For years, I never understood why people went to Vegas for vacations. Ok, so I'm not a gambler, but why would people go to those artificially created environments when they could go experience something authentic instead? But then I saw an article about a Star Trek attaction that was being built in Vegas. As a mid-level Trekkie, now that caught my attention, but it still wasn't enough in and of itself to motivate a trip into the desert. A few years later, the new level of attactions like Paris-LV, New York, New York, were enough pique enough of my curiosity (to compare them to their originals) that I tagged along with a friend's trip to LV.

I should define what I mean by a mid-level Trekkie. As a kid, I watched re-runs of the original series and read Trek pulp novels (among many other things) during those long summer vacations. In college, ST: The Next Generation reawakened my interest with its thoughtful story-telling, an interest which continued on to ST: Deep Space Nine, and ST: Voyager, though I can't say I watch Voyager religiously anymore. I go and watch all the movies in the theatre when they come out. I own several of the movies on video or DVD. I've occasionally lurked on Trek newsgroups on the net. But I've never gone to a convention or dressed in a costume. Get the picture? I take in all the media, but don't participate in the culture.

So, the one thing that I looked forward to doing in Vegas was the Star Trek Experience, which is located in the Las Vegas Hilton. Unfortunately, the Hilton (not to be confused with the Hilton Flamingo) is located pretty far away from the Strip, about two (big) blocks south of the big strip of mega-casinos, and at the older (Eastern) end of the strip as well. I was staying at Paris-Las Vegas and set out on a Saturday morning for the Hilton. I decided to start off with a morning stroll and headed down the Strip in the general direction of the Hilton, with the vague idea that I'd catch the strip trolley or a taxi somewhere along the way. But the scale of the signs and buildings along the Strip can be deceptive. It makes things seem much closer than they are. I kept checking my map against the signs I saw coming up, and kept thinking, "Man, I'm almost there...why should I catch a taxi now?" After an hour, I really was almost there as I turned right off the Strip after the Riviera and covered the final two lonely blocks to the Hilton.

After an hour and ten minutes of walking (counting a couple of stops at the Venetian and Treasure Island to check out the sites), I was pretty hungry, and hit "The Buffet" before going into the Star Trek Experience. This was somewhat of a mistake for two reasons: 1) The buffet ain't that great (see my separate review) and 2) I missed out on the chance to eat at Quark's inside the experience.

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If you enter the Hilton from the front lobby, head off towards the left and follow the signs towards the Star Trek Experience. The entrance fee to the attraction is $24.99, which I felt was pretty pricey, but I felt obligated to pay it, since I'd already walked so far to get there. You can pay with cash or credit card, then walk over to the entrance, where they stamp your hand with UV-sensitive ink so you can get back in after exiting.

Right when I was getting my hand stamped, a Klingon in full regalia walked by, saying "Greetings" in a appropriately deep voice. Being stuck with my hand in being, stamped, I only nodded in response. Later on, when I was rushing to get into the ride portion of the attraction, I passed a Ferengi, but didn't want to lose my place in line. Anyhow, be aware that these costumed characters didn't show up that frequently during the 4+ hours I was in the attraction, so take a picture with them when you can.

The Star Trek Experience consists of three basic areas: a "history of the future" museum, a virtual reality ride, and a shopping area.

The museum portion contains a detailed timeline of the Trek universe combining key events from all four TV series and the movies into one consistent timeline. The timeline was fairly up to date (up to ~2 years ago), containing events from all the series and the movies up to Star Trek: First Contact. For a history-oriented Trekkie, I went through the whole thing in detail and learned a lot about how the events of the various series fit together. However, the timeline is very long, and you end up with a numb brain if you try to read everything. The timeline leads you down a snaking ramp going down into the attraction. Along the opposite wall from the timeline are display cases with artifacts from the series and movies, like costumes, tricorders, phases, chess sets, and more. All are labeled with captions describing the artifact (in past tense), and their date. There are some real interested pieces here, and I was impressed with the workmanship on the costumes, which still looked authentic up close. A few years ago, I saw a Star Trek: Federation Science exhibit in San Francisco and the costumes there seemed very cheap and unrealistic up close.

The timeline leads you down into the line for the attraction, where you can look at artifacts and information on the major alien races in the Trek universe, such as the Klingons, Romulans, Borg, Cardassians, and Ferengi. The ride can take 27 people at a time and the attendant will check your UV hand stamp before letting you in. I won't ruin the details of the ride for you, but I will say that you do get to stand on the bridge of the Enterprise (NCC-1701D, the Next Generation version), walk through the corridors of the Enterprise, ride on a turbolift, and go on a VR-shake-n-bake ride in a shuttlecraft. Surprisingly, the most meaningful part to me was walking through the corridors. It really felt like I'd walked into another world, maybe cause you can't see all your fellow participants if you get in front and all you can see is your trek-uniformed guide. The actors in costume do a good job of saying their lines with a straight face, although they do have some room for improvisation to jab at members of the group. Also, a word of warning: I got mild whiplash from going on the ride twice. Keep ahold of your head when you get on that shuttlecraft.

Some advice for getting on the best spots during the tour:

- Upon entering the tour, get a spot at the front of the lines in front of the numbered doors. Upon exiting, be the first to follow the Federation officer into the corridors for the best view.

- Be the last to get into the turbolift from the bridge. This will let you be the first to get off, and put you in good position for VR portion of the ride.

- After the turbolift, when lining up again, go to the line furthest to the right (when facing the cargo bay door), and position yourself in the middle of the line (not closest to the cargo bay door, not furthest). This will put you in position to be front-row-center on the shuttlecraft (at least according to the two times I went on it). The way the ride's windows are set up, being in the front row, in the center, will significantly enhance the experience.

After exiting the ride, take note of the TV report on the TV screen. Then after a short elevator ride, you'll find yourself on the Promenade deck of the Deep Space Nine (DS9) space station. There are a number of gift shops with very comprehensive Trek goody inventories, including uniforms, videos, keychains, postcards, models, toys, posters, books, clothing, etc. However, the main attraction in my mind is a full-scale recreation of Quark's bar from DS9. Everything from the bar to the tables and center area looks authentic, like you've walked onto the set. (Except there is no upstairs area and the bottles behind the bar are standard Terran liquors). There is a food menu, but I was still too full from the buffer earlier to partake any.

Exit up the stairs, and that's it. You're in a casino area designed to appear to Trek geeks, with space-themed slots, etc. You can re-enter with your handstamp if you like.

Overall, I enjoyed the Star Trek Experience a whole lot. The artifacts and timeline were very interesting and the ride was pretty good. Being able to walk through the corridors of the Enterprise and stand on the bridge is a big deal, too. I still think $25 is alot for what you get, but you can't get this anywhere else, either, so it's a must for even light fans of Trek.




Recommended: Yes