Ideas for a new Experience

[explodingmuffin]

Firstly, I hope that the ST:TE closing isn't really old news by now, I've been busy with school...

And secondly I'm still new here so go easy on me

Anyway though, the Experience closing was painful (I went to the decommissioning...very emotional) but with the loyalty of the fans and a new movie coming out, I'm sure that something else like it will pop up eventually. So in the meantime, why don't we toss around some ideas for the next Experience?

I think that, first of all, it does not need a casino right outside, unless it's filled with Dabo tables and things like that.

Also, it should be modeled after all the different series, not just DS9.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[MattJC]

I wouldn't mind to see a new Experience based on TOS, and when I mean TOS, I mean the show that debuted in 1966, not whatever the hell it is JJ Abrams is doing. If they could design an attraction that represented ALL 5 series, that would be even better.
However, it probably wouldn't be the same.
I'm too fond of the original STTE.

 

[explodingmuffin]

I wouldn't mind to see a new Experience based on TOS, and when I mean TOS, I mean the show that debuted in 1966, not whatever the hell it is JJ Abrams is doing.
However, it probably wouldn't be the same.
I'm too fond of the original STTE.

Yeah, I know, I'm still in denial I won't be able to go back there again. Nothing would be the same.

You'd better hope this movie does well, because it's pretty much going to make or break the future of Star Trek. If it brings in a bunch of new fans, the franchise will keep going...but if it does bad I'm afraid it's going to end up like Star Wars and start a bad decline.

I think there should be different sections for each show, or something along those lines...I love all of them.

 

[trentman359]

I went to the Experience for the first time last week and I fell in love with it. It doesn't matter how a "new Experience" is designed. Its the people that you meet there that make it special.

 

[Super Grover]

I wouldn't mind to see a new Experience based on TOS, and when I mean TOS, I mean the show that debuted in 1966, not whatever the hell it is JJ Abrams is doing. If they could design an attraction that represented ALL 5 series, that would be even better.
However, it probably wouldn't be the same.
I'm too fond of the original STTE.

I like that idea. You could be beamed in like in the Klingon encounter but you show up in the TOS transporter room. Or do something like a Mirror universe adventure, have a plant in the crowd, and have the actors drag him out and rough him up a little.

 

[kevjulian]

I agree that there should be parts of all of the series represented but there has to be a Quark's so I can get my Warp Core Breach.

Kev

 

[Mistral]

I think they should model the whole thing on Ten Forward(as far as a bar/eatery goes)with Picard's ready room available for private events.

 

[Amy Sisson]

I think Quark's and the Promenade were far more interesting in terms of atmosphere and visuals than Ten-Forward could be. Ten-Forward was a lot more... anti-septic looking, as was Next Gen in general, as compared to DS9. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but I want alien and funky and different as opposed to just-slightly-futuristic-looking.

 

[SFRabid]

But 10-Forward had windows to the galaxy. Quark's only had gambling and doors to the holosuites.

 

[Dale]

We hashed this out in a recent thread. The general consensus was that people would rather drink at Quark's with Quark as bartender than in Ten Forward with Guinan... though there were of course people who thought the exact opposite.

Quark's for me... Ten Forward was a little too plain and clean-cut and Guinan was always a little too smug and ready to dispense her brand of wisdom or get her customers to examine themselves from a new perspective.

If I go to a bar, it's for fun, not introspection.

 

[BandChris]

I think it's obvious that there is a lot of money to be made off STTE, even after all these years, we still are rabid for Star Trek. I just visited last month for the first time (after putting it off for 10 years).

A new Experience could be built in another city. Someplace touristy, though. Part of the appeal of having it in Vegas is that people were already going there and were expecting an 'exciting vacation'. Putting a new Experience in a non-popular city, or a place for 'quiet' vacations would be counter-productive.

My suggestion is that if another Vegas casino can't be lined up, is to take STTE to Orlando. With Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, and the like, people will already be headed that way, plus with the excitement of the new Harry Potter emersion attraction being built, why not just jump on the bandwagon. I'm sure CBS could figure out a way to make it happen.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Too bad I never made it to the Experience before it closed, but if it's even re-opened, it will be based on something from the new movies - hopefully JJ will remember to put something fun on-screen. A sleazy Orion trading post, a shopping promenade at Wrigley's Pleasure Planet, a speakeasy on Sigma Iotia II...

 

[AstroSmurf]

I have a few dozen ideas that I would like to see. But the one foremost on my list would be Trek themed guest rooms to go with the rest of the experience. You could do several different types including a few standard rooms and a few "fully functional" suites. The standard guest rooms could be designed to resemble the junior officer's quarters and the suites could be done like the captain's quarters. Of course you could do rooms that looked like quarters from every series. They might even want to go all out and do entire floors representing the setting from each of the five series, with rooms, lounges and corridors to match.

I also think it would be nice if the new Experience offered a few more "authentic replica" areas from the series such as the engine room, ready room, stellar cartography and DS-9's Ops.

Oh and would it not be cool if the hotel offered immersion weekends where the guest were invited to participate in a Trek themed role playing game. It would be sort of like one of those mystery weekends where people solve a murder but with a Trek story instead. The guest could investigate a region of space for a missing ship or find a hidden lifeform like Farpoint station.

 

[explodingmuffin]

We hashed this out in a recent thread. The general consensus was that people would rather drink at Quark's with Quark as bartender than in Ten Forward with Guinan... though there were of course people who thought the exact opposite.

Quark's for me... Ten Forward was a little too plain and clean-cut and Guinan was always a little too smug and ready to dispense her brand of wisdom or get her customers to examine themselves from a new perspective.

If I go to a bar, it's for fun, not introspection.

I have to agree with that. There's so much more atmosphere in Quark's, Ten Forward seems too...quiet and serious.

They should totally have a Ferengi at the bar. It's probably hard to find a good bartender willing to dress up like that though, haha.

I think it's obvious that there is a lot of money to be made off STTE, even after all these years, we still are rabid for Star Trek. I just visited last month for the first time (after putting it off for 10 years).

A new Experience could be built in another city. Someplace touristy, though. Part of the appeal of having it in Vegas is that people were already going there and were expecting an 'exciting vacation'. Putting a new Experience in a non-popular city, or a place for 'quiet' vacations would be counter-productive.

My suggestion is that if another Vegas casino can't be lined up, is to take STTE to Orlando. With Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, and the like, people will already be headed that way, plus with the excitement of the new Harry Potter emersion attraction being built, why not just jump on the bandwagon. I'm sure CBS could figure out a way to make it happen.

I love that idea...move it to a more family-friendly vacation area. I think Star Trek would fit better there than in Vegas. And that way it could be its own place, instead of within a casino.

 

[MattJC]

We hashed this out in a recent thread. The general consensus was that people would rather drink at Quark's with Quark as bartender than in Ten Forward with Guinan... though there were of course people who thought the exact opposite.

Quark's for me... Ten Forward was a little too plain and clean-cut and Guinan was always a little too smug and ready to dispense her brand of wisdom or get her customers to examine themselves from a new perspective.

If I go to a bar, it's for fun, not introspection.

I have to agree with that. There's so much more atmosphere in Quark's, Ten Forward seems too...quiet and serious.

They should totally have a Ferengi at the bar. It's probably hard to find a good bartender willing to dress up like that though, haha.

I think it's obvious that there is a lot of money to be made off STTE, even after all these years, we still are rabid for Star Trek. I just visited last month for the first time (after putting it off for 10 years).

A new Experience could be built in another city. Someplace touristy, though. Part of the appeal of having it in Vegas is that people were already going there and were expecting an 'exciting vacation'. Putting a new Experience in a non-popular city, or a place for 'quiet' vacations would be counter-productive.

My suggestion is that if another Vegas casino can't be lined up, is to take STTE to Orlando. With Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, and the like, people will already be headed that way, plus with the excitement of the new Harry Potter emersion attraction being built, why not just jump on the bandwagon. I'm sure CBS could figure out a way to make it happen.

I love that idea...move it to a more family-friendly vacation area. I think Star Trek would fit better there than in Vegas. And that way it could be its own place, instead of within a casino.

What do you have against casinos?

 

[McFly59]

ASTROSMURF - wow-are you my brother from a different mother? Thats exactly what my thought was!Dont forget the stars going by threw the windows.Maybie a 'light' hum of engines? That would really be an EXPERENCE.
I think Mike Swank Youreself and I should deside everything! (Mike was the dude that got me past TOS with his two car garage converted to a Trek Holosuite!-The Klingon moved to Seatle! Batok!!!)
side note:I never saw an Orion slave girl @ the exp? Why?

 

[AstroSmurf]

^ Most of the newer hotels are designed to be a completely immersive experience. Many have their own soundtracks and smell too. So keeping that in mind, I would think designers could outfit the "themed" sections with things that would really sell the idea. I wonder what a starship smells like?

As for my ideas, I have spent the twelve years working in hotels and the last five working as a graphic and interior designer so I tend to think quite easily in those terms. However, I think most of my ideas are not really feasible. What most people don't understand is the amount of fabrication and engineering that would be required to make something like this happen. Trek decor is not something you can simply buy off of a shelf. The entire thing would have to be constructed or prefabbed by a company, which will end up requiring a large amount of money. Just to complete a 200 room hotel with restaurants and themed amenities would end up costing somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 million, and that's not including the amusement rides. All of the doors would have to be pneumatic and capable of locking. The lighting, fixtures, furniture would all have to specially designed. Then there is the upkeep, maintenance and swap-out schedule. Even after the property was completed you would have maintain all of the special features and switch out furniture every three years because of normal wear and tear. I am not sure, in the long run, that it would be a financially smart endeavor. (If this was a property brand where multiple hotels would be using the same furniture and fixtures, the cost of their fabrication could be spread out over a much larger area helping to cut down on the cost.)

But anyway, I still think it is fun to dream up these things, even if they will never see the light of day.

 

[explodingmuffin]

What do you have against casinos?

Well, growing up in Vegas, casinos get kinda old. EVERYTHING is in a casino. Or if it's not in a casino, it has a casino. They have slot machines in most grocery stores! They just get old after a while.

Also, the hotel/casinos in general own everything and that's kinda why the Experience had to close - the lease was up, and they tripled the price to renew it, or something along those lines. I just think that Star Trek should be free of tacky Vegas-ness.

Maybe I just feel that way because I live here, though

 

[Frontier]

I think they should move The Experience to Atlantic City. I mean, sure, it's not the same as Vegas, but it's the East Coast equivalent to Vegas. I'm sure they could find a Hotel interested in having it. Or even make it it's own place. Having it on the East Coast, though, would open it up to a whole new audience of people who might never have A) wanted to go to Vegas or B) been able to go to Vegas.

If not, why don't they recycle the rides into Star Trek: the Tour? They already have nearly everything they need for the original Enterprise-D ride at the Tour. They could certainly build what they need for the Borg Invasion ride.

 

[explodingmuffin]

^ That's an interesting idea. I definitely think that a new Experience should be somewhere other than Vegas. Moving it to the other side of the country would bring in a lot of people who couldn't make it to Vegas.

I want to see Star Trek: the Tour! Do you know if they've got it going again?