ST: The Exhibition - Philadelphia

[B.C.]

So I'm thinking about a possible day trip from Boston to Philly to catch the Star Trek Exhibition at the Franklin Institute. While it sounds like a pretty interesting exhibit, I've heard some mixed reviews.

It would be about 8 hours each way. Has anyone on here check this out? Is it worth the travel?

Thanks in advance.

 

[B.C.]

Anyone?

 

[sbk1234]

If it's the same one that was in Long Beach, California a year or so ago, it was awesome. I sure hope you're planning on making a weekend of it, though. That is a LONG drive to do in one day up and back.

 

[B.C.]

From what I've read, the one that was in Long Beach was the complete exhibit. It has since been broken off into two separate traveling exhibits. One currently in Philly and the other currently in Chicago, I believe.

 

[MvRojo]

I went to the one in Long Beach. I'm not sure it's worth driving that much for. I'd try to see if it's coming your way sometime after it finishes up at those cities.

 

[sbk1234]

I figure in a worse case scenerio, if you have time left over you can run up the steps to the art museum like Rocky.

 

[CmdrAJD]

I drove from Baltimore to Philly (which is only about 2 hours away) to see it and was a little disappointed, since I didn't know at the time that it was only half of the exhibits. Most of the things on the Exhibition web page, such as the TOS bridge and TNG corridor and quarters, are in Detroit at the moment. The TNG bridge they have in Philly is nice, but, since I'd been able to hang out on the one at the Experience in Vegas while they fixed a malfunction with the simulator ride, it wasn't as big of a thrill for me.

Overall, I'd say we spent a little less than an hour in the Trek Exhibition and the rest of the day seeing the rest of the Franklin Institute, which is a fun science museum all on its own. If you're coming all the way from Boston just for the Trek exhibit, you may feel like you wasted your time, particularly if you ever went to the Experience in Vegas before it closed.

 

[MvRojo]

Anyone?

Here are a couple comments from a Trekmovie article:

I mostly agree with Rick. I was at the Philadelphia location yesterday., and came away less than thrilled. While there is some great stuff there, like Khan’s uniform and some good props, I was disappointed. The picture thing cited above is absolutely true and frustrating. And I thought I was going to see a mock up of the TOS bridge, not the left over pieces from the Las Vegas TNG bridge. I think it was the bridge they closed when they added in the Borg experience a few years back, and it looked tired.
So if you live within a couple of hours of Philly, it’s worth it, assuming you didn’t see the LV experience. Otherwise, skip it.

This looks nicer than what I just saw in Philadelphia yesterday. I was disappointed. It cost over $100 for me to take my family. There wasn’t that much to see, and they won’t even let you take a picture! You have to pay $27 to get your picture taken. Unbelievable. I drove from Buffalo to Philadelphia to see the exhibit at the Franklin, and I can honestly say it was a waste of my time and money. And, to top it off, the admission price says you get access to the rest of the museum, but they wouldn’t even let us in to the Galileo exhibit. I’m a huge Trek fan, but don’t waste your money on this exhibit. There are some props, small ship models, an Enterprise-D bridge mockup (which, again, you can’t take your picture on!) and that’s about it. Nothing interactive. Grade: D-

http://trekmovie.com/2009/08/26/star-trek-the-exhibition-headed-to-san-jose/