Star Trek Tour - Opinions
- Thread starter Vivman
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Worth bumping as I had a friend ask if I want to go Saturday. Opinions? Anyone?
Hey, kids,
I went to the Tour (STTT?) on Sun. Here's my review:
OK, here's what was nice about it. They did get hold of a ton of actual set pieces, props, costumes, make-up appliances and stuff (mostly from the movies and TNG on) and a lot of the alien heads look like they were made by the same people that did the ones for Star Trek: The Experience so that was all good. Some of the larger pieces like the Ent-D's saucer section used for the crash sequence in "Generations", the Klingon throne, and the Romulan strke vessel are very nice to see up close and personal. The touring connecting pieces are apparently designed by Herman Zimmerman and they are pretty cool. However, by the very fact that it was installed in the old Spruce Goose Dome, which has no real interior lighting of its own, it's a bit on the dark side. The bridge sets aren't complete due to allowing space for people to view it from the outside and they are not completely accurate in terms of materials used, etc. There's a weird quasi-adventure being played on the D's bridge but it appears to have dialogue missing so it's hard to tell what's going on. The Original Series bridge is a complete re-creation as near as I can tell and is missing some of the details (Spock's station) and, again, it's not completely accurate in what details there are. Still, I couldn't resist getting my picture on those bridges. It was also fun to be able to walk through one of the Ent-D's corridors and see the transporter room, sick bay and officer's quarters (here dressed to look like Picard's). There's a cool effect on a video screen of you being transported out of the set. The Guardian of Forever is also cool.
The motion simulator rides are like those found in malls and the graphics are mid-level video game quality. The two person simulator is the better ride but it uses the same video as the larger shuttle ride. I also like the Windows Media Player bar at the bottom of the screen. Lame.
The grand finale, purportedly taking place on Riker's ship, the Titan, is OK. Because they didn't actually shoot any sequences of the Titan some of the exterior explosions are re-uses from various Starfleet vessels and don't match the Titan model on display. You can see the video online a couple of places. There are some physical surprises that the video can't convey but as an overall adventure, it doen't hold a candle to even the aging Klingon Encounter at Star Trek: The Experience.
Finally, it is also promoted that you eat and drink at Ten-forward and Quark's bar which lead me to expect that they would have re-creations of those sets. NO. they have the Ten-forward bar unit and some of the chairs and the bar and backbar unit from Quark's along with the tables and chairs but they're just kind of thrown into a side section of the Tour after you exit the Tour proper. There's no actual Quark's or Ten-forward set dressing. You might as well be at your local tapas joint. Again, if you really want to eat at Quark's, head to Vegas (can you tell I used to work ther?
)
For all the criticism, I'd still say it was worth it for Star Trek fans (especially since I got half-price tickets through Goldstar) and I'd go again with someone who hadn't seen it. And next time, bring a camera.
It would be interesting to have the Tour at the Las Vegas Hilton at the same time as the big convention just to let people compare and contrast it to the ongoing Star Trek: The Experience.
I went to the Tour (STTT?) on Sun. Here's my review:
OK, here's what was nice about it. They did get hold of a ton of actual set pieces, props, costumes, make-up appliances and stuff (mostly from the movies and TNG on) and a lot of the alien heads look like they were made by the same people that did the ones for Star Trek: The Experience so that was all good. Some of the larger pieces like the Ent-D's saucer section used for the crash sequence in "Generations", the Klingon throne, and the Romulan strke vessel are very nice to see up close and personal. The touring connecting pieces are apparently designed by Herman Zimmerman and they are pretty cool. However, by the very fact that it was installed in the old Spruce Goose Dome, which has no real interior lighting of its own, it's a bit on the dark side. The bridge sets aren't complete due to allowing space for people to view it from the outside and they are not completely accurate in terms of materials used, etc. There's a weird quasi-adventure being played on the D's bridge but it appears to have dialogue missing so it's hard to tell what's going on. The Original Series bridge is a complete re-creation as near as I can tell and is missing some of the details (Spock's station) and, again, it's not completely accurate in what details there are. Still, I couldn't resist getting my picture on those bridges. It was also fun to be able to walk through one of the Ent-D's corridors and see the transporter room, sick bay and officer's quarters (here dressed to look like Picard's). There's a cool effect on a video screen of you being transported out of the set. The Guardian of Forever is also cool.
The motion simulator rides are like those found in malls and the graphics are mid-level video game quality. The two person simulator is the better ride but it uses the same video as the larger shuttle ride. I also like the Windows Media Player bar at the bottom of the screen. Lame.
The grand finale, purportedly taking place on Riker's ship, the Titan, is OK. Because they didn't actually shoot any sequences of the Titan some of the exterior explosions are re-uses from various Starfleet vessels and don't match the Titan model on display. You can see the video online a couple of places. There are some physical surprises that the video can't convey but as an overall adventure, it doen't hold a candle to even the aging Klingon Encounter at Star Trek: The Experience.
Finally, it is also promoted that you eat and drink at Ten-forward and Quark's bar which lead me to expect that they would have re-creations of those sets. NO. they have the Ten-forward bar unit and some of the chairs and the bar and backbar unit from Quark's along with the tables and chairs but they're just kind of thrown into a side section of the Tour after you exit the Tour proper. There's no actual Quark's or Ten-forward set dressing. You might as well be at your local tapas joint. Again, if you really want to eat at Quark's, head to Vegas (can you tell I used to work ther?
)For all the criticism, I'd still say it was worth it for Star Trek fans (especially since I got half-price tickets through Goldstar) and I'd go again with someone who hadn't seen it. And next time, bring a camera.
It would be interesting to have the Tour at the Las Vegas Hilton at the same time as the big convention just to let people compare and contrast it to the ongoing Star Trek: The Experience.
Danke for the detailed opinion.
Yeah, as I read back on my review, the criticism sort of outweighs the fact that they've got the most ST stuff I've seen in one place and that includes The History of the Future Museum at The Experience. I just wish the other stuff had been better thought through. But definitely worth going to look at.
There's actually another thread here in Gen Trek Discussion that has pictures.
There's actually another thread here in Gen Trek Discussion that has pictures.
Yep, 'twas:
You can walk onto Kirk and Picard's bridge. Additionally, you can walk through a corridor and view, but not go into, Enterprise D's sickbay and some quarters made up to look like Picard's. In that same corridor you can step onto an old school 1701 transporter platform. Lastly, the Guardian of Forever is set up so you can walk around or through it, if you choose. I believe that is the total of sets one can interact with.
Edit: I like the fact in the 24th Century that 20th Century Ikea retro furniture is all the rage on star ships.
Picard's quarters:
Edit: I like the fact in the 24th Century that 20th Century Ikea retro furniture is all the rage on star ships.
Picard's quarters:
^Which is funny because I went to IKEA after I went to the tour last weekend since I needed to buy a new desk.
Wow-very helpful descriptions. I am stuck as it will not be coming anywhere close to where I live. Need to see about traveling to it.
FYI, The Tour has been extended until 02Mar08
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