Universal Fan Fest Nights - Coming 2025

[AlexanderMBush]

Home with the planter--have some thoughts.

First though; glad to see USH committing to more entertainment and seasonal offerings. I know it's something me and @Jonathan have talked about quietly; in the desire from the both of us in wanting USH to finally gear up for a new seasonal event. Be if it was for this, the return of LNY; or even something like Mardi Gras--we've needed a new Seasonal event for the park properly.

Alongside that, I am also genuinely happy to see Star Trek returning. Given how much that means with Paramount (and the fact that the well has basically opened for further collaboration essentially); I love the fact that we are getting a back/back with the hard ticket events on having IP from them.

Back To The Future is also fantastic to see, I wonder if they might convert one of the levels of Simpsons to be specifically BTTF going forward for FFN purposes (having it as a "permament" fixture for the event would make a lot of sense if this goes past year 1). Dungeon's & Dragons is also incredibly surprising. I didn't expect them to work with WOTC, so I am interested where things will go. If they can do a D&D house on the level of Dueling Dragons in Orlando; I'll be pumped.

As for the Anime--mind has to think One Piece for WaterWorld, or something in the DreamWorks Theater makes a lot of sense. I also wonder if we might get XR overlays of a Universal attraction in the process, to allow VR experiences. But overall; I am really happy to see USH finally dive into a non-horror Pop Culture event.

I think it's gonna do great with LA clienteles; especially if the lineup is strong.

 

[Tobias]

Glad to see this rumor finally came to fruition! I can see them testing the waters for this event at Hollywood before deciding to bring it to Orlando. As mentioned before, Orlando will be quite busy with Epic Universe next year, so it's a good move to have Hollywood get something like this first.

Since I'm up in the PNW, all they need to do is announce something like a One Piece show and/or a Demon Slayer walkthrough and I'm buying tickets asap, I'll gladly make a little weekend visit for something like this!

 

[BriefCasey]

I'm amazed that this is happening, especially since they'll be factoring in gaming and anime into this, and I'm excited for where they could go for these. I'm also really stoked at what could be done for BTTF too.

Hmmm, imagine if another Nintendo IP gets thrown into this.

I'm honestly wondering the same thing. Splatoon could be a fit if you want the festive vibes.

And on the subject of anime, it'd be really sick if they brought JoJo's Bizarre Adventure into the park, especially when that had a 4D theater ride over in Japan. They could theoretically put it in the DreamWorks theater and dub it with the English voices. Pretty sure they'd only need three of the voice actors for it (Matthew Mercer for Jotaro, Patrick Seitz for Dio and Richard Epcar for Joseph).

 

[ParkExplorer9513]

My Hero Academia also has a 4D show at USJ, but I think that would require more VAs from the dub. We can only speculate right now.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Since I'm up in the PNW, all they need to do is announce something like a One Piece show and/or a Demon Slayer walkthrough and I'm buying tickets asap, I'll gladly make a little weekend visit for something like this!

Fellow PNW man who took the leap in booking for HHN this year when hearing the Weeknd hubbub, echoing the statement that I might double-dip and do a trip in the Spring if it means I can experience Murdy and the HHN teams tackle Demon Slayer for a house-like experience. Also kind of hoping Dungeon's & Dragons is a house, if only to see what High-Fantasy can be dealt with by the HHN Hollywood teams.

Speaking of--one has to think Murdy is CD for this event too; right? Given the PR has specified HHN as a reference; it'd make some sense.

My Hero Academia also has a 4D show at USJ, but I think that would require more VAs from the dub. We can only speculate right now.

And on the subject of anime, it'd be really sick if they brought JoJo's Bizarre Adventure into the park, especially when that had a 4D theater ride over in Japan. They could theoretically put it in the DreamWorks theater and dub it with the English voices. Pretty sure they'd only need three of the voice actors for it (Matthew Mercer for Jotaro, Patrick Seitz for Dio and Richard Epcar for Joseph).

Outside of hoping for Demon Slayer, I wonder if they might try to do Chainsaw Man or Jujutsu Kaisen for the Cinema. I can easily see them wanting to incentivize on more "modern" (wild thing to say as DS is also modern) anime IP.

 

[Wesker69]

If this is meant to honor anime.. well... they might as well...

I hate you. Now I just had the visuals of Ash training via the Starway to this theme song.

Now I want the USH Pokémon training montage.
(and an ASH outfit)

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I hate you. Now I just had the visuals of Ash training via the Starway to this theme song.

Now I want the USH Pokémon training montage.
(and an ASH outfit)

Just don't prepare for Trouble (and to make it double) for when it doesn't show up for 2025's FFN.

Really hoping costuming policy is open for FFN like it is for HHN. Might dip money into a costume if they allow it; especially with D&D.

 

[Wesker69]

Really hoping costuming policy is open for FFN like it is for HHN.

I get around that "no costume" rule since the Bill & Ted attire is regular clothes

With that being said...
my Roronoa Zoro OnePiece shirt & Persona Joker long-sleeved tee are both ready for this event.
(along with my KingDom Hearts shoes & hoodie)

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

If only we'd gotten this like 5 years sooner and all the Doctor Who rumors for this event could actually come to pass
Still sounds cool though, I doubt we'll be getting full walk through attractions given the spring date means they'd probably have to start building them like straight after HHN and tear them down super quickly to be able to start HHN construction again in May-June ish, but I hope we at least get some cool stuff that isn't just photo ops, at least temporarily switch out the simpsons ride film with back to the future or something (if thats even possible), I'd go for that alone.

 

[Tobias]

Fellow PNW man who took the leap in booking for HHN this year when hearing the Weeknd hubbub, echoing the statement that I might double-dip and do a trip in the Spring if it means I can experience Murdy and the HHN teams tackle Demon Slayer for a house-like experience. Also kind of hoping Dungeon's & Dragons is a house, if only to see what High-Fantasy can be dealt with by the HHN Hollywood teams.

Speaking of--one has to think Murdy is CD for this event too; right? Given the PR has specified HHN as a reference; it'd make some sense.




Outside of hoping for Demon Slayer, I wonder if they might try to do Chainsaw Man or Jujutsu Kaisen for the Cinema. I can easily see them wanting to incentivize on more "modern" (wild thing to say as DS is also modern) anime IP.

Thinking about it, something that makes me fairly excited for any walkthrough is how Hollywood handled The Last of Us, specifically the various character moments in that maze. Those kinds of moments could be key in pulling off the walkthroughs, so I think they're up to the task.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Thinking about it, something that makes me fairly excited for any walkthrough is how Hollywood handled The Last of Us, specifically the various character moments in that maze. Those kinds of moments could be key in pulling off the walkthroughs, so I think they're up to the task.

It's why I am genuinely hoping D&D is a walkthrough. I think they have it in them on a creative level to convey the world of Faerûn and the sprawling life and creatures. Hell you could even include horror elements and it'd still be completely in line with the vastness that the Wizards of The Coast are known for in D&D's rich lore.

 

[DTH]

I think this is genuinely smart and benefits both theme park fans and the theme park. Halloween is obviously their moneymaker and I am sure they thought multiple times, "how do we make that money some other time in the year and have it make sense?" Six Flags bit the bullet and came up with Scream Break, which is a brilliant move and marketing idea, only problem is its Fright Fest level of terrible -- as I am sure if HHN did something similar, we'd be ecstatic. But how do cater to a similar size of fanbase and do something similar, in a different part of the year?

Fan Fest Nights. They even chose a name similar to Halloween Horror Nights so you know it's from the some people. Even before reading it was from the same creative team, I knew just from the branding. However, it does get my hopes a bit that we'll get walkthrough attractions. I'll be hopeful but will do my best not to be disappointed. Depending on what is included, I may not go. But if there's a Back to the Future maze? Or the ride is back up? Or there's a show? I'm there. I LOVE BTTF.

My best assumption also is walkthroughs/mazes/houses won't be scary. I still think that's a fun time as long as they offer a level of interaction, without breaking character, and without lines being clogged up of people trying to take pictures. There will definitely need to be giant areas for people to get there pictures in, because I want to hear Doc Brown be Doc, not have to stop every five seconds.

Also, this got me wondering...will there be "scarezones?" Will things be in one particular part of the park? Or will everything be jumbled up. There's so many possibilities and this is genuinely exciting. Between Vegas, this, and the usual HHN, Universal sure will have a lot of my money next year.

 

[Jamesh22]

This sounds amazing, BTTF / D&D and I'm there. BUT... is this just something they pulled together to fill in for pushing Hollywood Drift back to 2026? No new attraction so they had to do something.

 

[Wesker69]

I'm still in the camp of keeping this into realistic perspective & NOT going into this delusion of it being the scale of HHN. Especially when the park has to cater to the holiday season after HHN. My expectations are low because I've seen what Disneyland does for their "limited time separately $130 ticketed events".

I went to the one-night-only JP 25th anniversary event at USH. It was great, but very minimal.

There's a lot of unrealistic expectations for this. Just look back at Grad Nite or the USH-AP night. I'm sure we'll have to wait until November/December for more details.

 

[bdubsCEO]

I would love nothing more than to see Mel’s become Cafe 80s, and to see Simpsons become BTTF again for its final years of operation.

 

[Rideguy70]

Really hoping costuming policy is open for FFN like it is for HHN. Might dip money into a costume if they allow it; especially with D&D.

Universal in general is pretty open to costumes. Just think about all the Harry Potter cosplay you see regularly, as well as clarifying that costumes are now even allowed for HHN. I'd figure that fan based costumes would be half the appeal of events like these, and something I'd look forward to seeing.

I think this is genuinely smart and benefits both theme park fans and the theme park. Halloween is obviously their moneymaker and I am sure they thought multiple times, "how do we make that money some other time in the year and have it make sense?" Six Flags bit the bullet and came up with Scream Break, which is a brilliant move and marketing idea, only problem is its Fright Fest level of terrible -- as I am sure if HHN did something similar, we'd be ecstatic. But how do cater to a similar size of fanbase and do something similar, in a different part of the year?

Scream Break works because they are literally the only haunt in SoCal at that time of the year. And with all the additional IP mazes they're getting this year, I'm suspecting that Scream Break may be even more impressive in 2025, even if they only have 1/3 of the mazes available to them open.

As for this event, one thing I'm a bit frustrated at is what Star Trek will it be? Because I know many people who are big fans of the original, and not so much for Next Generation and beyond. The few graphics they released seemed to imply the original (with the original Enterprise from the original TV series), but I feel they logo they're using is more in line with Next Generation.