Universal City, CA — Universal Fan Fest Nights, Universal Studios Hollywood’s separately ticketed after-hours fandom event, returns for its third year on select nights from April 16 to May 16, 2027, Universal announced Nov. 10. Universal will announce the lineup closer to the event. The event offers immersive walk-throughs, live shows and character meet-and-greets built on sci-fi, fantasy, gaming and anime, from the creators of Halloween Horror Nights. Below is my guide to both years so far and what I thought of each, to help you plan.
What Fan Fest Nights Is
Fan Fest Nights takes over Universal Studios Hollywood after dark on select spring nights, with walk-through experiences, live shows, character meet-and-greets, cosplay gatherings and themed food from sci-fi, fantasy, gaming and anime fandoms. It comes from the team behind Halloween Horror Nights and runs on the same playbook: a separate ticket, a short run of select nights and a lineup of IPs that changed from the first year to the second. In 2025 it ran from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., with general admission from $74 to $84.
I see Fan Fest Nights as Universal’s attempt at a second Halloween Horror Nights in the spring, the slow weeks between spring break and summer that theme parks have tried to fill with a hard-ticket event for decades. After two years, I think the format has legs. The open question for me is whether Universal keeps putting its money behind the fandoms that actually show up.
Fan Fest Nights 2027 Dates and Tickets
Fan Fest Nights 2027 runs select nights from April 16 to May 16, starting a week earlier than 2026’s April 23 opening and ending on the same date. Universal’s Nov. 10 calendar gives no ticket prices or on-sale date, and my story on the 2027 dates has the rest of Universal Studios Hollywood’s 2027 calendar.
Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Diamond Annual Pass, $999.95 and good for 12 months from the first visit, includes one free Fan Fest Nights general admission ticket, reserved online ahead of time for select nights. Universal’s pass page also lists discounted Fan Fest Nights tickets among its pass benefits. The Universal Express access on the Platinum and Diamond passes doesn’t work at Fan Fest Nights, because it’s a separately ticketed event.
For 2026, Universal opened presale tickets on Sept. 26, 2025, put general tickets on sale Jan. 15, 2026, and ran the event 12 nights from April 23 to May 16, 2026. The first edition ran 12 nights from April 25 to May 18, 2025.
Fan Fest Nights 2026: What Changed
Universal rebuilt most of the lineup for the second year:
- Scooby-Doo Meets the Universal Monsters: Mystery on the Backlot (NEW): a walk-through on the studio backlot where guests become extras on a movie shoot gone wrong and help Scooby-Doo and the gang solve the case as the Universal Monsters break loose. It took the backlot spot Back to the Future held in 2025.
- ONE PIECE: Grand Pirate Show (NEW): a live stunt show with pyrotechnics at the WaterWorld venue, adapted from a Universal Studios Japan show, plus the Grand Pirate Gathering fan zone with meet-and-greets and Sanji’s Galley.
- The Forbidden Forest (NEW): a walk-through in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter where guests help rescue a Hippogriff.
- Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (NEW): a show with Super Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians in the DreamWorks Theatre.
- Yoshi in SUPER NINTENDO WORLD (NEW): a land-wide puzzle and meet-and-greets with light blue, pink, yellow and purple Yoshis.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep (Returning): back from 2025.
The ONE PIECE show was the best thing at Fan Fest Nights in 2026, by a wide margin. The stunt team recreates the special attacks from the anime in real life, down to a giant glowing sword, and it goes well past the effects you’d expect from the WaterWorld stage.
About 60% of the 2026 immersive experiences, by my count, came from fandoms Universal already owns or is known for, like the Universal Monsters, Harry Potter and Nintendo, with ONE PIECE and Dungeons & Dragons as the outside fandoms, so Universal put its money into depth over breadth. The Universal Monsters now show up well beyond Halloween, from Fan Fest Nights to Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas and Dark Universe at Epic Universe in Orlando.
Fan Fest Nights 2025: Back to the Future and the First Lineup
Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley was the runaway hit of the first year. It started on the Studio Tour tram, where Doc Brown appeared on screen to explain how he’d rigged the tram for time travel and handed out a 1950s slang guide. On the backlot, Courthouse Square, the set where the film was shot, became a 45-minute looping street play: you could follow Marty, Doc or Biff through the 1955 scenes, and it ended with the clock tower lightning strike, DeLorean effects and the flaming tire tracks. It played like Sleep No More set inside Back to the Future, and the actors stayed in character no matter what guests threw at them. If you love Back to the Future, it was worth flying in for. Crowds got dense enough around the big scenes that it was hard to see or hear.
The rest of the 2025 lineup:
- Star Trek: Red Alert: a walk-through aboard the USS Enterprise-D, with short scenes played by the crew. It had no real climax, and Trek fans got little time on the bridge, which is what they wanted most.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep: a 12-minute walk-through with an 8-foot Xanathar puppet as the payoff. Guests watched the adventure rather than playing a part in it.
- ONE PIECE: Grand Pirate Gathering: meet-and-greets with the Straw Hat crew, with long lines all night.
- Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of the Cursed: a 4D film brought over from Universal Studios Japan.
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: roaming Niffler and Occamy puppets and the West Coast debut of the Hogwarts Always projection show.
- SUPER NINTENDO WORLD: a Yoshi scavenger hunt ending at a Yoshi meet-and-greet, with waits of 60 to 90 minutes.
- Wicked: a photo op with Elphaba or Glinda.
The 2025 lineup was out of balance. Dungeons & Dragons and Star Trek ranked near the bottom of my popularity ranking of the event’s 8 IPs, and both got built attractions, while ONE PIECE, Jujutsu Kaisen and Super Mario were left with meet-and-greet lines, a film and a scavenger hunt. Universal proved the spring event works, and the uneven lineup held it back. In 2026, ONE PIECE moved from meet-and-greets to a full show.
Fan Fest Nights 2025 Full Video Tour
More Universal Fan Fest Nights Coverage
- The 2026 lineup announcement, with Scooby-Doo and the Universal Monsters on the backlot
- Lessons from Universal’s Fan Fest Nights for haunt owners
- Universal Studios Hollywood, what’s new at the park and its year of events
- Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, the fall event Fan Fest Nights is modeled on
Universal Fan Fest Nights is a separately ticketed event at Universal Studios Hollywood. Tickets for 2027 will be at universalstudioshollywood.com once Universal puts them on sale.
