“Star Trek” is a franchise that has always seemed ripe for exploration in a theme park. Space trip, extraterrestrials, magic technology and, perhaps above all, an underlying belief in optimism centered on man.
Meet someone who saw “Star Trek: The Experience” in Las Vegas, who opened its doors in the late 90s and ran for about a decade, and expect nostalgic reflections to run on the USS Enterprise and participate in carrier illusions. But since the latter closed, “Star Trek” essentially failed in a great attraction of theme park in the United States
The guests of the new fan fest fan fan evenings for Universal Studios will be able to explore the USS Enterprise bridge, this one a real set of “Star Trek: Picard”.
(Amanda Villegas / For Times)
Until today. Universal Studios Hollywood made “Star Trek” one of the attractions of the centerpiece of its new event after opening hours, with a ship bridge that has recently been used as a playing play on “Star Trek: Picard” and a promise to use smart stagicrafts to simulate this feeling of a carrier. The complement of spring with Halloween horror evenings, Fan Fest evenings focuses on theaters in theme park and science fiction, game and anime rather than horror.
Events in the evening in separately tickets have become a way to divert more dollars from themed parks, the Disneyland Resort essentially offering them all year round, and now Universal expanding its offers beyond the fall season. Evening tickets start at $ 74, and there are packages and additional modules that can stretch the price up to $ 373. Customers are encouraged to come in costume, and universal rides will be operational throughout the evening.
The Nights Fan Fest will follow the Horror Nights formula, that is to say that it will offer original pop-up attractions on the theme of “Star Trek”, “Dungeons & Dragons” and “Back to the Future”, with other installations centered on anime pipes “One Piece” and “Jujutsu Kaisen” and experiences in limited time. There will be characters' interactions – Elphaba and Glinda from “Wicked's”, for example – but Fan Fest Nights, which launches on April 25 and takes place on certain nights until May 18, place a premium on immersive offers of theater type which present guests to follow and interact with the actors.
“One of the things that makes these experiences really special is their exploratory nature,” explains Stephen Siercks, principal director of entertainment at Universal Studios Hollywood and executive producer of fan Fest Nights. “It's a bit of an adventure to choose with you along the way.”
Stephen Siercks, a key creator of Fest Nights Fan Fest Night evenings from Universal Studios, says the project has been in preparation for about three years. Here, he is held in the middle of an experience on the theme of “Dungeons & Dragons”.
(Amanda Villegas / For Times)
“Star Trek: Red Alert” takes place at the time of the series “Star Trek: Picard” and the attraction of the walk will transport the guests on the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, the story that the ship is moored in a museum. Things, of course, are wrong. “Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep” will take the participants on a mini-establishment centered on a dragon staff and a group puzzle in Mi-Specletacle. “Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley” will use Universal shooting places to create a festive feeling, a feeling that will present a dancing evening and several actors so that the participants follow connection scenarios.
In a departure from Halloween horror evenings, the “Star Trek” and “Dungeons & Dragons” areas should last approximately 12 minutes, each with several pieces where the actors will perform and interact with the guests. Participants will cross them into small groups, which Universal describes as “pulsating” visitors from space to space. On the other hand, a Halloween labyrinth lasts only a few minutes and has a recorded dialogue. The idea is to create a more interactive and inspired feeling of the theater which offers participants more time to not only live in the worlds of properties, but also allow each show to feel slightly different.
“It was important for us to be able to develop stories and really develop characters and environments,” explains Sierck.
Siercks says that Fan Fest has been developing for about three years. Although Universal does not lack historical science fiction franchises – “and the extraterrestrial” come to my mind, in particular because it once boasted of its own ride in the theme park – the studio of fan Fest has associated itself with Paramount and Hasbro to bring franchises which were more recently active in streaming or in theaters. It was only with “Back to the Future” that Universal explained its catalog to bank on the sentimentality of the public.
“Hill Valley”, explains Sierck, referring to the fictitious city of “Back to the future”, will allow guests to leave a tram and spend time in a work backlot. “They will live courthouse Square as it was in the film” Back to the future “. It is very special for us, and one of the pillars of fans' holidays. We have created new types of characters. You can follow your chosen character to allow the story to take place.”
“Star Trek” will inaugurate the guests of several rooms aboard the ship, including a shuttle bay equipped with a large LED screen, a sick bay and, of course, from the bridge. After having been covered with a makeshift shuttle, which will include rumble effects in the ground to simulate the feeling of movement, we will enter the bay of the shuttle and will witness a mysterious space entity seems to take control of the ship. This will panic among our tourist guides and an assortment of practical effects. Do not miss, for example, a food replicator on Fritz, where holographic tea will not materialize regularly.
A “Star Trek” experience will bring guests through several places aboard the USS Enterprise, including a Sick Bay.
(Amanda Villegas / For Times)
Further on, we will see a Core chain starting to destabilize, and our groups seem separated. The company will continue to be disturbed by the entity, and around 10 players will aim to keep calm visitors while arriving at the bottom of what is happening. History will reach a highlight in a bridge scene, in which contact is established with the entity. We will not spoil the resolution, but the final scene will be a transporter on the ground. “We think it will be a perfect moment,” says Siercks.
Fan holiday nights in Universal Studios
“Dungeons & Dragons” is just as complex, and it is centered on a story of a monster known as “spectator”, a floating eye socket of a creature with a large central orb surrounded by smaller tentacle stems, which stole a very desired dragon personnel. The latter here is represented via a large puppet created by Jim Henson's creature shop, and the promenade experience will bring us taverns to the alley of a market at the spectator's lair.
The actors will stick to participants from room to room, joining the guests in their quest. Siercks says that the team has sought ways to inject interactivity, because certain history points can be triggered by, let's say, a crystal ball on a shelf, and the entrance to the viewer's sanctuary requires the resolution of a puzzle the size of a room. The creatures abound, like an imitation of change of form disguised as a chest, and yes, of course, there will be a dragon, here considered a projection.
A look at one of the rooms of an experience on the theme of “Dungeons & Dragons” as part of the Fan Fest evenings in the Universal.
(Amanda Villegas / For Times)
Siercks has been with Universal for about 20 years, and says that Fan Fest allows him to explore his love for theater. “I have training in design and production of theater, so I came from the theater and very early I was able to experience thematic entertainment and I did not look back since,” he said. “To be able to develop experiences on this scale and create experiences that drop our guests in the middle of action, is the best of both worlds. It is a very theatrical experience. ”
Stephen Siercks says that the Fan Fest evenings of Fans of Universal Studios allow him to explore his love of the theater.
(Amanda Villegas / For Times)
Elsewhere at Fan Fest, “One Piece” will be celebrated with characters' meetings, photo opportunities and some light games, while a short film “Jujutsu Kaisen”, “Hunger of the Cursed”, will be shown in the DreamWorks Theater. The latter was initially developed for Universal Studios Japan. The Park's Super Nintendo world will welcome the arrival of Yoshi as a character meeting, and its “Harry Potter” section will present new creatures – will be looking for a baby dragon – and a projection program on the Hogwart castle.
However, the underlying nucleus of Fan Fest will transform Universal Studios Hollywood, a park initially built on cinematographic properties around a work studio, on stage. And in the case of “Star Trek”, “Dungeons & Dragons” and “Back to the Future”, we are invited to have a main role.
