Star Trek: The Experience was an attraction that opened in January 1998 at the Las Vegas Hilton, now called the Westgate Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It was based on the Star Trek entertainment franchise. The pavilion underwent a major renovation in 2004 to add the Borg Invasion 4-D attraction, which featured a fictional cybernetic race, the Borg. The attraction was operated by entertainment management company Cedar Fair after its June 2006 purchase of Paramount Parks from the CBS Corporation. It closed in September 2008 and was scheduled to reopen in the Neonopolis Mall on May 8, 2009, in time for the premiere of the film Star Trek. The opening was then pushed back to 2010, and in 2011 the project was officially terminated due to a lack of financing as well as Cedar Fair announcing that they had lost licensing.
Individual attractions
The History of the Future Museum The History of the Future museum featured several props, costumes and memorabilia from throughout Star Trek history. It also featured video display devices and a timeline of Star Trek events. In later updates, displays for each of the franchise's major alien races, which included the Borg, Klingons, and Ferengi were added. The last section of the museum was a hallway, serving as the attraction's queues. The left side was for Borg Invasion 4-D, and the right side was for Klingon Encounter. Klingon Encounter held 27 people, while Borg Invasion 4-D held 48 people. Each show was constructed so that those "in the back" for the first part of the show would, in turn, likely end up in the front for the second half of either show. As a result of the closure of The Experience, the History of the Future Museum closed in 2008.
Klingon Encounter Note: The exact attraction experience varied as a result of live performer input. Initially, the visitors entered a small room with a depiction of "outer space." A small television in the upper right corner of the room displayed scenes from several Star Trek films. The group would then enter a smaller, dimly lit waiting area for a traditional simulator ride. Hosts directed guests' attention to a safety demo for the shuttlecraft simulator ride. A few moments later, the televisions flickered, and the lights went out. Flashing lights followed, along with transporter sound effects and a rush of cold air. When the lights returned after less than 3 seconds, the group was standing on a transporter pad in the Transporter Room, which was approximately twice the size of the original small room they had entered. Guests were greeted by Starship personnel, who informed them they were now aboard the Enterprise-D, in the transporter room as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation. On the transporter pad, a uniformed Starfleet officer asked for the leaders of the group and directed them away for instruction. Transiting through a typical Star Trek corridor, the guests arrive at the Bridge of the Enterprise-D where it was explained that the visitors were beamed aboard the Starship Enterprise to "what you would call the future". Commander Riker appeared on the main viewscreen, explaining that Captain Picard disappeared the moment the group beamed aboard the Enterprise and thus one member of the group must be Picard's ancestor. A Klingon Commander named Kohath used a time-rift to abduct Picard's ancestor and erase him from the timeline. Starfleet Intelligence dispatched the Enterprise to intercept the Klingons' transporter beam and rescue the entire group. Riker directs the group to board a shuttlecraft with Geordi La Forge to escape the temporal rift and return all guests to their original time. Starfleet personnel led the group out of the Bridge through a Star Trek turbolift. While the group was in the turbolift, the Klingons attacked the Enterprise and the turbolift entered a free fall. When the turbolift came to a rest the group exited into another transit corridor where personnel led them to the shuttle bay for escape. While on the bridge, guests were permitted to take photographs. The group boarded the shuttlecraft which was in a 270° domed theater with six degrees of motion base platform. The shuttle ride began with a battle between the Enterprise and Klingon vessels. The shuttle then returned through the temporal rift to present-day Las Vegas. The shuttle landed at the Las Vegas Hilton right next to the "motion simulators" shuttles the visitors were originally waiting to enter when they were "beamed off" at the start of the story. Captain Picard thanked the crew for restoring his existence. He said, "While only one of you is my ancestor, each of you hold that same opportunity for the future. Guard it well." Typically, a custodian led the group to an elevator and then out to the Deep Space Nine Promenade and Quark's Bar. When the custodian led the group to the elevator, there was a television set that showed a "news" report where the military mention that the shuttles over Las Vegas were weather balloons. Upon exiting the shuttlecraft, the guests transit through a corridor where they enter the Promenade from Deep Space Nine. This simulation ride closed along with The Experience in 2008. The motion simulator was developed by McFadden Systems, Inc.
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