Can Universal Fan Fest Nights enjoy the same level of success that Universal has had with Halloween Horror Night?
Universal Fan Fest Nights kicked off a 13-night run on Friday night at Universal Studios Hollywood. [See Universal brings fans' dreams to life with Fan Fest Nights for our review, including show videos.] This might be the first time that Universal has run this particular event, but it's clear that Universal management does not see Fan Fest Nights as a one-off.
But it's the sequel that makes a franchise, not the initial installment. It's hard to imagine that Universal will not give that a go and bring this event back for a second year, given initial ticket sales and positive fan reaction to at least some of the offerings at this weekend's premiere. If this event builds over its initial run, and a second year of Fan Fest Nights sees even higher attendance and guest spending, then Universal will be well on its way to creating another popular theme park franchise like Halloween Horror Nights.
So how can Universal help ensure that happening? First, it needs to fine-tune everything it can after Fan Fest Night's opening weekend. Some of Universal Orlando's entertainment creative leaders were in Hollywood for opening night, so it's clear that all hands were called on deck to see what was happening. Universal did not bring out all these managers just for social media photo ops. I am sure that plenty of internal notes on the first weekend's performance are being distributed as I write this.
Universal knows now what works, and what failed, on this first weekend of Fan Fest Nights. There's no need for me to repeat what I wrote in my review yesterday, so let's look ahead to how Universal might grow this event into an annual winner for the company and its fans, like Halloween Horror Nights.
No one else in the business creates as many new houses and scare zones every year as Universal does for its Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando and Hollywood. It's a ridiculous standard to set, really. But Universal does it... and is rewarded with tens of thousands of fans filling those parks for every night of those events.
Universal opted for a less ambitious line-up for its first Fan Fest Nights. We got two walk-throughs, a fan zone, a 4D movie imported from Japan, a Hogwarts castle projection show imported from Florida, as well as some additional character meets in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World. A cover band performed in Universal Plaza, which the park decorated with themed photo ops. The highlight of it all was the Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley interaction, which staged scenes from 1985's Back to the Future in the Courthouse Square backlot set where they were filmed, with event guests invited to play along in an interactive theater production.
Throw in walk-on access to pretty much every ride in the park, and Fan Fest Nights nevertheless delivered value to guests who had bought advance tickets. (Available starting at $71 from our partner, of course.) Compared with Disneyland's $169+ prices for its After Dark events, that's just a stupid good deal.
But what should Universal do for an encore? Does it continue HHN's legacy of presenting a new line-up of event-exclusive interactions each year, or should Universal recycle some of this year's Fan Fest Nights interactions in year two?
It all starts with Back to the Future, which I believe will prove to be the runaway hit of year one. The obvious progression here is to follow the films and eventually to stage new Courthouse Square interactions based on Back to the Future II and III. But what after that? Are there other iconic, non-horror films that Universal shot on its backlot that it could stage similar interactions for at future Fan Fest Nights?
The addition of Fan Fest Nights to Universal's operational calendar enables the former Walking Dead space and Soundstage 15 to become year-round after-hours event locations, hosting Halloween Horror Nights houses in the fall and Fan Fest interactions in the spring. So something is going into those spaces in year two. But could they be new Dungeons & Dragons and Star Trek installations, or different IPs?
And could Universal expand Fan Fest Nights by creating a new permanent location that hosts both FFN and a HHN house? That could help provide additional operational stability for both events, holding down construction costs in the long run, since that would be at least one less tent that the park would need to put up and take down for Horror Nights each year. Synergy is such as corporate buzzword bingo word, but the addition of Fan Fest Nights to USH's calendar creates some of those opportunities.
But for Fan Fest Nights to become the type of event that Halloween Horror Nights has become, Fan Fest Nights must grow into something more than the sum of its parts. It must become something that its fan see as a must-do event regardless of the specific IP that it includes in any one year. I cringe as I write this phrase, but Universal really needs its guests to find the "energy of the synergy" with Fan Fest Nights.
Destination Hill Valley worked so well because it provided an experience rarely found in theme parks before. Knott's Ghost Town Alive would be the closest counterpart, but that is not based on a beloved IP and staged in the place where that IP was created. If Halloween Horror Nights took the concept of a backyard haunt to higher level with studio IP, Fan Fest Nights can do the same with interactive theater productions.
The trick is finding the IP that supports that type of interpretation. And, if possible, staging it on a site at the Universal City property connected with that IP. But if Universal can find those, it can create in Fan Fest Nights a unique type of event that fans will want to experience... and year after year as the specific IP changes.
As fans, there's an opportunity to help shape the future direction of Fan Fest Nights by making your wish lists known. What do you want to see Universal do with a springtime after-hours event? And should Fan Fest Nights ever get a run on the east coast, in Orlando, as well? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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It’ll be interesting to see how big (or small) the crowds are as the weekends come by.
Looks like this weekend’s wait times have been SUPER short for almost everything. While that may make the initial Guest scores high and make the ticket price a better value, it may mean that the event might not come back next year. I hope good word of mouth will make the event more popular as the event goes on.
While the comparison to HHN is clear, I actually think this event seems more like a compilation of traveling 1-off exhibits. If you live in or near a major city, you've probably seen these "experiences" staged at a random industrial park, shopping mall, theater, or art gallery. Be it Friends, The Simpsons, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Van Gough, or dozens of other IPs, these experiences usually have some interactive theater element to them either with character actors or even bartenders and/or other staff playing roles within the IP. Here, Universal is offering a similar experience, complete with themed food and beverage, which are also common at these traveling experiences, though instead of just 1 IP (typically costing somewhere between $30 and $75+ depending on the IP and level of access), you're getting a half dozen IPs PLUS access to some of USH's rides.
Frankly, I think this is a brilliant concept, and while I initially thought it might be better having various days for specific IPs, running all of the IPs at the same time (a la HHN) works. I also see this as a way for Universal to gauge the popularity of available IPs, just as they did with Walking Dead and Universal Monsters, the first of which became a permanent HHN-style house in USH, the second became a fully fleshed out land in Epic. I think if nothing else, Universal can justify that BTTF still has staying power and validate the rumor that it will be included in Universal's new UK theme park. I could totally see Universal using this event as a yearly trial balloon for concepts and ideas for how to apply various IPs to theme parks. While I would totally expect Universal to bump the price up for this in future years, it would still present a strong value in the market and allow Universal the license to be a bit more experimental with the event. I do think the bar was a bit low initially for this event, but even high expectations should give Universal the justification to use this as a crucible for future theme park attractions and experiences.
if done right, i could see it becoming more popular than even HHN, which is just insane
If we lived close by we totally would have went just to experience the BTTF area. We got to see it on a VIP tour once but to hang out for as long as you want with live entertainment would be amazing! If they bring this back next year might actually plan to go.
What does everyone think about the likelihood of bringing this to Orlando?
I thought about that honestly, if more successful than HHN than absolutely, but space might be a problem. they have the entire lower lot to work with, but I don't know if there's a lot of space in the parks to work with. Either way, i really hope so
I don't think space is much of an issue for them. All of the Hollywood studios have too much production space at the moment (they all built more during the Netflix boom, and are sitting on unused stage capacity). Universal is smart to fill this space in with experiences like this, which are likely more of a sure winner than any movie or series production. After-hours experiences insure that these productions aren't getting in the way of regular production activities, most of which happen during the business day.
Universal sent out a survey about FanFest within 24 hours after our visit on opening night. It was interesting to see that they are gauging fan interest a wide variety of movie and TV properties for future events, including some owned by Universal and others that they would presumably have to buy the rights for (but have not appeared in a theme park before, to the best of my knowledge).
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this actually looks really cool, especially if they let the public do a poll on what to be picked