he voyage to the 24th century begins in the most unlikely of places: the Las Vegas Strip. Trekkers must run a gauntlet of pinging slot machines and smoke-wreathed card tables at the Las Vegas Hilton to reach the entrance to Star Trek: The Experience, the first immersive theme attraction based on the venerable SF franchise.
Giant models of the U.S.S. Enterprise B, Enterprise D, Voyager and a Klingon Bird of Prey loom over the entrance. To the left, Trekkers may enter the Promenade of Deep Space Nine and Quark's Bar and Restaurant. To the right is the ride portion of the attraction, called the "Voyage Through Space." More on that later.
Video screens show clips from the TV series and movies, and swelling music sets the mood. Down a flight of steps, visitors enters Quark's, painstakingly outfitted to duplicate the look and feel of the Deep Space Nine set. Visitors can select everything from Cardassian Calamari to Romulan Ale (it's blue).
Beyond Quark's is a segment of the Promenade, again carefully crafted to match the TV set. It's basically a retail space (Garak's Clothiers, Latinum Jewelers), where a Trekker can spend $3,000 for an authentic phaser rifle prop, or $2.95 for a Bajoran ear bracelet, and everything in between.
The "Voyage Through Space" comes at the end of a line that snakes through an exhibit--"The History of the Future"--showcasing costumes, props, timelines and trivia pulled from 30 years' worth of Star Trek.
As a guide gives instructions, the room suddenly goes dark, lights sparkle, air swirls and visitors hear the unmistakable sound of a transporter. When the lights come back up, visitors are standing in the transporter room of the U.S.S. Enterprise D, with a uniformed ensign telling them they have been whisked to the 24th century in the middle of a crisis. Visitors are led through the ship's corridors to the bridge, where they receive an on-screen briefing from First Officer William Riker (where's Picard?) and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge. Then it's down a turbolift, into a cargo corridor and a shuttle bay, and on board a shuttle craft. That's when the real fun begins.
"This time it's real"
The advertising slogan for The Experience exaggerates the fun of the attraction, but not by much. The first thing to observe is that the creators of the attraction knew their audience and paid attention to the smallest details that a seasoned Trekker might take note of. The bar at Quark's includes actual props from DS9: Bottles of Klingon blood wine and other alien libations, some with wriggling worms inside.
Similarly, the Promenade matches the sights and sounds of the TV show, albeit in an abbreviated fashion. And actors made up as Ferengi and Klingons stroll around interacting with guests. They remain scrupulously in character; when one visitor asked a Ferengi whether it hurt to put those sharp teeth in every day, he looked at her and said, "Too much blood wine for you, hyoo-mahn!"
The real treat, though, is the 22-minute ride. It takes a while to get there: an hour or more to reach the box office on busy weekends, and another hour to wend through the exhibits to the ride's entrance. But once in, the illusion takes over completely and visitors are caught up in a clever narrative about Klingons and time travel.
Most impressive was the transporting effect. How the heck do they do that? On board the Enterprise, the drumming background noise, beeping sounds and flashing lights--not to mention Enterprise crew personnel rushing about--create the feeling of being in the middle of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The sets mirror those on the show and convey a sense of scale, letting visitors forget they're actually in a hotel.
Without giving away the secrets of the story, it climaxes with a four-minute journey on a shuttle-shaped motion simulator with an Imax screen. The illusion of zooming through space dodging Klingons is convincing enough to give riders space sickness. Indeed, operators discourage pregnant women and others with medical conditions from riding.
