Here is how Scooby Doo will take on the Universal Monsters

March 24, 2026, 3:05 PM · Universal is sharing new details about its Scooby-Doo Meets the Universal Monsters experience for this year's Universal Fan Fest Nights.

The after-hours event starts next month at Universal Studios Hollywood. Last year's debut edition of Universal Fan Fest Nights featured a Back to the Future-themed takeover of Courthouse Square on the Universal backlot - the location where the Back to the Future movies were filmed. This year, Universal is turning to its classic monsters, with an assist from the Scooby-Doo gang.

The result will be an interactive experience where guests are invited to help Scooby and company solve a mystery - on the very backlot location where several classic Universal monster movies were filmed. So how will that work?

The backstory is that you have been cast as an extra (uh, excuse me... background actor) for a new Universal monster movie. You will take the Universal Studio Tour tram to your location on the backlot. But before you get there, the The Phantom Director appears at the Universal Monsters mural, summoning the monsters to bring his movie to real life.

As they say, "Zoinks!"

That's when the Mystery Inc. crew enters the story. The tram will take guests to the backlot's Little Europe set, where you will leave the tram and a production assistant will hand you a Mystery Manual.

From there, you are on your own to explore Little Europe and the Court of Miracles, looking for four Mystery Markers, each overseen by Fred, Velma, Daphne, or Shaggy.

"You're able to follow your favorite character as they have moments throughout the experience, and then layered on top of that, you have this whole idea of solving the mystery," Stephen Siercks, senior director, entertainment production and executive producer of Universal Fan Fest Nights, said. "It's really a multi-fold activation and experience that allows our guests to 'choose [their] own adventure' and interact with it in the way [they] want to."

"Also unfolding across Little Europe are three Universal Monster Show Moments featuring Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Wolf Man," Universal said in its press release for the event. "These show moments represent the The Phantom Director’s vision for his film, combining practical effects, comedic moments, and exactly the kind of spectacle you’d expect from a crazed director looking to unleash the power of the Universal Monsters."

It's essentially the same format at the "Destination Hill Valley" Back to the Future experience, which played at multiple locations on Courthouse Square last year.

Except this time, instead of finishing with the lightning strike on the clock tower, Scooby-Doo Meets the Universal Monsters: Mystery on the Backlot will wrap up with exactly the moment you would expect from a Scooby-Doo episode - a whodunit unmasking.

Tickets are on sale now for Universal Fan Fest Nights, which starts April 23 and runs 12 nights through May 16. You can save money on admission and support Theme Park Insider by shopping our partner's Universal Studios Hollywood tickets page.

Other attractions at this year's Universal Fan Fest Nights will include a One Piece stunt show in the Waterworld theater, a Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon movie in the Dreamworks Theater, a new Forbidden Forest Hippogriff experience in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a new interactive experience in Super Nintendo World, and the return of Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep.

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