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The Star Trek Experience
(Las Vegas Hilton, Nevada)
Many Star Trekkers, after experiencing the "Star
Tours" ride at Disney World, had one question to Paramount/et
al, "What about a Trek ride?" Apparently, the response
went something like, "Sure; how about one in Las Vegas?" ...Vegas?
Yes, after years of being the vacation capitol for adults-only, Las Vegas
is attempting to become more and more of a family vacation spot every
year. New additions in recent years include everything from roller
coasters that spiral outside huge towers, to the Caesar's Palace
shopping mall (which includes a F.A.O. Shwartz, with a three-story wooden
Trojan Horse in its entrance!). So, why not a Trek ride? As it
turns out, it's one of the better, gotta-see-it attractions for any
Trekkie, nationwide.
The attraction begins (after a long, long, long line of Trekkies),
with you standing in an entrance area in front of numbered doors, similar
to Star Tours in Disneyland (or Disney World's MGM Studios
park). Soon, the lights dim, then turn on again, and instead of a door to
the ride in front of you, is an excellently reproduced replica of the
Enterprise's transporter bay. Looking beneath you, you're on a transporter
pad (nice lighting effects underneath the apparently "solid"
tiles). The transporter chief tells you that you're aboard a ship from the
future (one guess which one), and must follow him to the bridge for
further information. An escorted trip through the Enterprise? Cool!
The resulting walk to the bridge looks very authentic, right down to the
hallways, turbo lift, and the bridge itself, which looks exactly like the
one seen on TV!
The front screen shows a message from Riker, who tells you that an old
adversary of Captain Picard has chosen to defeat him, Terminator-style;
he'll just kill off his ancestor, from the 20th century! One of you is
allegedly that ancestor, and to protect that person's true identity, you
must all help Picard chase down this enemy, within a
specially-fitted shuttlecraft. The turbolift across from the one you
entered in, then takes you to the shuttle bay, where the actual, "Star
Tours" type of flight-sim ride is given.
This ride is much like Star Tours, in that a front screen
shows related action, while flight simulator hydraulics jostle the
"ship" back and forth. It's a nice ride concept, used and
re-used everywhere from Disney World to Universal Studios (among others), and it's put
to good use here. The final scene shown, of you "landing" right
back into the Hilton of Las Vegas, is a cute touch.
You don't have to wait in the long line for some additional "Trek
experience" fun. An amusing replica of Quark's bar in Deep Space Nine
is near the ride, where food is made to resemble delicacies made
popular on the show (Klingon, Romulan, or Ferengi...although, yes, many of
the dishes taste suspiciously like chicken). The serving staff is even
made up to resemble aliens from the show (with very well done make up, I
may add). Lastly, a "Star Trek Casino" --after all, it is
Vegas!-- has games with a very futuristic look and feel, complete with
slot machines which activate with a wave of the hand over their
"scanner." Many Trek collectibles can be purchased as well,
including some artwork I've not seen offered for sale elsewhere.
While Trek mania has died down considerably since The
Next Generation went off the air, and although the 2000-2001
season will be Voyager's last, this is still a great stop
for even the most casual of science fiction fans. Yes, there are other
areas of Vegas with more lights, sounds, glitz, and gloss. However, a lot of care went into the making of this attraction, and the
"Experience," for any loyal Trekker, is more than worth the
ride.
| All text, Title
graphics, and pix not of reviewed product, are created by TECHtite,
copyright 2000; all rights reserved. Pictures are scanned from
promotional material and vacation video pertaining to this
attraction. They are discrete thumbnails, used only for the purpose of
review, and by no means represent any affiliation with TECHtite
and the distributors of that attraction. For further "legalese"
& disclaimers, click here... |
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