So this was pretty fun! Went this past weekend. Not sure that I have anything novel to say, I pretty much agree with everyone here on the strengths and weaknesses, although I liked the Star Trek stuff a bit more and the BTTF stuff a bit less. I was kinda worried heading in because A) This isn't a haunt event, and B) I'm not a "fandom" or cosplay person. Like, I'm clearly into nerdy things but I'm not a "nerd culture" person at all -- in fact the whole thing kinda makes me cringe. There were times when it felt like an anime convention and I just wanted to gtfo.
But the scope and creativity here is just so impressive and it was a lot of fun to experience. I had a blast. Loved the Wizarding World additions and the Nintendo stuff. Dungeons and Dragons was amazing. The food we had didn't blow me away but I liked the effort regardless.
Still kinda TBD if it's a thing I do every year -- it'll all depend on lineups. I imagine BTTF is a lock to return, but as much as I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I absolutely need to experience it again. My hope is Universal leans a bit more on their own catalogue for future iterations. Having an E.T. or Jurassic experience on the scale of BTTF or Dungeons and Dragons would be amazing (although maybe Jurassic gets too close to HHN).
I also think there are some operational things they can adjust. Like I don't think it needs to go so late. People were clearing out by 11pm. Maybe that's because it was the night before Mother's Day, but either way it was super dead pretty early, at least compared to HHN. I don't think they should really even view this as a "springtime HHN," either, which is how it felt from a logistics standpoint. The more they can carve this into its own thing, the better it will be.