Star Trek: The Experience is Closing It's Doors!

I was quite saddened to learn that Star Trek: The Experience will be closing its doors after 11 years of bringing the Gene Roddenberry universe to our doorstep. The annual convention is going on as usual and has been scheduled already for next year, but the themed attraction will be no more after Sept 1, 2008.

I can remember my first visit there in 1998. They only had the Klingon Encounter back then, but it was fantastic! The model ships, the costumes, the ride itself, and of course, Quark's. I was so thrilled to be there that I snuck a menu home with me - soon to be a collector's item, I'm sure. It was my first trip to Vegas and the only reason I went. I don't even like to gamble. It was only a 2 day trip, having driven from our then-home in Phoenix, and my feet were swollen from the amount of walking that had to be done there. No monorail at that time.

My second trip was in the summer of 2004 with my mother, a gift trip from her boss. She didn't want to go to Vegas, but I convinced that it was tons of fun and you don't even have to gamble. I just wanted to go to The Experience again. Thankfully, she had a great time there, and since we had 5 days, we saw lots and ate lots. I had all these fabulous pictures taken with Klingons; we spent time in Quark's. Borg Invasion 4D was a new ride (scared the patootie off me!) - price was double now; but no matter - it was Star Trek. Much to my chagrin, a manicurist told me that we had missed the convention by a couple of days and that she always did Marina Sirtis' nails. Bummer for me.

So, Max and I had planned to go there next summer for the convention and The Experience as a high school graduation present for him. We were going to fly part of the way, drive some of it, take a couple of weeks and do the whole thing right. Now, this sad news is upon us.

I know they had conventions for years without the Star Trek Experience, but now that it's been there - will it ever be the same? Who makes these decisions and why? 8000 tickets have been sold for this year's convention before this press release. Obviously, people love this!

Tune in later for the continuing saga....