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Saying Goodbye To The Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas HIlton
With a very heavy heart, I stopped by the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton yesterday to say my goodbyes. As many of you know, I'm a huge Trek fan and have attended the Trek convention at the Hilton for many years.
Needless to say, saying goodbye was pretty rough.
All of the rides and restaurants are still open but the gift shops are in firesale mode. The Admiral Shop - which used to sell autographed and one of a kind memorabilia - is now peddling the left overs from the regular gift shop in the back, which is practically empty.
These are the last of the Trek teddy bears. The bear seen in many of our hotel reviews (seen here at the Venetian Macao) was rescued from the STE sometime in fall 2002.
Quarks Bar is selling their menus for $40 each. Crazy
At one point I decided that I just couldn't take it anymore and had to leave when I ran across the Wall Of Memories. Here's a short video report:
I spoke with fellow Trek fan Dr. Dave Schwartz about this at the Podcast-A-Palooza and we shared some observations about the STE closure and the Wall of Memories. I don't think I can ever recall when there was such an outpouring of public grief over an attraction closing in Las Vegas. The closing and destruction of a resort, yes. But never this... including, as Dave mentioned to me, the removal of the world famous White Tigers at Mirage.
The text of the Wall of Memories sign says:
The staff of Star Trek the Experience would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our dedicated fans who have made the last ten years the most phenomenal experience anyone could ever imagine. Thanks for your visit, and assisting us with creating memories that will last a lifetime.
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Comments & Discussion:
Chuck, you're not alone here -- my wife and I are also big Trekkies; on all my prior trips to Vegas, I ended up spending at least an hour in Quark's bar each day (and on more than one occasion, several hours), and was thrilled to be able to introduce my wife to the place during our honeymoon in February. Our last trip was Aug 8 - 11, which unfortunately coincided with the Creations convention, and as such, we were unable to fight the crowds to get in but once during our vacation. Seeing the notes on the wall (and the stripped-down gift shop, etc.), it was hard to rein in the emotions; the only thing that kept me going was the notion that "Giant weeping bald man" = "Call security."
I'm certainly not holding my breath for it to happen, but we certainly hope to see it resurrected in another location. What a draw this would be for someplace Downtown...
i'm man enough to admit that i've gotten weepy at ST:TE (apparently, that's the correct acronym) numerous times. on the semi-bright side, I'm told that Paramount is looking for a new home for it so it might just be moving.
also, Dr. Schwartz sent me an email the other day saying he sent a request to have the Wall of Memories letters archived in the UNLV gaming collection. how awesome is that!
Awesome indeed that they're preserving the notes that people have left...
I only hope that The Experience is relocated elsewhere in Vegas (I am lazy, and like to have all of my indulgences in one place) and not in some child-infested theme park.
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