Star Trek may have a minor presence at Universal Studios but it once had a much bigger experience for fans!
It’s a bit surprising Star Trek doesn’t have much presence at theme parks. You’d think an attraction based on one of the biggest sci-fi franchises of all time would be natural, yet somehow it hasn’t happened. Maybe it’s due to rights issues or getting the right type of attraction right.
Universal Studios has been integrating it with the recent Red Alert tour/show as part of their annual Hallowen Horror Nights spectacular. It’s not bad, putting guests in the roles of tourists on the Enterprise when a mysterious entity causes chaos. However, there was a time when Universal gave Trek fans a chance to truly live out the Trek experience!
The fantastic Star Trek Adventure show
Universal Studios pioneered the “studio tour” concept, mostly with the iconic tram ride around the lot. That’s still there even as the park has since added scores of thrill rides. Universal also had a bevy of shows that did their best to put guests inside the movies.
A common bit for such studio shows (both Universal and Disney) was managing to have guests inserted into TV shows via green screen technology. Universal went the extra mile with the Star Trek Adventure, which opened in California in 1988.
The large theater show opened with a call for volunteers, with six as Starfleet officers and the other four as Klingons. That had a “growl-off,” with the winner being the Klingon captain and the others their underlings.
This involved a very cool effect for 1988 where it appeared as if the Starfleet volunteers were beamed right before the audience to the Enterprise. The plot used footage from the movies as the Enterprise and Klingons were set against each other by a mysterious alien race. That involved an always-funny scene where the two sides brawl on a planet with monsters and the Enterprise engine room attacked with the kid volunteers among those helping.
It was silly and offbeat, and of course, the fun for the watching audience was to judge the non-actors involved. Yet it still connected and a bonus had those who took part able to buy a videocassette integrating the whole thing into a nice mini-movie.
The show would run until 1994, as the older Trek shows had faded by then. Still, it had its fans for the cheesy aspects.
The Florida changeup
Obviously, when Universal Orlando opened in 1990, they, too, had to have a Star Trek show. However (as with other aspects of the park), it was a bit less ambitious than the Hollywood version, using blue screen tech to put up to five guests into a pre-filmed adventure.
This did boast brand new footage of the stars with an intro by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. This has a banter between the pair playing the Enterprise captain and science officer, with each claiming the more important director until the actors are encouraged to tell them off.
The plot here has Bones getting his shot in the captain’s chair with Uhura, Sulu and Chekov with him as they lead the “training officers” who tap buttons that accidentally set off torpedoes. Another Federation ship approaches, which has been commandeered by Klingons, forcing the guests to save the day.
This was shorter and less involved than the Hollywood version but, again, a fun experience that once more could be purchased on tape for those who took part. This version lasted until 1996.
Both versions of the show are mostly forgotten today except by those who attended them. They were noted for the Orlando version having the last performances of DeForest Kelly as Bones and some fun effects for the time.
So while these shows are long forgotten by all but the most rabid Trek fans, they were noteworthy for showing how Star Trek could have been a good theme park experience that hopefully is used more in the future!