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I met that Ferengi last time I was there. He tried to sell me a wormhole.
And you thought Star Trek coming to blu-ray
Sci-Fi Wire, the Sci-Fi Channel’s official news website, is reporting that Star Trek: the Experience, which beamed up Star Trek fans and guests for the final time at the Las Vegas Hilton last October, will reopen on May 8th, coinciding with the premiere of J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek film. Here’s some of the text from the story over at scifiwire.com:
“It is a bit premature to talk about it, but I can confirm that a contract has been signed,” Liz Kalodner, executive vice president and general manager of CBS consumer products in New York, told SCI FI Wire exclusively. “I do not have any further comment.”
Las Vegas city public information officer Jace Radke confirmed to SCI FI Wire that Star Trek The Experience, which closed at its home at the Las Vegas Hilton last year, will move downtown to the Neonopolis Center. “This is going to be a major part of the downtown redevelopment we have been working on, and the city department of business development has been trying to encourage attractions like this to the area,” he said.
For his part, Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman said, “We are very excited about this for downtown.”
The move would be part of the city’s effort to redevelop the older part of downtown Las Vegas—situated at the end of the Strip of large casinos—into a more vibrant tourist and residential area. The Neonopolis project is one of the centerpieces of the area.
The news that Star Trek: The Experience was closing was one of the saddest bits of geek news I had the opportunity to report on last year. Without question, the attraction was among my favorites in Vegas, and I know a great number of Star Trek fans who never got to go and experience it for themselves. No doubt, this new incarnation will be different than the original, which existed for ten years at the Las Vegas Hilton before new ownership decided they had better uses for the vast amount of space the attraction took up, with its motion-simulator rides, Klingon Encounter and Borg Invasion 4-D, its Museum of the Future, Quark’s Bar and Restaurant, and the best Star Trek gift shop that’s ever existed. The good news is that when this new ‘Experience’ opens, it will have Quark’s and the gift shop at the very least, and perhaps the Museum, retooled to include props and memorabilia from Abrams’ new film, with rides a possibility.
I already know the first words that will fall from my lips when I get to visit this new ‘Experience’ for the first time … you may recognize them, as they were part of the clip that led off Hour 2 of last week’s show:
“My friends … we’ve come home.”
Stumble It!
