What if there was a scare-free version of Halloween Horror Nights for fraidy cats (like me)? That’s the quickest way I can sum up Universal Fan Fest Nights, a new after-hours event at the L.A. theme park.
The open-till-2am specially-ticketed series runs on select nights from April 25 to May 18 and brings together an unexpected mix of franchises for walk-throughs (Back to the Future, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Trek), character photo ops (One Piece, Wicked) and screenings (Jujutsu Kaisen). The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has a new castle projection show, “Hogwarts Always,” for the occasion, along with appearances from the platypus-esque Niffler and serpentine Occamy. And Super Nintendo World sees the debut of meet-and-greets with Yoshi.
The clear standout, though, is the Back to the Future experience, an interactive recreation of Hill Valley in 1955 on the very same section of the backlot where the 1985 film was shot. Hop aboard the studio tour tram and you’ll be whisked down to Courthouse Square, where you can roam around on foot as familiar scenes spontaneously play out around you (and actors may even chat you up in-character). It’s just an absolute delight, and I’d definitely encourage you to spend enough time down here to see every possible scene from Marty McFly, Doc Brown and the rest of the lead characters.
Elsewhere, the Dungeons & Dragons walk-through looks mostly cool (particularly an excellent Xanathar puppet crafted by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop), though a bit of a role-playing tease toward the start doesn’t actually materialize into any sort of storytelling agency. And the panicky Star Trek one… well that definitely doesn’t feel worth the wait (and also makes a case for why Horror Night’s lights-turned-real-low ambience works best for these sorts of soundstage walk-throughs).
Food and photo op lines are also a little all over the place. (You’re welcome to come in costume, by the way, as long as you follow these guidelines.) I excitedly waited less than 15 minutes for the debut of Yoshi, who you can pose for photos with just inside the entrance of Super Nintendo World. That’s also where you can pick up a paper crown for a scavenger hunt that’ll have you searching for Yoshi eggs around the land. In theory, you flag down an employee for a sticker when you find one; in reality, you can just join the very obvious sticker line. That took me about 15 minutes to complete, and after I’d stickered all of the empty slots on my crown, I was able to join a mystery line—that I ended up being in for an hour, and it was ultimately just to meet a pink variant of Yoshi.
On the other hand, wait times for rides were basically nothing. And since the price of admission is as much as $60 less than a daytime ticket, that just might be the reason to attend. So if I were to do it all again? I’d for sure make sure to tackle the Mario Kart, Harry Potter and Jurassic World rides (those all close a bit early).