone.
We had such a memorable time at the 2025 Fan Fest Nights; we would love to see future iterations at both Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort. It was hard to narrow down all the reasons we thought Fan Fest was a success, and we think there is plenty of reason to attend again next year!
Themed Dining
During the 2025 Fan Fest Nights, we enjoyed both of the Star Trek-themed food areas – Quark’s Café and the 10 Forward Bar. Not only were the menus great with a good variety, but we also really appreciated the attention to detail in terms of theming and creating spaces that felt entirely new.
Cardassian Dog – Hot Cheeto covered Korean-style corn dog with Yamok sauce, made with smoked gouda, nacho cheese, gochujang, and jalapenos.
Ceti Eel Margarita – White Claw Premium Vodka, lime juice, agave, pineapple juice, jalapeno syrup, and bitters, garnished with electric fire dust and a gummy Ceti Eel.
Halloween Horror Nights-Style Walk-Through Experience
When we first heard about the Star Trek: Red Alert experience, it felt like every scaredy cat’s dream for Halloween Horror Nights. A walk-through “house” experience is something Universal Parks does so well, but has not been experienced outside of Halloween Horror Nights. Thankfully, Star Trek was the perfect choice and delivered on incredible theming, an easy-to-follow storyline, and impressive sets.
Star Trek: Red Alert took visitors on a visit to the Federation Fleet Museum with a special tour of the Enterprise-D. Along the way, a red alert is called as the Enterprise-D comes in contact with an unknown species. The high-stakes adventure takes visitors to the sickbay, where they can interact with Cardassian and Andorian crew members, and eventually step foot onto the actual bridge set from Star Trek: Picard (season 3).
What we loved about Star Trek: Red Alert is the level of immersion from both the actors and sets that made it a fun and exciting experience, regardless of whether or not you’re a Star Trek fan. It was an added bonus that pieces of an actual Star Trek set were used. We can only hope that Universal will expand on this concept for other properties.
Use of Real Sets and Immersive Character Interactions
Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley was so incredibly well-done that it alone would have been worth the ticket to Fan Fest, and we hope to see it return next year. Back to the Future Part II, perhaps? The biggest draw to this experience is that you are literally living out the Back to the Future film on the actual filming location from 1985. If you’ve visited Universal Hollywood before and went on the Universal Studios Tour, you’ve seen the infamous courthouse square home to Hill Valley in Back to the Future and other famous films like To Kill a Mockingbird and Gremlins. Not only is it a rare opportunity to hop off the tram and set foot on this historic film location, but you actually get to interact with characters like Marty, Doc Brown, and Lorraine.
What we didn’t expect from Fan Fest Nights is the level of detail that was added back to the “Hill Valley,” like the entrance to Lyon Estates, the spinning “OUTATIME” license plate with flames left from the DeLorean, and business fronts straight from 1955. We also couldn’t believe the way almost the entire film was acted out right in front of us – like Biff heckling George, Lorraine seemingly having a crush on Marty, Marty performing “Johnny Be Good” at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, and the clock tower being struck by lightning. All of these moments from the film were acted out in order, back to back, multiple times throughout the entire event.
The actors truly were amazing in the way they both interacted with people, posed for photos, and still kept the story going. There was even live music at both the car shop and the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. Of course, our favorite character had to be Einstein posing for photos inside the DeLorean.
Wide-Range of Fandoms
Surface level, the variety of movies and shows featured at Fan Fest Nights felt pretty random. The fact that you could meet Glinda and Elphaba from Wicked, Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece, a niffler from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, plus experience Stark Trek, Back to the Future, and Dungeons & Dragons all in one night is pretty wild. The funny thing is, it worked. We loved being in the company of so many different fans, all excited to be at Universal. We saw a lot of multi-generational families, each there for different franchises. We love that Universal selected properties as a fan-service and less to create a specifically-themed event.
Niche Merchandise
Not only was there plenty of 2025 Fan Fest Nights-branded merchandise, but also merchandise from each of the fandoms. A lot of this merchandise featured cosplay-type pieces, literal adaptations from movies, and souvenirs that were a “deep cut” for real fans. Examples of this include a plush Gelatinous Cube from Dungeons & Dragons, Ceti Eel earrings from Star Trek, and a Marty McFly puffer vest inspired by Back to the Future. The Fan Fest merchandise was a nice departure from your typical theme park t-shirts and coffee mugs. We hope this more literal, cosplay-type merchandise reappears for other Universal events.
Our expectations for Fan Fest Nights were completely exceeded, and we hope this inspires future Universal events. While Fan Fest Nights is confirmed for 2026, dates have yet to be announced. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as soon as we know more so you can make plans to attend… you’ll definitely want to! You can also learn more about our experience and enjoy some of the 2025 Fan Fest entertainment by watching our full video overview.
