When we were planning this trip, there was only one place to stay; the Las Vegas Hilton. Reba and Manilow are performing here but we could care less. For us, it was all about Star Trek: the Experience.
Paramount spent 85 million to build the attraction in 1995, when the franchise was at its peak. The staff tells me the attendance hasn't dropped at all though now there's no show on the air.
The whole place is set up like a ride at Universal, with a museum built along both sides of the line. To say they have authentic props and costumes would be a criminal understatement. Only the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle has a comparable collection.
They didn't allow pictures on the rides themselves (but I got one before I realized that ;) ). Borg Invasion is a strong 3D ride with the added attraction of Borg attacking Starfleet officers as you walk into the theater. It's based heavily on Voyager and stars Robert Picardo and Kate Mulgrew.
But the Klingon Encounter is the real attraction for fans. Besides having footage of Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and the voice of Patrick Stewart, they built an (almost) working transporter room, corridors, turbolifts and the bridge of the Next Generation Enterprise in exacting detail. Every computer screen is accurate. I could care less about the ride once I got on the bridge. I just wanted to be left there. Luckily, Bill and I signed up for everything they had. So between the souvenir photos and the backstage tour, we got about a half-hour on the set.
By the time we had done everything there was to do we had spent ten hours. That includes several trips to the gift shop and Quark's Bar for Romulan Ale and Blood Wine, Neither one of us could think of another person who would have put up with this behavior.
No comments:
Post a Comment