33 Impressive, Cool, And Rare "Back To The Future" Easter Eggs And Details At Universal Studios' Fan Fest Nights
If you've ever wanted to step foot in the ACTUAL place they filmed <i>Back to the Future</i>, now's your chance.
March 15, 2025 · 4 min · 840 words · Melanie Hubbard
Table of Contents
1.First of all, before you even get on the tram to the backlot, you’ll get a taste of what’s to come when you bump into the Clock Tower lady from Hill Valley’s Preservation Society. (Be sure to grab one of the iconic blue “Save the Clock Tower” flyers she’s handing out!)#
2.Getting you even more into the mindset of being “immersed” in Hill Valley, the typical Tram tour video has been replaced with a special video from Doc Brown advising you to do things like “observe, interact, and above all, don’t cause a paradox.”#
3.When you arrive at the backlot, if your timing is lucky, you’ll actually get to see Marty wandering into town (just like in the movie)! And you are 10,000% welcome to interact with him (and all the other actors).#
4.And there are perfect replicas of the Lyon Estates billboard and signs before you even arrive at Courthouse Square.#
5.OKAY, so when you do finally step foot into Courthouse Square, you’ll instantly feel transported to 1955. And there are all kinds of great details to look out for that call back to the film.#
6.For example one of the first things you’ll probably notice is Biff’s Ford Super De Luxe Convertible.#
7.There’s also Doc Brown’s 1949 Packard Custom 8 Victoria Convertible over at the gas station.#
8.Closer to the entrance, you’ll see a replica of a “Re-Elect Mayor ‘Red’ Thomas” sign.#
9.And, of course, the “Welcome to Hill Valley” square sign that Marty walks by in the film.#
10.There’s Ruth’s Frock Shop, where Lorraine gets her dress for the “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance.#
11.And if you look more closely at the shops you’ll see a lot of great Easter eggs. For example, the jewelry shop has a sign that says: Timeless Classics (~timeless~ get it?!).#
12.And the stationary store has some fun science fiction books that are very on brand, likeA Man Returns(Marty’s goal is to return to 1985!),The Traveler from Orange County(time TRAVEL!), andI’ll Have What She’s Having* by Tony Lindas, who is the Manager of Props and Placemaking at Universal Studios Hollywood.#
13.At the Realtor’s office, you’ll see homes for sale throughout Hill Valley including a couple of houses for sale on streets like “S. Hill Valley Circle” and “N. Courthouse Drive.”#
14.We don’t get Lou’s Cafe, sadly, however there is a thematic “Valley Diner & Cafe”…#
16.But there IS Roy’s Records, which doesn’t have “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” for sale, but they do have a nice record player for sale in the window.#
18.Also, be on the lookout (up high) for a subtle “Hill Valley High School” sign above the “Enchantment Under the Sea” stage…#
19…..as well as the panthers that have been added to the Clock Tower over at Courthouse Square (also way up high).#
20.Now, back to the BIG things. As I mentioned, this is a totally immersive event. So fans are encouraged to cosplay asBTTFcharacters. And you get to interact with the actors playing the characters from the film as much as you want!#
21.Like, you can help George McFly come up with something clever to say to Lorraine.#
22.You can ask Biff for a photo (although there’s a 100% chance he’ll be ~mean~ to you, because, ya know, he’s a bully).#
23.You can chat with Doc about the parameters of time travel.#
24.And, of course, you can talk to Marty and try and help him figure out how the heck he’s going to get back to 1985!#
25.FYI, there are ~major~ events that happen throughout your visit, and the whole story plays out in a roughly 1-hour loop, so if you miss one of the major events, you can hang out and see it again a little later.#
26.Like, you can see Marty trying to avoid Lorraine’s (his mom) romantic advances.#
27.Or watch Marty and Doc hash out their plan to get Marty BACK to the future.#
29.And you can even see Marty play up on stage with Marvin Berry and the Starlighters at the “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance.#
30.But, of course, the pièce de résistance is the recreation of the Clock Tower lightning strike. Now, FAIR WARNING, you will not actually see a DeLorean/Time Machine drive down the road during the recreation. However, you will see a cool projection and lighting sequence timed to the music that recreates the scene. And it’s pretty spectacular.#
31.And they’ve also added some cool special effects to recreate the lightning striking the tower and then going through the wires on Marty’s path.#
32.There’s also a REALLY great photo op they’ve set up with the iconic flames on the road and spinning license plate*. And this is just up and running all night, so get your pics in whenever you want!#
Here’s me (as Jennifer! LOL), just to give you a sense of what that looks like:#
33.But, don’t worry, you can get your Time Machine moment in with this other A+++ photo op that also includes EINSTEIN.#
