star trek experience las vegas

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Star Trek the Experience

• Reviews: ★★★★★

Star Trek the Experience Overview

Star Trek geeks of the world are all heading to Las Vegas thanks to one adventure based in the Las Vegas Hilton. The Star Trek Experience is an interactive adventure that is based on the world famous science fiction television series by the same name. As you enter the experience, you will be thrown into the 24th Century. In this futuristic world you will be able to see and touch all there is to see in the future. The Star Trek Experience includes two, multi-million dollar completely interactive adventures for you to enjoy.

The adventures include Klingon Encounter and Borg Invasion 4D. In the Klingon Encounter you will have a chance to go on a Star Trek mission. Well, that is if you think you can handle the adventure. You will be going to war with the galaxy's most dangerous warriors! Your mission will be to evade the Klingon warship as you blast through galaxies at warp speeds on your shuttle craft. This adventure lasts 18 minutes.

Borg Invasion has been listed as the most ambitious 4D creation that has ever been conceived. Using live actors and amazing special effects you are offered a completely realistic Star Trek experience. You will be able to tour a research facility in the future. Meanwhile, the frightening drones that are part of the Borg Collective will be attempting to capture and absorb the guests in the facility by using state of the art cybernetic technology.

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Star trek the experience reviews, stay at the hilton because of the star trek experience.

I have to travel to Las Vegas to attend several Trade Show and I always stay at the Hilton because of the Star Trek Experience. I will take a tram or a taxi to the trade show as opposed to a much shorter transit, just to stay at the Hilton and at the Experience. Trade Shows can be boring but a fresh light at the end of the tunnel has always been the Experience. I am shocked the Experience is closed and it has resulted in my Family and I now staying another hotel on the strip. Live long and Prosper to all that loved the Experience and that would love to see it be reborn elsewhere! Sincerely, WP Vos

I LIKE THE FOOD AT QUARKS

The main reason I go to Vegas and stay at the Hilton is because of Star Trek Experience. I love the atmosphere and the people that work there. The place is very very clean. I like the food at Quark’s and am sorry to hear that STTE may close at the end of the yet, because I haven’t tried some other items on their menu. If it does not my plans are to spend Christmas there. If it does I will not be going to Vegas.

WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE

I want to stay at the same time I spent at Star Trek the Experience was a wonderful experience. I hope to make it to experience the Star Trek Experience again this year. It would be a sure shame if this one of a kind event closed. I would promote the experience as a wonderful time for the whole family.

MOST FANTASTIC TIME

We visited Star Trek the Experience last year from Australia. We spent the whole day there and had the most FANTASTIC time. The timeline details were fascinating. The behind the scenes was very very informative. The characters around the place were such fun to interact with. And it was wheelchair friendly-nig bonus for me. We are so sorry to hear it is closing down. We were saving up to come again. RIP Star Trek The Exhibition.

SOMETHING NEW TO ENJOY

I have been to the Experience many times over the years and I always find something new to enjoy along with all my previous fun. I loved going onto the bridge of TNG’s Enterprise. And what a hoot it is to see all the characters around from all over the galaxy. A must do is to eat at Quark’s, but watch out the owner may try to sell you a napkin.

I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT THE STAR TREK EXPERIENCE IS NOT AVAILABLE

I am very disappointed that the Star Trek experience is not available. I have been pumping up my family ,most of whom are flying for the very 1st time, about this attraction. This was going to be one of the major highlights of our trip. The 1st time my husband and I visited Vegas we came to the Hilton and had a blast at the Star Trek Adventure and have talked about t every since. Please open back up. If this is due to the financial crunch just lower your prices a little bit and maybe more people could afford to come.

STAR TREK THE BAR IS THE FUNNSET AFTER YOU DO THE VIRTUAL RIDE

Me and my friends go to Vegas every year after some times twice a year and always made it a point to visit the Hilton’s Star Trek the bar is the funnest after you do the virtual ride. I was there the last night open just by chance and am very disappointed to see it leave. It was one of my highlights going to Vegas over the last 10 years.

I was disappointed to hear the attraction was closing. I am planning a trip to Vegas and wanted to was going to book rooms at the Hilton until I learned the experience had closed. I guess we stay at Treasure Island.

Say it isn’t so! Our group was looking forward to seeing this attraction. I would have thought with the new movie it would have been very popular. We are all disappointed.

BRING IT BACK!

I really enjoyed my visit to the “Star Trek” Hilton. I especially loved Quark’s Bar where the 6ft plus Klingon “lady” put my know-it-all ex propery in his place and speechless for the first time in his life! I’d pay just to have her do the Divorce-paper servings!LOL

THE GREATEST TIME

My wife and I come to Vegas 3 or 4 times a year & always stayed at the Hilton because of Star Trek Experience & Quark’s bar. We no longer stay at the Hilton. We stay every where else. To the Hilton you made a big mistake, bring back The Experience & Quarks!!!

The Next Generation in Star Trek Theme Park Rides

Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton

Note: Star Trek: The Experience closed in September 2008. You can read about the defunct attraction in the following review.

One of the world’s most detailed and engaging theme park attractions wasn’t in a theme park. Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton transported guests into the 24th century for a one-of-a-kind interactive adventure.

Star Trek meets Las Vegas ? You bet! As if the famous gaming capital wasn't otherworldly enough, the ambitious Experience blasted guests to a future alterna-universe that was utterly convincing. You would have sworn that you were beamed into a real-life Trek episode.

From start to finish, the level of commitment to the storytelling was truly astonishing. More than a motion simulator ride , The Experience was a 25-minute immersion into the Trek oeuvre, complete with live actors, multiple sets, shuttle bays, and Klingons. It was holodeck nirvana.

• Thrill Scale (0=Wimpy!, 10=Yikes!): 4
• Type: Motion-base simulator with highly immersive pre-show.
• Height restriction (minimum, in inches): 42
• Location: Las Vegas Hilton, just off the Strip.

The fun began in the Hilton’s North Tower. (By the way, the Las Vegas Hilton is now known as the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.) At one end of the Space Quest casino (which, with its laser beams, giant video screens, and touch-sensitive slot machines was an attraction in itself), guests entered the History of the Future museum to the fanfare of various Star Trek theme songs.

A large scale model of the starship Enterprise hung from the ceiling. Props, costumes, video snippets, and other Trek drek from the television shows and movies filled the museum, which doubled as the queue for the attraction. With the displays, there was little risk of line boredom.

Yes, Participants Were Beamed Up

When it was time for crews to report for their missions, a uniformed guide escorted them to a holding area. The guide offered some standard simulator ride warnings and directed guests to watch monitors for more of the usual pre-boarding announcements.

Suddenly the monitors went blank, rays of light enveloped the guests, an unmistakable Trek transporter room sound filled the air, and the room became dark for a moment. When the lights came up, the room was transformed and visitors had been beamed aboard the USS Enterprise, circa the 24th century and Star Trek: The Next Generation .

It was a startling illusion, and the 21st-century guide helped maintain the fantasy by playing along. A breathless Enterprise officer greeted the group and explained that a gang of rogue villains sent Captain Picard back in time in exchange for the Vegas stowaways. The guests’ mission: Get back to the nickel slots where they belonged so that Captain Picard could return and say “Engage!” in his inimitable way. The officer whisked the group off to the bridge.

The actors and sets made the attraction. They had a commanding presence, conveyed a lot of enthusiasm, and never broke character. Looking nifty in their Starfleet uniforms, some of them were busy on the bridge punching buttons and raising shields to avert enemy fire. For the approximately two-dozen guests that shared each Experience, eight performers interacted with them throughout the course of the attraction. That’s a high ratio and helped convey the realism of the attraction.

Where’s the Whoosh?

With its blinking lights, banks of screens, and other familiar touchstones, the bridge was a faithful reproduction. From the bridge, one of the officers led the group to a turbolift—Trek talk for an elevator—for a ride to the shuttle bays level. One quibble: When the doors to the bridge and the turbolift opened and closed, they didn’t make that Trekian “whoosh” sound.

With the ship taking missile hits and frantic communications from the bridge broadcast in the turbolift, the ride to the shuttle bays was fraught with peril. Leaving the turbolift, the officer led the group through one of the Enterprise’s corridors.

The Enterprise officer gave shuttlecraft boarding and safety belt instructions and closed the hatch to send the crew back on its journey to the 21st century. Since motion simulators are ideally suited to mimic space travel , it was a great way to experience warp speed. The Star Trek simulator cabins had windows in front, above, and along their sides and used a domed screen to project an encompassing image. The simulator experience culminated with a precarious ride down the Las Vegas Strip and a big bang above the Hilton.

The ride ended with the obligatory shuffle through the gift shop. Pointy ears anyone? With all that excitement, guests surely worked up quite an appetite, so Quark's Bar and Grill offered items like Glop on a Stick and Klingon Kabob. The restaurant was crawling with Trekkies when it showed the latest Star Trek episode on its large-screen televisions.

The Borg Invaded Las Vegas

Next door to Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton was a second attraction, The Borg Invasion 4-D. It was based on the  Star Trek: Voyager television series. Instead of a motion simulator ride, The Borg Invasion was a 3-D movie with sensory effects (making it a “4-D” attraction). It closed when the Star Trek: The Experience closed at the Hilton.

Like Star Trek: The Experience, The Borg Invasion 4-D was not a standard theme park attraction, however. It also incorporated many live actors and engaged guests with a compelling, highly interactive pre-show.

If you are interested in learning more about the Star Trek attractions at the Las Vegas Hilton, check out the wonderful 27-minute documentary, “ The Final Frontier Of Star Trek: The Experience .” Created by Expedition Theme Park and available on YouTube, it includes footage from the actual attraction and also divulges how some of the effects were created (including the transporter room scene).

Other Star Trek Theme Park Attractions

For a short time, Universal Studios Florida offered The Star Trek Adventure. For an additional fee above the cost of admission to the park, it allowed guests to get in costume and act as Trek characters. Using green-screen technology, the guests were inserted into a brief scene based on the original Star Trek television show. Guests were given a VHS copy of their performance to take home. Interestingly, there are strong rumors that Universal Orlando is considering bringing the Star Trek franchise back as part of its planned fourth theme park.

From 2004 to 2007, the roller coaster currently known as Nighthawk at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina was known as BORG Assimilator and incorporated a Star Trek theme. When Cedar Fair bought the Paramount Parks, it dropped all licensed Paramount names and themes, including Star Trek .

Visitors can still ride a themed coaster, Star Trek: Operation Enterprise, at Movie Park Germany in Bottrop. The launched coaster opened in 2017 and is based on Star Trek: The Next Generation .

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Star Trek: The Experience

Type: Attractions , Family Friendly

Last updated on June 29, 2015

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Published May 19, 2020

How Star Trek Came to Las Vegas

Unsurprisingly, it was a huge gamble.

StarTrek.com

CW: After the closure of Star Trek: The Experience in 2008, Gary Goddard was accused of sexual misconduct by 8 actors in 2017.

In early 1998, the “coolest thing to happen to Star Trek since the Enterprise-E ” (at least according to the Desert News ) opened in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Las Vegas Hilton. Star Trek: The Experience was an expansive, 65,000-square foot space that included a walk-through exhibit of props and costumes, a simulator thrill ride, and an immersive shopping and dining area populated by aliens and other intergalactic visitors. It embraced the various series’ optimistic outlook on the future, combining, at one point, storylines from The Next Generation , Voyager , and Deep Space Nine eras, and offered a unique experience that was just as thrilling for die-hard fans as it was for average tourists less steeped in the lore. While Star Trek: The Experience closed its doors in 2008, it remains beloved (and deeply missed) by those that visited and the staff that populated the attraction. And, true to form, the tale of how Star Trek landed in Las Vegas offers the kind of twists and turns that you could only expect from your favorite space saga.

STLV 2019: That's a Wrap

First Contact

Initially, Star Trek was going to come to Las Vegas in a very different form. In the early 1990s a consortium of businesses wanted to inject fresh life into the ailing downtown area, which had been all but overcome by the new hotels and resorts on the strip. A call was put out for submissions. “Their requirements were, they wanted a project of such magnitude that it would draw back the business from the strip. That’s an almost impossible task,” said Gary Goddard, a former Imagineer whose company Landmark Entertainment entered the competition. Their pitch? “What if we built the Starship Enterprise , full-size?”

Since some of the stipulations of the project were that it couldn’t be a hotel or casino, since the financiers of the eventual project were the hotels and the casinos downtown, the Enterprise would instead feature an attraction, a restaurant (utilizing translucent glass that could transition from a view of downtown Las Vegas to space and back again), and a walking tour of the ship. They brought in Kenny Ball, one of the chief engineers of EPCOT, to deliver an engineering analysis (they had to take into account Vegas’ heavy winds when designing the iconic upper disc area of the ship). “To say the least, it ignited everyone down there. The competition was suddenly put on hold because they wanted to know if we could do this,” Goddard said. He then went about securing the rights from Paramount with the caveat that the final word on the project would come from the studio. The consortium of downtown casinos and hotels approved the project’s budget and the mayor had signed off on the project. “This was really a done deal,” Goddard said.

That is, of course, until the big meeting, full of Paramount executives (who were supportive of the project) and the mayor of Las Vegas. That was the moment when Paramount President Stanley Jaffe decided to shut it all down. Jaffe was concerned that, if the project wasn’t a success, it would be there forever, a looming monument to his big mistake. "He turned it down in that meeting,” Goddard remembered. “It died in one day, in Stanley Jaffe’s office.” In its place was built the Fremont Street Experience, perhaps best known for Viva Vision, a domed video-screen “canopy” that stretches over the street. Still, the dream for Star Trek in Las Vegas lingered in Goddard’s mind.

The Undiscovered Country

“A year or two” after his ambitious Star Trek Enterprise attraction was canceled, Goddard, who was then in the peak of his career, having completed work on two beloved attractions (Universal’s T2-3D and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man), received a phone call.  “The president of the Las Vegas Hilton was a huge Star Trek fan and he had a need. Hilton is off the strip and Hilton had a double or triple challenge because they had to get people to make the decision to get off the strip and go to their casino. He thought Star Trek might be the way,” Goddard said. Hilton entered into discussions with Paramount, who at the time were operating a number of theme parks where they basically affixed Paramount IP to classic roller coasters (like the Wayne’s World -themed The Hurler at Paramount's Carowind in North Carolina). This was something completely different.

When they hired Goddard, Paramount had a loose idea about what the attraction would be. “They asked us to come onboard and they had worked out a basic concept. They basically wanted to beam people aboard, that was their idea, and an adventure ensues,” Goddard said. And out of this skeletal concept, a sprawling project would unfurl that combined a walk-through attraction, massive museum that highlighted the Star Trek timeline, and immersive themed retail and dining corridor. They were boldly going.

The Voyage Home

Once you got your ticket at The Experience, you were directed towards the History of the Future. This was an idea that Goddard came up with to combine two distinct (and hugely necessary) aspects of Star Trek : The Experience – the need for a queue for the attraction and a desire to highlight the amazing history and mythology surrounding Star Trek lore. The idea of “artifacts” kept coming up, but they would be unusable in the attraction since it was supposed to be real, not a museum or showroom. Instead, these artifacts (which included miniatures used in the production of the shows, screen-worn costumes and prop weapons) could be moved to the pre-show and exist before the story really started. “That wasn’t in the original concept. We thought we’d use it to bring people into the Star Trek mythology,” Goddard explained. They even had an ingenious way of telling the story of Star Trek : start it in real life. “Someone had the idea of, what if we start with NASA and the space program and ease into the Federation,” Goddard said.

After getting through the queue/museum, you wound up in a small room where it looked like you were about to board a vehicle not unlike other motion-based simulators at other theme parks. (Goddard said this bit was meant to be intentionally cheesy.) At the moment when you thought you had spent your hard-earned money getting on another predictable ride, the lights would flicker and you would look around and you were on a really-for-real starship, the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation . If anyone has seen videos of the attraction online or experienced it yourself, you know what a dazzling effect this was. People still talk about it. And it was something that was hugely important to Goddard and his team.

“I knew if you don’t get the beam up right, the whole thing was going to be lame,” Goddard said. It was the first thing he and his team set out to work on after securing the gig to do Star Trek : The Experience – and you can tell. It’s a stunner. They contacted a NASA scientist who told the Landmark crew that your orientation is based on “peripheral vision.” That’s when they knew that they had to swap out everything to make the effect convincing.

When asked to explain how the moment was accomplished, Goddard explained: “The massive ceiling above you is moving out completely. While it’s out, other walls are moving in and when that’s done another ceiling is passing in over the top. And the top lights up and the bottom lights up. It’s tons of scenery moving very rapidly with an infrared system.” The motion generated by moving all that scenery was a kind of whoosh, created by the vacuum of air. Initially the technicians wanted to streamline the conversation and get rid of the air. Goddard said to leave it in. It really made you feel like you were being transported. Even today, he seems proud of the effect. “Everyone tried to figure out how we did it,” Goddard said.

From there, the story (written by Rene Echevarria and Ken Biler and supervised by Rick Berman) unfolded: one of you is the early descendant of Next Generation hero Picard. Commander Riker (a very game Jonathan Frakes) explains that evil Klingons are using a temporal rift to snuff out Picard’s ancestors. He tells you to get onto a shuttle with Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and get out of the way of the temporal rift,. On the way to the shuttle, the turbo-lift is attacked and you enter freefall (accomplished using lighting and sound effects and simulated motion). The shuttle attraction (initially dubbed Voyage Through Space and later called Klingon Encounter), a simulator ride not unlike other motion-based experiences, is nifty for many reasons, including the fact that the climax of the ride film has you careening through present day Las Vegas. “When this thing had been boarded and approved, I’d pointed out to them that there was no moment where we saw the Starship in all of its glory. So we found a spot as the shuttle takes off to look back at the Enterprise ,” Goddard said. “I added that. Rick Berman thought about it for a minute and just said, ‘Yeah, he’s right, we’ve got to see the ship.’ That was one of my main contributions in that area.”

At the end of the attraction Picard (Patrick Stewart) appears and addresses the group: "While only one of you is my ancestor, each of you hold that same opportunity for the future. Guard it well." Then you are emptied into the Deep Space Nine Promenade – a retail and dining area that included Zek’s Grand Emporium, the Admiral Collection, Moogie’s Trading Post and, of course, Quark’s Bar and Grill (where you can order the ‘Cheeseborger’ or the ‘Wrap of Khan’, and enjoy an adult beverage called ‘The Final Frontier’). At the time that it opened, the Desert News commented on the variety of offerings in the various stores: “The products range from $4 magnets to $12,000 Klingon uniforms, with everything from $35 Starfleet uniforms to $20 Starfleet teddy bears to $6 pins to $2,000 custom leather jackets in between.” But the best part of this area of Star Trek : The Experience, was that various alien races and Starfleet crew members would be walking around, interacting with guests.

“We worked very hard to sell them on an immersive experience, with characters, and everyone loved the idea,” Goddard said. Dale Dye, one of Hollywood’s best known military advisors, was called in to train the employees. “When those guys meet you, they are part of Starfleet – they walk and talk and move like they are in Starfleet,” Goddard said. “Those kind of details people do not appreciate.” If you were chugging a Romulan Ale next to a garrulous Ferengi and a stone-faced Federation officer, trust us, you could tell.

When Star Trek : The Experience was finally opened in 1998 it was greeted warmly by visitors and press. The Las Vegas Review-Journal called it “The most intriguing entertainment offering this side of the Neutral Zone.” It had seemingly succeeded in its impossible mission: to drive tourists away from the strip and to the Las Vegas Hilton.

In 2004 Star Trek : The Experience received a major renovation with the addition of Borg Invasion 4D, an immersive 3D experience with a greater emphasis on thrills and an almost haunted house vibe. The new attraction took place in the Star Trek: Voyager era, complete with appearances by Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo and Alice Krige as the terrifying Borg Queen. Goddard wasn’t directly involved in the new attraction’s film, but offered peer review before it went into production, citing a disconnect between the script that was written (for a motion simulator-style attraction like the original Klingon Encounter) and the physical parameters of the show building, which was designed for a 3D (“4D”) movie.

“There were a few flaws in the conceptual foundation,” Goddard said. “I don’t think it ever met the expectations of either Paramount or the audience.” Two years later in 2006, a behind-the-scenes tour called Secrets Unveiled was introduced and two years after that, the fate of all of Star Trek : The Experience was in doubt.

The Final Frontier

In 2008, it was announced that by the end of the year, Star Trek : The Experience would close. It’s unclear what exactly precipitated the closure, although a couple of years before, Paramount’s theme park division was sold to Cedar Fair. The timing is especially baffling when you consider that Star Trek : The Experience closed mere months before the next generation of fans would join the franchise with JJ Abrams’ Star Trek (2009 ).

A month after Star Trek : The Experience shut its doors with an honestly heart-tugging farewell done in the style of a naval decommissioning ceremony, the mayor of Las Vegas announced a new home for the experience: Neonopolis, a strip mall ironically located downtown, almost exactly where the original, full-size Enterprise was going to be built all those years before. Rohit Joshi had worked out a licensing agreement with Paramount and purchased all of the props and equipment from Star Trek : The Experience.

Goddard was actually approached about helping with the installation in Neonopolis. “We were going to help bring the whole attraction. But the reality of the attraction and the cost of it was much more than he imagined,” Goddard said. “And in the move a lot of stuff got destroyed.” By 2010 those same pieces Joshi had purchased were being quietly sold at auction. Amazingly, the logo for Star Trek : The Experience is still affixed to the outside of the Hilton. You can see the logo if you take the Las Vegas Monorail; it remains a glittery testament to the future that never was and the beloved attraction that now lives on in the hearts of countless visitors and crew members. As Picard would say of memory of visiting Star Trek : The Experience – “Guard it well."

Drew Taylor (he/him) is a freelance journalist working in Los Angeles and the author of “The Art of Onward.” Follow him on Twitter @DrewTailored

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Musings of a Middle-Aged Geek

… observations from a lifetime of geekiness.

“Star Trek: The Experience” (1998-2008) at the Las Vegas Hilton; “Surely, the best of times…”

Star Trek: The Experience opened in January of 1998, during Star Trek’s 1990s heyday. Early 1998 was a time of Trek plenty… there were two Star Trek TV series in production ( “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” ), a forthcoming movie ( “Star Trek: Insurrection” ) and tons of merchandise, including the now semi-legendary toy line from licensee Playmates. I really wanted to go to the Experience in those days, but somehow never quite got around to it. For context, I live in southern California, so the drive to Las Vegas is typically under 4 hours away at maximum warp.

So, it was in 2001 and later in 2003 that my wife and I experienced ‘The Experience.’

2001 was a different era. I didn’t have a digital camera, so my pics from that visit are from an old 35mm Vivitar point-and-shoot. We went to Las Vegas again in 2003, this time staying at the Hilton. It was during this second visit that we got to enjoy the Experience at will, since it was ( literally ) an elevator ride down from our room.

The Experience was, for its day, as close to a fully immersive Star Trek environment as I’ve ever seen/felt in my lifetime. It was a much scaled-down, indoors version of what I imagine Disneyland’s forthcoming “Galaxy’s Edge” Star Wars attraction will be like when it opens later this month. Basically, visitors got to live Star Trek for as long as they wanted. It was the 24th century today .

Walking in through a multi-story entrance graced with a giant suspended model of the refit USS Enterprise (“Star Trek: The Motion Picture”), you were immediately met with multiple options; you could walk the Deep Space Nine-styled “Promenade,” eat at Quark’s bar & restaurant, visit the museum (with many screen-used Star Trek props/costumes), or take a simulated shuttlecraft ride at “The Klingon Encounter” (think Disneyland’s “Star Tours” but Trek-ified ).

The food at Quark’s was absolutely delicious, and you were met at your table by random Klingon, Ferengi and Romulan cosplayers who remained in character the entire time. I also remember some of the drink names on the menu, such as the “Warp Core Breach”; a large foaming glass vat of fruity booze that, while I didn’t try one personally, looked absolutely amazing.

Of course, being a Star Trek geek down to my bones ( “Bones!” ), I really geeked out seeing the museum… full of screen-used props, costumes, and other paraphernalia from Star Trek’s long history ( nearly 40 years at that time ).

There was Kirk’s wraparound tunic from the original series’ second season (I was surprised at how faded the once-vibrant green fabric had become), as well as the mutated “Nomad” space probe, and even a desk model of the starship USS Horizon, an older-class of 22nd century starship which we as a decoration in Benjamin Sisko’s office on “Deep Space Nine.”

The simulated shuttlecraft ride (aka “The Klingon Encounter”) was a real kick. Waiting in line to board the simulator, you’d scale a gradually elevating walkway lined with various exhibit pieces which detailed the ‘history of the future.’ All the while, beautifully edited Star Trek footage from the movies & TV series played on large overhead monitors.

As you made your way to the upper boarding level, you also got a much better view of the large starship Voyager, Enterprise-D and Klingon Bird-of-Prey models which hung suspended from a starry ceiling beneath the main dome of the rotunda. These ‘miniatures’ were huge…in the neighborhood of 20 ft. long (approximately 6 meters).

Once you boarded the shuttle (with far more seats than its TV counterpart) you strapped yourself in for a simulated ride from the Las Vegas strip right up into outer space. Once in ‘space,’ your shuttle got rocked and buffeted by enemy Klingon fire in the starry skies above Las Vegas, with Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the USS Enterprise coming to the rescue!

Before ‘returning to Earth’, you got to visit the USS Enterprise-D bridge (many Trek-themed weddings took place there), which was a near photo-perfect recreation of the set from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-1994), save for a few anachronistic 21st century “Exit” signs.

The gift shop was off the Promenade, across from Quark’s restaurant, near a simulated “replimat’ station that looked exactly like the replimats found on the Deep Space Nine space station. They were also covered with random, scattered “tribbles” ( from the classic Trek episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles” and its “Deep Space Nine” sequel “Trials and Tribble-ations” ). While my wife loved the tribbles, my nerdy self was struck by the attention to detail . There was alien signage (in native Bajoran , for example), as well as many little Star Trek in-jokes scattered here and there. Almost everywhere you looked within the confines of The Experience you only saw 24th century Star Trek. It was nerdvana .

We never got to enjoy the Borg 4-D ride , which was installed in 2004, about a year after our last visit. “Star Trek: Voyager” star Robert Picardo (the ship’s Emergency Medical Hologram doctor) recorded a video for the attraction, and I would’ve loved to have seen it, but sadly the Experience ultimately folded in 2008, a mere decade after it opened.

The Star Trek Experience at the Hilton was somewhat expensive. Las Vegas is typically expensive, to be fair. However, for a longtime Trekkie like myself, it was Trek mecca . While my wife and I did see the other sights along the Vegas strip during our visits (the Bellagio, the Venetian, Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, etc), I did manage to spend a lot of quality time immersing myself in all-things Trek for a couple of days, and I loved every minute of it.

These days, the closest one can come to recapturing the Star Trek Experience is the annual Star Trek convention at the Rio hotel, which is the largest annual Star Trek convention in the United States. While I enjoy that particular convention very much, it lacks the fully immersive quality that the Experience had. To its credit, the Rio certainly decorates for its annual Star Trek convention, but it’s only superficial; you never once forget that you are in a hotel in Las Vegas. From 1998-2008, the Vegas Hilton had a whole section of itself transformed into a 24th century Star Trek reality. The Star Trek Experience was truly a labor of love.

In 2007, there were rumors that the Experience was closing shop, as the cancellation of the TV series “Enterprise” (2001-2005) and the low box office of 2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis” seemed to signify a dip in Star Trek’s overall popularity. There was talk of a possible reprieve for the Experience at Las Vegas’ Neonopolis Mall, where it was hoped it’d reopen in time for the 2009 release of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” movie. Sadly, interest in finding a new home for the Experience foundered, and the license for the exhibit was allowed to expire. JJ Abrams’ “Star Trek” movie premiered to great critical and commercial success, but the Star Trek Experience was no longer there to commemorate it.

11 years after the Experience closed and a good 16 years since I last saw it, I still miss it very much whenever I’m in Vegas. The only tangible reminders of that I still have of it are my photos (which I digitally scanned for this piece) as well as a DVD I bought of “I, Mudd” & “The Trouble With Tribbles” in the gift shop (this was back when Star Trek episodes were being released only two episodes per single DVD). Of course, there are also my memories of the Experience, which I’m hoping to preserve with this ‘log entry’.

To quote Spock (the late Leonard Nimoy) from 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, the Star Trek Experience at Las Vegas’ Hilton was “Surely, the best of times.”

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I was lucky enough to go thru the experience in November 2000. It was breathtaking and they had it designed to feel like civilians had wandered aboard the real ship. The ST:NG uniforms were clearly Hollywood quality & the actors were spot on.

I remember eating in Quarks Bar and shopping in a souvenir store. I did NOT have a camera. 😡

Wow, this looks brilliant. I remember reading out the Experience when it started. Looks like you had a brilliant time, must have been so awesome to see all the space ship models and costumes!

It was so much fun. I still miss seeing it whenever I’m in Las Vegas…

I bet, must’ve have been so brilliant! 🙂

Thank you for sharing all these neat pictures.

My pleasure. I just wish I had a better camera in those days.

I would have loved this. I wonder what they did with all the props and memorabilia?

I think some of the props wound up at auctions. Many of them I’ve seen show up at the Vegas Star Trek convention at the Rio.

As for those items made specifically for the Experience, I wish I knew. Good question!

• Pingback: Stardate: February 16th, 2008. “Star Trek: The Exhibition” in Long Beach, California… – Musings of a Middle-Aged Geek

Standing in line for one of their shows, a Klingon came by and shared some “Klingon humor” (jokes delivered in droll Klingon monotone). Happen to remember any?

Yikes! That was a while back. Sorry. I do have a slightly better memory of the Ferengi waiter who came by our table and went into a sad little spiel about how a lack of latinum in his tips.

Well now, that reminds me I do remember one. (Not the best of his jokes, but involved Ferengi.)

Q: What is better than ten dead Ferengi in a box? A: One dead Ferengi… in TEN boxes! HAH Hah hah…. 🙄😝

Dude, what an AWESOME post. I’m not even a deep down Trekker-nerd-type, and I got some goosebumps looking at this. I regret never getting down to the Hilton to experience it. Sadly, I’ve heard that all the different pieces of this exhibit have been scattered in all directions, after a failed plan to re-locate it.

Yet another reason why your documentation of this long-gone exhibit is such a rare thing, and is an extremely valuable resource to many different kinds of folks.

We will be featuring and linking to this page in the near future on our Las Vegas history project’s website. http://www.LostVegas.us

Wow, thanks for the kind words, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. 🙏

Half the fun of experiencing such a thing is the ability to share that experience with others, especially when it no longer exists.

Reblogged this on Musings of a Middle-Aged Geek and commented:

My apologies for not having new Star Trek content for September 8th, aka “Star Trek Day,” but at the risk of “airing a rerun,” I’d like to take this opportunity to revisit the amazing, sadly long-defunct “Star Trek: The Experience,” which formerly inhabited the Las Vegas Hilton hotel for ten years (1998-2008). I had the opportunity to visit the Experience twice, and I’d like to re-share my memories from those visits for this Star Trek Day.

I hope you’ll enjoy this look back at a Star Trek heyday, when Trekkies like myself could warp over to Las Vegas for what was essentially a contained Star Trek theme park deep inside of a Las Vegas casino.

Enjoy the memories. Live long and prosper!

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Star Trek: The Experience

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Located at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino near the intersection of Paradise Road and Sahara Avenue. About 1.5 miles from the Vegas Strip. Home to two exciting attractions, Klingon Encounter and BORG Invasion 4D , Star Trek: The Experience provides visitors with a very realistic experience through the use of live interaction and motion simulators. Some may even say chillingly realistic. The Experience unfolds much like the stories that inspired it. It is scripted by "Next Generation" alumni Rene Echevarria and Ken Biller.

BORG Invasion 4D: As unsuspecting visitors tour a research facility, they are attacked by the BORG, who try to capture and assimilate them. The experience is all too real, with the utilization of 3D and 4D effects, as well as live actors.

Klingon Encounter: Visitors are "accidentally" beamed onto the Starship Enterprise, just as it is being attacked by several Klingon warships. In an effort to escape, visitors hurry to a shuttle bay, where they board a 27-car shuttle and attempt to make their way home.

Tickets are good for the entire day, so you can leisurely stroll through the " History of the Future " exhibit, which displays Star Trek props, weaponry, spacecraft and award-winning masks and costumes.

Quark's Bar and Restaurant and Deep Space Nine promenade: Quark's Bar and Restaurant, which can be found in the Deep Space Nine promenade, is a galactic pit stop offering tasty concoctions that are out of this world. The Deep Space Nine Promenade also houses the Promenade shops, where you can check out the world's largest collection of Star Trek memorabilia and collectibles and perhaps purchase a souvenir.

Souvenir photos: Now you can take a souvenir photo in the Captain's Chair on the Bridge of the Starship Enterprise or in an authentic BORG Regeneration Chamber. Participants must sign up ahead of time at the ticket booth.

Star Trek: The Experience -- Secrets Unveiled : Visitors can now take a behind-the-scenes tour of Star Trek: The Experience and learn how the Klingon Encounter and BORG Invasion 4D rides make visitors feel as if they have truly been transported to another space and time.

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• >> Entertainment
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Klingons, The Borg and Tribble Tenders: Remembering ‘Star Trek: The Experience’

It’s been nearly 15 years since you could belly up to Quark’s Bar, order a Bacon Cheese Borger or The Wrap of Khan, then wash it all down with a James Tea Kirk.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 15 years since you could belly up to Quark’s Bar, order a Bacon Cheese Borger and some Tribble Tenders, or maybe The Wrap of Khan if you were in the mood for something lighter, then wash it all down with a James Tea Kirk.

Las Vegas once again will be the center of the “Star Trek” universe this week with the return of the annual fan convention at the Rio. But that’s just four days — a far cry from the decade that the series, in all its many incarnations, ruled the Las Vegas Hilton.

“Star Trek: The Experience” was announced with great fanfare on Jan. 24, 1995, with plans to open late the following year to coincide with the show’s 30th anniversary.

When it finally opened Jan. 4, 1998, following multiple delays, fans paid as much as $100 for a preview of the attraction that would cost the general public just $9.95. All 15,000 T-shirts and 15,000 sweatshirts celebrating the maiden voyage sold out on opening day.

The $70 million “Experience” covered 65,000 square feet and could handle as many as 1,000 guests an hour. It would need to for the Hilton, the hotel currently known as the Westgate, to start making any money off its investment. We reported before the opening that the Hilton had covered most of the construction costs, while Paramount, the studio that held the “Star Trek” rights, would receive all the revenue from admissions and merchandise. The plan was for the hotel to benefit from the added foot traffic and players who sought out its adjacent $30 million SpaceQuest casino.

Quark’s Bar & Restaurant, based on the Ferengi-run establishment from TV, was the centerpiece of a re-creation of the promenade from “Deep Space Nine.” With five shops, including Zek’s Grand Emporium and Moogie’s Trading Post, fans could buy everything from “Star Trek” trinkets to a full Klingon uniform that went for $12,000.

A cast of more than 100 costumed actors worked the grounds, and a museum called History of the Future boasted more than 200 items and was billed as the largest collection of “Star Trek” props and costumes in the world.

The big draw, though, was “The Klingon Encounter,” in which guests were beamed aboard the USS Enterprise, complete with an exact replica of the ship’s bridge, for a four- to five-minute motion simulator ride.

In 2004, “The Experience” was updated with “Borg Invasion 4D,” which let visitors tour a 24th century research facility and see an original seven-minute film starring “Voyager” actors Robert Picardo and Kate Mulgrew.

Four years later, the luster — of both “Star Trek” and “The Experience” — had dulled. When the attraction opened, “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” were in production, and the movies had been coming out every two to three years since 1979. By 2008, “Enterprise” had been off the air for three years, part of a more than 12-year hiatus between shows, and the movie franchise had been dormant for more than six years.

Admission, meanwhile, had increased to $42.99 — or $33.99 with a valid Nevada ID.

“Star Trek: The Experience” launched its final mission on Sept. 1, 2008. The next month, Mayor Oscar Goodman told reporters the attraction would be moving downtown. Neonopolis developer Rohit Joshi added, “We are in very serious negotiations.”

Those plans, unlike any series regular returning to the Holodeck, never materialized. In April 2010, most of the “Star Trek: The Experience” fixtures were sold — a table and four chairs from Quark’s Bar for $195, Borg alcoves for $600 to $800. Some of the bigger pieces were saved for an auction that August during that year’s “Star Trek” convention, where signs from Quark’s went for as much as $4,750.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at [email protected] or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.

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Toei Animation, the team behind the “One Piece” Japanese manga and anime franchise, had a “takeover” for the series on the exterior of the Sphere in Las Vegas.

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After 41 years and over 8,000 episodes, Pat Sajak made his final turn as the renowned host of “Wheel of Fortune.”

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RoadsideAmerica.com Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions

Attraction:

Star Trek: The Experience (Gone)

Las Vegas, Nevada

The original 1960s Star Trek TV series, in tandem with America's real-life space adventures, sparked a revolution -- and nothing like the wispy, fleeting triumphs of '60s youth protest and hippiedom. Today, the ascent of sci-fi nerd culture is evident everywhere. You can thank Star Trek for the look of your cell phone, your big screen TVs, and the logic-defying career of William Shatner. If we could just get the transporter and warp drive working, who'd even care about global warming? We could just travel backwards in time, or move to someone else's planet.

Forty years on since the franchise launched, devotees of Star Trek and all its permutations can be found worldwide. They inhabit the same weight continuum as NASCAR fans, and they also are known for their obsession with trivia ("Scotty couldn't have climbed that Jeffries Tube to get to the auxiliary bridge!").

Star Trek: The Experience opened in late 1997 to cater to fans of the franchise and their families. It cost $70 million at a time when Vegas was passing itself off as a family destination. While families are no longer the casinos' focus, Star Trek: The Experience survives.

The attraction is a slick affair, connected directly to the Las Vegas Hilton Casino floor, with a combination of trivia-filled exhibits, artifacts, and immersive multimedia rides for the stimuli-starved. Replicas of the starship Enterprise hover over a large star field-lit circular gallery. Star Trek aliens and pasty, cable-ready Borg wander Quark's bar and restaurant and the gift shop levels.

Crowd flow is always a design imperative at a high volume attraction with start-stop elements such as motion rides. So STTE distracts the queue by taking decades of Trek TV episodes and movies and constructing them into an insanely detailed timeline: "The History of the Future" Museum. Along the way, there are display cases filled with 200 recognizable artifacts (though it's hard to discern whether they are original props or replicas). One learns that "Kirk encounters Abraham Lincoln" in 2269 and Tasha Yar was killed in 2365, while on the opposite wall one can scrutinize Uhura's ear receiver and Jean Luc Picard's family scrapbook.

It is simultaneously thrilling and depressing -- thrilling to see old friends such as the Mark IV photon torpedo that was Spock's coffin (Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan), or to recognize every generation of phaser and communicator from the shows. Depressing when you remember that instead of examining the Gettysburg Address or a moon rock, you're admiring fake museum artifacts from a history that never was.

Two Star Trek thrill rides wait at the end of History: Borg Invasion 4-D and Klingon Encounter. Both involve live actors yelling at you and herding you through a series of rooms until you plop into motion ride seats, bathed in loud effects ("23,000 watts of 12 channel sound"!) and tossed around, and then are rescued by an onscreen starship because, well, frankly, you are just so special.

Reassured by the knowledge that you are destined to save the universe, you exit into the gift shop, where you can buy a Tribble, or six-packs of Romulan Ale "recently smuggled across the Neutral Zone." You can pose with a Gorn figure or a Salt Sucker (the monster from the first episode ever aired).

If hardcore Trekkers need more, they can take a special "behind the scenes" tour. They can even get married on the Bridge by a starship captain, with Klingon and Ferengi witnesses.

Dec. 2008 : The 11-year mission ended, and Star Trek: The Experience went away.

Also see: Las Vegas - Mighty Mutant

Star Trek: The Experience

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Star Trek: The Experience

Star Trek: The Experience was a US$70 million permanent Star Trek -themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, owned by Cedar Fair Enterprise . It contained shops styled after the Deep Space 9 Promenade , a restaurant styled after Quark's , and the Klingon Encounter and Borg Invasion 4D rides. The store was the largest Star Trek -themed store in the world. Incorporated into the attraction was " The History of the Future Museum " exhibit , a large collection of props and artifacts.

Terry Farrell commented after a visit The Experience " I got jostled around and shot at. I didn't have to pretend to react for once. Instead of jumping around and shaking, the ride did it all for me. That was pretty cool ". ("Farrell's Fate", Star Trek Monthly  issue 43 )

• 1.1 Opening
• 1.2 Closing
• 2.1.1 Moogie's Trading Post
• 2.1.2 Admiral Collection
• 2.1.3 Molecular Imaging Chamber
• 2.1.4 Zek's Grand Emporium
• 2.1.5 Latinum Jewelers
• 2.1.6 Garak's Clothiers
• 2.2 Quark's Bar and Restaurant
• 2.3 The Captain's Lounge
• 2.4.2.1 Film credits
• 2.4.3.1 Stage credits
• 2.4.4 References
• 2.4.5 External link
• 2.5.2.1 Film credits
• 2.5.3.1 Stage credits
• 2.5.4 See also
• 2.5.5 References
• 2.5.6 External links
• 2.6 Star Trek The Experience Secrets Unveiled
• 2.7 The History of the Future Museum
• 3.1.1 Andorians
• 3.1.3 Ferengi
• 3.1.4 Klingons
• 3.1.5 Romulans
• 3.1.6 Vulcans
• 4 Attraction managerial staff
• 6 Further reading
• 7 External links

History [ ]

Proposed 1:1 scale USS Enterprise concept art

In 1992, Gary Goddard began developing The Starship Enterprise as an attraction in Las Vegas. It was intended to be a full-scale replica of the refit - USS Enterprise , both its exterior and interiors. The idea was rejected despite five months of planning as the cost would have been too high if the attraction had flopped. [1] (X)

The grandiose and ambitious scheme came close to fruition, though; newly-appointed Paramount Pictures studio head Sherry Lansing , for example, was strongly in favor of the project as proposed by Goddard as were her other conglomerate executive colleagues. However, it was their superior, Vice-President of Paramount Communications – the conglomerate holding company at that time before the acquisition by Viacom – Stanley R. Jaffe who vetoed the plan as proposed, the only executive to do so. [2] " Albert Einstein said it best: 'Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds', " Goddard sighed. He explained,

"All of our work, the effort to get Paramount, the mayor, and redevelopment committee aligned, everything had come to this moment. We were ready to go. Money in place, land provided by the city, license for the property negotiated with Paramount licensing – all set. If Mr. Jaffe says "yes" we are a "go". And the city wanted to have a press conference within a week announcing the project. So with everyone in the room, I take Mr. Jaffe through the project. With the art, the plans, the overall concept. After my spirited "pitch" everyone was beaming – everyone except Mr. Jaffe. Mr. Jaffe thanked us for the effort, and he congratulated us on creating a bold concept and presentation, and then went into a speech that went something like this: "You know, this is a major project. You're going to put a full-scale ENTERPRISE up in the heart of Las Vegas. And on one hand that sounds exciting. But on another hand, it might not be a great idea for us – for Paramount." Everyone in the room was stunned, most of all, me, because I could see where this was going. "In the movie business, when we produce a big movie and it's a flop – we take some bad press for a few weeks or a few months, but then it goes away. The next movie comes out and everyone forgets. But THIS – this is different. If this doesn't work – if this is not a success – it's there, forever…" I remember thinking to myself "oh my god, this guy does NOT get it…" And he said "I don't want to be the guy that approved this and then it's a flop and sitting out there in Vegas forever." "And with that, Mr. Jaffe in a single moment, destroyed about five months of work by a host of people, and killed one of the greatest ideas of all time. Stanley waltzed out of the room and I think everyone was stunned. No one could believe it. But our dream pretty much ended there. Sherry Lansing was stunned and apologized to the room and followed her boss out. The Paramount licensing team was embarrassed to say the least, and of course, they were also realizing they had just lost out on millions of dollars in future licensing revenues too. The mayor and the redevelopment committee were just depressed I think. But they thanked me for all the efforts I put into it, and for making the meetings with Paramount possible, and then they headed back to Las Vegas." [3]

Incidentally, Jaffe had actually saved Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country the year prior after it was canceled for pretty much the same "too expensive" reasons. ( see: Film background information for particulars )

Opening [ ]

In its scaled down scope, The Experience eventually opened with 2,500 on hand (including a host of "official" Star Trek alumni) for a gala premier on 3 January 1998. It was originally a property owned by Paramount Parks, built by the Landmark Entertainment Group resort/theme park developer and coordinated by the Paramount/Viacom (the new owner as of 1995) licensing division. It was sold to Cedar Fair, owner of Knott's Berry Farm, along with the other Paramount Parks division amid the parent Viacom split of CBS and Paramount Pictures in 2006.

On the Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 DVD , the sixteen-minute special feature , " Star Trek: The Experience ", explained the attraction, including interviews with some staff members and performers.

Closing [ ]

On 2 May 2008, TrekMovie.com reported the future of Star Trek: The Experience was in doubt due to declining attendance. On 2 July 2008, Cedar Fair and CBS Consumer Products officially announced that Star Trek: The Experience would be closing on 1 September 2008 , as no agreements were reached between the various parties needed to keep the attraction operational. Cedar Fair was required to completely vacate the space at the Hilton by 31 December 2008, when their contract with CBS expired. At the time, CBS stated that they were exploring several possibilities to keep The Experience running, possibly at another location. [4]

The closing ceremony was held on 1 September 2008. The public was invited to attend the ceremony, which was presented in the tradition of a naval decommissioning ceremony. Giving the keynote at the closing was Suzie Plakson , who introduced all the members of the Star Trek: The Experience staff. April Hebert, who played T'pril, was introduced last as the longest serving cast member of Star Trek: The Experience and given the United Federation of Planets banner. Chase Masterson was also in attendance for the closing ceremony, and Garrett Wang made a brief appearance at Quark's shortly before closing. Chad Boutte, Operations Manager of Star Trek: The Experience , gave the final speech with the final words "live long and prosper".

The production-used props and equipment displayed at the attraction were shipped back to Hollywood where Paramount Pictures will retain them in storage . [5]

Star Trek actor Robert Picardo , who performed in the Borg Invasion 4D , was critical of the decision to close the attraction right before the release of the new Star Trek film which he expected to revitalize the franchise . [6] (X)

According to a 6 Feb 2009 article from the Las Vegas Sun , Star Trek: The Experience was to reopen in the Neonopolis Mall in downtown Las Vegas on 8 May 2009. This ultimately did not happen, for reasons as yet unknown. It was stated that the date was chosen to coincide with the release of Star Trek . Reports stated that only the first phase would open this year, with the complete Experience to re-open in early 2010. On 10 April 2010, some of the unwanted props and equipment from the exhibit were sold at auction . [7] The " STAR TREK: THE EXPERIENCE Warehouse Sale" was handled by newly-formed auction house Propworx of Alec Peters in their first Star Trek auction. [8]

In April, 2011, CBS released a statement that the licensee was unable to meet the terms of the license for the attraction and hence the agreement was terminated. [9] CBS stated they remained committed to creating a new Star Trek attraction, either in Vegas or elsewhere. As of October, 2016, no new Star Trek attraction has been announced.

The Experience [ ]

Main atrium and entrance

Star Trek: The Experience played host to parties, receptions, weddings, scheduled events, and conventions. Those who wished to hold their wedding there could have it in Starfleet uniform on the bridge of the USS Enterprise -D , with Star Trek aliens such as Ferengi and Klingons as witnesses. The bridge facility was available for photo opportunities and costumes could be rented for the same.

The Klingon Encounter and Borg 4D adventure rides uniquely combined ride simulators, accurately detailed sets, special effects and trained, dedicated costumed live actors to make guests truly feel they were actually in the Trek universe. The site offered tie-in parties, photo opportunities and sidebar events when Creation Entertainment 's annual Star Trek convention was held at the Hilton in August.

Promenade shops [ ]

When Star Trek: The Experience originally opened, the promenade was two-stories tall. The first story featured the several shops where guests could purchase a plethora of Star Trek merchandise ranging from your typical branded souvenirs, to high end prop, costume and make-up replicas, and everything in between. Many products were produced exclusively for The Experience. The second story wasn't accessible to guests, but was fully themed to look like the upper level of the promenade on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

Moogie's Trading Post [ ]

Cruise the full line of exclusive Star Trek: The Experience apparel, accessories, and more for that perfect souvenir.

Moogie's Trading Post retailed a wide range of Star Trek -related products to the public, including a number produced for the Official Star Trek Fan Club , and was located outside of Quark's, just before the entrance to the Promenade.

Admiral Collection [ ]

Explore our collection of limited edition Star Trek memorabilia, authentic masks and props produced by the Paramount Pictures Studio Make-Up and Prop departments, beautifully sculpted ships, artwork, and other unique gifts, exclusively produced for Star Trek:The Experience. This is the shop for the true Star Trek collector.

Molecular Imaging Chamber [ ]

Transport yourself into a classic Star Trek scene using the latest state-of-the-art, green screen technology. Your souvenire lenticular photograph is provided in a custom Star Trek: The Experience photo holder

Zek's Grand Emporium [ ]

A Cardassian viewer inside a shop

Discover the largest collection of Star Trek products, apparel, gifts, souvenirs and other officially licensed Star Trek merchandise in the universe. There's something for everyone, from the browsing shopper to the avid Trekker.

Latinum Jewelers [ ]

Shop signs on the Promenade, including Latinum Jewelers

Garak's Clothiers [ ]

Shop signs on the Promenade, including Garak's Clothiers

Trek through our exclusive line of fashionable Star Trek clothing, jackets, accessories, gifts, jewelry and much, much more.

Quark's Bar and Restaurant [ ]

Quark's Bar & Restaurant was a fine dining establishment.

The Captain's Lounge [ ]

Around 2006, the promenade was remodeled to make better use of the second story. The themed second story closed off from the main promenade and converted into a lounge that could be rented out for meetings and receptions.

Klingon Encounter [ ]

The Klingon Encounter ride, was featured from the very opening of The Experience right up until its closure, making it the longest running show in the entire Star Trek franchise according to IMDb. [10] Still, due to budget cuts near the end of the attraction, the number of stage live performers accompanying the visitors, pursuant an earlier "Light Night Show"-schedule, was reduced to two bridge officers only. [11]

Initially, a group of about twenty visitors entered a rather confining room. (The exact number of participants varied, as friends and family were unlikely to split.) Once inside the room, one of the ride directors began speaking about the Experience and seemed to be intentionally making it sound unexciting, like you were "visiting a typical museum" and limited to a shuttle ride – motion simulator. During this initial lecture of Star Trek history, a small device displayed scenes from several Star Trek films .

The group entered the next room, where they were instructed via monitor about the shuttle ride when there was "trouble" with the monitors... then the lights went out. Dozens of small round flashes flickered through the darkness to simulate the "transporter effect", accompanied by the transporter sound effect and a rush of cold air. When the lights returned, the walls and floor had changed... you appeared to be on the transporter pad aboard the USS Enterprise -D. The layout was similar to the usual transporter room as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation , and the group was facing a Starfleet uniformed transporter technician at their station.

While on the transporter pad, a Starfleet officer asked the group leaders (two ride-tour directors) to accompany them. An officer then explained that the visitors were beamed aboard the starship Enterprise and were in " what 'you' would call the future, the year 2371 ." He then requested the group to follow him. The group was led down a typical starship corridor to the bridge.

On the bridge, the group stood in the rear between the science stations and the tactical station. A crewmember explained that Captain Jean-Luc Picard disappeared the moment the group beamed aboard the Enterprise .

Although the three chairs that (from port to starboard) Counselor Deanna Troi , Picard, and Commander William T. Riker usually occupied were empty, that was only visible if one ventured to look over the semicircular counter that housed the tactical station.

Riker explains the situation…

There were various crewmembers busy on the bridge during this time, and they contacted Commander Riker, who promptly appeared on the main viewscreen . Riker explained that a group of rogue Klingons, led by Korath , transported your group to the future because "one of you is an ancestor of Captain Picard". Korath's plan was to kill the group, and prevent Picard's existence. Riker stated that your group was to escape via shuttlecraft and go through a temporal rift, which should return all the guests back to their original time, and restore the existence of Captain Picard.

While the group was in the turbolift , the Klingons attacked the Enterprise . There was a malfunction and the turbolift entered a (simulated) free fall. There were several jolts on the turbolift during the attack. Finally, the group arrived at the shuttle bay deck along a large section of corridor.

The group then lined up to board the shuttlecraft. Each line corresponded to a row of seats in the shuttle, so people in the same line would sit in the same row.

Korath declares victory…prematurely as it turns out

The shuttle ride, "led" by Geordi La Forge, began by exiting the Enterprise and entering a battle between the Enterprise and a few Klingon vessels. The shuttle went into warp and dropped out in the rings of a planet, where they were instructed to find and destroy a cloaking generator on the planet's surface. There were several dogfights during this time. The shuttle then returned through the temporal rift to present-day Las Vegas , buzzing the Sands Hotel at one point. However a Klingon ship followed, and locked a tractor beam on the group's shuttle. " It's over, Humans! " Korath exclaims " But take heart, today is a good day to die! " Suddenly a familiar voice states " If you say so, Korath... " The Klingon ship and then exploded in front of you as the Enterprise flew triumphantly through the ship's destruction, complete with Goldsmith -esque fanfare. The shuttle landed at the Las Vegas Hilton, in a unique manner, and the ride ended, right next to the "motion simulators" the visitors were supposedly waiting to enter before they were "beamed off" at the start of the story. Before the crew of the Enterprise left, Captain Picard opened a communique to the shuttle and thanked the group for "restoring his existence." He stated " While only one of you is my ancestor, each of you holds that same opportunity for the future. Guard it well. "

The DS9 docking port exit

The shuttle door opened, and typically there was a custodian behind it. He explained that the shuttle fell through the floor and that you were in a restricted area, and you must leave immediately. The custodian led the group to an elevator and then out to the Deep Space 9 Promenade and Quark's Bar and Restaurant . While waiting for the elevator, the group members could watch a monitor with a "breaking" local Las Vegas "news broadcast" featuring the "UFO" sightings that were the Klingons and the Enterprise .

Film background information [ ]

• This script, replacing an initial story offered by attraction developer Landmark and rejected by Star Trek then-Executive Producer Rick Berman , was written by actual Star Trek series writers Rene Echevarria ( TNG and DS9 ) and Kenneth Biller ( VOY ). It was intentionally meant to play on participants' role as Las Vegas tourists, rather than as residents of the Star Trek future.
• Ira Steven Behr commented: " I think probably one of the fun moments that we had was René Echevarria was co-writing the motion ride at the Hilton Hotel in Vegas. He had never been on a motion ride. He kept saying, 'How do I write this? What’s it like being out on a motion ride?'. He was just complaining days, and days, and days. One morning, some Wednesday morning, we came in to have our story break. We barely had sat down, and René was talking something about the motion ride. I said, 'Okay, we’re going to Disneyland. We’re going to go on Star Tours, and René’s going to sit on Star Tours and know what it’s like to be on a motion ride. He will now shut up, and then we can get back to work'. I took the entire staff down to Disneyland. We went on Star Tours, and also Indiana Jones because they begged me, which had just opened at the time. Then we went back to the office . [12]

Film credits [ ]

• Mario Kamberg
• David de Vos – Hi-definition sequences
• Gene Roddenberry – Creator "Star Trek"
• Kenneth Biller – written by
• René Echevarria – written by
• Vaughn Armstrong as Korath
• LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
• David de Vos as News Reporter
• Edward Dentzel as Security Officer
• Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker
• A.J. Gardner as Lt. Cmdr. T'Khyla
• John C. McDonnell as Various (voice)
• Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard (voice only)
• Debra Wilson as Security Officer
• David Berry as Fan
• Cameron as Kellogg
• Bruce Hyde as Himself
• Rick Berman – Executive Producer
• Sharon Davis – Producer
• David de Vos – Producer
• Sharon Davis
• Guy Tsujimoto – Sound Editor
• Erik Akutagawa – Scan/Record Operator
• Lisa Atkinson – Digital Production Manager
• Tony Barraza – Avid Assist
• Barbara A. Bordo – Digital Paint & Roto Artist
• Megan Bryant – Digital Camera Supervisor
• John Butiu – Rhythm & Hues : Modeler
• Jeffrey Castel De Oro – Scanning and Recording Operator
• Lisa Clarity – Visual Effects Artist
• Brian Gardner – Software Developer
• Ian Hulbert – Rhythm & Hues: Digital Artist
• Alessandro Jacomini – Rhythm & Hues: Lighting Artist
• Paul Newell – Animation Software
• Chris Olivia – Effects Animator
• Scott Peterson – Technical Director
• Kristina Reed – Visual Effects Producer
• Robert Schajer – Production Coordinator
• Suponwich Juck Somsaman – Rhythm & Hues: CG Supervisor
• Stephanie Taylor – Visual Effects Coordinator
• Stephan Martiniere – Rhythm & Hues: Conceptual Designer
• Kevin Tengan – Systems Administrator
• David de Vos – Producer High-definition Sequences
• Herman F. Zimmerman – Design Consultant
• Paramount Pictures
• Rhythm & Hues Studios (as Rhythm and Hues)

Attraction background information [ ]

• Several faithfully-recreated locales comprise this ride, including the Enterprise transporter room , bridge, and a shuttlebay . Longtime Star Trek Production Designer Herman Zimmerman was contracted to oversee design and construction as accurately as feasible, although some features – such as standard lighted exit signs, not Starfleet-style signage – had to be compromised for real-world building and safety codes.
• The bridge – complete with animated controls and working viewscreen – could be rented for private functions, such as weddings.
• In 2004, two of the four bridge sets and others were compressed or rearranged to make room for the new sister attraction, Borg Invasion 4D .
• The title Klingon Encounter was coined only after the second ride was added. Previously, it had simply been known as just the " Star Trek: The Experience ride."

Stage credits [ ]

• Transporter Officer (lieutenant)
• Ensign Thomas
• Lt. Edwards, Ops Officer
• Conn Officer (ensign)
• Grand Corridor Officer (guided guests from the turbolift to the shuttlebay)
• Shuttle Bay Officer (put guests on the shuttle flight simulator)
• Janitor/Custodian
• Charles Clayton Blackwell [14]
• Stephanie Firestone
• Bonnie Gordon
• James "Jim" Hilton [15]
• Kimmie Kidd
• Miriam Krasny
• Charles O'Neill [16]
• Andrew Redmond
• David C. Cobb – Attraction Developer
• Linda Danet – Production Coordinator
• Charles D. Kelly – Site Art Director
• Anthony Esparza – Senior Vice President: Design & Entertainment
• Gary Goddard – Writer, Producer
• Joseph Neibich – Production Staff
• Penny Smartt-Juday – Project Coordinator
• Cuningham Group: Architect of Record
• Gary Goddard Entertainment : Production Company
• Landmark Entertainment Group : Production Company
• McFadden Systems, Inc. : Shuttlecraft Ride
• Paramount Parks: Production Company
• Rick Berman Productions: – Creative Consultancy and Production Company
• The Levy Restaurants: Restaurant operation

References [ ]

2371 ; USS Enterprise -D ; Klingon Bird-of-Prey ; Las Vegas ; time travel ; turbolift

External link [ ]

• Klingon Encounter at the Internet Movie Database

Borg Invasion 4D [ ]

The Borg Invasion 4D ride, christened under its original working title Star Trek: Borg Encounter for the Bremen, Germany venue, opened on 18 March 2004 . It was developed by Paramount Parks, working closely with Rick Berman Productions , Viacom Consumer Products, and a number of Star Trek consultants and creators to ensure the authenticity of the experience. Threshold Digital Research Labs produced the visual effects and 3D film portion. While an official franchise production, events depicted in the film are, as usual for these types of productions (therefore also including the above featured Klingon ride), not considered canon . The entire ride, including the film, lasted for about 25 minutes.

As with its sister Klingon ride, due to budget cuts near the end of the attraction, the number of stage live performers accompanying the visitors, pursuant an earlier "Light Night Show" schedule, was reduced to three, of which only one was Borg, where there were previously half a dozen. [17]

Effects for the ride included droplets of water, wind bursts, minor motion, and jabbing of the occupants – in the back and under the legs – through their chairs, thus the "4D" in the title. (Though mild, the unexpected sensations could be startling.)

Arriving at Copernicus Station

This ride took groups of up to 48 people at a time. They entered a briefing room aboard the Starfleet science research facility Copernicus Station. The briefing room had a large viewscreen in the front beyond a podium, upon which several Starfleet personnel stood. There was also a Starfleet officer on the opposite side of the room. On the screen, The Doctor from USS Voyager appeared and greeted the group. He explained that the group had been selected to undergo medical testing because some of the members were immune to Borg nanotechnology (which he "detected" when the group entered the room). In the middle of his presentation to the guests, The Doctor was interrupted by one of the station administrators. She said that they had detected a ship approaching the station at high warp. Since it didn't respond to communications, the station went to yellow alert (as the lights dimmed). The administrator said that they would postpone the medical testing until this possible threat was dealt with.

Copernicus Station under attack by a Borg cube

When the tactical officer of the station had a visual, the administrator said " Let's see it. " Lo and behold, in all its grim glory, it was a full size Borg cube that slowly and ominously approached the station. The officers in the room and The Doctor all shared the same grim expression, knowing that difficult times were ahead. The station went to red alert (with the lights flashing red) and the administrator gave orders to open fire on the cube; the ground shook beneath and the sound of phasers and quantum torpedoes firing thunderously were heard. The cube appeared to sustain heavy damage, but was still able to tractor a section of the station away. The administrator requested a young security officer, Lt. Elkins, to get to the docking bay and help evacuate the visitors. He complied but informed her that they suffered heavy damage. The Borg located the testing facility and as The Doctor informed them to brace for impact, the cube fired a projectile, and all the lights went dark, but not before hearing a large amount of static. Then, all as one, the dreaded automata spoke. " We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. "

Borg drones overrunning the station

The viewscreen came back online, and The Doctor checked in with Lt. Elkins. When The Doctor asked if Elkins was all right, he reported " For now. There's an extraordinary amount of damage down here. Sir, the Borg have entered the facility. The station's being overrun. " The Doctor then told the group to get to the shuttle Olympia while there was still time; at this point he delivered the relevant safety instructions for the ride. As he was about to end the transmission, you saw a group of Borg drones enter behind him. The Doctor proceeded to fire a phaser, and you saw one of the medical technicians injected with Borg nanoprobes as his skin turned ghastly white, and his veins turned black. Frantically The Doctor told Elkins, from the viewscreen, that they needed to evacuate and then disappeared from view as a group of drones approached his position. A security officer entered the room, and led the group to the next room: a corridor that looks severely damaged.

As the group was in the corridor, a drone appeared to move towards the group, but turned instead to examine an LCARS computer panel. Starfleet Commander Markus told the group that he posed no threat at the moment, then the door the officer was standing in front of opened and a drone pulled him into a turbolift as he screamed and yelled at the group to save themselves. At the opposite end of the room was Commander Ross on an elevated station. He proceeded to try and open the next door, but instead shot the panel with his phaser as the drone that was examining the computer console moved towards the group. That drone was eliminated, but as the door to the shuttle opened, an unseen drone pulled the officer up from the ceiling as he screamed.

The Borg Queen in her chamber

The group then entered a room that purported to be the holding area of an escape vessel. Everyone picked up "safety glasses" (3D goggles) and sat down. The shuttle took off from the station, but was pulled inside the Borg cube. The front of the shuttle was blown open (utilizing 3D effects) and bird-like cybernetic lifeforms approached, scanning the ship and passengers. Elkins instructed Flemming to remain with the passengers as he attempted to fend them off inside the cube. As he fired at the creatures, two drones transported to his position and transported him away. Small Borg probes entered the shuttle and sprayed the group with nanoprobes. They wriggled under the skin (by way of motion prods under the seats) as the Borg Queen appeared. She began lecturing about the perfection of the Borg Collective and demanded the surrender of the group's inhibitions and instructed them to join the hive mind.

The Doctor admonishing the captured group to hold out

As the nanoprobes took hold, you were subjected to a hallucination of the Collective from the point of view of drones, moving through the cube. You entered an assimilation chamber and saw Lt. Elkins undergoing assimilation . At that moment, The Doctor projected himself into the hallucination, telling the group to fight it. " You are resistant to assimilation! Fight it! We're coming for you, help is on the... " He then cut out. The group, now out of the hallucination, listened to the Queen as she began lecturing, purporting that no one had ever resisted assimilation. Then, another communication entered the ship and a familiar female voice said, " Maybe it's time we even the sides. " The Queen looked abashed. " Janeway ! " she screamed.

USS Voyager to the rescue...

Admiral Kathryn Janeway appeared on two side viewscreens as you saw Voyager burst through the far side of the cube and begin to approach the audience's shuttle. Janeway began to addresses the Queen: " Stand aside, I've come to take these people home. " " In a moment, this cube and everything in it will be incinerated . " the Queen said. Janeway skeptically fired back, " You'd sacrifice an entire cube to destroy us? " " You're a fool Janeway, there will always be more drones! " the Queen yelled. "Voyager and these unique individuals will be a more significant loss! " " We're not losing anyone. " Janeway confidently said. She then asked, " Doctor? "

The Doctor then materialized on a platform near the front of the shuttle, informing the pilot that shield frequencies had been altered allowing the shuttle to raise its defenses. " This is useless! " The Queen yelled. " You're all trapped! " " Don't be too sure " Janeway said, as Voyager fired phasers on the Queen's position. She appeared to beam out before she could be destroyed. Janeway then ordered, " Fire quantum torpedoes! " Voyager obliged, as The Doctor held off the remaining nanoprobes with a hand phaser in time for the force field on the shuttle's bow to be activated. Janeway then beamed The Doctor to Voyager and left the cube in shambles as she locked her tractor beam on the group's shuttle, and the group was then treated to the magnificent explosion of the Borg cube as it was defeated by the Federation. " Savor your victory! " the Queen yelled. " We will meet again! "

Returning to Copernicus Station

On the way back to Copernicus Station, The Doctor appeared and addressed the audience. " We did it! What a remarkable encounter! Oh, the papers I'll be able to publish! Of course I'll need several weeks with all of you back at Copernicus for observation! " As The Doctor laughed, Admiral Janeway chimed in. " Doctor? I think they've been through enough, thank you. " The Doctor dropped his shoulders in sadness and obliged, " Yes, admiral " as he dematerialized.

As the shuttle docked back at Copernicus Station, Janeway spoke to the audience one final time: " Congratulations. You resisted the Borg with the one thing the Queen can never assimilate: the Human spirit. So long as we have that, resistance is never futile. " The theme to the Voyager television show then played, and everyone was directed to exit to the right. [18]

• As with the Experience story that was eventually called Klingon Encounter , this script was penned by a Star Trek veteran, Voyager writer Lisa Klink .
• Since the production of the television franchise was still up and running at the time in the form of Star Trek: Enterprise , many of its production staffers served on the making of the film for the ride; these also included senior staffers such as Producer Dave Rossi , and, again, Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry as well as Production Designer Herman Zimmerman among others. Most of the regular production staff were however not officially credited. Director Ty Granoroli however, was new to the Star Trek franchise. ( VOY Season 7 DVD -special feature, "The Making of Borg Invasion 4D")
• This is the first Star Trek production to have ever been shot digitally.
• Many of the Borg featured in the film (as opposed to the attraction live crew performing as such) were played by performers who had already done so for Star Trek: First Contact (or for the respective Star Trek: Voyager television episodes); " It was a most joyful reunion, " Alice Krige , who reprised her role as the Borg Queen, declared tongue-in-cheek. When presented with the first 3D footage of her close-up scenes, Krige admitted to being flabbergasted by her own in-your-face performance. ( VOY Season 7 DVD special feature, "The Making of Borg Invasion 4D")
• Many Borg set pieces used in the film were surviving pieces from First Contact , after having been recycled themselves for use in Voyager . For the set construction, Production Designer Zimmerman reprised the same role (though remaining uncredited) he had on the live-action television and movies productions for this outing. ( VOY Season 7 DVD -special feature, "The Making of Borg Invasion 4D")

Filming the Admiral Janeway scenes in October 2002

• First unit photography with the principal cast was done in the autumn of 2002, over a year after Voyager had wrapped, and with Kate Mulgrew , reprising her Janeway character as admiral, she had just previously played in Star Trek Nemesis . Hers were the first scenes shot in October for the film. ( VOY Season 7 DVD -special feature, "The Making of Borg Invasion 4D")
• As former Foundation Imaging – the visual effects company that had provided these for three Star Trek television productions – Visual Effects Supervisor Adam Lebowitz , now serving in a similar function at Threshold Digital Research Labs, had access to the digital database of previously used CGI live-action production starship studio models , and several of these were – mostly as scenic backdrops in the opening and closing scenes – featured in the film, the most noticeable ones being obviously those of the Borg cube and USS Voyager . Since Voyager was slated to make a dramatic, very large screen entry in the film, the digital model had to be re- rendered at Threshold at a far higher resolution than had been necessary for the small television screens, a task Lebowitz and Lee Stringer (also formerly of Foundation) themselves performed, as they already had intimate working experience with the model for Star Trek: Voyager . [19]
• The CGI models for the Olympia shuttle and Copernicus Station, on the other hand, were newly-constructed by Doug Drexler , though for the longest of times he was not aware of it; when he posted a by him constructed CGI shuttle on his blog in 2009, he, after first incorrectly believing it was merely a rejected build for the title sequence of Enterprise , only could remember that he " (...) was building the model in the art department when I got the word that Foundation had already begun their version, so it was never completed. " This indicated that it was nevertheless built for the first season of the new series, as Foundation Imaging only worked on that season before the company went out of business. His blog participants almost immediately recognized the shuttle as having been featured in the the Borg ride four years later, much to Drexler's glee, " That's the great thing about blogging with you guys! It makes me remember! Yes! I do believe it was used as the Olympia . I think I turned this over to Threshold, along with a starbase model. Was there a starbase in the story? " [20] (X) And indeed there was, also immediately identified by blog participants as having been featured in the ride, when Drexler posted that model a short time later. [21] (X) As it turned out, Drexler was at the time requested to turn over his models to Threshold for use in the ride. Unaware of that latter fact, but thinking nothing further of it, Drexler dutifully complied by handing over his, what he believed, Enterprise rejects. At Threshold the models were completed under the supervision of Drexler's former Foundation superior Lebowitz, and featured as the Olympia and Copernicus Station. By posting the two models, it had even helped the designer of both, John Eaves , to have his memory jogged, " I just found the art work for this one!!! I forgot What we were doing this for but so loved the modeling you did on it and that crazy tikki faced space station!!! " [22] (X)
• The Borg Queen chamber was in part constructed by Digital Modeler Fabio Passaro , employed at the time at Threshold. Passaro recalled, " I was commissioned to create a part of the Borg Chamber used in the ride. The scene consisted of nearly 3 million polygons or so and was built to strict outside dimensions although I was asked to detail the inside of the chamber to my own tastes but in fitting with the Borg theme. " [23]
• Ty Granoroli
• Eric Braun as Security officer
• Jade Carter as Lt. Elkins/Assimilated Borg drone
• John Jurgens as Borg drone
• Alice Krige as the Borg Queen
• Kate Mulgrew as Admiral Kathryn Janeway
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Joseph Will as a Chief security officer
• Bill Blair as Borg drone 6 of 9
• Mark Major as Borg drone
• Tom Miller as Borg drone
• Louis Ortiz as Borg drone
• Keith Rayve as Borg drone
• Pablo Soriano as Borg drone
• Linda Danet – Associate Producer
• George Johnsen – Producer
• Patrick Peach – Co-Producer
• Alison Savitch – Producer
• Douglas Yellin – Executive Producer
• Dennis McCarthy
• Peter Anderson
• Vince Pace – Director of Photography
• Jonathan A. Carlson
• David DeLeon – Makeup Supervisor
• Patrick Peach – Unit Production Manager
• Greg Zekowski – First Assistant Director
• Megan Oliver – Painter
• Ken Peterson – Property Master
• Larry Nemecek – Property Consultant (Copernicus Lab)
• Michael Darren – Sound Designer/Sound Re-recording Mixer
• James Fielden – Sound Effects Editor/Sound Re-recording Mixer
• Courtney Goodin – Sound Mixer
• George Johnsen – Sound Re-recording Mixer
• Matt Corrigan – Special Effects Technician
• Roger Kelton – Special Effects Technician
• Thomas Banner – Digital Artist
• Brent Burpee – Systems Engineer
• Jim Carbonetti – 3DBlast, Inc. : Compositing Supervisor/Stereoscopic Supervisor
• Toni Pace Carstensen – Visual Effects Producer
• Loressa Clisby – Digital Artist
• Julie Groll – Visual Effects Coordinator
• George Johnsen – Visual Effects Chief Technology Officer
• David Kenneth – Visual Effects Producer
• Joseph J. Lawson – Visual Effects Artist
• Adam 'Mojo' Lebowitz – Threshold Digital Research Labs : Visual Effects Supervisor (2002-2003)
• Josh McGuire – Threshold Digital Research Labs: Digital Effects Artist
• Garrett McKerlie – Digital Artist
• Dennis Michel – Digital Artist
• Greg Nelson – Lead Compositor
• Fabio Passaro – Threshold Digital Research Labs: Digital Effects Artist
• Daniel Ritchie – Digital Effects Artist
• Malcolm A.S. Sim – Digital Artist
• Lee Stringer – Threshold Digital Research Labs: Digital Artist
• Eric Braun – Stunt Performer
• Anthony Gregori – Grip
• Andrew Korner – Electrician
• Fran Murphy – Key Costumer
• Dennis McCarthy – Conductor
• James Anderson – Assistant to Director
• Mary Anne Seward – Script Supervisor
• Dan Curry – Visual Effects Producer
• Doug Drexler – Digital Modeler
• John Eaves – Concept Designer
• Charles Myers – Executive Producer
• Michael Okuda – Supervising Scenic Artist
• Dave Rossi – Producer
• Cassandra Ulinski – Assistant to George Johnsen
• Michael Westmore – Supervising Makeup Designer
• Herman Zimmerman – Consulting Production Designer
• Paramount Pictures (all media)
• 3DBlast Inc.
• Threshold Digital Research Labs
• This is the first all-digital motion picture to incorporate live-action and animation within a 3D cinema environment.
• This is the first multiple-angle 3D cinema production with 3D effects from the front, overhead and both right and left sides of the participant.
• This is the first world-wide attraction to use 2K digital cinema projection, which is twice as clear as other digital projection systems.
• The parallel German Star Trek: Borg Encounter attraction actually opened a month earlier than its American counterpart, on 12 February 2004, [24] [25] as part of a larger indoor science-fiction themed attraction in the "Space Center Bremen". [26] However, the attraction had already had to close its doors in September that year, in part due to being unable to make projected attendance figures, as the new large mall it inhabited, Space Park Bremen, failed to attract other tenants. [27] The costly overall attraction, of which Borg Encounter was only a part alongside several others stemming from other science fiction franchises ( Stargate SG-3000 ), as well as from real world spaceflight, ran for only six months, and its high-tech stages stood subsequently idle until ultimately dismantled in January 2008. [28] (X)
• Lt. Stevens
• Commander Markus (pulled into turbolift shaft by Borg)
• Commander Ross (pulled through roof by Borg)
• Lt. Flemming
• Charles Clayton Blackwell
• April Hebert [30]
• James "Jim" Hilton [31]
• Kimmie Kidd [32]
• Charles O'Neill [33]
• Vernon Ray Wilmer Jr. [34]
• Christopher Bell as "Borg Drone 2 of 16"
• Charles Kelley as "Borg Drone 5 of 16"
• Nicholas Kennedy as "Borg Drone 8 of 16"
• Damon A Shaw as "Borg Drone 13 of 16"
• Vernon Wilmer as " Borg drone 7 of 16 "
• Electrosonic: Show control, projection and audio-visual systems; both Las Vegas and Bremen venues. [35] (X)
• Matilda Entertainment : Production Company
• Space Park Bremen: Production Company
• Technifex Inc.: Special effects design and production, custom motion platform; both Las Vegas and Bremen venues. [36]

See also [ ]

• VOY Season 7 DVD -special feature, "The Making of Borg Invasion 4D"
• Star Trek Evolutions -special feature, "Borg Invasion 4D"

2379 ; assimilation ; Borg drone ; quantum torpedo ; Voyager , USS

External links [ ]

• Borg Invasion 4D at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: Borg Encounter (X) at BremenSpaceCenter.de (X) (former German official site)

Star Trek The Experience Secrets Unveiled [ ]

Star Trek The Experience Secrets Unveiled was a paid, fully guided, behind-the-scenes look at the various productions that went into making The Experience . It was offered daily at limited times, so as not to interfere with other attractions, participants would wear wireless headsets and see how the many special effects were executed, the tour would occasionally pause while "backstage" to allow a production to continue. The tour would also walk around promenade to see how the production on characters costumes, make up, and character histories were developed – for example, actors playing Klingons were required to learn Klingonese , and actors playing Ferengi had to memorize the Rules of Acquisition . Upon completion, a customized certificate was presented to attendees, who also signed a guestbook.

The History of the Future Museum [ ]

The History of the Future Museum was the permanent exhibition part of the Experience and consisted of galleries with production items on display in glass cabinets. While many items were indeed production used (a notable one being the Picard family album ), there were also many commissioned and/or commercial replicas on display, such as Nomad or the Daedalus -class model , to beef out the exhibit, especially where Star Trek: The Original Series – though the exhibit was able to display production-used recreations from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Trials and Tribble-ations ", produced nearly two years prior to its opening – was concerned, of which not many original production items were still in the possession of the franchise. The exhibit expanded when items from Voyager , Enterprise , Star Trek: Insurrection , and Star Trek Nemesis were added, which were either still, or not yet, in production when the attraction opened. Regular Star Trek production staffer Penny L. Juday served as the primary curator of the exhibit. ( Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD special feature, "Picard's Family Album")

Some of the larger display pieces, such as the mannequins dressed in Star Trek attire, were part of a "roaming display", displayed at various points in time at various locations throughout the Experience .

Upon closure of the Experience , the exhibit continued to exist in spirit, if not physically, as the Star Trek The Exhibition traveling exhibit tour, which started its run three months prior to the closure of the Experience , with many display items subsequently moving over to that venue.

Live actors [ ]

The attraction was comprised of a rotating cast of actors. No actor was assigned to any particular part permanently, thereby being "Swing Actors" for either ride attraction, as live performer Charles Blackwell has dubbed themselves. [37] A partial exception were the Borg performers, as their Borg costumes and appliances were made to fit. But as not to be subjected all the time to the grueling makeup routine, sixteen Borg (plus an additional six with non-functional costumes and appliances for the restaurant exclusively), who were not employed all at once, were conceived for the ride, giving the actors the opportunity to play other roles as well. Listed below are those actors not yet mentioned above, and reiterated are those who had other performances aside from the Klingon and Borg rides.

• Lysander Abadia – Starfleet ( Borg Invasion , Klingon Encounter ) [38]
• Christopher Aguilar – Starfleet ( Borg Invasion , Klingon Encounter ) [39]
• Dustin Ardine – Lead Deck Officer [40]
• Gretchen Baker – Starfleet ( Borg Invasion , Klingon Encounter ), Ferengi character "Risca" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant) [41]
• Elizabeth Belcastro – Starfleet ( Borg Invasion , Klingon Encounter ) [42]
• Lisa Blake – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [43]
• Gina Burgos – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [44]
• Chad Boutte – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Cindy Cheney-Wykes – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter )
• Wendee Lee Curtis – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Tom Deishley – Klingon character "General Motog" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• Eric Deloretta – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Eric Ford [45]
• Jerad Formby – Ferengi character "Quan" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• Russell Giles – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [46]
• Nancy Hardy – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Michael Hartnett – Borg Drone character 3 of 6 (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• April Hebert – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ), Vulcan character "Professor T'pril" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant), Andorian character "Commander Tahryn" (Quark's Bar & Restaurant)
• Brad Hoover – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Patrick G. Keenan – Ferengi (Quark's Bar & Restaurant) [47]
• Brigid Kelly – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [48]
• Markus Kublin – Klingon character "Commander Kurmas" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• Melvin Ladera – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Monteford Light – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Kerry Loomis – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter [49] , Borg Invasion ), Romulan character "Loriq" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant) [50]
• David Lovan III – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Patricia "Patty" Madden-Waites – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [51]
• Joann Naban-Bronson – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Richard Oden – Ferengi character "Rog'l" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• Nicole Padberg – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [52]
• Darren Pitura – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion )
• Chad Randall – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [53]
• George Rieth – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ), Vulcan character "Sovek" (Quark's Bar & Restaurant) [54]
• Diana Saunders – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ) [55]
• D.P. Shapiro – Starfleet [56]
• Lynn Sterling – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter ), Klingon character "Major Kahlen" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• Kerstan Szczepanski – Andorian character "K'Stran" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• Mark Weitz – Klingon character "Commander Churoq" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant)
• Vernon Wilmer – Borg Drone character 7 of 16 ( Borg Invasion , Quark's Bar and Restaurant), Starfleet ( Borg Invasion ), Lt. "Pep" Streebeck (PR Events), Unofficial Historian for Star Trek: The Experience
• Cameron Wright – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter , Borg Invasion ), Bajoran character "Eron-Cam" (Quark's Bar and Restaurant) [57]
• Walter Wykes – Starfleet ( Klingon Encounter )

Shortly before The Experience closed its doors, several of the actors took it upon themselves to record their behind-the-scenes experiences for posterity, as most of them had been working for years at the attraction. This they had to do surreptitiously, as management had expressly prohibited such activity. Long after the attraction had closed its doors, four "Actor's Perspectives" shorts were posted in the internet channel YouTube , three pertaining to the Klingon ride and one to the Borg ride. [58]

Tom Deishley, Jared Formby and Michael Harnett were featured in their respective roles in the VOY Season 1 DVD -special feature " Star Trek: The Experience ".

Live alien cast character backgrounds [ ]

Andorians [ ].

K'Stran Thral

Three of Six

Seven of Sixteen

Ferengi [ ]

Coin ("Quan")

Klingons [ ]

Romulans [ ]

Vulcans [ ]

Attraction managerial staff [ ]

• Chad Boutte – Paramount Parks: Operations Manager and Director of Marketing
• VOY Season 1 DVD - special feature , "Star Trek: The Experience"
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection (Blu-ray) bonus disc (aka " Star Trek Evolutions ") special features , "Farewell to Star Trek: The Experience", " Klingon Encounter " and " Borg Invasion 4D "
• Star Wars vs. Star Trek: The Rivalry Continues -special feature, "The Star Trek Experience"

Further reading [ ]

• "Star Trek: The Experience – Las Vegas Hilton", Kevin Dilmore , Star Trek: Communicator  issue 113 , August/September 1997, pp. 69-73
• "Star Trek: The Experience", Part 2, Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 3, Issue 4 , pp. 104-106
• Star Trek: The Experience at Wikipedia
• How Star Trek Came to Las Vegas at StarTrek.com
• The Tricorder Transmissions ; site exploring various Experience stage crew performers
• Star Trek: The Experience at Flickr.com ; large photo album shot by staffer after the attraction was permanently closed, but before being struck, featuring only attraction staffers
• Star Trek: The Experience 360 Virtual Tour
• Star Trek: My Experience (X) at blip.tv (X) ; Documentary series by stage performer Vernon Wilmer
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)

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Rare Behind the Scenes Footage Reveals How Las Vegas’ Star Trek Attraction Created Its Cool Transporter Effect

Having attended various trade shows in Las Vegas every year for the past two decades, I had many opportunities to visit Star Trek: The Experience , which included a Trek -themed restaurant called Quark’s, a gift shop with an impressive selection of Trek merchandise, and the experience itself, which paired a simulator ride with walkthroughs of various sets, including the Star Trek: TNG version of the Enterprise .

Klingon Encounter , the original version of Star Trek: The Experience , started with guests touring a museum with props, models, and costumes of the shows and films that also laid out the timeline of Star Trek ’s various stories. From there guests were escorted by costumed actors into a room where they lined up to prepare to board a shuttle, but things quickly “went wrong,” as safety videos playing on screens started to flicker, and the lights went out accompanied by a rush of cold air. When the dust settled, guests suddenly found themselves standing on a transporter pad about the Enterprise , and a storyline played out involving Klingons, a missing Captain Picard, temporal rifts, malfunctioning turbolifts, and a battle over the skies of Las Vegas.

Born during a time when Las Vegas was trying to position and expand the strip as a family experience, Star Trek: The Experience was one of the better ways to entertain a group of kids for a couple of hours, assuming everyone was already a fan of Star Trek . The simulator ride itself was entertaining, and included a ship to ship battle filmed over Las Vegas itself which was fun, but most guests, myself included, walked away most impressed with the simulated transporter voyage they didn’t see coming. Years after Star Trek: The Experience closed its doors for good I’ve still wondered how exactly the ride’s creators pulled off the illusion, and finally I have the answer.

Dave de Vos is a Hollywood producer and director whose credits include several theme park rides including Back to the Future: The Ride , Terminator 2:3D , and Star Trek: The Experience . On his YouTube channel earlier this year he shared some unique behind the scenes footage of the Las Vegas attraction still under construction and being tested in October of 1997. The video walks through the various sets still being built, including the restaurant, and includes moments when sound effects are being mixed on the Enterprise ’s bridge, and the malfunctioning turbolift. But it’s mostly worth watching for the tests of the transporter illusion, which reveal exactly how it was done.

When you see it in action without the accompanying light show and other effects meant to distract you, the effect seems kind of basic. The room that guests are shuffled into in order to line up for their shuttle ride quickly rises up into the air revealing a larger transporter pad set surrounding them, while an alternate ceiling quietly slides into place above their heads, completely changing their surroundings. The transformation happens in just a few seconds, and with everything else going on around the guests, including a blast of cold air, you don’t notice or see the moving set pieces at all. It was executed perfectly, and it made you wonder why Lieutenant Barclay was so nervous about being transported.

Borg Invasion 4D

Location: Star Trek: The Experience, Las Vegas Hilton

Our thoughts: The newest ride at the Star Trek Experience claims to be 4D, which means that in addition to the 3-D movie you get live actors running around pretending to be Borg and other such Trek silliness.

Tip: Don't touch the Borg. They probably don't like that.

More from Star Trek: The Experience

Activities • Museum of the Future • SpaceQuest Casino

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Quark's Bar menu from "Star Trek: The Experience" Las Vegas, Nevada (2001)

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