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Star Trek: The Experience was an attraction that opened in January 1998 at the Las Vegas Hilton (now Westgate Las Vegas) in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, based on the Star Trek entertainment franchise. The pavilion underwent a major renovation in 2004 to add the Borg Invasion 4-D attraction, allowing guests to encounter the Borg. Star Trek: The Experience was operated by entertainment management company Cedar Fair after its June 2006 purchase of Paramount Parks from the CBS Corporation. Individual attractions The History of the Future Museum After purchasing a ticket, visitors walked through a museum that included numerous items from Star Trek history. It also featured several video display devices and a timeline of Star Trek events. Later, there were displays for each of the major alien races, which included the Borg, Klingons, and Ferengi. Ticket prices eventually increased to allow visitors unlimited rides throughout the day. The last section of the museum was a hallway that served as the attraction 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 will then entered a smaller, dimly lit waiting area for a traditional simulator ride. Hosts directed their 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 Korath 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 four 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 mentions 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.
