Whither Star Trek: The Experience? Update

Hey, kids,

It's me, the no longer working there but hopes it stays open forever STTE shill, with an update.

Apparently it's the Hilton that wants to kick the Experience out. The details go a little something...like this.

The current lease runs out Dec. 31. The tear out, which is up to Cedar Fair, the current operators of The Experience, will take about three months. This means, if The Hilton decides to kick the Experience out, it will close at the beginning of Oct. to accomodate the tear out period. Cedar Fair would like to keep the place open. The owners of the Hilton will make their final decision in May (next month, not to put too fine a point on it).

If you would like the place to stay open (where else are you going to get your Warp Core Breaches and talk to a live Klingon?), flood the folks listed below and especially the Hilton with e-mails, phone calls and letters.

Apparently at one point, this was a done deal; The Experience was out. The folks at Cedar Fair, included the chairman of the board and the West Coast high mucky-muck, went to ask the Hilton if they could negotiate a new lease. At that point, the Hilton said something along the lines of "We'll think about it". Give the Cedar Fair people some ammo.

Talk about how The Experience is the only reason you'd go to an off-Strip hotel, how you've heard that even on a bad day, The Experience draws in more people than any of it's nighttime entertainment (this used to be true; not sure any more), that there's a new movie coming out that might revitalize interest in The Experience, thereby bringing more people to the Hilton, etc.

If you've never been, check out the old thread "Whither Star Trek: The Experience?" in this forum and read all the nice things people have said about it (when I last checked, it was on page 3). Go to Youtube and see all the fan videos people have made there.

Send your encouraging comments to the various entities below.

See y'all at Quark's.

Bart Kinzel
General Manager; Star Trek: The Experience
bart.kinzel@paramountparks.com
(702) 697-8743
or
Chad Boutte
Operations Manager; Star Trek: The Experience
chad.boutte@paramountparks.com
(702) 697-8761

CBS Consumer Products
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-315-4000
Attn: Paula Block

Las Vegas Hilton
3000 Paradise Rd.
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
888.732.7117
E-mail contact is tough to find on the website (www.lvhilton.com) but it's there.

Cedar Fair (the company that actually runs the Experience)
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
Marketing Department
One Cedar Point Drive
Sandusky, Ohio 44870
marketing@cedarfair.com

 

I just sent off an email to the Hilton.

 

They're nuts. There's no reason to go to the Hilton but for the Experience. It doesn't help that it's not on the strip either.

 

Thanks for the update...I wish there were more promising news.

So Cedar Fair wants to stay? That's the good news, as it was suspected that they were the ones who wanted out. So it would seem then that Cedar Fair is reasonably happy with the profitability of STTE.

Wonder why the Hilton wants out? After all a monorail was built to visit the hotel and for STTE riders, it put the hotel back on the map, etc.

Maybe they feel they'd rather use the space for more casino facilities?

I wish there were a way to move the ride to somewhere more centrally located on the strip.

 

Holy Cow! STTE is the only reason I would EVER visit Las Vegas!!

Yeah, I'm on this, too. Geez...my postage costs just went through the roof!

 

I had the same thought. It is the number one selling point of the hotel, IMHO.

 

Same here. It's the only reason I go into that hotel. There are much more interesting casinos elsewhere in Vegas, and much better hotels as well.

 

Even more info:

Apparently the rengotiations are going OK. I'd still say it's worth the effort to let the involved parties know there's still some interest in the place, especially from those who have never been. I would also caution everyone to be polite! Nothing will make higher-ups say "F*** you!" more than a bunch of "How stupid can you be..." notes. Apparently the local powers that be are for keeping The Experience; it's the corporate bigwigs at Colony Resorts that need convincing (that's right, The Las Vegas Hilton is not owned by the Hilton Hotels chain. Gotta love corporate America). I'll try to add their contact info to this thread as well.

Also, for those of you who love to throw away money, there are two Star Trek slot machines in front of the main entrance. Apparently they're the only two in existence and they are stupid time and money wasting fun. They are basically modelled on a luck-based video game. You can log-in and keep all your previous levels and medals. I just played tonight and for only five bucks' worth so I'm not sure how the level increase affects your winnings but you do get to unlock bonus games and the like. Someone at the other machine had unlocked a Klingon battle and started getting smack talk from Kor. Oh yes, it's also TOS. There are speakers in the chair for that surround sound mojo and the chair rumbles when you go into warp. It's a penny machine so, like I say, if you don't mind throwing away money, my five bucks bought me about five minutes worth of fun. And, of course, good luck getting rich off the thing as well.

You know, I don't make that much as an adjunct faculty member. You'd think I'd get some kind of discount for talking the place up this much. What can I say; I just don't want the place to go away.

"Don't shoot, ma! Don't shoot Ol' Trekker!"

Have I mentioned I've had a lot of cold medicine and threw a mini-Warp Core Breach on top of that?

Going to bed now...

 

Only 2? It's going to be hell trying to get to play on one of them especially for convention time.

 

Is Hilton looking to free up the real estate so that they can bring in another attraction, perhaps? I'm not gonna lie - I can see someone wanting to remove the Trek elements from the hotel in order to create something new that might have more mass-market appeal to travelers/tourists in Vegas. But unless they have something lined up, I don't see why they'd want to give the Trek Experience the boot.

 

I really don't know, you'd have to ask the Hilton. I can't imagine what that would be since whatever they put in there would still have to contend with the big problem that a lot of others have mentioned; it's an off-Strip hotel. At one time I did hear rumor (oh that word) that they were thinking about putting in a Playboy Club (like Vegas doesn't have enough naked women).

If the place were gutted, it would be a fairly large space so they could put almost anything in there. I also think they'd rip out the Spacequest Casino and that would add more area.

What I think the Hilton owners are missing is that The Experience gives them an identity that a generic titty bar or nightclub or an expanded casino area doesn't. I was talking to some guys from Michigan in Quark's last night, and they've been coming to The Experience for years. They said pretty much what some others here have said; without the Experience, there's no reason for them to visit the Hilton.

 

I hope The Experience stays right where it's at....

Unless TPTB want to move it as well as hotel to the strip....

A larger hotel.... Trek themed.... I'd be behind them then....

To tear it down just to put a larger casino in the same location doesn't thrill me in to wanting to visit Vegas again in my life, however to go and do The Experience again sometime in the near future, I'd be happy to go to Vegas.

That'd be sweet a whole hotel that was Trek themed, that'd make a great place to hold a Trek Convention too, I'd so go to a Con in Vegas if they had something like that available, and it was no where else of course

 

I just got a very nice reply email from Chad Boutte, marketing director for STTE, which read in part: "I can assure you I will pass along your comments to my superiors." I just told him the truth, there is a Klingon club here that went to Vegas a couple of years back and was planning another trip *just* because of STTE. Also, with the Abrams film coming out, with the right spin it could be a win-win for both the Hilton and CBS/Paramount. Apparently we are all thinking the same thing...cha-ching!

Las Vegas has enough Elvises, naked girls, men dressed as women, etc., but there's only ONE TREK! Only one place to get chased by the Borg and photographed on the Bridge of the Enterprise!! Or sit on Morn's bar stool...

<big sigh>

 

Thanks for the updates, Biggshow. I'm going to be out there next month, and will definitely be trying to get some inside scoop (doubt I'll have much luck, though).

 

I know this is pedantic, but I can't help myself...

It's "wither," not "whither."

 

Nope. "Whither" refers to direction (or destiny, depending on the context), and "wither" is what something does when it's deprived of its source of energy, as with a vine that withers and dies.

 

Thanks. I thought so. The title of this thread is a reference to the last section of the book, "The Making of Star Trek", which was finished before a decision came down about whether or not there would be a third season.

Dayton Ward, I'm going to be back in Vegas on either side of your trip. Waah! Timing.

 

^ That's a shame. Kevin Dilmore and I were hoping the planets would align and we could meet, but that's the way it goes. Maybe if ST:TE and Pocket are ever able to pull together some kind of "Author Event" out there.

Of course, I'm hoping the thing stays open, and we'll have other opportunities, as well.

 

I just got back from Vegas a short while ago. I tried to take in the STTE last night but they closed before 8:30pm. This week is the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention so there are a hugh number of folks who wear pocket protectors running around.

 

Precisely... and between the two, "wither" is the only one that makes sense in context.

"Whither" is an adverb, which is nonsensical in a phrase that contains no verb.