1 week ago
2
Since 1991, Universal Studios has been putting theme park guests in the middle of some of it most iconic horror franchises every October as part of Halloween Horror Nights. From Leatherface to Jason Voorhees to Freddy Krueger, countless horror icons have taken up Halloween residence in the Universal theme parks — but for the first time in the U.S., Universal Studios is bringing new genres to life: science fiction and fantasy.
Universal Fan Fest Nights, which began April 25 at Universal Studios Hollywood and runs this weekend through May 18, takes Halloween Horror Nights’ after-hours formula and transposes it for new franchises including “Dungeons & Dragons,” “Star Trek,” “One Piece,” and “Wicked.”
Universal Studios Hollywood director of entertainment production Stephen Siercks tells Variety the concept for Fan Fest Nights developed out of a desire to give fans the opportunity to step into worlds beyond horror.
“Fan Fest Nights is really building on the legacy of Halloween Horror Nights. The guests said they wanted more, so we started exploring different genres that resonated most with guests, and that’s what brought us to sci-fi, fantasy, gaming and anime.”
When the time came to narrow down which titles would translate best to interactive theme park attractions, Siercks says the Universal team sought out fully-realized worlds with iconic environments. “We looked at franchises, and fandoms around the franchises. We looked at the environments that would allow our guests to explore, and for characters we could showcase as pillars of the brand, with the two ultimate goals of being fan-first and authentic.”
One early pick to join the roster of Fan Fest Nights franchises was “Star Trek,” which is represented at the even with the “Next Generation”-inspired 10 Forward Bar, Quark’s Cafe from “Deep Space Nine,” and the immersive walkthrough “Star Trek: Red Alert.”
“‘Red Alert’ allowed us to celebrate the latest and the legacy of the ‘Star Trek’ world,” said Siercks. “We enter the experience through one of the latest iterations, ‘Picard,’ and then through the conceit of the StarFleet Museum, we’re able to celebrate the legacy of ‘The Next Generation’ and allow our guests a tour of the ‘Enterprise-D.’”
“When thinking about representing sci-fi in Fan Fest Nights, ‘Star Trek’ rose to the surface very quickly. It’s a multi-generational brand; I remember growing up watching ‘Star Trek,’ and now I’m able to share [it] with my kids. The conceit of ‘Star Trek’ is something appreciated around the world, so being able to bring it to Fan Fest Nights in this inaugural year was special.”
Another franchise at Fan Fest Nights celebrating a major anniversary is ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ which is represented at Universal Studios Hollywood with the First Roll Tavern and the walkthrough experience “Dungeons & Dragons: The Secrets of Waterdeep.”
“‘Dungeons & Dragons’ is turning 50 this year. It’s still so socially relevant and current, and we’re able to allow our guests to explore the world of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ in a way they haven’t been before, bringing to life some of these iconic environments and characters.”
Following a bard and a rogue on an adventure through the city of Waterdeep, the walkthrough sees guests come face-to-face with Xanathar, the legendary founding crime lord of the thieves’ guild in “Dungeons & Dragons.”
“The biggest, baddest beholder out there, Xanathar, is right in front of you – that was a pillar of the original development of the event. A natural progression towards a ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ walk-through developed with that as one of the main experiences.”
“Early on, we knew we needed to represent one of the beholders, and we quickly worked towards Xanathar being that right character. Working with the Jim Henson Company, we were able to bring it to life and have a fully-puppeted figure right there in front of you, it added to the excitement of the attraction while delivering on the authenticity of ‘Dungeons & Dragons.’”
According to Siercks, Xanathar was key to nailing down a specific narrative that distills the expansive, player-driven worlds of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ into a walkthrough attraction.
“Developing ‘Secrets of Waterdeep,’ we started with the broad strokes of wanting to represent the Sword Coast and the town of Waterdeep, leading ultimately to a conflict with Xanathar. We worked backward from there to find the inciting incident that brought us on that quest-style adventure that’s core to the experience. For fans of ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ they’ll get so much more out of the experience, picking out iconic characters and some of the easter eggs in the storytelling.”
Another pair of iconic characters brought to life for Fan Fest Nights are “Wicked” witches Glinda and Elphaba, whose costumes, hair, and makeup design were inspired by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Jon M. Chu’s blockbuster film.
“We’re fortunate to be able to celebrate ‘Wicked’ as part of Fan Fest Nights. Having Glinda and Elphaba as meet and greet characters is uniquely Universal, and being here in Hollywood, we have a fantastic casting team that allowed us to bring them straight from the screen into the parks.”
It isn’t just live-action characters brought to life at Fan Fest Nights: the event also featured a tribute to the colorful characters of the Japanese manga “One Piece” and the 1999 animated series of the same name.
“‘One Piece” is a Fan Zone concept, where we take over one of the streets in the park and bring it to life with characters, photo opportunities and other experiences. A central part of that is the characters, and one of the foundational goals of Fan Fest Nights is to populate the streets with these different characters and allow our guests to explore and interact with them.”
“Guest interactions are so important to the overall experience in a themed entertainment world, especially Universal Studios Hollywood. Being able to create one-on-one connections with guests, to be able to speak to a character and interact with them, brings the story to life that much more.”
As for which titles can be expected at future Fan Fest Nights, Siercks says Universal is always exploring which franchises resonate most with fans. “Allowing Fan Fest nights to continue evolving has been a thrill. Our inaugural offerings have certainly struck a chord with sci-fi, fantasy, gaming and anime fandoms, and we’re looking forward to this being the foundation of something that can continue to grow beyond that.”
This interview has been edited and condensed.
English (US) ·