Below is an e-mail from one of my best friends Cale that I wanted to share with everyone.   Sad news indeed.  I feel very fortunate that I was able to visit the attraction one time and hoped to go back when I go back to Vegas in fall of 09… guess that won’t be happening.- Canman

Friends,

    I’m sad to report that just over a week from today the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel & Casino will be closing its doors forever. The failure was not due to poor attendance, which while it had a lull a few years ago, had picked back up to levels nearly rivaling its opening in 1995. No, the culprit has been a failure by the Hilton Hotel & Cedar Point Entertainment (owner of Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, famous for a Brady Bunch episode, and also Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park outside L.A.) to reach a lease renewal agreement. Despite the release next May of the 11th Star Trek movie in the franchise which promised to boost ticket sales even further, the decision to close has been finalized and the “final voyage” will be September 1st. 

   According to the Hilton, the space will remain vacant through New Year’s Eve with no concrete plans to date as to what will take its place. The rumor mill is speculating that it will be…    wait for it…   a Michael Jackson stage show (you may express your outraged gasps and expletives now). I however am betting (pun intended) that in an ever increasing economic downturn coupled with casinos which have surpassed their own surprising depths of greed that it will simply become even more gaming space (as was recently done to the beautiful Fountain Room cocktail lounge at the Bellagio with its gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking its world-famous namesake which now go unappreciated).

   I’ve had the privilege of seeing the attraction twice, both the Borg Invasion & the Klingon Encounter, as well as and eating at Quark’s Bar on numerous occasions (the food and beer, excuse me, “Romulan Ale”, were quite remarkable in fact) and even befriending a former “Star Fleet Officer” in my time here (although Heather, will tell you behind the scenes there was far more drama going on between the actors than you would ever see on-stage). The attraction will be missed by many, myself included. The Hilton reported receiving over 6,000 e-mails protesting the closure, and a stack of snail-mail that was “over 6 feet tall”. The “final voyage” on September 1st will feature many VIPs and celebrities and even 5 tickets will be auctioned off on eBay which are expected to fetch as much as $10K each. 

   But all may not be lost dear friends. Cedar Point concedes that in the wake of the announcement of the closure the outpouring of fans asking for the Experience to remain open has led Cedar Point to consider at least merely moving to a different location, though likely not in Las Vegas. So who knows, maybe just like a low-budget 60’s tv show, the Experience may yet be reborn again someday, somewhere else.

Live Long & Prosper My Friends,
Cale