After 10 long and faithful years at the Las Vegas Hilton, the Star Trek Experience closed its doors on Monday September 1^st to make way for bigger and better things. Although a favorite among Trekkies, the Star Trek Experience had overstayed its welcome at the Las Vegas Hilton and it was time to move on. However, the Star Trek Experience didn’t go out quietly. The creators of the exhibit decided to end their run at the Las Vegas Hilton with a VIP bash as well as decommissioning ceremony that was modeled after the decommissioning ceremonies that take place on U.S. Naval Ships. Star Trek fans rushed to get their VIP tickets and the event was a huge success before the exhibit was closed for good.

Keeping with the Star Trek theme, the creators of the Experience, came up with a plot line to explain the reason for the closing of the “time station." The theme behind the Star Trek Experience is that the members of the ship traveled to Las Vegas from the late 24^th century on a temporal rift to study and interact with the various cultures of 21^st century Earth. The temporal rift has now become unstable and the ship’s crew has been forced to abandon ship. Fans bid on VIP tickets to the event on eBay up until Sunday afternoon when all of the tickets had been sold. The tickets allowed lucky fans access to the decommissioning ceremony as well as a reception afterwards at Quarks Bar and Grill. The 65,000 square foot complex will close its doors and make way for a new attraction that will later be announced by the Las Vegas Hilton. There have been rumors floating around that space will be used to build a new theater for pop-icon Michael Jackson. However, nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

After the official decommissioning ceremony which was modeled exactly after a U.S. Naval Decommissioning. The decommissioning ceremony was open to the general public. However, the reception afterward was not. Also, fans scrambled to find tickets to the final rides on the Klingon Encounter and the Borg Invasion 4-D. Many people rushed to be one of the last couples to get married inside the Star Trek Experience. Star Trek themed weddings were one of the most popular attractions at the Experience. Couples were married aboard the Starship Enterprise with Star Trek characters present.

A large crowd gathered as the Las Vegas Hilton sadly closed the doors and allowed guests to take the final tours of the exhibit and go on the rides one final time. Although the Las Vegas attraction has closed for good, the Star Trek franchise is alive and well after over 40 years of dedicated fandom. A new Star Trek movie is set to open in theatres in 2009.

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