Star Trek is getting a big new theme park experience that hopefully becomes a hit!
One would think that Star Trek would have a lot more presence in theme parks. After all, it’s an iconic property set in outer space with scores of alien worlds and species, all done with major special effects. If any property is screaming for an entire theme park land, it’s Star Trek.
Yet the franchise simply hasn’t found a footing in a regular theme park. A reason may be that Paramount owns the rights and lacks a park of its own to showcase Trek. There were a couple of bits like a Universal Studios show where audience volunteers were “beamed” onto the stage and could act out Trek-inspired scenes (including some as Klingons).
Star Trek: The Experience was a long-running Vegas attraction with recreations of Quark’s bar and the Promenade of Deep Space Nine. There were also a couple of fun interactive shows, one putting guests in the midst of a Klingon battle while the other had them fending off a Borg invasion. Each boasted filmed footage of TNG and Voyager characters to make it feel more real.
That’s been the extent of it so far, as we still don’t have a Trek ride. But Universal Studios is set to make up for that with a terrific new “experience” that hopefully will become permanent!
Inside the new Universal Trek experience
For three decades, Universal Studios has specialized in Halloween Horror Nights, special events set from September to November with various special events like mazes and haunted houses, themed to movies and shows ranging from Halloween to The Purge to The Walking Dead.
For 2025, Universal has two big themes. One is Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep. The other is Star Trek: Red Alert, which takes up the space previously used by The Walking Dead sets.
There have been some early reviews via a few theme park sites that showcase the setup. It’s set in the aftermath of the Picard series as the Enterprise-D is back in operation. Guests are set as tourists taking a shuttle from Earth to visit the ship.
The sets look impressive, with an LED screen showing “space” inside the cargo bay. Of course, things go awry as a light-based alien entity pops up on the ship and starts to cause havoc on the computer systems.
The tour continues with Universal cast members playing alien species and the promise no two ensigns leading a tour will be the same person/species twice. The guests will be led through sick bay, then engineering as the crew members try to understand what the entity is and what it wants. The warp core starts going wild, so the guests have to be evacuated, leading to a trip to an expertly recreated bridge.
It will all culminate in the day saved and the guests “beamed” back to Earth in what promises to be a cool effect. There are also hints of some surprises (perhaps a video of Patrick Stewart?) to enhance the experience.
Why this should be great
Besides that "tour," the area will also have recreations of Quark's Bar and Ten Forward for some eats and shops themed to Trek gear. Yet that tour is going to be the high point.
Those who went on Star Trek Experience still praise how great that attraction was recreating the world of Star Trek and making it feel real. It was a blast for Trek fans who could tangle with the Borg, and seeing the movie characters as part of this was also fun.
This sounds amazing, especially given it’s meant to be a temporary attraction. While we don’t have full videos yet, the promise of recreating the Enterprise just like it was in the Picard finale is more than enough to make Trek fans want to check this out. The mix of an original story with a tour and touches, such as the different alien ensigns, also adds a more immersive experience.
If this becomes popular enough, maybe Universal can figure out a way to keep this tour around as a permanent exhibit. It could also inspire more Trek attractions as it seems an unmined idea for guests to be able to take off on a Star Trek experience on vacation.