Tips & Tricks to Best Navigate Your Time at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Fan Fest Nights
Our guide for how to find the attractions and best plan to see everything in one night.
The first-ever Universal Fan Fest Nights event at Universal Studios Hollywood is now underway at the theme park on selects nights this spring — May 2 - 4, 9 - 11 and 16 - 18, 2025 — with various ticket options to choose from. A separately ticketed event, you’ll find bespoke, immersive experiences built around the fandoms for Back to the Future, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Super Nintendo World, Star Trek, Dungeons & Dragons, and the anime worlds of One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen, along with themed foods and merchandise.
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The special experiences are laid out through the entire theme park, including the Universal Studios backlot, which is similar to the park’s signature fall event, Halloween Horror Nights. (We highly recommend comfortable shoes!) Because there’s a lot of ground to cover to see and do everything that comes with your ticket, NBC Insider has put together a plan of attack that can help you narrow down your priorities and allow you to manage your time so you can avoid disappointment if you don’t splurge on a Fan Fest Nights Express pass.
SPOILER ALERT: Some Spoilers ahead on what to expect from the Universal Fan Fest experience.
Upper Lot: Wicked, One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Star Trek
As soon as you pass the turnstiles into the park, the first photo opportunity is on the left, next to the Universal Store where you can get your photo taken with Elphaba or Glinda from Wicked.
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Just ahead to the right a cluster of Star Trek fun, including Quark’s Cafe which has a menu entirely made of Trek-inspired meals and drinks. For adult’s, there’s the 10 Forward Bar which has a whole menu of Trek-themed cocktails and drinks. There’s also a photo spot right by Waterworld of the Captain’s chair on the bridge where you can sit and bark out your best, “Make it so!"
Back on the main drag, if you make a left at the Express pass tower, you will see the queue for the walkthrough experience, Star Trek: Red Alert! An all-ages experience, you’ll go on an adventure on the NCC-1701-D once commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Depending on the line wait, budget about 30 minutes for the line and the experience itself.
Right before the Dreamworks Theater, you’ll see the photo areas for One Piece: Grand Pirate Gathering. One the right side of the street is the Monkey D. Luffy photo and meet and greet, and on the left side of the street you can take a picture with your friends inside a bunch of Wanted posters, or meet and greet the rest of the Straw Hat crew, Zero, Nami, Sanji and Usopp. Lines can get long so plan for some extra time here.
If you or someone in your crew is a big One Piece fan, make sure you hit the Cocina Mexican for the pirate themed food and the exclusive merch. Some of the biggest lines each night have been for all things One Piece so either get their early to stake a place in line, or check back often to see if the lines have gotten smaller.
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Inside the DreamWorks Theater is the Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of the Cursed motion show that first debuted at Universal Studios Japan. There are lots of lights, sounds and movement of your seat as the anime screens are synched to the chairs, so be aware if you easily get motion sickness.
Upper Lot: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter special additions
Inside Hogsmead, you’ll find all of the Butterbeer Season 2025 sweets and specials available. The Three Broomsticks dining room also has a special three-course dinner menu with appetizer, main meal and dessert for a fixed price just for the run of Fan Fest Nights.
Check out the run times on site or in the app for the new projection show that first premiered at Universal Studios Orlando, 'Hogwarts Always.’ If you get there about 30 minutes early, you can get a best view spot and after exit towards the Studio Lot Tour to get to the rest of the park quickly. Throughout the area, look for a mini show featuring Niffler by the overhang seating, and a handler walking around with a baby dragon and a brand new magical creature, the Occamy.
Lower Lot: Dungeons & Dragons, Studio Tour to Hill Valley and Yoshi
Right in front of The Simpsons Ride, you can make the choice to go left and down to Super Nintendo World and the Yoshi Celebration and the Dungeon’s and Dragon’s: Secrets of Waterdeep activation. Or, make a right to go down to the Studio Lot Tour which is a direct trip back in time to 1955 Hill Valley from Back to the Future.
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If you’re a massive fan of all things Back to the Future, give yourself plenty of time to explore and participate in the immersive show that takes place right on the backlot where the film was shot back in 1985. Depending on when you arrive in Hill Valley via the tram time travel machine, you’ll get thrown right into the story where actors playing Marty McFly and the main and support characters from the movie will draw you into Marty’s manic efforts to correct the timeline and get his future parents, George McFly and Lorraine Baines, to kiss at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. All of this unfolds right before your eyes in Courthouse Square which has been dressed to look like the film set. There are singing Texaco attendants, a small street fair, you can take a picture with Einstein the dog in the DeLorean and check out some merch stands. You can interact with a ton of characters including Biff Tannen, future Mayor Goldie Wilson, Lorraine’s friends, the Clocktower Lady and even Emmett "Doc” Brown. There’s an actual band playing music when the prom spills out onto the streets, including a shredding Marty. And there’s a grand finale which features the clock town getting struck by some movie lighting.
No one ushers you out of this area until last call, so if you love Back to the Future, you could spend hours here interacting with the full story. Based on your interest, this could eat up a lot of your night, or just be a short trip as you can hop on a tram car back to the theme park at any point. It’s a really special experience to be able to fully roam the whole square and immerse yourself in movie history.
If you choose to head down to the Lower Lot, know that you can ride the Jurassic World water ride until midnight. The Transformers Ride is closed for refurbishment right now, but in front of the entrance you can either make a right and enter the queue for Dungeons and Dragons: Secrets of WaterDeep, or make a left into Super Nintendo World.
The Dungeons and Dragons: Secrets of WaterDeep walkthrough will take about 20 minutes if the line is short. You will get grouped into a smaller campaign group and walked through the experience according to a story which is full of lights, sounds, pyro and animatronics. It’s worth two trips to soak up all the production design and details, even if you’re not a D&D player.
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Super Nintendo World is hosting a Yoshi egg scavenger hunt which will take you about 30 minutes to complete if the area isn’t full. If the area is packed, expect more like an hour to find the eggs, take a photo of the eggs, retrieve each sticker from a handler and then get in line to get a photo with your reward - a special pastel-colored Yoshi (blue, pink or yellow). You can also play all of the games or ride Mario Kart which are operational until closing.
Another special side game to play at Fan Fest Nights is the Medallion Scavenger Hunt. Once you find each of the medallions hidden throughout the park, scan the QR code on your phone and you’ll be able to collect something for your efforts.
Check out all of these great areas for yourself. Tickets for Universal Fan Fest Nights are now on sale. Click here to purchase tickets
