I never went to the “STar Trek : The Experience” attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton, the ride of which closed down in 2008. It was always expensive for me (over $30 a ticket).
So what did I miss – Since it is going to reopen in a year or so, don’t ruin the plot for me (which is available on the web anyway) but how about some subjective reviews. Was the thing worth it? Is it like an Empty set of the old Enterprise you can sit in the captains chair and all?
I saw it in Jan. of 2001 while on my honeymoon. Boy, memory sure plays tricks on you because I don’t remember paying to get in but I’m sure we didn’t get in for free.
The ride was only a little over 2 years old but even in 2001 I thought it was extremely dated. If you’re a Star Trek fan it was probably worth it. They had a museum of Trek that you went through with props from the past shows as well as Voyager. They had actors dressed up as Klingons, Ferrengi, and in Starfleet uniforms. The actual ride part of the experience was the part that was extremely dated despite only being a few years old. Motion simulator rides don’t generally do it for me but I had recently been on the Spider-Man ride at Universal Studios and maybe that spoiled things for me.
Odesio
A couple of frinds of mine went through it, with one of them reading his lines as Kirkishly as he could.
I went with my ex-husband on our honeymoon. The motion simulator was really lame, but the Borg show thing was awesome. That being said, you got to be on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, which I guess is kinda cool. The props part was extensive, and I guess would’ve been cool for a hardcore fan–it was for my ex. That part got boring to me after about ten minutes, though, 'cause I’m not really a look at things in cases kinda gal.
Ehh. It was OK. Fun, certainly, for what it was, but not like “OMG that’s the bestest thing ever!”
It’s a motion simulator, with all of what that means to you. I always have trouble suspending my disbelief for these types of rides - of course I’m going to be OK, it’s a ride! I never feel like I’m ever in any danger, ever. True, the same holds for “regular” rides like roller coasters or drop rides or tilt-a-whirls or what-have-you, but it’s just different. I just can’t have the same fun when strapped into what’s basically a theater.
I enjoyed it, but I’d probably have enjoyed a regular roller coaster more. I’m not much of a trekker, but I’m familiar with some of it, and I had fun with the mythos and seeing the props and such. (Probably because I’m a huge Star Wars geek, so I understand the obsession.) That part is cool, possibly more so than the actual ride itself.
It was rather funny, though - my brother had broken his leg a couple of weeks before we went to Vegas, but he wanted to do the Star Trek thing anyway. So I’m hanging back with him, helping him along (in some parts along the way to the “ships,” the studio you’re walking through shakes and such). During some of the shaky parts, he’d stop and grab my shoulder to make sure he could stay upright, and I think the Borg that was “chasing” us had to adjust some so as not to actually catch us. We weren’t way behind, by any stretch, but we were at the back of the group. Poor guy.
I thought the coolest part, actually, was the transporter effect. The lights went out, wind blew all around, they played the transporter sound, and when the lights came back on, you were on the ship. I gotta admit, I grinned like a little kid.
I wish I could’ve been there when Wil Wheaton went through it.
I’ve never been to Vegas, and one of my regrets is that I never saw “ST The Experience.” Two of my Trekker friends did on different occasions, though, and both really enjoyed it.
We went in May of '08, but had a baby along so we couldn’t do the actual ride part. We ate at Quark’s and looked through the “museum” part, which was really cool, as a diehard Trek fan. The food was good, the merchandise was cool, though overpriced. We sprung for the photo session on the Bridge set, which was very cool.
Sad to hear it closed before I got to go back and do the ride part (I’ve been a sucker for motion simulators since I first rode Star Tours). Happy to hear it’s coming back, though I thought they sold off a lot of the museum at that big Christie’s auction.
Saw it in '01 when I was in Vegas for a convention. I don’t remember a whole lot about it (though reading this thread is jogging my memory)…I recall thinking that it was moderately cool, though overpriced, and that I liked “Star Tours” (the Star Wars motion-simulator ride at Disney) better.
If you were a TNG fan, the Star Trek Experience was a must. I was more of a TOS fan, but did enjoy TNG (most seasons). I did the experience when it was new enough not to be spoiled. And given the boom in motion-simulator rides, I didn’t have my expectations all that high.
But after the lights flicked and the “transporter effect” was complete, and I ended up on that bridge (I wasn’t going to give away details, but the spoiler has already been revealed) I was stunned. I remember having this huge grin on my face, and kind of being embarassed that my inner-Trekkie had been exposed. Being on that bridge, in the unexpected manner that we got there, made the whole “ride” for me (the motion simulator part was so-so. Fun to see the Klingon bird of prey over the strip, though). After it was over, I remember thinking of all the friends who I had to recommend it to (before it got spoiled).
The traveling exhibition is at the Tech Museum here in San Jose. I’m going to see it next week. I was complaining to a friend that some of the items aren’t the original props, but replicas. She wondered what the big deal was, since none of the stuff was real anyway. I said that for the prices they’re charging, I want to see the genuine made-up articles! 
I saw it in January of 2005. It wasn’t too memerable but I had an excuse.
I had dinner at Quarks Bar first. I was there with 4 other people (including my boss and the CIO) for the Consumer Electronic Show.
I had the “James T. Kirk” electric ice-t with dry ice to start. I think it had 4 ounces of liquor in it.
Then I had a glass of wine with dinner. And then my CIO proceeded to order 6 Borg Collective’s. What are Borg Collectives you ask? A wire stand with 5 different shooters hanging off it.
He ordered 1 to start, then 4 after dinner. This way each person would get to try each shooter. But then he was sure he didn’t get to try the “red” shooter so he ordered a sixth Borg Collective.
So I was 3 sheets to the wind by the time I went through, but I had been to Vegas twice before without going so I couldn’t go a 3rd time and not see it.
MtM
That was my experience almost to a “T”, except that I was as much of a TNG fan as I was aTOS fan.
I had the extra added joy of watching my wife have a good time. I pretty much dragged her there; she was passingly familiar with Trek, but was by no means a fan. She thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and then proceeded to have a really good time at Quark’s Bar. We shared a Warp Core Breach, and she flirted with the tall white-haired Klingon that frequented the bar at the time (this has to have been '96 or '97). She had such a good time that she actually wanted to go back. Little did she know it was her first step into the world of geekdom (if someone ever opens Battlestar Galactica: The Experience, she might be first in line).
I went through both versions and enjoyed them both. They also had a behind the scenes tour which was fascinating, especially watching the mechanism of the motion simulator from underneath while another group was riding it.
The first time I did the Klingon version my wife was with me. She was in a scooter at the time, and had to get out of it to get into the shuttle motion simulator. Amazingly enough, when the “shuttle” arrived at the hotel her scooter had magically been transported there ahead of it. 
One of the guides even made some comment about wondering how it had gotten there. I also have a picture of the two of us with two Ferenghi which was taken at Quark’s.