April 24, 2026, 4:29 AM ·
At the heart of any great theme park experience lies wish fulfillment. At Universal Studios Hollywood, that wish long has been the desire to be in the movies. For more than 50 years, Universal has invited fans onto its backlot, where they could imagine themselves in any of the countless films and TV shows that have shot on Universal’s sets and soundstages. But only rarely have fans been allowed to step off the trams and into the story.Universal did that last year, with its first Universal Fan Fest Nights. The park staged “Destination Hill Valley,” an interactive theater experience themed to “Back to the Future,” on the same Courthouse Square set where the 1985 movie was filmed. The experience allowed fans to fulfill their wish to step into film’s 1955 and attend its “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance while Marty McFly raced to get his parents back together in time for him to catch lightning in a DeLorean and get back to 1985.This year, Universal is inviting fans to step into a live-action Scooby-Doo mystery. “Scooby-Doo Meets the Universal Monsters: Mystery on the Backlot” brings fans onto the Little Europe sets where Universal filmed many of its classic monster films, including its original “Frankenstein.” This year’s backlot experience manages to be both more structured and more chaotic than last year’s production. Once again, Universal’s Studios Tour trams haul you down to the backlot, but there’s plenty of important exposition on the way. You have been cast as an extra in a Universal Monster film, with four studio employees coming on the tram screens to talk about the production.It does not take much Scooby-Doo experience to suss out that these are our four suspects in whatever caper is about to go down. Sure enough, a Phantom Director has hijacked the production, releasing the Universal Classic Monsters to take over the backlot. It’s up to us – under the direction of the Scooby-Doo gang – to crack the case.As you exit the tram, you will need to pick up a printed Mystery Inc. Manual and a pen. The manual will provide your guide around the Little Europe set, showing you how to collect the clues you will need to figure out which of our suspects is the Phantom Director.I love that Universal went old-school here, with a glossy color-printed manual and pens for clue collection rather than programming some new feature in the Universal app. Nostalgia fuels wishes, and Universal delivers. Solving the clues takes some thought. And that created a bit of chaos as fans huddled to share ideas and deal with the mystery at hand. There’s a code to decipher at the wardrobe department, surveillance video to consider at the video village, a scene to examine at craft services, and a trail to follow at the grip department. One of the Scooby gang hosts and helps at each location, as we eliminate three of of our four suspects.All the while, Dracula, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, and th Bride are roaming about… eliciting a wide range of reactions from fans. Yeah, chaos is on brand for the Scooby-Doo crew.When you are ready, queue up for the Big Reveal, which includes a classic Scooby-Doo chase through a hallway of doors (projected on screen above the stage) before the final unmasking. And yes, our villain does blame “you meddling kids” for their capture. Here is the show, for those not minding the spoiler.As much as I loved last year’s Hill Valley production, Universal topped it this year with Scooby-Doo. The mystery gives you something to do this time, other than stand around and try to take in a scramble of vignettes. The character encounters are spot-on. (C’mon, I don’t need to tell you which one is at craft services, i.e. the food table). And the manual is a nifty little souvenir to take home. Do be aware that once you queue for the Big Reveal, there’s no going back. You’ll have to take the tram back up after the show. So get all your photos – and Scooby snacks – before you walk over to the unmasking.Forbidden Forest: Search for the HippogriffAlso new this year is Forbidden Forest: Search for the Hippogriff in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Head to the Forbidden Journey entrance for this one, then follow team members’ instructions to get into the correct queue. (The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride also is open during Fan Fest Nights.) The Hippogriff walkthrough was the one long queue during last night’s opening night, so plan to hit this first or last.This is another moment of wish fulfillment, namely to experience a walk through the Forbidden Forest at night. Universal has tricked out the seldom-used extended queue for FJ. Pulsed through this walk-through with a Hogwarts professor guide, you will encounter (spoiler alert) Cornish Pixies, an Acromantula, Devil’s Snare, and a Centuar on your way to free a trapped Hippogriff.
Freeing the Hippogriff. Photo by the authorThere’s not much in the way of a story here, just vibes. But the experience delights, though it would have been nice to go through this with a smaller group, allowing everyone to get closer (and better hear) our professor. Yet with the wait time approaching two hours at one point, I can see why Universal would want to push the capacity here as much as it can.For extra vibes, bring a wand so you can feel part of the spell-casting. But there are no interactions that require, or even utilize, Universal’s interactive wand tech. It’s all stagecraft, though impressively timed. Now visiting from Japan…Fan Fest Nights celebrates stories not told every day at Universal. To that end, I enjoyed the opportunity to experience stories with fandom I don’t belong to. Two of those this year are Sailor Moon and Once Piece, both featured in attractions that Universal has brought over from Universal Studios Japan.The “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon the Miracle: Moon Palace Chapter Deluxe” movie plays in the DreamWorks Theater, while “One Piece: Grand Pirate Show” takes over Waterworld.Based on the number of cosplayers at this year’s event, One Piece appeared to me to be the most popular IP at Fan Fest Nights. It’s the best-selling comic book series of all time, with clever conflicts that invite you to consider the world around you as well as the characters on the page, as so many great comics do.
Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece: Grand Pirate Show. Photo courtesy UniversalThe franchise’s popularity tempted me to wonder if Universal should send Waterworld into retirement and invite One Piece to be the daily tenant in its stunt show theater. Ultimately, Grand Pirate Show has so much One Piece lore to draw from that I think the show would be less rewarding to watch for a non-fan than the simpler Waterworld production. To be fair, Waterworld the movie had basically zero fans, so there was no need for any fan service in Universal’s theme park stunt show. Just set up a conflict, and let’s fight.
Roronoa Zoro in One Piece: Grand Pirate Show. Photo courtesy UniversalOne Piece delivers plenty of thrills, however, even if a non-fan might not know why everyone else is cheering and gasping. If this show draws more fans into the One Piece fandom, well, they will find plenty of company to welcome them.Other attractions at this year’s event include the return of the Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep walkthrough, plus the appearance of multi-colored Yoshis in Super Nintendo World. Several regular Universal attractions are open during the event, which also features food and drinks themed to the event’s IPs – though wait times for those are often longer than for the attractions themselves.Universal Fan Fest Nights continues on select evenings through May 16. Tickets for this after-hour event start at $72 from our partner. Shop their Universal Studios Hollywood tickets page for options.
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