Universal Fan Fest Nights 2026

[Jerroddragon]

Coming from New York State but going to be in Phoenix the week before. I want to come out for this but I think only if they do the BTTF stuff again. When do we expect official announcements? I can't image them waiting much more than the next few weeks, right? I need to arrange flights and don't want to have to book last minute.

We don't know when they will announce things its like HHN

(this is why I think USH having like a count down event where every week we get on a Day when information would drop be a good idea....but for now we have the instgram account making a group to drop information)


The NY sets have been busy since August, so unless BTTF is being moved to the Plaza for a much smaller event. Then not sure the event is going to offer 1 to 1 what it did last year with the exceptions of Star Trek and D&D....which is funny to me because while both are fun....the fans had a clear winner on what the best attraction was and might not return over the two other attractions would be funny to me when the event is called Fan fest.

 

[Clive]

Coming from New York State but going to be in Phoenix the week before. I want to come out for this but I think only if they do the BTTF stuff again. When do we expect official announcements? I can't image them waiting much more than the next few weeks, right? I need to arrange flights and don't want to have to book last minute.

Unfortunately, I do not think the BTTF experience is returning this year.

 

[ethanuniversal]

4 announcements tomorrow morning at 9am. Stay tuned

 

[Brian G.]

Universal Fan Fest Nights returns in 2026 with new experiences, including One Piece and Scooby-Doo, plus the return of Dungeons & Dragons. Tickets are now on sale.

Tickets Now on Sale for Universal Fan Fest Nights 2026; featuring One Piece, Scooby-Doo, and Dungeons & Dragons

Tickets are now on sale for Universal Fan Fest Nights, returning to Universal Studios Hollywood for its second year in 2026, with new experiences featuring One Piece and Scooby-Doo, plus the return of Dungeons & Dragons. The separately ticketed, after-hours event will take place on 12 select ni

www.insideuniversal.net

 

[soarinwithmolly]

Sorry to drag down the mood, but anyone else a little underwhelmed with this? The Monsters X Scooby-Doo crossover is certainly exciting, but aside from that, not much of interest this year! I feel like they blew all their creativity/budget on the crossover. Definitely little surprised that BTTF isn't back in some capacity, and no Jaws either!

 

[ParkExplorer9513]

Finally, we're getting the One Piece WaterWorld overlay! Probably won't be as robust as USJ's, but it's something!

 

[Brian G.]

Sorry to drag down the mood, but anyone else a little underwhelmed with this? The Monsters X Scooby-Doo crossover is certainly exciting, but aside from that, not much of interest this year! I feel like they blew all their creativity/budget on the crossover. Definitely little surprised that BTTF isn't back in some capacity, and no Jaws either!

There are more announcements coming soon.

AFA BTTF, the set is currently being rented for filming. That was one of the first rumors I heard about this year back in the Summer, so they knew for a while, despite its success, that they'd have to do something different.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

There are more announcements coming soon.

AFA BTTF, the set is currently being rented for filming. That was one of the first rumors I heard about this year back in the Summer, so they knew for a while, despite its success, that they'd have to do something different.

That's actually nice to hear. I always presumed that the lack of BTTF this year was due to persistent complaints from operations rather than extenuating production circumstances.

Sorry to drag down the mood, but anyone else a little underwhelmed with this?

Not really, no. The Harry Potter walkthrough will probably be better than the Star Trek walkthrough, and the 4D theater is likely to get a transplanted show from USJ. I can't imagine that April doesn't roll around with at least an equivalent lineup to last year + the highly requested addition of the One Piece Waterworld show.

Considering that One Piece's presence will likely extend from Hollywood and Dine and down the entire corridor up to Waterworld, this would be a significant expansion of One Piece's presence throughout the entire park, which pretty much quells most visitors' complaints about last year's iteration of the event.

 

[Viator]

Sorry to drag down the mood, but anyone else a little underwhelmed with this? The Monsters X Scooby-Doo crossover is certainly exciting, but aside from that, not much of interest this year! I feel like they blew all their creativity/budget on the crossover. Definitely little surprised that BTTF isn't back in some capacity, and no Jaws either!

More announcements are on the way, including the DreamWorks Theater and Universal Plaza experiences. ONE PIECE: Grand Pirate Battle + The Forbidden Forest will be pretty big experiences, so do look forward to that!

Universal Boulevard Entertainment shouldn't be getting a new walkthrough this year. They had plans for an experience, but as far as I have been made aware, they can no longer go forward with that was planned for the venue (unless if they somehow can get the Star Trek stuff at the midnight hour).

 

[BriefCasey]

Considering we know they're doing something different for Potter this year, and that something in SNW will be a given, I'm surpised they didn't show any other new IP, like which other anime would be featured for the theater. That said, fingers still hard crossed whichever anime show we get from USJ gets a dub this time.

More announcements are on the way, including the DreamWorks Theater and Universal Plaza experiences. ONE PIECE: Grand Pirate Battle + The Forbidden Forest will be pretty big experiences, so do look forward to that!

Universal Boulevard Entertainment shouldn't be getting a new walkthrough this year. They had plans for an experience, but as far as I have been made aware, they can no longer go forward with that was planned for the venue (unless if they somehow can get the Star Trek stuff at the midnight hour).

Never knew that was the name of the old Walking Dead space that's now used for Horror Nights. Is there any known reason why they couldn't do something with it for FFN this year?

 

[Viator]

Never knew that was the name of the old Walking Dead space that's now used for Horror Nights. Is there any known reason why they couldn't do something with it for FFN this year?

As far as I have been aware, the IP fell through for what would've been in there. Won't be saying what it is, but it is a shame things happened the way they have.

Plus side--they should be able to start work on UBE for HHN much earlier this year without any real issues.

 

[Eckert]

As far as I have been aware, the IP fell through for what would've been in there. Won't be saying what it is, but it is a shame things happened the way they have.

Plus side--they should be able to start work on UBE for HHN much earlier this year without any real issues.

Don't be coy

 

[Viator]

Don't be coy

 

[skierpete23]

Unfortunately, I do not think the BTTF experience is returning this year.

Yeah - this announcement has underwhelmed me a lot. Seeing last year my biggest interests were the BTTF and then the Star Trek, with D&D a distant third. Here I see the list as being the most interesting as being Scooby Doo, then D&D then HP, but none are worth me driving 6 hours from Phoenix. Guess I'm not doing this year.

Thanks everyone for the updates!

 

[HuntrixJurassic97]

Was hoping for something KPop Demon Hunters related for the event, but I guess Netflix is too picky with licensing to other park chains now… (unless they can host a KPDH happening at the Plaza like the Straw Hats did last year, like meet and greets and food offerings)

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Granted, I would be a little disappointed if, in five to ten years, the event hadn't meaningfully expanded from the current slate of offerings ( tour experience + two walkthroughs + stage show + 4D show + Potter paywalled experiences + Nintendo paywalled experiences + anime meet and greets)...

However, given the limited scope and availability of the event relative to HHN, and the pace of HHN's initial roll-out in the 90s, this is a pretty good next step that expands the event and (with continued investment) hopefully evolves the park to be more in line with its Asian cousin.

Here I see the list as being the most interesting as being Scooby Doo, then D&D then HP, but none are worth me driving 6 hours from Phoenix. Guess I'm not doing this year.

My calculus is a little different since I have family in LA and can pretty quickly pop over there. I probably would not drive 6 hours for this, though there are very few things I would drive 6 hours for. My hope is that the Scooby-Doo experience, which was announced in September, has had enough time to develop into something exceptional.

 

[Freak]

I understand there’s still more to come, but it’s is sounding like this year is going to be a one-and-done for me.

Gonna be real, the repeat of D&D is a little disappointing considering there’s only going to be one new walkthru this year, but I can’t fault them with how now the event is and how expensive it was.

Eh it’s fine. I’ll still have fun anyway and if anything I can save more for HHN this year.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I understand there’s still more to come, but it’s is sounding like this year is going to be a one-and-done for me.

It's definitely a one and done for me (especially if you stay from 5 to 2), but I'm hoping the One Piece show is a major step forward here. If you saw how popular One Piece was last year, then all they really need to do is have an undeniable merch or meal item for the property ala Potter. Then the event basically pays for itself for time immemorial.

It's a bit unfortunate that the most sensible dining overlay for One Piece in its current location is Hollywood and Dine though. Would really benefit from something like Jurassic Cafe's capacity. I guess they could always double dip!

 

[Viator]

Reading the PR notes a few more things pop up:

• Yoshi seems to be a slimmed down experience that compensates the loss of the Scavenger Hunt with more Yoshi color variants. No note of the once planned drone element that was considered for 2025, so it doesn't seem they took that to the workshop
• One Piece doesn't seem to be a direct transplant of the Osaka show--which makes me wonder how they're going to do dialogue. I imagine they'll try to go for just live actors with all of them on mics, but I wonder if Universal will work with Toei and have the English VO actors onboard to do voiceover (as I believe the USJ experience has the JP cast doing VO for the grand show there).
• (Spec on Potter) I wonder if part of the reason why we don't have the magical creatures from last year returning, because they're going to have those creatures be part of the Forbidden Forest experience. Would certainly make sense to reuse what you can from the previous experience, and build it up to be something robust.

 

[wedgeskywalker9]

Feels like a big miss not to have Star Trek coming back. Feels like Red Alert could have been easily updated to Borg Invasion with a few more actors and one or two new effects, and Red Alert itself could have just come back with some tweaks a la Waterdeep. And it's anecdotal, but it felt like Star Trek fans were one of the major contingents amongst cosplayers last year alongside BTTF and One Piece. Scooby and Potter are good adds, but I don't think Scooby fans are as rabid as the other fandoms featured, and Potter fans don't have the same pent up demand for a theme park experience. Hoping they still have a few big drops to announce, or I'm worried this year will be a sophmore slump.