Both Disney and Universal are expanding their regular theme park experiences in California this year, with specially themed after-hours events at Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood. But are any of these hard-ticket parties worth your time and money?
Disneyland is hosting 20 Disneyland After Dark nights at the theme park this winter and spring. The nights are divided into four different themed events, starting with Sweethearts' Nite, which is sold out.
Upcoming events are two evenings of 90s Nite and eight of Star Wars Nite, including May the Fourth this year. Two evenings of Pride Nite in June will wrap up this year's schedule.
At Disneyland After Dark, rare character appearances help support the evening's theme, but mostly it's the crowd that provides the special flavor. Fans are encouraged to dress for the event, and Disneyland offers free PhotoPass downloads to capture your experience, as well.
Across town at Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Fan Fest Nights debuts this year for 12 evenings. Unlike the changing Disneyland events, Universal is offering the same lineup for all 12 nights. And also unlike Disney, Universal is rolling out special attractions just for the event.
Fans will have the opportunity to experience walk-through show experiences themed to Star Trek and to Dungeons & Dragons, themed fan zones for Back to the Future (in Courthouse Square!) and One Piece, and the U.S. premiere of a 4D show for Jujutsu Kaisen. Extra entertainment and character appearances will plus Super Nintendo World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the event, too.
And, yes, like at Disney, cosplay is allowed and encouraged... just so long as you don't try to pass yourself off as an official park character.
But perhaps the biggest difference between these events is their cost.
Disneyland After Dark tickets run from $149-179 per person, while Universal Fan Fest Nights cost just $74-84 apiece. (And you can get a $3 discount by purchasing through our ticket partner, which also helps support Theme Park Insider.)
At both parks, you get access to select attractions with what the parks promise to be shorter wait times than you would have during the day. Special food and merchandise also will be available exclusively during the events.
It's hard to say for sure which event is the better deal since we haven't seen Universal's event yet. But Universal has a track record with after-hours events thanks to Halloween Horror Nights. So let's consider that along with Disneyland's track record with past After Dark events.
And, yeah, the Star Wars vs. Star Trek side quest here is one worth debating, too.
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It's interesting that Universal is charging half the price AND providing IP-specific attractions for their after-hours events. I wonder if that's meant as a shot at Disney's overpriced and underthemed event, Universal trying to disrupt the marketplace, or simply what Universal thinks it needs to do to get its foot in the door of this potentially lucrative space. HHN was originally offered as a relatively inexpensive hard-ticket event, and slowly grown into one of the premier after-hours events in the world. Maybe Universal is taking the same tact here, and they want to slowly grow this to become the spring/early summer analogue to HHN.