Universal Studios Hollywood at L.A. Comic Con: Go Behind-The-Scenes of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, Universal Fan Fest Nights, and Halloween Horror Nights
"Let's split up and look for clues!"
Los Angeles Comic-Con is here, and during today’s Universal Studios Hollywood panel, we got an exciting look behind the scenes of Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Fan Fest Nights, and Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift.
What’s Happening:
- This weekend, L.A. Comic-Con has taken over the Los Angeles Convention Center.
- Inviting fans from all different nerdoms, attendees are welcomed into panels and booths inspired by some of the best entertainment the world has to offer.
- Universal Studios Hollywood joined in on the annual fandom fun, inviting guests to an interactive booth and a panel discussion that happened today, September 27th, at 1PM.
- This year’s event is heavily focused on Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Fan Fest Nights 2026, and Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift.
- Yesterday, it was confirmed that the Universal Backlot will host an unforgettable mashup of two classic franchises!
- Combining the hit animated film and TV series Scooby-Do! and Universal Classic Monsters, fans will be invited into the historic film sets as Mystery Inc. faces off against horror icons like Frankenstein, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and more!
- This past event saw Back to the Future come to life in the backlot, with attendees taking the Studio Tour tram into 1955 Hill Valley with entertainment, carnival games, interactive characters, photo opportunities, and themed food and beverages.
- Fans got a taste of the new in-world experience with a Mystery Machine pop-up at the USH booth, which included appearances by Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein.
- Fans were also able to take pictures with the 1970 Dodge Charger car from the new-for-2026 Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster.
- First unveiled for Universal Mega Movie Summer, the ride vehicle will be seen next year on the upcoming thrill ride.
- The Intamin Multi-Dimension launch coaster will race down the hillside of Universal City reaching speeds of 72 MPH, the fastest roller coaster at any Universal park in the world.
- Featuring an incredibly unique controlled spinning or “drifting" ride vehicle, guests ride over 4,000 feet of track with four inversions and multiple launches.
- And, of course, the fan-favorite Halloween Horror Nights event came to life with a Five Nights at Freddy’s photo op inspired by Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place.
- The panel was filled with some of the biggest names at USH, including John Murdy (Creative Director and Executive Producer of USH’s Halloween Horror Nights), Stephen Siercks (Executive Producer of Universal Fan Fest Nights), Jon Corfino (Vice President of Universal Creative), and Abbye Finnan (Sr. Show Producer of Universal Creative).
- John Murdy kicked off the presentation, sharing a history of Horror Nights.
“In the beginning, our focus was a lot more narrow than it is today. It was Freddy / Jason / Leatherface / Michael Meyers, etc. So then we started looking at expanding, and looking to other media like video games and television." - Murdy
- He also shared that the victims in this year’s Jason Universe House are intended to be influencers and urban explorers trespassing at Camp Crystal Lake.
- On Universal Fan Fest Nights, Siercks shared that the event took three full years to develop.
- In regards to this upcoming second event year, many of the events were originally created for year 1, but needed more time.
- In preparation of the new Scooby-Doo x Universal Monsters experience, Siercks has been rewatching old episodes of the classic animated show in preparation.
- While they didn’t share a whole lot of information, the experience will be as immersive as the Back to the Future in-world experience was.
- For Hollywood Drift, we got new information about the ride’s storyline from Corfino and Finnan.
- While many assumed the attraction would be a step away from the behind-the-scenes magic Universal Studios Hollywood is known for, the new attraction is set to pay homage to stunts.
- The queue will be full of props and stunt demonstrations as fans wait to board Universal’s fastest roller coaster to date.
- During the attraction's development, there were 70 different iterations created over the span of 9 years.
- In terms of story, they shared “The creative conceit is that we’re bringing you into a garage where they figure out how to create the Fast & Furious stunts. It’s almost like a love letter to the stunt men and women."
- Fans who attended were given a Universal Fan Fest Nights Mug.
- There are some amazing things on the horizon for Universal Studios Hollywood, and we can’t wait to watch the park continue to grow.
Read More Universal Studios Hollywood:
- Videos / Photos: Halloween Horror Nights 2025 Welcomes "Terrifier," "Fallout," More to Universal Studios Hollywood
- Kowa-Kawa Craze: Discover HamiKuma's Terrifyingly Cute Backstory at Halloween Horror Nights
- Ride the Movies, Movie the Rides: Go Behind the Scenes of Universal's Theme Parks and the New Universal Epic Universe in New Documentary on Peacock
Laughing Place recommends MouseFanTravel.com for all your Disney travel planning
Fill out the form below for a free, no obligation quote from MouseFanTravel.com