jzarley Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Just got back from Vegas and thought I'd give a review of Paramount Park's new "Borg Invasion 4D" at ST:TE. This post contains some spoilers, so if you're adverse to that, you might want to skip this. (It's also pretty long...so keep that in mind as well <g>) The admission price of Star Trek the Experience is now $29.99/person, which includes one time through each attraction (the new 4D movie, and the existing simulator). Sort of makes PKI (and every other park) seem like a great deal, huh? <G> If you haven't visited before, ST:TE is located inside the Las Vegas Hilton. You enter the attraction through a space-themed casino. At the attraction's "gate", you have a choice of going up or down. Going up takes you to the ticket purchase area and attractions. Downstairs leads to Quark's Bar & Restaurant (a Trek themed restaurant), and the "Promendade" which is a really big ST gift shop. After buying the ticket you walk through the "Museum of the Future" which is display of Star Trek props. (If anyone remembers the "Star Trek Earth Tour" which toured the parks in the late 90s, this is pretty much it.) This leads to the queue area for the attractions. Both attractions share a common line separated by a divider. The 4D movie holds around 40 people; the simulator around 25. They take turns loading, with an attraction loading (theoretically, anyway) every two minutes. The ride ops seemed to be having some difficulty getting the timing down, but in all fairness the 4D movie had only been open for a few days at the time. (Here's where the spoilers start...) You enter the pre-show area into what looks like a space station. We're told that we're visiting a research station on the edge of the Delta Quadrant, and we'll be briefed by the center's director. The Doctor (from "Voyager") appears on a video screen and tells us we've been selected to participate in "Project Resistance" because we have a genetic uniqueness to resist certain infections...possibly even Borg assimilation. While he's talking the room shakes & the lights flicker. Another video screen activates, and the bridge tells us we're under attack by a Borg ship. The attack continues...explosions occur...Borg drones start coming toward us. Our tour guides say they have to get us to a shuttle craft to escape. The attack continues, and the Borg keep pursuing us...one of our guides gets "borged." The "shuttle craft" is actually the theater. The first thing that hits you is how small it it...usually "4D" theaters hold a few hundred people. This one holds less than 45. The movie itself is pretty typical for the genre...3D effects in the film, sound effects from speakers built into the seats, atmospheric elements in the theater, etc. I won't go into too much detail about the movie itself, except that it mixes live action with the movie. The structure is very similar to "Terminator" at USF and USH (I believe they were produced by the same company...Landmark Entertainment maybe?) except the the Borg movie isn't nearly as long, or the 3D effects quite as impressive. Overall, it's a good attraction and very enjoyable. The 4D movie complements the "Klingon Encounter" attraction (which, BTW rivals "Back to the Future" as the best simulator I've experienced) well. The entire attraction is very well themed, and all of the ride ops do a great job in keeping in character. (Granted...the "acting" is a little cheesy...but, hey--it's Vegas.) I think the quality of these attractions just shows that given the resources, Paramount Parks can produce rides that can rival Disney and Universal. Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby_Doo Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I Dont care much for ST but it sounds so Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StXBomber Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 How did the tour guide get "borged"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 How did the tour guide get "borged"? There were actors in Borg costume who "boarded" the station. They interacted with the actors playing Star Fleet characters. In one case a Borg grabbed a ST character (doing the "nanoprobe" thing to the neck) and dragged him off stage. In another scene a Borg character reached down from an air shaft on the ceiling and pulled a star fleet guy up through the ceiling into the air shaft. So...probably "assimilated" would be the proper ST term...I just think "Borg-ed" is so much more descriptive :-) There was a lot going on in the pre-show process...it was one of those things that I think you'd have to see a few times to pick up on everything. Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI_Man Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Looks Interesting, i may just try it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shman Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 I'm wondering how long it will be untill we see this attraction make it's way into the parks......think about it, all they would have to do is remove the IWERKS seats from one side of the FX Theater and then they could freely convert that side into this 4D attraction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenageninja Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 I don't htink there is enough room for a 4d theatre, I think it'd be better to just build a new 4d theatre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 I don't htink there is enough room for a 4d theatre, I think it'd be better to just build a new 4d theatre. Yeah, I'd agree with that... If this attraction would be transplanted to the parks, I think it would need a custom-designed "set" to do it justice. The movie itself was only a part of the attraction...the walk-thru and storyline of the pre-show adds so much. Paramount Parks did a great job (with Borg and the simulator) in putting together an immersive attraction. Like I said...as far as themed attractions go, it's definitely on par with Disney & Universal. Also, if "Borg 4D" were put into parks, a bigger theater than the one used in Vegas would be needed. Due to the cost, the Vegas attraction is somewhat self-limiting in riders per hour (although, I still waited over 30 minutes for Borg, and 45 for Klingon Encounter). At a park like PKI (or even Carowinds), the riders per hour would have to be higher to keep up with demand. Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenageninja Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Well I'm sure if PKI considers putting in a 4D Ride it will have atleast 100 people in it, look at Action Theatre that holds 74, and it always has a line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 Well I'm sure if PKI considers putting in a 4D Ride it will have atleast 100 people in it, look at Action Theatre that holds 74, and it always has a line. I'm sure you're right. (I believe the Terminator theater at USF holds something like 400 people). The hard part with the Borg 4D attraction (at least in its current format) would be managing the pre-show with 100+ people. It's partly "stand & look" but there's also a walk-thru component that might be difficult with a large number of people. Of course...I guess it would be possible to have multiple (and duplicated) pre-shows that would feed into one theater. (But that would increase the price of both building and operating the attraction...) But, we're just speculating anyway...so what the heck <G> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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