Universal is looking to put a new spin on a winning formula. For three decades, Halloween Horror Nights has provided a model for after-hours entertainment at Universal's theme parks in the fall. Starting next week, Universal is looking to expand its after-hours magic to the spring, with the new Universal Fan Fest Nights.
Last week, Universal invited me and other reporters to tour two of the walk-through experiences at Universal Fan Fest Nights: Star Trek Red Alert and Dungeons & Dragons Secrets of Waterdeep. Leading the behind-the-scenes tour was Stephen Siercks, Senior Director, Entertainment Production, Universal Studios Hollywood.
Siercks showed us some of what promise to be mind-blowing fan-service moments in each attraction. Here is an edited transcript of his remarks, starting with the spoiler-free stuff. For tickets to Universal Fan Fest Nights, please shop our partner's Universal Studios Hollywood tickets page.
Siercks: "One of the differentiating parts about this experience from a Halloween Horror Nights-style attraction is that [Universal Fan Fest Nights] is a story-based pulsed attraction. What that means is that we're going to put everyone into groups, and you'll experience the rest of the attraction in those smaller groups."
"The reason why we call it story-based is that we're really working to amplify the characters, the environments, the story, throughout the experience, and do it in a pulse nature, so that every room that we go through, you'll actually be having dwell time in. You'll be able to stop at that room. The story will unfold around you, and then you'll travel together as a group into the next room, and so on."
"What that does is it increases the immersion as well as increasing the overall length that they experience. So this attraction runs about 10 to 12 minutes in the total length - longer than a typical Halloween Horror Nights-style attraction does."
"With Fan Fest Nights, the two foundational goals that we had were fan-first and authentic. Fan-first: meaning that we wanted to service the fans who have such fandom for these genres. And then authentic: what can we bring to the experience that makes it as authentic as possible?"
Ready for more? Let's take a deep dive into the sea of spoilers.
This experience will be located in the old "The Walking Dead Attraction" space on the Upper Lot.
Siercks: "The immersion starts outside, just starting to set up that story and concept. As soon as you enter the building, you start getting a little bit more story. We understand that this is Starfleet Command, and we're in Spaceport Los Angeles, and here's where the story truly begins."
"In the pre-show video, you get to know a little bit more about what's going on, why you're here and what you're about to be able to participate in. The concept is that we're bridging one of the newer elements of the Star Trek franchise with the legacy aspect of the Star Trek franchise. Our experience takes place in the 'Picard' era of the franchise - one of the latest iterations on Paramount+ - and we're getting an exclusive opportunity to take a shuttle craft up to the Starfleet Museum, which is an in-world element within Picard. At the Starfleet Museum, we're getting an exclusive tour of the Enterprise-D from 'The Next Generation.' It's a perfect way of bridging the latest with the legacy."
"We learn that the Enterprise D has been modified for these tour groups, so you might see large turbo lifts or other things that have been adjusted specifically for this type of tour that we're about to take."
"You enter one end of this the shuttle craft. You're on Earth. As we move forward, and we turn the corner as we exit, we're on the Enterprise-D. It's a great transition to get us onto the ship. Here we find ourselves in the iconic Shuttle Bay of the Enterprise-D as our first look into the space. Here we're met with a docent, an ensign, who meets our group and welcomes us."
"The ensign brings you forward and brings you to the force field [window] in front of you. This is a giant LED screen. What happens here is that, as we're being introduced to the ship and what we're about to experience, all of a sudden, an entity appears in the distance. It's a light form that gets closer and closer and closer, and all of a sudden it starts breaking through the force field. It breaks through and whooshes past you. The way that happens is through lighting and audio effects in the ceiling that makes it feel as though this entity, this being, this light form, has reached the shuttle craft. So in that moment, everything starts going haywire, and our ensign here, not knowing or understanding what's going on, says that we probably should get to a safer ground."
"Let's get deeper into the ship and figure out what's happening. So in that moment, the iconic swish doors of the Enterprise-D open up and we move forward into the next room."
"Here we find ourselves in the Sick Bay, and we're met with another ensign. You will get to meet several different characters throughout the experience. Every character represents a different race or character type from the franchise, so it's a great way of just interacting with multiple characters while telling one, singular story."
"Here you can see that things are starting to go a little bit on the fritz. The entity is taking over some of the ship's computers. The entity is starting to infiltrate aspects of the ship that is starting to make it a little unsafe. Also in this room, we go into Yellow Alert, which for the non-Trekkies out there is the first of two stages of alerts on the ship where it's no longer an operational state."
"Before I say anything more, though, I want to point out a really funny Easter egg, because there's several Easter eggs placed throughout the experience. Over there is a replicator - something that manifests food or manifests items. Because the entity has started to take over, it is just continuing to replicate 'tea, Earl Grey, hot,' which is Captain Jean-Luc Picard's favorite drink, of course."
"So like I mentioned, we go into yellow alert, and that means that something is going on. We really need to understand more. We're told here is that there's a couple people in the Engineering Room that we should probably get to understand what's happening. Again, with that swish, the doors open and we advance forward."
"Here we find ourselves in the Engineering Room, and there's two ensigns here, stationed around the pool table trying to understand what's happening. Things are starting to go a little bit more haywire. Right in back of you is the Warp Core, the heartbeat of the Enterprise-D. And you can see that we're still putting finishing touches in the programming, but what this will do is that the Warp Core begins to destabilize, through sparks and audio and lighting and special effects. And in that moment, we go to Red Alert, the title of the attraction. At that point, we realize the ship is no longer safe to be on. The tour is officially over. We have to get our guests to the turbo lifts to get you over the transporters, to get you safely back down to Earth."
"We're in Red Alert state, and we're in the turbo lift. Through lighting, audio and some effects on the floor, it gives us the feeling as though we're traveling through the ship, when all of a sudden the turbo stops, and it says that we're being redirected. We can't access the transporters, so hang tight. We'll be right with you. Then we start traveling the other direction, and all of a sudden, when the when the turbo stops, the door open and we're on the bridge of the Enterprise-D."
"This is going to be one of those really amazing moments. When the ship's computer says 'Bridge,' and those doors swish open, we think it's going to be a great moment for our guests."
"This is the one that we're putting the most amount of detail into and the most amount of time into, making sure that we're achieving every single nuance of it. And before I talk about the story, I just want to talk about where we are. So this isn't just a recreation of the bridge of Enterprise-D. This is actually a film-used set."
"So as part of Picard season three, they did a throwback where they actually did a full recreation of the original bridge set and had the original cast come in to do to reprise their roles for a handful of episodes. Through that great partnership with Paramount, we were able to actually take that film-used set and bring it here for our guests. This is the set that was used in the TV show filming. Talk about authenticity and uniquely Universal. You can't get better than this."
"So here we are, and as we've gotten deeper and deeper. We're still in Red Alert. All of a sudden, the entity whooshes past us again through those lighting, audio, and effects and appears on the screen out in front of us. There are three ensigns in here trying to understand what's happening and trying to get things back to operational state. Through translation, now we understand that the being meant no harm. It found its way onto the ship, it apologizes for any inconvenience, and through further translation, we realize that we've made first contact."
"This being, this entity, has never been seen before. So for those ultimate Star Trek fans, first contact is a big deal. Being able to develop that story and that character as part of this experience has been really special for us as well."
"In that moment, the entity disappears, and everything returns back to operational state. We really want to give guests that opportunity, since we've been able to dwell and spend some time in each of these scenes to soak up what this is and the experience of being on the bridge before our ensign tell us, OK, enough is enough. We've got to get you to the transporters over down the hallway to get you back down to Earth."
"These swish doors open up, and we find ourselves in one of two transporters. There's going to be a vapor current effect. It'll feel as though we're passing through a transporter on our way to the exit to get back into the rest of the event."
This walk-through experience will be located on Soundstage 29, behind Transformers: The Ride 3D on the Lower Lot.
"Last year, this is where The Weeknd was. For those who've experienced Halloween Horror Nights, you can see the scale and scope comparison between this and a Horror Nights house, which takes up about 50 to 60 percent of the space. Dungeons and Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep takes up the entire soundstage. So we are really able to deliver that immersion, that storytelling, the environment. Similar to what we talked about at Star Trek, you will be put into smaller groups and then escorted into a pre-show room."
"Here we find ourselves in a rather generic-looking room celebrating the game of Dungeons & Dragons. This room is intended to be is a true pre-show experience, where the lights start going down, and someone who appears and sounds like a dungeon master comes overhead and starts talking about who you are, what you're doing, why you're there. Ultimately, what we're doing in this room is providing that moment of playing the game to being thrust into the game - that opportunity to transition from the real world into the game world."
"So as the lights go down, you start seeing symbols and projection, and then everything goes black. When the lights turn back on, this wall has disappeared. The walls around you have disappeared. And now you're in the curious past. You've been transitioned into the game of Dungeons and Dragons. So it's going to be really fun moment, something that any D&D fan has wanted to experience, that moment of playing the game to then being a character within the game."
"We are separated into four different groups that have that hold four different types of power. So we're able to pull people out that have different powers from those different groups and be able to interact with the experience along the way."
"Ultimately, we're trying to regain control of the Dragon staff for the town of Waterdeep, because Xanathar the Beholder - one of the biggest, baddest beholders in Dungeons and Dragons gameplay - has stolen it. Truly at its simplest component, it's a quest-style adventure. Something has been stolen. We've been recruited as members of the Harper clan to help find it."
"Here we find ourselves in the back alley, the marketplace. Every room feels and works a little differently. Ultimately we start hearing a dragon, and all of a sudden a dragon starts to appear over us in projection. There's definitely a battle that ensues there with the dragon. Ultimately, we need to seek shelter. We find an escape route, and we head forward into the next room."
"Two adventurers lead us forward, and we are at the doorstep of Xanathar the Beholder. We know we're close, and the only thing stopping us between us and Xanathar and that dragon staff, is a puzzle - a rune - that we need to solve. Here, our adventurers get up in the center, with the guests are all around. The puzzle is in the center. Through some gameplay and interaction, we start solving runes and the puzzle starts lighting up around us. After a couple magic spells that are cast and a couple of puzzles that are solved, we ultimately gain access to Xanathar's lair."
"In each room, if you look closely, there's Easter eggs for Dungeons & Dragons. It's been really great working with the Wizards of the Coast team and the Hasbro team and developing those Easter eggs to really make sure that for fans of D&D that you can pick them out easily and often throughout the experience. Our set dressing and props team just does such an amazing job with a lot of this."
"When we enter the [next] space, we're in Xanathar's lair. Our focus is over here, and there's the Dragon staff sitting up on this platform, and one our adventurers gets up there and takes the Dragon staff. We feel like we have successfully saved the day, and all of a sudden we hear a cackle and a laugh, and we turn around and there's Xanathar. This is such an impressive creature and a great collaboration with Jim Henson Creature Company, who we've had the pleasure of working with before."
"Seeing this scale of a creature come to life in front of us, we have that surprise-and-reveal moment where, just when we think we've saved the day, he's here and he's not going to let us go that easily. So you can see both Xanathar and his goldfish, Sylgar, there, and there's a battle that ensues that ultimately we stun Xanathar, and we're able to make our escape with the Dragon staff."
"We cast one last spell. These doors open up, and we make our way to the forest. So as we get into the forest, there'll be a lighting effect transition that happens here that makes it feel as though we are portaling out to the forest. Here we find ourselves successfully saving the day, we think, but just like in every good D&D campaign, there's a plot twist. So Lanalay, one of the first people that we met, is back, and we realize that Lanalay is up to no good. She was actually at the core of this and used us as a pawn to get the Dragon staff. So she takes it back from us, and there's one more battle that ensues to successfully re-establish ownership of the Dragon staff."
Universal Fan Fest Nights also will offer the Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley interaction zone in Courthouse Square on the Universal backlot, which will be dressed as it was for the filming of the 1985 classic. On the Upper Lot, Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of the Cursed will bring the 4D theater experience from the Universal Cool Japan event at Universal Studios Japan to Hollywood's DreamWorks Theater. One Piece: Grand Pirate Gathering will feature character meets and interactive photo ops.
More photo ops, from a variety of the event franchises, will be available in a block party on the Universal Plaza. And The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World will be open with their special additions for the event, including Niffler, Occamy, and Baby Dragon characters, the Hogwarts Always castle projection show, and a Let's Go, Yoshi scavenger hunt. Universal Fan Fest Nights will feature special menus of themed food and drinks as well: See Get a taste of Star Trek, and more, at Universal Fan Fest Nights for those details.
Again, for tickets to Universal Fan Fest Nights, please shop our partner's Universal Studios Hollywood tickets page.
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I get haunted houses, but experiences like this need to be permanent attractions, especially with this amount of effort.
This will probably be great for locals, but I'd need to see some first-hand accounts of how well all of this is executed before committing for a visit. That, and USH can have some really rough operations for HHN, so I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig for a new experience like this where TMs are figuring out how to manage guests.
I will be there opening night and will post a full trip report ASAP after the event.
This looks really good, but like many others, I would be hesitant to commit to buying tickets fearing poor organization, uncontrolled crowds, and an overall underwhelming experience with a few "wow" moments. I do think the price is right, but that's kind of what would scare me about it, especially with the Star Trek IP. I wish Universal the best with this, but I think they're going to need to hit this out of the park not only in terms of spectacle, but also in terms of crowd control and overall experience to make sure guests can do everything they want in a single night, which is what I see as the biggest obstacle with something like this because of the highly variable IPs involved and the variable levels of fandom associated with those IPs.
Color me intrigued, but I'll let others be the Guinea pigs here.
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I have to say that even with little to no knowledge of D & D and only a base-level knowledge of Star Trek, these two experiences sound like they are a real blast. It’s a brilliant conceit by Universal if executed properly. An engaging story told with state of the art effects and top level actors. I’m one of those people who loves haunted houses to see all the cool stage trickery and special effects so I feel like any story done in this setting with competence, theatricality and panache would be right up my alley.