Universal Studios Hollywood (Universal City, California) debuted an IP-driven menu and a Dining Pass for the second annual Universal Fan Fest Nights. The in-world menu items and prepaid food bundling continue Universal’s push to use food as an extension of the themed storytelling guests already pay to experience.
Universal Fan Fest Nights, a separately ticketed after-hours event celebrating fandoms across sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and anime, runs select nights April 23 through May 16, 2026. The 2026 F&B program, curated by Universal Studios Hollywood Executive Chef Julia Thrash, spans six IP activations at the event and extends onto Universal CityWalk Hollywood.
Menus Built Into the IP Activations
Rather than attaching generic snacks to the event, Universal has built menus inside each IP footprint, anchoring food to the same lands and venues hosting the walk-through experiences, shows, and meet-and-greets.
Scooby-Doo Meets The Universal Monsters. The headline items tie directly to this year’s signature backlot experience, Scooby-Doo Meets The Universal Monsters: Mystery on the Backlot. The walk-through attraction sends guests via Studio Tour tram to Universal’s historic backlot, where they join Scooby-Doo, Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy in solving a mystery involving Frankenstein, Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man across Little Europe’s cobblestone streets and the Court of Miracles, the original filming locations for Frankenstein (1931) and The Wolf Man (1941). The experience replaces last year’s Back to the Future backlot attraction.
Throughout Little Europe, guests will find two Scooby-Doo items: Scooby Snacks and the Super Shaggy Sandwich, which Universal describes as “a stacked club sandwich sharable with your own Mystery Gang.” On the Monsters side, guests can order a Universal Monsters 22″ Dog.
ONE PIECE. The returning Sanji’s Galley relocates to an expanded footprint at Hollywood & Dine. Entrées include Luffy’s Meat on the Bone, Sanji’s Seafood Fried Rice, Franky’s Loco Moco Burger, Brook’s Spicy Katsu, Jinbe’s Watermelon Salad, and Pirate’s Bounty Funnel Cake. Desserts include Luffy’s Straw Hat mousse dome and the Chopper Cupcake. A new bar concept, the Grand Pirate Den (NEW), will serve themed mocktails tied to the new ONE PIECE: Grand Pirate Show at WaterWorld.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The Three Broomsticks is running traditional British pub fare for the event, including Scotch Eggs, Welsh Rarebit, Toad in the Hole, Curry Chicken, Classic Sunday Roast, and Classic English Fish and Chips. A Three Broomsticks Dessert Flight (NEW) joins the menu alongside a Hippogriff Brown Sugar & Oat Trifle.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. A bento box combo meal anchors this year’s Sailor Moon F&B, packaged with a spicy tuna onigiri, a Moonlight Love Sparkle drink, and Tuxedo Mask’s Raspberry Rose Sandwich Cookie. Nearby locations will sell a Moon Scepter Churro and Mystery Box Cupcakes. The bento format is a departure from the single-snack approach typical of IP-themed food at theme park events.
Dungeons & Dragons. The returning First Roll Tavern on the Lower Lot serves Cockatrice Hot Wings, Dragon Egg Cheesecake, Gelatinous Cube, Ranger’s Mark sandwich, and Beholder’s Brew Fondue, along with themed alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
SUPER NINTENDO WORLD. Chef Toad is serving three themed smoothies in flavors representing the green, yellow, and purple Yoshis. A Green Yoshi drink bottle with a signature Yoshi Egg will be available for purchase.
New Dining Pass
For the first time, Fan Fest Nights will offer a Universal Fan Fest Nights Dining Pass. According to Universal, the pass allows guests to select six items on their visit date for a single price, including two eligible entrée items and four eligible side, snack, dessert, or beverage items. It is redeemable only at participating food and beverage locations and only during Universal Fan Fest Nights. Universal notes that additional restrictions apply. Pricing has not been announced.
Prepaid dining packages are common at theme park food festivals and are sold as add-ons to general admission or annual passes. The Fan Fest Nights Dining Pass differs in that it sits inside a second-gate hard-ticket event, meaning guests are already paying for admission on top of daytime theme park access or an annual pass membership before adding a food bundle. Universal first applied the hard-ticket Dining Pass format at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood in 2025.
CityWalk Restaurants and Merchandise Join the Program
Four Universal CityWalk Hollywood restaurants are running limited-time themed offerings during the event: NBC Sports Grill & Brew (ONE PIECE), Voodoo Doughnut (Scooby-Doo), The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon), and Vivo Italian Kitchen (DUNGEONS & DRAGONS). The CityWalk tie-ins give guests an IP-themed dining option before the event opens each night and extend the F&B program outside the ticketed footprint.
A new merchandise lineup launches alongside the food program. Hero items include Yoshi character shirts, shoulder pals, and a headband, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon apparel and accessories, a ONE PIECE Spirit Jersey, Scooby-Doo and Universal Monsters crossover apparel, and items inspired by Forbidden Forest: Search for the Hippogriff. Merchandise is available inside the theme park, on Universal CityWalk, and at shopuniversal.com. Universal is encouraging guests to attend in cosplay or fandom attire, subject to its cosplay costume guidelines.
Event Dates and Ticketing
Universal Fan Fest Nights runs April 23 to 25, May 1 to 3, May 7 to 9, and May 14 to 16, 2026. Tickets are available at UniversalStudiosHollywood.com, with ticket types including General Admission, Universal Express, Universal Express Unlimited, an After 2 p.m. Day/Night combo, a 2-Night General Admission, an Ultimate Fandom Pass with no blockout dates, an Early Access Ticket starting at 6 p.m., and a Universal Fan Fest Nights VIP Tour that includes a guided walking tour and a gourmet dinner in a private VIP dining room.
What This Means for Seasonal Operators (Analysis)
Fan Fest Nights is doing two things at once that are worth separating.
The first is tying the food directly to the story. The industry at large is moving past the era of recoloring a churro and calling it “themed F&B,” and that trend is clear here. A Sailor Moon bento box with onigiri, a themed drink, and a character-branded cookie is a packaged in-world dining moment rather than a single concession item. Sanji’s Galley gets an expanded footprint and a dedicated bar in the Grand Pirate Den, positioned next to the new WaterWorld stage show. The Scooby-Doo sandwich is unique in that it exists in the cartoon, and Universal is bringing it to the real world. Food extends the story guests came for, rather than interrupting it.
This is the same F&B posture Universal has been refining at Halloween Horror Nights Orlando, where themed stalls are built to pair with specific haunted houses. Food has become a meaningful per-cap lever at HHN, and the programming investment behind it has grown year over year.
The second thing is the Dining Pass and where it is being deployed. Prepaid dining packages are a standard upsell at food festivals, but what is newer is porting that mechanic into a second-gate hard-ticket event, where the guest has already paid once to get in and is now being offered a prepaid F&B bundle on top. Universal ran this play at HHN Hollywood in 2025 and is running it again at Fan Fest Nights. On a hard-ticket night, the ticket gets the guest in the door, but a meaningful share of the incremental margin comes from F&B, merchandise, and premium add-ons. A bundled F&B product lifts per-cap, captures revenue before the event night, and reduces friction when lines get long and decision fatigue sets in.
Taken together, the 2026 F&B program is a test of whether the HHN F&B playbook, in-world themed food plus a prepaid Dining Pass, transfers cleanly to a non-Halloween second-gate event. If Fan Fest Nights can show the same per-cap lift, the model becomes a template for any park running a separately ticketed IP-driven event in the shoulder seasons.
