7-year anniversary of The Experience closing

[CRM-114]

Earlier today, I got to thinking about Star Trek: The Experience for no particular reason. I remembered that Trekmovie.com did quite a bit of coverage regarding its' closure.

I searched back through the site looking for the stories that were posted, remembering that so many people were disappointed The Experience was closing ahead of the debut of ST09, and so much anticipation that the movie's success would move people to flock to The Experience.

As I searched back through the posts at Trekmovie, I was surprised to discover that The Experience had closed at the beginning of September, 2008. I realized that it has already been more than seven years since The Experience closed, and yet it doesn't seem that long ago.

I started to look back through the old comment threads and was surprised by how many people had not made the trip to Vegas prior to the closure announcement. It seemed like, for so many, a trip to The Experience was always something for the future, a desired wish doomed to go unfulfilled. A number of people had notably made plans to very specifically attend that November; one woman who had planned a Thanksgiving trip even talked her sick child into not using his Make-A-Wish on a trip to The Experience, reasoning that they could always do that on their own.

Perhaps it's worth mentioning that I never attended The Experience. I've lived in Los Angeles my entire life, and as anyone who lives here knows, Las Vegas is an hour's plane ride away. If I had wanted to, I could've gone at just about any time. A trip to The Experience could've been a legitimate daytrip to Vegas; leave in the morning, get to the Experience in time for lunch, be back in Burbank in time for dinner.

The thing is, as someone who neither drinks nor gambles, there's really nothing for me in Vegas. Even though The Experience was there, and I knew it was there, it never occurred to me to make the trip.

...

I suppose I bring all this up because it seemed like such a big deal at the time that The Experience was closing, but it seems like it was an anniversary in Trekdom that came and went without much (if any) notice. So I ask:

What, if anything, did Star Trek: The Experience mean to you?

 

[Tosk]

I would have loved to have gone, but Australia to Vegas is a pretty big ask.

 

[1001001]

We went to ST:TE several times during its run. It was one of our favorite things to do.

I loved going to Quark's for a Warp Core Breach:



Getting "beamed" on to the Enterprise. Getting stuck in a falling turbo lift.

Getting our picture taken on the bridge:



I took my daughter there when she was 11, and we had a great time.

Eating desserts and watching TNG in the restaurant. Running from the Borg. Interacting with the characters... a Ferengi offered to buy my wife once. And a Klingon mercilessly abused a man at the bar who ordered a white wine.

It was truly a Geek Paradise!



Long Live the Experience!

 

[trekker670]

I had the opportunity to go twice. I went in 2006 and then scheduled a last minute trip for the last three days they were open in 2008. I don't drink or gamble either (plus I was 15/17 at the time of my trips), so these trips were dedicated solely to visiting STTE. The trips are some of my favorite memories.

Since they've closed I've made it a point to collect numerous items from the attraction, ranging for the standard memorabilia they sold to costumes, behind the scenes documents, production materials, and even pieces of the sets.

 

[Kor]

It was somewhere I always wanted to go, but never got the chance to.

Didn't they close down once and then re-open a couple years later? And finally, they closed for good.

I don't gamble either. But there are plenty of interesting shows and performances to see in Vegas, and great restaurants to try. Those things would make a trip there worthwhile, in my opinion.

Kor

 

[uniderth]

I wanted to go as well, but never made it. I was young enough at the time that a trip would have involved wrangling the entire family into going. Later, about a year after Enterprise came out I lost interest in Star trek; and it never occurred to me to make the trip.

For what it's worth I've never been to Disneyland either.

 

[CRM-114]

It was somewhere I always wanted to go, but never got the chance to.

Didn't they close down once and then re-open a couple years later? And finally, they closed for good.

I don't gamble either. But there are plenty of interesting shows and performances to see in Vegas, and great restaurants to try. Those things would make a trip there worthwhile, in my opinion.

Kor

There were plans to reopen it elsewhere in Vegas, but they never materialized. As I recall, the discussions to reopen dragged out for about two years.

 

[svenden]

My dad took me on a trip to California the summer before I graduated high school (1997), and I managed to talk him into flying in/out of Vegas so that we could see The Experience. I remember it very fondly. It was quite an ambitious attraction, and that it lasted as long as it did surprised me.

My favorite part was Quark's bar, but that's because I'm a devout Niner. I still have the fancy blue glass they served my non-alcoholic beverage in, as well as a menu and a few matchbooks.

OMG I just did the math and realized that was 18 years ago.

 

[uniderth]

OMG I just did the math and realized that was 18 years ago.

No, that's impossible. Nothing that happened in the 90's can be older than ten years.

 

[svenden]

OMG I just did the math and realized that was 18 years ago.

No, that's impossible. Nothing that happened in the 90's can be older than ten years.

YES! Yes, I share this delusion. Glad to know I'm not alone.

 

[DonIago]

I went with a guy friend of mine and we had a hoot. I much preferred the Klingon adventure to the Borg one (the exact names escape me), but both were enjoyable in different ways. Stepping onto the Enterprise bridge was great even if it didn't feel quite "real" to me.

The behind the scenes tour was pretty cool as well.

We had lunch at Quark's and I ordered a perhaps unsurprisingly potent Mini Warp Core Breach (runabout?). One of my favorite moments of the whole trip, though it annoyed my friend, was our Klingon waiter walking up while we were bickering about something and saying we made a cute couple!

I've got some pictures here: http://pictures.fishslayer.net/Vegas/index.html

 

[publiusr]

It was somewhere I always wanted to go, but never got the chance to.
Kor

Same here. It hurts to be poor.

 

[USS Triumphant]

OMG I just did the math and realized that was 18 years ago.

No, that's impossible. Nothing that happened in the 90's can be older than ten years.

YES! Yes, I share this delusion. Glad to know I'm not alone.

My son and daughter "happened" in the 90s, and they are 22 and 18, respectively.

And yet, somehow I still agree with both of you. There may be a temporal anomaly involved. If we can figure out how to use that to our advantage, maybe we can all go to The Experience after all.

 

[DonIago]

It's not really gone as long as we remember it.

 

[uniderth]

It's not really gone as long as we remember it.

Does that mean that for those of us who don't remember it, it never existed?

 

[Jedi_Master]

My brother and sister - in - law got to go and they loved it. It's a shame it was so far away for us, and that it didn't last.

 

[DonIago]

It's not really gone as long as we remember it.

Does that mean that for those of us who don't remember it, it never existed?

Yep. For you it's been all Krenim Timeshipped.

 

[Biggshow]

It might interest you to know that those of us who worked there (see profile pic) just recently had a 20th Anniversary Celebration of the opening at the Millennium Fandom Bar in downtown Vegas. We are now talking about having a 10th Anniversary "wake" this September.

 

[1001001]

It's nice to see you around again, Biggshow.

This thread has been dead for over 2 years. Let's let it rest in peace, shall we?



"Hailing Frequencies Closed"