The Hilton's true colors

[CaptainHawk1]

Of course she was saved. Just because ST:TE has lost its lease, doesn't mean that the Hilton was going to simply throw it away. It isn't their property to begin with. It still belongs to Cedar Fair Entertainment, who I'm sure wouldn't simply let Hilton destroy their property. They'll dismantle it, store it someplace, until they decide where to reopen ST:TE at sometime in the future.

Relax. We have not seen the last of The Experience. Not by a long shot.

I love when people think they know what they're talking about because of an emotional response they have of what they think should happen without out any research done or firsthand knowledge and in the process talk completely out of their ass.

I have spoken with several people associated with the Hilton and ST:TE and yes, indeed, the ships were to be destroyed and as I haven't heard anything to the contrary, the ENterprise-D, Voyager, and The Klingon BOP were all destroyed. They were far too large to be moved anywhere and Paramount demanded that they be destroyed due to their copyrights.

There are no plans as of now to bring ST:TE back in any form. The property that you spoke was suspended from the ceiling on the Hilton's property so thay could damned well do what they wanted with it but based on the information that I have, I don't think the planned destruction had anything to do with the Hilton.

-Shawn

 

[Brian]

I heard in the Back Stage Tour that in addition to the copyright issue, there was also a question of ownership. The museum stuff was clearly Paramount's property, on loan to ST:TE, and will return to them. The ships, OTOH, were built specifically for ST:TE, and as such are joint property of Paramount and Cedar Fair (and maybe LVH (?)... whoever had a monetary stake in the attraction). It would be too costly and undesirable to work out the ownership legalities, so they agreed to scrap them. I don't know how much of a factor that was, but it makes sense.

 

[nacelle]

Of course she was saved. Just because ST:TE has lost its lease, doesn't mean that the Hilton was going to simply throw it away. It isn't their property to begin with. It still belongs to Cedar Fair Entertainment, who I'm sure wouldn't simply let Hilton destroy their property. They'll dismantle it, store it someplace, until they decide where to reopen ST:TE at sometime in the future.

Relax. We have not seen the last of The Experience. Not by a long shot.

I love when people think they know what they're talking about because of an emotional response they have of what they think should happen without out any research done or firsthand knowledge and in the process talk completely out of their ass.

I have spoken with several people associated with the Hilton and ST:TE and yes, indeed, the ships were to be destroyed and as I haven't heard anything to the contrary, the ENterprise-D, Voyager, and The Klingon BOP were all destroyed. They were far too large to be moved anywhere and Paramount demanded that they be destroyed due to their copyrights.

Did you read my post above? I was there a week ago and apart from the Ent-A all the other ships were still hanging with there lights on. Since you are in Vegas why not pop into the Hilton and see whats there or not now. Report back when you've been.
I had also heard that the destroy everything part of the contract had been rescinded. They wouldn't have rushed and spent a bunch of money to rescue the Ent-A only for it to be destroyed! The ships might be large but that doesn't mean that they cant be moved.

There are no plans as of now to bring ST:TE back in any form. The property that you spoke was suspended from the ceiling on the Hilton's property so thay could damned well do what they wanted with it but based on the information that I have, I don't think the planned destruction had anything to do with the Hilton.

-Shawn

It was the Hilton that wanted the Ent-A destroyed. They arranged a demolition crew to come in but it was saved first. And regardless of whether or not the Ent-A was slightly on Hilton property that doesnt give them the right to destroy something thats clearly not their property. The lease does not expire till December 31 so they have no right to touch anything till then.

 

[Brian]

I had also heard that the destroy everything part of the contract had been rescinded.

Where did you hear that? That certainly seems to be an item that would have been newsworthy, yet I haven't seen it reported anywhere.

It was the Hilton that wanted the Ent-A destroyed.

It's not the bloody A, it's the NCC-1701, a fact that had escaped me through three visits to ST:TE until watching the deconstruction video. I had always assumed it was the Ent-A, myself.

And regardless of whether or not the Ent-A was slightly on Hilton property that doesnt give them the right to destroy something thats clearly not their property. The lease does not expire till December 31 so they have no right to touch anything till then.

But would it give them the right to slice the front off the saucer? That would be akin to property owners' rights to cut back their neighbors' trees which encroach on their property, wouldn't it? Though it is admittedly on a costlier scale, but I don't know if ownership of "space" has dollar restrictions.

 

[trekker670]

ALL the ships are still in good condition all except the E-Refit are still in their original positions and turned on; the Refit is on the observation deck in 4 pieces. Other than that it is pretty much the way we left it.

 

[nacelle]

I had also heard that the destroy everything part of the contract had been rescinded.

Where did you hear that? That certainly seems to be an item that would have been newsworthy, yet I haven't seen it reported anywhere.

Someone i knew that worked in STTE told me that, but then they could be wrong. I like to think that the're right though especially if the rumor that the STTE could be moving to a new location becomes true then they will need the ships, otherwise it would cost to build new ships.

It was the Hilton that wanted the Ent-A destroyed.

It's not the bloody A, it's the NCC-1701, a fact that had escaped me through three visits to ST:TE until watching the deconstruction video. I had always assumed it was the Ent-A, myself.

Right of course it is the original bloody Enterprise. I dont know why i keep calling it 'A'. Must be old age setting in and the lingering jet lag from the 10 hour flight a few days ago!

And regardless of whether or not the Ent-A was slightly on Hilton property that doesnt give them the right to destroy something thats clearly not their property. The lease does not expire till December 31 so they have no right to touch anything till then.

But would it give them the right to slice the front off the saucer? That would be akin to property owners' rights to cut back their neighbors' trees which encroach on their property, wouldn't it? Though it is admittedly on a costlier scale, but I don't know if ownership of "space" has dollar restrictions.

Just because it was sticking out a bit still doesn't give anyone any right to destroy someone elses property. It was up there for 10+ years so if the Hilton had a problem with it then they should have said so long before so it could have been moved back slightly so it wasn't sticking out into Hilton airspace. Looking at my photos of the front entrance it looks like the two ride banners either side are ahead of the Enterprise and it certainly doesn't go past the trek flooring at the entrance.

 

[nacelle]

This is so unbelievable and ironic. There was a Major Heist at Las Vegas Hilton Casino

Someone robbed the Hilton's race and sports book!
I say good. After their attitude to us trekkies and the STTE they deserve everything they get.

 

[Kords21]

Damn that Karma train

 

[Dale]

This is so unbelievable and ironic. There was a Major Heist at Las Vegas Hilton Casino

Someone robbed the Hilton's race and sports book!
I say good. After their attitude to us trekkies and the STTE they deserve everything they get.

It probably makes me a bad person, but that's kind of sweet.

 

[trentman359]

They deserve it...jerks.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

Yeah, fuck them! They should die for what they've done to us!

I hope some other hotel chain reads these fan reactions and then rushes right out to build us something we like.

 

[Dale]

Again, the people who currently own the Hilton are not the same people who helped open STTE... they have never done anything "for" us and did take something away from us. I don't wish physical harm on them, but I do wish failure on their business. So you can be as dismissive and superior about the issue as you want, but the fact is that the people who run the Las Vegas Hilton were the villians of the piece who raised the cost of the lease by a multiple of ten in order to drive STTE from the space. They forced it's closure and dismissed us as customers not worth pursuing or pleasing.

You may now return to your homoerotic sexual innuendo and sombrero jokes.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

Again, the people who currently own the Hilton are not the same people who helped open STTE... they have never done anything "for" us and did take something away from us.

They can't take something away from you that never belonged to you in the first place.

They forced it's closure and dismissed us as customers not worth pursuing or pleasing.

Was STTE profitable? That's really the only thing that matters here. It's a business. Why would they jack up the lease unless they figured: (a) STTE could still be profitable under those terms, or (b) it would cause STTE to have to close and, in turn, be replaced with something more profitable?

You may now return to your homoerotic sexual innuendo and sombrero jokes.

I'll do what I like, when I like.

But thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Elwin Ransom]

I'm just glad I got to visit ST:TE before it was decommissioned. I was in high school when TV Guide released the 4-Captains covers for the 30th Anniversary, and at the time, it seemed like "Trek" had no limits; it was there that I first heard of the soon-to-exist ST:TE, and thought, "Awesome. But Vegas is far away." I lucked out though; in 2004, I was living in LA and my best friend and I drove to Las Vegas and spent a weekend at the Experience. Now I'm REALLY glad we went to see it.

 

[Dale]

Again, the people who currently own the Hilton are not the same people who helped open STTE... they have never done anything "for" us and did take something away from us.

They can't take something away from you that never belonged to you in the first place.

They forced it's closure and dismissed us as customers not worth pursuing or pleasing.

Was STTE profitable? That's really the only thing that matters here. It's a business. Why would they jack up the lease unless they figured: (a) STTE could still be profitable under those terms, or (b) it would cause STTE to have to close and, in turn, be replaced with something more profitable?

It was indeed profitable, right up 'til the end, both for the amusement park company that ran it and for the hotel company that hosted it. It was forced out because Resorts International didn't like the audience/element it attracted. Star Trek fans were deemed too nerdy to fit in with the image/atmosphere the LV Hilton wished to put forward.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

It was indeed profitable, right up 'til the end, both for the amusement park company that ran it and for the hotel company that hosted it.

Well, the real question is "Was it as profitable as whatever they were hoping to replace it with was projected to be?"

You don't rip out something that's generating a profit unless you think that you can replace it with something better.

It was forced out because Resorts International didn't like the audience/element it attracted. Star Trek fans were deemed too nerdy to fit in with the image/atmosphere the LV Hilton wished to put forward.

Well, assuming arguendo that what you say is true (since all I have seen is reference to a comment that some guy might have made), that still sounds like a business decision.

If the LV Hilton is trying to put forth a certain image, that effort is likely driven by the hope that said image will generate a profit.

We're not talking about something like Metropolis, Illinois, where they took some obscure town and put it on the map by claiming it was the home of all things Superman.

We're talking about Las Vegas, where people go for flashy, sexy, edgy, hip, questionably-legal entertainment.

It's not a stretch for some bean-counters to look at the record books, after ten years of their Star Trek park, and think that something newer and hipper might be in order, especially in a town that is constantly reinventing itself in order to remain hip.

I'm not saying we should be happy about it. But it's a business decision, like everything else. And ten years is a great run. And we all had a lot of fun.

So let's remember the good times, and not get so distracted by trying to figure out which mustache-twirling villains we are supposed to be throwing rocks at because we got dumped.

 

[Guartho]

I dislike the loss of the Experience, but my arm-chair guess is that plain old slot-machines make more dollars-per-square-foot than the Experience did.

 

[Biggshow]

It was indeed profitable, right up 'til the end, both for the amusement park company that ran it and for the hotel company that hosted it.

Well, the real question is "Was it as profitable as whatever they were hoping to replace it with was projected to be?"

You don't rip out something that's generating a profit unless you think that you can replace it with something better.

That is the really sad and ultimately bad business decision (IMHO) that the Hilton folks made; they have nothing ready to put in STTE's place which means it is probably going to just sit there, a big empty hole, for at least a year before even the beginnings of something new goes in. There's a lot of prep time that goes into a decision like this and they apparently had nothing planned.

And by "big hole" I mean that Cedar Fair is ripping everything thing out that is not part of the outer shell; no carpet left, no internal structures of any kind. They might leave the plumbing .

The easiest thing will probably be to carpet it and throw up some kind of casino siding and a ceiling of some kind and throw a bunch of slots in there.

It's still a waste.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

The easiest thing will probably be to carpet it and throw up some kind of casino siding and a ceiling of some kind and throw a bunch of slots in there.

Maybe they could paint it black with yellow lines and just call the hole a holodeck.

 

[Dale]

The easiest thing will probably be to carpet it and throw up some kind of casino siding and a ceiling of some kind and throw a bunch of slots in there.

Maybe they could paint it black with yellow lines and just call the hole a holodeck.

Lacking holoprojectors, however, they'd have to continue serving the hyper-toxic rum drinks so people could imagine their favorite scenarios.