Universal Studios Hollywood has picked Star Trek as one of the first franchises to join their new “Fan Fest Nights” interactive experience coming next year.
Fan Fest Nights and Star Trek
One of the more popular annual events at Universal Studios parks has been their annual “Hollywood Horror Nights” (running September through November) and now they are expanding on that idea to introduce “Universal Fan Fest Nights,” starting this Spring at Universal Studios Hollywood. The all-new interactive and immersive separately ticketed event promises to bring “the most compelling worlds of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Gaming and Anime to life from the creators of its highly-acclaimed Halloween Horror Nights event.”
The inaugural Universal Fan Fest Nights has been announced with three different themed experiences: Star Trek, Back to the Future, and Dungeons & Dragons, with more to be announced later. Here is what the release had to say about Trek:
Star Trek: This experience is inspired by the Star Trek universe, one of television’s most enduring franchises, which is known for its groundbreaking storytelling that addresses social, political and cultural issues as well as entertaining millions of fans. Star Trek’s optimistic view of the future and reflection on what it means to be human has inspired generations of dreamers and doers.
The official Universal blog has a bit more:
“Star Trek” fans, your moment has arrived! The iconic science-fiction franchise and pop cultural tentpole will be featured at the inaugural Universal Fan Fest Nights. The “Star Trek” universe has taken the form of television shows, movies, video games, comic books, and more, and now, it’ll take the form of…something very exciting at Universal Studios Hollywood. Are you ready to boldly go where no one has gone before?
Universal Fan Fest Nights will be a limited-time, after-hours experience, exclusive to Universal Studios Hollywood, and it will be ticketed separately. According to the release the event will “showcase a dynamic line-up of captivating, immersive in-world experiences along with engaging celebratory activations throughout the theme park, from live entertainment to cosplay, inviting guests to embrace their favorite characters and share their enthusiasm with like-minded fans.” Universal is also promising “an enticing menu of themed foods and new merchandise, including collectibles, apparel, drinkware, accessories and more, to show off their fandom during Universal Fan Fest Nights and beyond.”
“For decades, Universal Studios Hollywood has been a leader in creating and executing innovative special events that are consistent with our brand,” said Scott Strobl, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Universal Studios Hollywood. “From our esteemed Halloween Horror Nights event to this all-new Universal Fan Fest Nights experience, we are thrilled about how this breakthrough program will continue to elevate the guest experience in an all-new way.”
Universal promises more info about the event soon. To be amongst the first to get updates, you can sign up now at Universal Fan Fest Nights.
Return to Universal
This bit of Star Trek at Universal Studios is a return for the franchise. In the 1990s both the Hollywood and Orlando parks operated the “Star Trek Adventure” live-action performance attraction that put volunteer audience members into a Star Trek movie, joining the original TOS cast. You could even take home a VHS tape of your adventure, as you can see below from YouTube
Find more news and updates for Trek events and attractions.
The Universal Hollywood version of the Star Trek Adventure was completely different from the Florida one. Guests played Klingons as well as Star Fleet officers and the story involved a giant space jellyfish. I experienced the Hollywood one back in 1989 and played a bridge officer. I still have the video tape buried somewhere I think.
Whatever this new Universal thing is, I hope that it is fun and worthwhile.
The Star Trek theme park in Las Vegas was wonderful. The main ride was one of the best theme park experiences ever when you get beamed on to the Enterprise D. It was a true shame when that all shut down. Hopefully there will be a new Trek theme park experience worthy of that someday.
The Hollywood version was the better of the two and a lot more immersive.
I’m so glad I got to experience Vegas and very happy it was primarily based on the contemporary Trek of the time (TNG, DS9 & VOY). I too believe it was one of the best immersive experiences I’ve ever had, but I haven’t checked out Galaxy’s Edge and Rise of the Resistance at Disney. I wonder if it comes close to the main ride in Vegas. Even the Borg 4D was pretty good.
My worry about a theme park experience today is that it would be based on current Trek – and my guess would be Strange New Worlds since it’s still in production. I just don’t have much interest in current Trek, and I don’t think it would be near as fun walking on to the future-ized Enterprise versus the TOS, movie, or TNG Enterprises. Not to mention I don’t think it would have the same pull as what Vegas did originally. And honestly, I didn’t know anything about the Star Trek Adventure at Universal, but my guess is more people would have still been excited about that than what would be made today.
Of course it’s in CA. Where else would it be? CA gets everything. Why can’t anything ever come to the east coast???? I mean I know this came to Orlando once, but of course I couldn’t go because I couldn’t get the time off. This one is in CA where the prices there make it impossible to go for me. Come back to Orlando so us East Coast fans can go too!
UO gets the cooler experiences far more often than USH does.
the prices in CA aren’t THAT different when comparing the cost of going to Orlando theme parks vs the CA ones. If you are in middle America, they are both expensive. It’s only cheaper for one or the other if you are within day trip commuting distance.
Considering that there are most likely direct tie-ins with Paramount/CBS on this event, my guess is it’s in Hollywood due the proximity to the studios and corporate offices. If they are planning to use costumes, props, or even bring in celebs, it’s probably easier to do it there.