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Vegas Star Trek Experience Closing Down
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.'"
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?
Thoughts on tech, Software Engineering, and stuff
Seems to me a great opportunity to pack it up and move it to the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle.
-- I really need to bleed off some of this
>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...
...Ferengi bastards!
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
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.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
I dare you to come down to my mother's basement and say that to my face, punk!
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
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.
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.
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.)
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.
KHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!
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
I went there once: when I was in vegas, saw both the exhibits. It was really neat to be on the bridge and the shuttle craft. I was caught pushing the buttons and was jokingly yelled at by the "Lieutenant"for messing with the gravity systems. All the star trek memorabilia was worth seeing and I had a cup of something blue in the Quark bar afterwards where I spoke with a bomber pilot (no kidding) who was a member of the Canadian air force. I'm still not sure if he was part of the exhibit. In and all, sad to see it go... Was great to read the Wil Wheaton's rememberances after attending the exhibit shortly after it opened, which is why I decided to check it out.
If you're going to bombard buildings from space you really ought to do it in Salt Lake City. The grid system makes it easy, they even give you a nice big target at the center of the coordinate system to zero your sight with.
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.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
I, for one, am going to miss the Warp Core Breach drink at "Quarks" bar/restaurant after the show/ride.
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.
For those who haven't seen it, it was pretty great. I went on it when it first opened on a company event (General Magic) while at a trade-show and went back on my own a couple more times over the next several years. It went something like this:
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
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...
My favorite quote doesn't fit into 120 characters. Now no one will like me.
63 comments in and still no one has made an "it's dead, Jim" joke? What happened to the slashdot I used to know?!
"Flag on the moon. How did it get there?"
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.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
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.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
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.
It's true, the heart and soul of Star Trek: The Experience came from the talented actors who played Ferengi, Klingons, Vulcans, Borg, and Star Fleet lieutenants.
I was able to visit four times or so, and took a few pictures of my most recent trip, available here