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Vegas Star Trek Experience Closing Down
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Mon Sep 01, 2008 02:39 PM
from the where-3-million-have-gone-before dept.
from the where-3-million-have-gone-before dept.
Leebert writes "Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton is closing its doors today after the attraction owner and the hotel could not work out a renewed lease deal. In its 10-year tenure, more than 3 million people have visited the Trek themed exhibit. 'Trekkies are incensed. They've scrawled reminiscences about the exhibit on the walls inside, and they're calling Cedar Fair and the hotel to complain. But their online rumor that the space the exhibit occupies will become a theater for pop star Michael Jackson is unfounded, Sternberg said. He said nothing's decided.'"
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Wow 10 years! (Score:4, Insightful)
I had never heard of this, but then again I have never actually gone to Vegas.
Anyway, would that make this the longest running Star Trek franchise?
Re:Wow 10 years! (Score:5, Funny)
I had never heard of this, but then again I have never actually gone to Vegas.
Neither have I. This may provide a clue as to why it's closing.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I have never actually gone to Vegas.
Neither have I. This may provide a clue as to why it's closing.
Another clue: geeks understand how probability works.
Re:Wow 10 years! (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wow 10 years! (Score:5, Insightful)
"Overpriced" means you hate paying it. "Well worth it" means you pay anyway.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I've been there twice as well. I very much enjoyed both rides, and hanging around in Quarks bar was fun. The production values of the entire place are top notch.
One of the best parts was the backstage tour. It lasted well over an hour, you got to meet the cast members, and there was lot's of interesting trivia. We got to explore a scale replica of the Enterprise bridge for as long as we wanted to.
Re:Wow 10 years! (Score:4, Informative)
I was there in January during CES. I found it a little overpriced, however it was pretty fun. I thought that the Borg experience where you actually take part in a pre-scripted adventure was the most entertaining of the two. The transporter effect on the Klingon adventure was pretty interesting.
I agree with others that Quark's bar was pretty good. The drinks were good, and the food was actually good (and not too expensive, given that it was Vegas). Fun atmosphere. Maybe they should just move Quark's somewhere else. It would probably still be popular.
That said, it did have some rough edges on it. You could start to get the feel of things being a bit run-down and in need of some updating (older, burned-in computer monitors set in the display screens, etc). The IMAX films were getting pretty scratched up and were in bad shape - they really needed some crisp new prints.
Could it still be successful as a Vegas attraction? I dunno - it's been quite some time since TNG, and until the Trek franchise is re-invigorated, existing fans probably wouldn't have been quite as interested.
N.
Parent
Re:Wow 10 years! (Score:5, Funny)
(We weren't in costume, of course, but the character actors at Quark's seemed to appreciate having trained improvisationalists to riff off of.)
This is the geek equivalent of "I think that stripper likes me"
Parent
Re:Wow 10 years! (Score:4, Informative)
They had a reproduction of Quark's bar where you could order exotic looking (and fairly tasty) food and drink, Klingons and Feringi walking around making comments about typical ST stuff, and all kinds of ST crap to buy. Yeah, all of it was woefully overpriced, but it IS Vegas and much better than spending an hour at a blackjack table.
I still have a couple of tribbles I bought there. Though I'm actually surprised it stayed around so long, it's a shame to see it go... a real shame.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Been to Vegas, but didnt know this existed till recently... I've been too busy with my own Star Trek Experience helping make this... Star Trek New Voyages [startreknewvoyages.com]
But, as for longest running franchise, I guess you aren't including Paramount? Dunno... I wonder if some of the original Trek based franchises from the early days are still around? And possibly Pocket Books' Trek franchise predates it.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Wait, what? What's a "normal" trekie in this sense?
(Disclaimer: I watched the original as a kid in the sixties, but I didn't inhale.)
SciFi Museum (Score:4, Interesting)
Seems to me a great opportunity to pack it up and move it to the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle.
Re:SciFi Museum (Score:5, Funny)
With all the enthusiasm behind it, I'm sure it will live long and prosper.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You know you've been watching too much Star Trek when you casually say pack up a hotel and exhibit hall and move them to Seattle from Vegas.
Re:SciFi Museum (Score:5, Informative)
I realize this might have been a joke, but I've been to both the SF museum in Seattle and the Star Trek Experience in Vegas.
Trust me, the SF museum in Seattle has nothing on the Star Trek Experience. No disrespect to Paul Allen; it's just the magnitude of the two isn't even close.
The Star Trek Experience was absolutely incredible--very well done, terrific actors, great museum, the rides were stellar, and Quark's bar had some kind of fish bowl alcoholic drink with dry ice--all in all, an unforgettable experience. And I say this as someone who was never very interested in Star Trek.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
There was another, similar drink called the Borg Sphere as well.
I was going to try one of them a couple weeks ago, but they actually closed at 1 in the morning even though the place was still packed. (Sony's Fan Faire was held in the same hotel, which contributed quite a bit to the place being full that night.)
You can see the menu for Quark's here (as a PDF):
http://www.startrekexp.com/pdf/quarks_menu.pdf [startrekexp.com]
Uh. Didn't know it existed! (Score:2)
It was a lot of fun... (Score:2)
Damn (Score:2)
Anyway, it's all mostly sub-Disney type rides and prop filler, but still lots of fun, shame it's shutting down.
Re: (Score:2)
My wife and I (both trekkies) have talked about going for years.
Now my only reason to ever visit Vegas is gone. Bummer ... it (ST experience) was right at the top of my places to go see :(
Re: (Score:2)
It was cheesy, but the sets where well done. I wish they had allowed more time to stroll about and admire them instead of being ushered through. The Andorian girl they had walking about in tight slutty latex was a nice touch, and of course they served alcohol at the end. IIRC one of the drinks was named the 'reactor breach'.
been there twice (Score:2)
I've been to it twice over the years, both times I visited Vegas when flying over from Ireland.
Enjoyed both times and its sad to see it go :(
Re:been there twice (Score:5, Funny)
>But their online rumor that the space the exhibit occupies will
become a theater for pop star Michael Jackson...
At least it will stay a SF/Alian theme...
Parent
Re:been there twice (Score:5, Funny)
Hopefully, the Casino rules will still stand and no one under 21 will be allowed into MJ Land. Actually, as long as they keep anyone under about 14 out, they should do fine. If they do decide on the Michael Jackson Theatre, I think we should insist they add the Roman Polanski, OJ Simpson and Phil Spector Theaters in the same building. Then we can nuke the building from space. (It's the only way to be certain.)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
been there a few times (Score:4, Informative)
1) After you buy your ticket you get in line to get in. The line winds around a kind of museum that goes through the time-line of the Star Trek Universe. It's kinda like reading a big comic book summary of all the different shows and movies.
2) Then you get together for a shuttle simulation ride. But before you can get on the ride, while watching a safety video, you get accidentally beamed aboard the Enterprise (Next Generation vintage).
3) Then you are put on a "real" shuttle and go on a crazy ride involving battle with Klingons before you're brought back to your own time through a wormhole or whatnot.
4) After the ride you can go hang out and Quark's bar and stuff like that. At the bar there's usually at least one Klingon in character with a working knowledge of Klingon (at least the three or four things I'm geeky-enough to know). I hear more recently that there was a Borg-related ride added on as well.
Wikipedia has all the details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Experience [wikipedia.org]
Anyway, it wasn't geek nirvana but it was kinda close. I can only hope that the Genesis Planet that is Vegas produces a new better one someday...
Parent
As Picard would say (Score:2)
Enrage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jd1Ih8EUmw [youtube.com]
God damn... (Score:5, Funny)
...Ferengi bastards!
It wasn't 'sub-Disney' at all (Score:4, Informative)
It was on a par with Star Tours in Disneyland--better because of the costumed actors as part of the show. I enjoyed it, took both sets of adult kids to it over the years. My wife would never open her eyes in teh shuttle. "My, God. Open your eyes and experience the thrill!" The costumed Ferengi in the restaurant was great and the props and timeline were top notch. Guess there's no reason to go out of your way over to the Hilton any more. Oh, well.
Although I enjoyed the Vegas experience (Score:4, Interesting)
I found the musueum exhibit at The San Diego Air & Space Museum to be far more rewarding. I spent hours at the San Diego exhibit, looking at the detail at which items were presented. Set reproductions, models from the show, props and costumes. It was fantastic. [aerospacemuseum.org]
The vegas experience was something I walked through and felt like I was being shuffled through like cattle - there are people lining up, looking over you, and many don't even want to be there.
I hear that the San Diego exhibit was part of a much larger exhibit that was broken up - I wish I could have seen the original.
I went expecting... (Score:3, Interesting)
The first time I went, I was expecting something extremely cheap and stupid. I was so very pleasantly surprised by the transporter the first time. The recreation of the bridge was top notch and the surprise transport blew me away, since I was expecting something stupid.
It was definitely worth seeing and it's sad that it's closing down, since it was a pretty decent "show" for fairly cheap. The shuttle craft bit was standard motion ride fare, but otherwise the actors did a good job and Quarks bar was pretty good for ambiance and such.
Oh, did I mention the surprise transporter was excellent? :) I took a few people over the years just for that effect.
Re:so..how DID their simulated transport work anyw (Score:4, Interesting)
A lot of the sudden scene shift are a case of changing the lighting under the floor so the floor appears to have changed, and at the same time they drop in or drop away walls that suddenly cause the entire surrounding to change. You don't go anywhere, but everything you see moves. And they shuttle you between multiple sets while they reset the previous ones, that's why you're never in one place for too long. The lights of course go out in the brief interval where the walls are dropping.
But if you're not expecting it, it's very involving. You don't have time to question what you're seeing, which makes it so much more realistic.
The canned video conversations between picard etc and the on-set actors was fairly well done but still looked a little artificial imho.
The only part I didn't care for were the klingons trying to make idle chat with me. I know they were just doing their acting jobs but it seemed a bit corny.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The transporter effect was one of the few things that made me think "wow!" It was seamless, and fantasticly done. I was expecting some cheap crap, but everything was well done, and the actors were very good.
As for the Ferengi, you could tell they were having fun with the part. Kind of felt sorry for the person(s) who drew the short straw, and had to walk around as Borg. Although it would be ok if you were hung over.
Obligatory (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
It's dead Jim.
Parent
Its a sign (Score:4, Funny)
A sign that Vegas needs a entire Star Trek Themed hotel.
Quarks Casino, Shopping on the Promenade, The Risa Day Spa, The 10 forward lounge, Sulu's bath house err ahhh
Re: (Score:2)
And Deana Troy running around in her tights.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
you can have Troi, I'll be hangin' with 7 thankyouverymuch
Re:Its a sign (Score:5, Funny)
Let's think about this. On one hand, you could have a woman who will assimilate you into her collective -- resistance is futile -- and on the other hand, you could have a woman who knows exactly what you want.
I'll stick with Troi, thanks.
Oh, man. I just went online and debated the relative merits of Trek women. I'm not sure if I should be proud, or ashamed.
Parent
A nice experience for the casual fan... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:A nice experience for the casual fan... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Warp Core Breach (Score:4, Interesting)
Dry ice in a drink the size of a fishbowl! Make it *_hic_*... Make it *_hic_*... Engage.
The Klingon, Ferengi, and Borg actors made for some better than average atmosphere.
[annecdote] friend of mine knew how to speak some "klingon" and got into it with one of those staff actors at the bar. received a head butt and mock beat-down for his trouble.[/annecdote].
Good times.
Re:Warp Core Breach (Score:5, Funny)
[annecdote] friend of mine knew how to speak some "klingon" and got into it with one of those staff actors at the bar. received a head butt and mock beat-down for his trouble.[/annecdote].
Good times.
I can't decide if I want to post a mocking reply or a "zomg, thats cool!" reply.
Tell you what, if anyone asks outside of Slashdot, I mocked your anecdote, but between you and me thats freakin' cool.
Parent
63 comments... (Score:5, Funny)
63 comments in and still no one has made an "it's dead, Jim" joke? What happened to the slashdot I used to know?!
A Disturbing trend. (Score:4, Insightful)
I see this as a disturbing trend in our society's prosperity. Star Trek was a symbol of a rational, secular future that was peaceful and optimistic. It was a world I wanted to live in as a child. But in reality I grew in a backward part of the world as a child: The American South. I wanted to explore space. But I was considered a weirdo and a nutcase as a kid because nobody in my Elementary school knew what a Borg was.
We have no active star trek series. Our science fiction authors are croaking off. And now this. Slowly, the optimistic future that Star Trek represented is falling vanishing in favor of a backward religious future. Its really sad.
Re:poor trekkies (Score:5, Funny)
I dare you to come down to my mother's basement and say that to my face, punk!
Parent
Mod parent up! (Score:2, Redundant)
Awesome "Get a life" William Shatner sketch [jt.org] reference.
Re: (Score:2)
maybe maybe not. they aren't lies they are half truths because the important people haven't made final judgments and decisions. Anyone who has gone through a corporate sale/merger knows this all to well, the really important decisions seem to wait until the last possible second.
My boss sold her company because she wanted to retire. Now she is planning on working part time for 3-12 months, but is unsure of what kind of part time hours she wants. it isn't for the money it is because she can't decide what
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
A buddy of mine is a regular there (dating one of the ST:E performers)--it has been in the works for about two years because the place just isn't making money. I gather that its marketing has hugely sucked.
It's too bad. I wanted to see it someday, and was going to go to Vegas next summer. Ah well.