VANISHING AT WARP SPEED - Business

PRINT THIS Popular

Jul. 02, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

VANISHING AT WARP SPEED

Star Trek show at Las Vegas Hilton going away after 11-year run

By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

View Videos from The Vegas Show.

The entrance to the Star Trek show is shown at the Las Vegas Hilton. The show is closing in two months, but there are indications it could end up elsewhere in Las Vegas.
Photos by John Gurzinski

Star Trek fans Tom Hinks, left, and Joy Wales share a James Tea Kirk drink at Quark's Bar and Grill at Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

It's as official as an entry in the Captain's Log.

Star Trek: The Experience will end its 11-year run at the Las Vegas Hilton on Sept. 1.

Most Popular Stories

REAL ESTATE: Housing analyst predicts increase in sales, median price in the coming year

SOUTHERN NEVADA ECONOMY: Survey says recession's worst has passed for Las Vegas

SOUTHERN NEVADA ECONOMY: Holding off on hiring

Blue Heron remains aloft with custom features

Rental housing prices down 8.2 percent in Las Vegas

Penn National maintains interest in Strip property

UFC investment won't be used to help bail out Station Casinos, owners say

INSIDE GAMING: 'Total nonsense' makes a lot of sense

Harrah's gets preliminary approval to acquire Planet Hollywood

MGM to divest from Atlantic City

The demise of the attraction had been rumored for months, but it wasn't until this week that managers told about 160 workers the lease at the Hilton won't be renewed.

The announcement likely means one final surge of Star Trek fans on Las Vegas and after that an outer-spacelike void when it comes to finding a complete science-fiction theme experience in Sin City.

The Official Star Trek Convention is Aug. 6-10 at the Hilton, just three weeks before the attraction closes. Enthusiasts already expect an attendance boost from fans making one last pilgrimage.

"We are going to have our flood of fans returning," said Chad Boutte, marketing director for the attraction. "Over the last three days, I've responded to over 570 e-mails from fans alone."

In May, officials at Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which holds the lease, acknowledged they didn't have a new lease in place even though the existing 10-year agreement expires Dec. 31. But they stopped short of saying they planned to move out.

Now that negotiations for a new lease are officially done, CBS Consumer Products, which owns the Star Trek name and the set pieces and costumes used in the Experience, is free to shop around for new ways to market the merchandise.

Leslie Ryan, a representative of CBS, left open the possibility the attraction isn't dead, just dormant.

"I know they are definitely investigating other Las Vegas possibilities," Ryan said.

No one from the three organizations involved -- Cedar Fair, the Hilton or CBS -- took responsibility for the attraction's demise.

Fans of the show and employees suggested it was the Hilton that didn't want to renew the lease. They suspect Hilton officials think they can use the real estate for something more lucrative than an attraction that even some fans admit had grown tired after a decade.

Hilton spokesman Ira Sternberg, however, implied it was Cedar Fair that pulled the plug.

"I think it was really a decision from their end, not a decision from our end," he said.

Sternberg said the hotel management hadn't made plans for the space because they wanted a final decision from Cedar Fair.

"I think you can have almost anything in that space," he said.

Tickets to Star Trek: The Experience were listed for $44.99 on the attraction's Web site Tuesday. The passes buy access to two interactive rides that use film clips and sound to combine Star Trek fantasies with a Las Vegas backdrop.

In addition, there is a Star Trek Museum called History of the Future that includes more than 200 items and is billed as the largest collection of Star Trek props and costumes in the world.

Retail stores sell Star Trek T-shirts, action figures, costumes and artwork. Wedding packages from $350 to $3,000 are available.

A restaurant called Quark's Bar and Grill, named after a character from the Star Trek series "Deep Space Nine," is an unofficial hangout for local fans.

"I'm sorry to see it go. My hopes were that it would change and evolve," said Anthony Pascale, editor-in-chief for the Web site TrekMovie.com.

Pascale said the decision to shut down the attraction will have ramifications beyond 'Trekkies,' a term used to describe fans of the franchise.

"Some Trekkies would certainly go out of their way to go to Las Vegas," Pascale said. "It would (also) influence their decision on what hotel to stay at."

The annual Star Trek convention at the Hilton will remain, despite the closing of the Experience.

Adam Malin, co-CEO for Creation Entertainment of Glendale, Calif., which owns the convention, said the shutdown of the Experience is disappointing, but also an opportunity. Convention organizers in the past have included admission to the Experience in the ticket price for their event.

"That is going to literally give us a huge operating budget to create other kinds of evening entertainment," said Malin, who said the convention usually attracts 10,000 to 20,000 people.

Fans have a new Star Trek movie to look forward to in 2009 and there is still a traveling Star Trek exhibit that tours the country.

As a result, demands for letter-writing campaigns and other demonstrations in support of the attraction haven't matched the intensity of past campaigns by outraged Star Trek fans.

"There isn't the same kind of feeling as when the last show got canceled," Pascale said. "Don't expect people to try and chain themselves to the door."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.

Share & Save

Leave Your Comment	20 Reader Comments
Terms & Conditions The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor. Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. mark wrote on July 17, 2008 08:35 AM: I enjoyed Star Trek "The Experience" at least 10 times, but it was getting old.I think a good idea would have been to make it a soft core porn Star Trek where we could see aliens "getting it on" in outer space. Zig wrote on July 15, 2008 06:06 PM: As a former resident of Las Vegas, and a Star Trek fan, I am sad to see this go. I've done the "experience" at least 10 times, and loved it each time. However, it's a business like anything else, and if they aren't bringing in the revenue, then I don't blame anyone for the change. Killer Gadfly wrote on July 08, 2008 10:37 PM: An 11 year run in Vegas for any show is impressive and rare these days. Its just time for it to come to an end. With a bar and restaurant already set up I doubt it will be replaced by slot machines. The restaurant will change names and adopt a new theme. The attraction space may be turned into more casino games, but I think they will use it for another attraction. A lot of casinoes are aming towards the younger crowd these days. Here is what I would replace it with if I owned the Hilton. The UFC is extremely popular these days, especially in Vegas, which is its home base. I would try to tie in with UFC and create a whole UFC set up. I would have a UFC Bar, a UFC restaurant, a few UFC slot machines and of course a store to sell merchandise. Most importantly I would have a UFC night club to attract the younger crowd and where UFC fighters themselves would come for after fight parties. That's how the Hilton should do it. Its a perfect idea. Lorraine wrote on July 07, 2008 11:47 AM: My husband and I enjoyed the Star Trek Experience for the first time last year. We loved it and highly recommended it to family and friends. It will be sad to see it go - too bad it could not be updated to put a fresher face on the experience. Thanks to the Hilton and all parties involved for hosting Star Trek these past 11 years! pascal milon wrote on July 04, 2008 03:26 PM: i love the star trek experence i like the borg 4d and the klingon adventure plus the star trek stuff in the stores i allway had fun i got for 3 years thanks pascal milon Captain Scotty wrote on July 04, 2008 11:33 AM: All it would take to bring the big crowds back would be to update the movie and change the story line a little to make it fresh. I guess no one has the imagination to come up with something new. With the new movie coming out it realy insn't the smartest time to pull the plug on something that will have new lfe soon. LLAP ST4EVA wrote on July 03, 2008 11:20 PM: Hilton is crazy - the only reason people bother to go off the strip to the Hilton is to visit The ST Experience!!! They should be trying to keep it there no matter what! This is the mecca for every trekkie and for it to go even for a subspace second is lunacy. The Shat should buy it - tell cedar Procedure is Not Recomended. -the chad wrote on July 02, 2008 04:57 PM: Star Trek for me has always been a bit over priced, I can go to the 1/2 price ticket counter and get a decent strip production for the same price. (I think they have ST tickets 1/2 too, but 22 + 3 service fee is still to much for me) "The Experience" has run it's course, much like the Hilton. Strange layout, and unfriendly staff have kept me away. Sad though, what could be a very nice nostalgic casino/hotel will probably never be. Spelling Police wrote on July 02, 2008 04:01 PM: (Its a loosing casino in more ways then one.) Way to go Deb. Loosing, Then. You are a Looser Dave wrote on July 02, 2008 03:13 PM: Deb: Losing is spelled just that way. Not Loosing. Go back to grammar school! Read All Comments