Thursday, August 21, 2008

Star Trek The Experience Part 3


When we last left off we were checking out the 'museum' that's at the start of, and sorta the queue line for, Star Trek the Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

They have guns of various types, and models of ships...

I'm sorry that this is so blurry but I can't go back and take a better one... this just gives you and idea of the themed environment you are in while looking at these displays/waiting in line.

Lots of displays with lots of stuff that I don't know a thing about since I'm not a big fan of the series...

And then there's more stuff. They seriously have a lot of stuff to return to CBS when this closes.

And a pretty model, too!

Ok so at the end up the hallway in the photo a few above you split the line, left for Borg 4-D and right for Klingon Encounter. Since it was the original, we opted for the Klingon Encounter first.

They do not allow photos once you start the attraction, and are rather strict with the rule. (I saw them make a woman delete a photo from her camera, for real!) Needless to say I don't have photos from in there, but if you want to see what goes down, check out this video.

There are several scenes with actors before you ever get on board the simulator part of the Klingon Encounter. Our actors were very into their roles, which was nice to see, and there are a couple of rather well done special effects along the way.

The projector system for the video aspect of the simulator is really showing its age, along with the footage of Vegas they include in the movie. But overall it's very well done.







Bord Invasion 4-D opened in 2004, so it's actually relatively new. I've read that they had to remove 2 of the 4 "sets" (and simulators) from the Klingon Encounter to accommodate the large theater that Borg uses.

Basically, the same scenario plays out with Borg, only the scenes before the 4-D movie are much darker and more dramatic. There are Borg guys snatching actors left and right, lots of screaming, and destroyed hallways to pass through. Again, very well done. The actual movie is regular 4-D tricks, though this one does open up the ceiling as another screen.

After you exit either the simulator or theater for each attraction the group is ushered into a real elevator to head to the level that contains the exit hallway (very nicely themed, seen above) to the gift shop and Quark's restaurant.

^ The gift shop. There was lots of stuff on sale.

The little area outside of the restaurant and the gift shop.

Now I don't know if stuff like the Borg Queen above was always for sale, but the display rack they were trying to sell for $700 definitely looks like a "we're closing - take our junk!" type of sale. A lot of stuff was marked down really cheap, it's probably a good time for the fans to go shopping...

Well, that's my review of the Experience in a three part nutshell. It'll be missed, but honestly with the direction Vegas is heading... it doesn't fit in well anymore. Gone are the days of themes in the city... I mean even New York, New York is gutting their themed casino!

The attraction closes September 1st, so you only have a week and a half to get there and check it out!


2 comments:

Ben Miller said...

http://www.cbs8.com/stories/story.138302.html

NewsPlusNotes said...

I don't usually mind PETA but sometimes their desperation for free press (like this) is over the top... so I chose not to post a story about it. Why contribute to the insanity?