Star Trek: The Experience Finds A New Home?

[TrekToday]

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Neonopolis developer Rohit Joshi confirm that ST:TE may be headed downtown.

As reported by the Las Vegas Review Journal, Joshi confirmed that a deal was in the works. "You kind of shocked me," he said when asked unexpectedly about the possible move. "I don't know how to respond to that. We are in very serious negotiations. We think it would be a fantastic addition to downtown."

Joshi then showed a bound agreement with CBS licensing, who owns the rights to the Star Trek name.

Cedar Fair, who operated The Experience when it was at the Hilton, said it would not be operating the attraction downtown, but it was possible that it could be sold to a different operation. "We wouldn't be moving it," said Stacy Frole, Cedar Fair spokesperson.

According to Joshi, if the deal is made, Star Trek: The Experience could open as early as the first quarter of 2009 in the Neonopolis development, much to the pleasure of Mayor Goodman. "It would be ironic," said Goodman. "Perhaps the most successful place downtown could be Neonopolis, even though it has been an albatross around my neck all these years."

To read more, head to the article located here.

[Turbo]

Sweet! The rumors of negotiations are true after all!

[Herkimer Jitty]

Wow, I wasn't expecting anything like this so soon, I mean it's not set in stone, but I think we can safely say HELL YES!

[Loneknight]

I'm not trying to get my hopes up, but here's all fingers and toes crossed...

I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope....

...ok, so maybe my hopes got up.

[ArthurKing]

I would specifically fly out to Vegas to patronize this if it happens - I like the city anyway, so this is a great excuse. I sincerely hope it happens (although hopefully it happens alongside an update). Pulling the plug on this in the run-up to a MAJOR Trek movie release seemed pretty foolish. Obviously, others agreed and are trying to remedy the situation.

[Searider Falcon]

Awesome! I was really bummed out that I never was able to make it to Vegas before it shut down, so the possibility of a second chance is really exciting.

[James Bond]

Wow! I was very disappointed having never made it out to Vegas to check out the Experience when I had a chance. If this goes through, I'm there on opening night!!

[Dale]

Please oh please oh please...

I have a couple friends who visited STTE GM Chad Boutte at the LV Hilton site where he is overseeing the dismantling, and he took them on a tour of the defunct facility which included a bunch of uniforms (not sure whether they were STTE cast uniforms or unis from the museum) packed up "to be moved to Neonopolis." So it's just possible that "talks" are further along than we know.

I hope I hope I hope...

[captaintish]

I'm not sure what to think about this. On the one hand..... YES, the Experience lives! I won't have to boycott Vegas for the rest of my life! On the other hand.....it won't really be the same, will it? I mean, NEONOPOLIS? Doesn't sound very classy.

Is it still going to be run by the same people? They're saying Cedar Fairs would be selling it? So, how different would it be?

I'm not trying to be a downer, here, I'm just worried.

But yeah, if it does open up somewhere, I'll be there opening day.

[Dale]

Cedar Fair would not be the ones running it... a new corporation would be formed.

Neonopolis is a very high-end, stylized, non-casino enertainment venue along the lines of CityWalk at Universal Studios, but smaller. It was championed by the Vegas mayor, but has floundered financially and never achieved full occupancy due to poor advertising and the fact that they, unlike everyone else is Las Vegas, charge for parking. Depending on the size of the installation, I have to think STTE would take a large portion of the place over. I am strictly guessing here but I'd think it might be a lesser version of STTE than we've seen... perhaps without the rides but with the museum, shopping promenade and of course Quark's (the heart of the place) and the actors.

[Captain Robert April]

After the idiocy coming out about the new movie, this is very welcome news.

[Dennis]

Certainly anyone who invests money in reviving this thing will make sure that it focuses properly on the Abrams movie. After a decade of declining profits on an attraction based on so-called "modern Trek" and its aesthetics, an update/reboot of the thing is logical and inevitable.

[Loneknight]

What they need to do is have it span all incarnations of the franchise. Maybe it was the same article, but people often said that the theme of the first Experience was reminiscent of TNG, so trying to incorporate TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, and Abram's re-boot might be tough.

My question is: if they're looking to try and push a Q1 '09 opening, will they have time do an update?

Personally, I don't care either way. While the Experience could stand some updating (i.e.: replacing all of the CRT displays with flat-panel monitors, etc), just seeing it open again is all I need. It was more than just being surrounded by all things Trek when I used to go...it was being with good friends and family that made it all the better.

*hoping, hoping, hoping, hoping, hoping, hoping....*

[T'Bonz]

If possible, all incarnations with an emphasis on the newest (Star Trek XI) would seem to be the best way to get as many interested as possible.

The old Experience was pretty cool. The Bridge may have been TNG, but the bar was all DS9. I did miss seeing a TOS-themed room though, that would have been great.

[Dale]

I agree... the fact that TOS was missing from the original STTE atmosphere was a glaring omission. Now they have a new conundrum: how to include both TOS and the new/old movie side-by-side... plus how much do they feature the now defunct next generation. Quark's was the heart of that place, but that setting is decidedly old school at this point. I think any reincarnation of STTE is going to be very different from the one we knew.