10 Things We Learned About the Star Trek: Red Alert Experience at Universal Fan Fest Nights

io9 precocious went connected a behind-the-scenes circuit of Universal Studios Hollywood’s Fan Fest Nights to get an aboriginal glimpse astatine its immersive attractions. One of the headliners we’re astir excited astir is Star Trek: Red Alert, which volition take Star Trek fans connected a travel from Earth into space, and done a recreation of the Starfleet Museum and the Enterprise-D for an unforgettable galactic adventure.

Stephen Siercks, Director of Entertainment Production astatine Universal Studios Hollywood, was connected manus for our archetypal look astatine Star Trek: Red Alert. And portion we were fixed a play-by-play of the full experience, we volition support this study mostly spoiler-free and volition refrain from giving distant excessively galore large crippled points.

Here’s 10 things we learned astir Red Alert up of its April 25 accomplishment astatine Universal Fan Fest Nights 2025.

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The pulsed immersive experience volition beryllium a radical endeavor, wherever you’ll question with your enactment from country to room. Each country volition play retired a antithetic conception of the communicative that you’ll get to subordinate in, with airy improvisational exchanges betwixt guests and players. Siercks shared that “the communicative volition unfold astir you,” and added that the layout expands a spot connected a akin attraction that Universal Studios Hollywood fans cognize and love: “This attraction runs astir 10 to 14 minutes successful full length, truthful longer than a emblematic Halloween Horror Nights attraction does.”

Part of that includes a pre-show which volition drawback visitors up to velocity connected the story—in different words, wherefore is Starfleet inviting guests on connected a tour? “The conception is that we’re bridging 1 of the newer elements of the Star Trek franchise with a bequest facet of the Star Trek franchise,” Siercks explained. “What I mean by that is that our acquisition takes spot successful the Picard epoch of the franchise, 1 of the latest iterations connected Paramount+. We’re getting an exclusive accidental to instrumentality a shuttle trade up to the Starfleet Museum which is an in-world constituent successful Picard. And astatine the Starfleet Museum we’re getting an exclusive circuit of the Enterprise-D from The Next Generation. So it’s a cleanable mode of bridging the latest with the legacy. We larn a small spot much astir what that circuit is going to look like. We besides larn that the Enterprise-D is going to beryllium modified for these circuit groups. You mightiness spot enlarged turbolifts oregon different things that person been adjusted specifically for this benignant of circuit that we’re astir to take.”

The core of the story is that portion you’re connected the tour, you conscionable docents and ensigns aft shuttlecrafting up to the Enterprise-D connected the iconic shuttle bay from the show. This is accomplished by immersive integer elements, Siercks explained, pointing astatine the immense model beside us. “The unit tract successful beforehand of you, this is simply a elephantine LED surface and what happens present is that arsenic we’re being introduced to the ship, each of a abrupt an entity appears successful the distance. And it’s a airy signifier that gets person and person and person and each of a abrupt it starts breaking done the unit field—and successful a infinitesimal it breaks done and whooshes past you.” He added that “through lighting, audio, [and] effects [on] the ceiling, it makes it consciousness arsenic though this entity, this being, this airy signifier has breached the shuttle. And truthful successful that infinitesimal everything starts going haywire. So that’s wherever the inciting enactment happens and we’re thrust into the mediate of this [situation] wherever thing is taking implicit the ship, [and] we person to fig retired what’s going on.”

Fans volition beryllium delighted to instrumentality portion successful a ngo of sorts successful settings they love implicit with “switch doors of the Enterprise-D [that] unfastened up.” Siercks walked america done the truly neat effect: “So present we find ourselves successful 1 of the sick bays of Enterprise-D. You’ll get to conscionable respective antithetic characters passim the acquisition [and] each quality represents a antithetic contention oregon quality benignant from the franchise. It’s a large mode of not conscionable interacting with each the characters portion telling 1 singular story; present you tin spot that things are starting to spell a small spot connected the fritz [as] the entity is taking implicit immoderate of the ship’s computers. Here we besides larn that the entity is starting to infiltrate aspects of the vessel that are starting to marque it a small unsafe truthful there’s a spot of uneasiness happening.” But don’t worry, it’s not Halloween Horror Nights scary—just alarming and fun.

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One of the silly things that happens erstwhile things spell haywire due to the fact that the entity is bopping astir the vessel and moving done the tech is an Easter egg. Siercks pointed astatine a projection airy instrumentality show Trek fans volition place quickly: “Over determination is simply a replicator. A replicator is thing that manifests nutrient oregon items and due to the fact that the entity has started to instrumentality implicit it is conscionable continuing to replicate beverage oregon Earl Grey hot, which is Captain Picard’s favourite portion of course”

The augmented facet of the relation play present is that erstwhile things leap into chaos, the ensigns propel the communicative forward. “What we’re told present is that there’s a mates of radical successful the engineering country that we should astir apt get determination to recognize what’s happening,” Siercks explained. The information from the entity’s beingness centers astir the warp of the Enterprise-D, which Siercks called “the heartbeat of the Enterprise D. And done sparks and audio and lighting and peculiar effects, that it starts to genuinely de-stabilize. And successful that moment, we spell to Red Alert, the rubric of the attraction. And astatine that point, we recognize the vessel is nary longer harmless to beryllium on. The circuit is officially over. We got to get our guests to the turbolifts to get you implicit the transporters to springiness you information backmost down to Earth.” If the warp doesn’t get stabilized…the vessel goes boom.

But portion guests are led done what they are led to judge is simply a transverse implicit to the transporters, the turbolift is going to besides glitch out, “All of a sudden, the turbolift stops. And it says that we’re being redirected. We can’t entree the transporters. And each of a sudden, erstwhile the turbolift stops, the doorway opens.” At that moment, Siecks activated the power doors. “And we’re connected the span of the Enterprise-D,” helium said, presenting the crown jewel of the attraction, a existent vessel span to basal in.

And it’s not conscionable a recreation of the span of the Enterprise-D, it’s the span astir precocious utilized successful Picard play three. “They did an full throwback occurrence wherever they really did a afloat recreation of the archetypal span acceptable and had the archetypal formed travel successful to reprise their roles for a fistful of episodes,” Siercks explained. “Through that large concern with Paramount, we were capable to really instrumentality that film-used acceptable and bring it present for our guests.” It’s breathtaking adjacent with the main viewport turned off.

The action reaches a fever transportation here arsenic the entity sweeps retired to the viewport, which with the integer surface accuracy volition enactment america retired into abstraction to spot the airy signifier successful a confrontation that mightiness not beryllium what you’re thinking. Siercks shared, “Being capable to make that communicative and that quality arsenic portion of this acquisition has been truly peculiar for america arsenic well.” After the entity is dealt with, “Everything returns backmost to operational state.” There’s different infinitesimal of enactment connected the span that helium promised is truly special: “We truly privation to springiness guests that opportunity, since we’ve been capable to dwell and walk immoderate clip successful each of these scenes, to soak up what this is and the acquisition of being connected the span earlier our ensigns archer us, ‘We got to get you to the transporters’ [and pb guests] implicit down the hallway to get you backmost down to Earth. ‘Thank you for everything.’ [They] apologize for the inconvenience that this circuit caused and they nonstop america connected the way.”

And yes, this volition see immoderate beaming—but don’t interest you won’t beryllium divided isolated astatine a molecular level to get backmost into Universal Studios. Siercks explained that with the transporter beam finale, “We are giving our guests the feeling of the [transporter] beam. To get backmost down to Earth [guests volition walk onto] 1 of 2 transporters. It volition divided the radical successful fractional and there’s going to beryllium a vapor existent effect—so determination volition beryllium a mister present and it volition consciousness arsenic though we’re passing done a transporter connected our mode to the exit and get backmost into the remainder of the events. So conscionable erstwhile we deliberation the acquisition is over, there’s 1 much happening to supply our guests.”

Universal Studios Fan Fest Nights begins Friday, April 25 and runs prime nights done Sunday, May 18. For tickets and much info sojourn here.

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