Star Trek

(if an Admin sees this, can we get it pinned?)

OK, since we get mostly the same questions every year about the conventions (especially Las Vegas), I decided to make a FAQ thread. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the Las Vegas convention. This also applies to other Creation conventions; the prices and perks are less, though, at other cons.

If you have other questions, feel free to post them, or PM some of the "veterans" of the Las Vegas Conventions:

ST_Fan_811
DJLore
(...if you have been to enough cons to be able to answer questions, and don't mind helping the others, please PM me, and I will add you to the list.)

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UPDATED July 16, 2007

** How much are the tickets? Will there be other ticket options besides Gold Seating?

The price on tickets depend on which ticket you want to buy. More "cheaper" ticketing options will become available closer to the event. There will always be several ticketing options. Here is a rundown of your options. Approximate figures are guesses, not necessarily true.

Gold Seating - as of Jan 07, the price was $689. They are now SOLD OUT! Gold Tickets include the closest seats to the stage, reserved seating all weekend, admission to Thursday night party at the Experience, complimentary autographs from at least 12 stars, same seat for Saturday night's Gala celebration, admission to the Saturday night Dessert Party, Limited Edition Star Trek Gold Coin, Trek Treat card, first for autographs done by rows, pre-registration Wed night, and special Gold Member pricing on select merchandise.

Captain's Chair (Vegas only) - $429. SOLD OUT! These tickets include: reserved seating all weekend right behind Gold Seating, admission to Friday night party at the Experience, second (after Gold) for autographs done by row, same reserved seating for the Sat. night Gala performance, admission to the Dessert Party (usually Sat. night), pre-registration the night before, Trek Treat card, and Special Captain's Chair pricing on select merchandise.

Preferred Seating - $314. Price includes a reserved seat for the whole weekend behind and to the sides of Gold and Captain's Chair. You also get to keep your same seat for the Saturday night performance. In addition, you get a special collector's keepsake. Single day price is $65 each day. Single day tickets do not include any extras.

General Seating - $129 for a weekend pass, $35 for a single day. ¿Obviously, if you're planning to be there all weekend, it's cheaper to get the weekend pass. ¿Price includes a unreserved seat in the auditorium behind and to the sides of the reserved seating. No additional extras are included in this package.

** Which tickets should I buy?

Well, that answer will vary depending on who you ask and on your personal finances. But generally, go with the most expensive that you can afford. More money = more perks. If this is your first convention, go for the Gold (pun IS intended). But don't overspend. You'll want to buy a lot in the dealer's room anyway. You will get to see everything during the main convention no matter what ticket you buy, but the more expensive ones get you closer to the stage.

** How much will I spend at the convention?

At the convention, you should probably figure close to $500-$1000, not including admission. Some of you first-timers are probably going "What???!!!!?". All I can say is, things add up quick, and you will get lost in the amount of merchandise available (and the autograph and photo Op tickets), and your willpower will go away (unless you are really strong-willed). And plus, it's better to over-budget and come home with some $$.

** How much is x's autograph ticket? ?How much is x's Photo Op ticket?

For that, it's better to check the website. Here's a link: Las Vegas Convention ¿Generally speaking, autographs range from $20 to $75 for 2007 Vegas. ¿Photo Ops range from $35-$199 for 2007 Vegas.

** Who's going to be there? Is x going to be there?

Again, for the most up-to-date information, check the website via the link above. If a certain star is not posted yet, he/she is not going to be there (or hasn't been confirmed yet). However, things can be added or changed, so your star may show up. Just a note: don't be surprised if, when you get there, your favorite star has cancelled. All stars have an "out" clause if something comes up (work, emergency, etc.), and sometimes Creation does not know until the last minute. 2005 and 2006 Cons both had this happen. ¿However, MOST stars do still show up.

**So what happens if my favorite star cancels?

Well, Creation is usually pretty good about that. Emergencies or work do come up for the stars from time to time.  If that happens, here's some general things that Creation usually offers: (1) A credit (of the price) toward a different autograph/photo op ticket at the con, (2) A merchandise credit good at any Creation table at the con (a lot of tables are not Creation but other vendors), (3) A refund to your credit card about a week after the convention. -- It's your choice!

**I want to wear a uniform/dress up as a specific character. Do other people dress up?

Yes, of course. It has been estimated by other people that about 20%-25% of the fans dress up or wear a uniform. Don't be afraid to dress up. You won't be the only one, I promise!

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Suggestions:

**Eating Places - you can go out and buy your own food the night before at a Wal-Greens or something if you have a rental car and/or a place to store food in your hotel room. If not, for cheap(er) places, there is a Pizza Hut/TCBY near the Experience, a sub sandwich place near the Buffet, or if all else fails, there is "train" right outside the dealer's room (prices are pretty expensive though, but it's most convenient). There are many others, but these listed are quicker and easier.

**Star Trek: The Experience - OK, so you don't have a Gold Ticket or Captain's Chair ticket, but you want to go through the Experience? The best time to go is earlier in the week (Tues or Weds), or Monday after the con. Saturday and Sunday nights are doable, just very busy.

** Dealer's Room - If you see something you want, get it! The later on in the weekend it gets, the less chance of it being there. Creation only brings a certain amount of each item; when it's gone, it's gone. ¿Don't wait until Sunday to do all your shopping. However, don't buy everything on Thursday. Give yourself a day to scan everything over.

** Digital camera with large memory card - don't forget this! You will be taking a LOT of pictures, both of the celebrities and new friends. Get the biggest memory card you can. Don't do a 32MB, go for the 256MB or bigger. You'll be glad you did.

** Make friends - Don't be afraid to talk to other people. We are all Trek fans. We are like one huge family. If you don't know something, ask. If you want to take a picture of the guy who looks just like Picard (yes, there is one), just ask. I'm sure he won't mind. The more you talk to someone, the more chance of becoming friends on the spot. Then you have someone to talk to, and not be alone. A lot of us see friends we made in previous years, and sometimes, that's the only time we see each other. ¿And this con brings in people from literally all over the world.

NOTE: ¿Creation has advised that the Hilton has sold out of rooms for Friday and Saturday nights of the convention. ¿If you do not have your room reserved yet, you can book a room at the Riviera for the convention rate of $119 per night. ¿You must go to a special page to do so, and the link can be found on Creation's website (see link above). ¿The Riviera is easily within walking distance. ¿And yes, you can do a switch to and from the Hilton if you want (stay at the Hilton on Thursday and Sunday, and the Riviera on Friday and Saturday), but it may not be worth moving your luggage back and forth, but in the end, it's your call.


If you have any other questions, please ask away. We are a friendly bunch! See you in Vegas!

My husband and I are bringing our 3 kids this year. They, and we, are all major Star Trek Next Gen fans. Our kids are ages 6, 7 and 9. We booked the hotel, and can afford the air fare from Florida. However, we are on a limited budget.
Which event should we save toward taking our children... would people watching at the hotel, and the Star Trek experience, plus a few things from the Dealers be enough to buy/do?
They will remember this forever, so we want to make it good, but certainly cannot afford even Captain Chair tickets for the 5 of us. Thanks for helping. See you at the convention!

People-watching, cruising the dealer's room and the Experience would probably suit your kids just fine. The Borg Encounter may be a bit scary for the youngest ones, but since they are TNG fans too, they would get a kick out of the Klingon Encounter (you might want to warn them first about the transporter effect-- it could be disconcerting otherwise.)

Most of the other optional parties, breakfasts, etc. probably wouldn't hold kids' attention.  Besides the employees of the Experience who wander around dressed as Borg, Klingons, Bajorans, Andorians, Ferengi and Vulcans, there are many other fans who dress up who are happy to pose for photos and explain their costumes.

The Experience has video screens on the walls throughout that show clips from episodes and movies, and the coming and going of people makes it a lively place to people-watch. There is a large open area with tables and chairs between the convention area and the dealer's room, which is another great place to people-watch.

My daughter was ten months old this past August, and she had a great time in her stroller. This coming year, my wife is making a mini-Seven of Nine costume for her, and I'm tricking out a stroller from a thrift store to look like a mobile Borg regeneration unit :-)

Thanks for your ideas.  Taking your little one in the stroller sounds great, and dressing up would be very cool for the kids! My son got a data uniform for Christmas, and I believe that his brother and sister would probably love to be creative of course Riker and Troy.  As for me, well, I may just wear one of those T-shirts like "What would Kirk do?" LOL.
Thanks for the advice on the Borg and transporter too.  They are pretty young, the "Terminator" at Universal scared one of our boys.  
I am sure though no matter what age, 10 months or 90, this convention will be an awesome experience. We are definitely looking forward to it!

The Experience will probably be offering their Admiral's package during the Convention this is worth the $$

Quote (Trekwolf164 @ Jan. 04 2007, 5:24 pm)

The Experience will probably be offering their Admiral's package during the Convention this is worth the $$

Thanks for that info. What price range are we looking at per ticket for the Admiral's package at the Experience. Is there a child price? This is great your are letting us know of these things now as it gives us a chance to save the money. Trying to pay as little on credit as possible for this trip, and we have a lot of time before August yet. (Trying our best to live long and PROSPER)  

Let me put in a few cents...

Eating:  I ate several times at the Stratosphere at about 15 bucks a pop.  Otherwise I went to Denny's (way down the strip), or McDonalds (close to tbe Hilton).  I brought lots of food from home, but the hotel I was at didn't have a fridge (20 bucks a night extra).

I would suggest to do a celebrity breakfast, it is well worth the expense.  Suggestion on this is to sit in a smaller room (if possible).  The actors spend more 1 on 1 time and generally are open to pictures and autographs.

Definately eat at the Experience on like a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday preceeding the convention.  If you don't, you will be sorry.  Last year I was all dressed up, and more folks thought I was working for the convention.  Needless to say, I took many pictures with unsuspecting fans.

The Pizza Hut was EXPENSIVE, so beware.  However, its good fast food.

Hotels:

Stratosphere is about 3 or so blocks from the convention.  I found they had the cheapest rooms (around 280 for 2 people, non smoking, 2 queen beds) for 4 nights.  If possible, stay in the Hilton.  I wish I would have but they were already sold out.  

DO NOT stay in Circus Circus.

Convention Specifics:

Enjoy the Experience before the convention if possible.  The sooner you go, the less crowded it will be.  And they usually close early from Thursday on.  If you do get a Gold Ticket, expect a lot of time to be spent in the Experience.

If you haven't done so yet, take the back stage tour.  They bring you through all the components of the attraction, and let you see their secrets.  Its about 35 bucks, but it is well worth it.

Remember to Dress up for the convention.  I was saddened that I was about the only person wearing the Red Movie Monster Uniform (and I missed my opportunity to be on TV by not wearing it Thursday morning).  I think this next time I am going to make either a Cardassian or Ferengi (heck if I could get many people together we could do the Next Generation Crew for the costume contest.)  Btw DJ LORE, I wish you luck, but I want to win this time.

There are a lot of other things to do including the auction.  There you will find a lot of good merchandise and rock bottom prices (unless someone is greedy).  Bring plenty of money for this.  In addition, there is the welcome party (but I didn't like this too much).  Also take advantage of the bingo (or slot tourny if they have it).  Great way to make friends and have a good laugh; usually has a celebrity announcer.

Remember that employees of the experience will be walking around as Klingons, Borgs, Vulcans, and etc.  They won't break character, but are a lot of fun.

Lastly, go online and order many memory cards for your digital camera you will be bringing.  I was fortunate to have a small laptop with me that I dumped everything to as I went along.  If you are clever enough, you can sneak a small camcorder into the convention.  Be forewarned they hate when you do this.  Visit youtube.com and see all of the videos that appeared from convention.  Also remember to get a watch and set it with local time.  Creation is bad about not announcing when events are, so you could actually miss a photo op (like i did with Shatner).

I also recommend getting a camera with a large OPTICAL zoom.  Remember that the convention room is dark, so a steady hand and quick shutter is the ticket.

Quote (allgoodthingsjeanluc @ Jan. 03 2007, 8:20 am)

My husband and I are bringing our 3 kids this year. They, and we, are all major Star Trek Next Gen fans. Our kids are ages 6, 7 and 9. We booked the hotel, and can afford the air fare from Florida. However, we are on a limited budget. Which event should we save toward taking our children... would people watching at the hotel, and the Star Trek experience, plus a few things from the Dealers be enough to buy/do? They will remember this forever, so we want to make it good, but certainly cannot afford even Captain Chair tickets for the 5 of us. Thanks for helping. See you at the convention!

A couple of things to remember...

not sure if you been to vegas before but the convention is in the summer so there is always plenty of swimming the kids can do as well...I went a few years back for the convention there and we got the gold package or whatever the top one was and by the end of it, we weren't using everything anyways.  At the end of the day, its still vegas and you can get convention overload(i atleast did) so there is always plenty of other things to do.  The monorail ride can get you to the glitzy side of the strip easily enuf to take in the bellagio water show, can see the luxor pyramids, new york new york has got a fantastic kids arcade, roller coaster, and carnival type games...circus circus as someone said before is very close to the hilton and that would be very kids oriented as well.  there is even a waterpark on the strip(atleast i still think it is there)...beyond the quarks area and a pool, the hilton isnt very kids friendly so when you do hit times when you aren't doing convention related things, that monorail is going to be your ticket to any other sources of fun.  I believe you can get week passes on it and stuff.

as far as convention stuff, quarks is always fun to eat at for the novelty, i got bored quick with the dealer room but yeah people do spend a ton of time there.  The photo-ops they do in there are curtained off so its not really something you can watch.  the autographs were done in the actual speaker room after their q&a...

so if getting a pass that gets you to most if not all of the convention events is not in the cards, you could always pick and choose what you do convention-wise and supplement the rest of the time with the multitude of other things that can be done in vegas.

as far as which convention events, i found the stuff at quarks more entertaining then any of the other stuff like the dinners in the hall or whatnot.  If i go again, i will specifically pick and choose more on which guests i want to go see but without much of a list of guests formulated yet, hard to commit to any one event yet.  But in general, the bigger the star, the bigger the ego and the more deflating that particular experience becomes.  After all these years, shatner and nimoy are there specifically just for the money and typically dissapoint quite a few people with their arrogance and apathy towards the convention.  brent spiner and sirtis are always good to go see though.

Thanks for all your help!
The kids are really excited.  I booked the Hilton where the convention is because the rates are low right now.

We are thinking we would like to go to the grand canyon and Hoover dam, to make it a real family vacation too...Is that doeable? Should we rent a car or take a tour.

Also, airfare is really high right now. We are in FLA and rates to Vegas for that week is crazy! I dont want to cancel and disappoint the kids. We dont have the time to drive. Any suggestions for that?
Thanks again for your help.  BTW: These kids think money is no object (like all kids), so we need to be careful once we are there.  Food and gifts can add up really fast...
Is there a Dollar Store that has vegas things? We tell people who come to FLA not to buy at Disney but go to Walmart or Dollar tree. Same thing less money.

Quote (allgoodthingsjeanluc @ Jan. 18 2007, 10:41 am)

Thanks for all your help! The kids are really excited.  I booked the Hilton where the convention is because the rates are low right now. We are thinking we would like to go to the grand canyon and Hoover dam, to make it a real family vacation too...Is that doeable? Should we rent a car or take a tour. Also, airfare is really high right now. We are in FLA and rates to Vegas for that week is crazy! I dont want to cancel and disappoint the kids. We dont have the time to drive. Any suggestions for that? Thanks again for your help.  BTW: These kids think money is no object (like all kids), so we need to be careful once we are there.  Food and gifts can add up really fast... Is there a Dollar Store that has vegas things? We tell people who come to FLA not to buy at Disney but go to Walmart or Dollar tree. Same thing less money.

hoover dam is about a half hour away, maybe more...the thing with the dam is the traffic going thru it..I live in arizona and so the primary option for us is to take the route thru there which is what a lot of people end up getting stuck having to do so it just makes it this congested hell that drives people nuts for hours..I have literally been stuck there for 3.5 hours before to do a distance that shoulda took 10 minutes but that is an extreme.  they are building a bypass route which should help immensly but its not done yet but when done, then the real tourists of hoover dam can get in easily.  Grand canyon would take you on a route where you would pass the dam as well but the drive is quite long, almost to the point where it may be a overnight stay type trip unless you got up fairly early and didn't mind getting back to vegas fairly late.  As a guess, i would imagine its a 4 hour drive minimum one way...the more that i think about it, 4 hours easy, most likely closer to 5. A tour bus would take even longer and probably cost you much more then the price of renting a car for a day allthough part of the tour ticket would probably encompass the canyon entrance fee which is 20 i think. they run quite a few helicopter tours over there, i'de imagine they are expensive though.  either way, a grand canyon trip means a serious chunk of time away from the convention, a day atleast so not sure how that fits into your plans.

vegas can indeed be very expensive.  I was actually going to say that if you do supplement the convention with other vegas activities as opposed to going all convention all of the time, the money spent doing so might have made a serious dent into getting one of the lower 4 day convention packages for the family.  Just to go to the top of stratosphere is expensive, then the rides up top aren't cheap either, to do both may be 30-40 a person even(i could be exxagerating on that one but i would think it was about that much...10-15 to go up unless you pay the extra to to do the front of the line pass)...i do remember to go to the top of the eiffel tower at the paris casino is about 20 a person.  even that monorail is expensive, 10$ a day per person or 3$ a ride(unless there is some killer weekly/family rate, a cab makes much more sense).  Even the once famous vegas buffets are pretty darn expensive these days and more often then not, they really aren't that good in quality.  I do remember the hilton having some fast food too(i stayed there as well on my convention visit, i go to vegas a couple times a year though and always make sure to stop by the start trek stuff though)  if you don't get a convention ticket package that includes the star trek rides, those cost an arm and a leg too, i want to say close to 40 a person unless you get em online and say a few bucks).

as far as shopping for vegas trinkets, i do remember seeing a fairly big dollar type store on the strip close to the nascar casino which i believe is close to the hilton as well....beyond that, the hilton doesn't really have any primetime casinos near it, they been using the space to build hi rise condos instead so cabs are a good idea mixed with some walking shoes.

Wow! Thanks for your advice. I am thinking we are over-extending ourselves on all the activities we want to do for this trip. I will wait and plan accordingly with money and time in mind, because the kids are getting really excited and I dont want to disappoint them.  Perhaps the plane will fly over the grand canyon, and they can see it that way?

I want to keep it simple because they are 6, 7 and 9 and they get cranky and tired.  Their attention span is good for Star Trek, but for events, not so good. Plus they think money is no object and we know better.

Oh, my. Simplest is best.  After all they have their whole lives ahead of them. Don't want to burn us (the parents out) on this one.

Thanks for your help. Going back to original plan of enjoying the Hilton room, Trek people watching, and some of the museum. Only going 8 to 12, (traveling both days) so will limit.

I can't thank you enough for all your advice on this thread. Helps a lot!

no problemo...vacations are one thing when alone or with a significant other but become a whole another beast when bringing an entire family....and i only have one kid....i would keep a eye out for discount tickets for the star trek encounter, i have heard of two for ones and stuff like that, it would be a shame not to do that....its a hefty price tag for it but it is usually unlimited for the day....next to quarks, they have this one booth where you can be in front of a blue screen and act out a star trek scene to be put onto a souvenier dvd...Not sure about the museum you were talking about, the one at the experieince?  that one is part of the rides you go on, it isnt much, its what you walk past to get onto the rides after they take your ticket.  

the madam tuasaud's museum at the venetian can be fun to do as well and i have seen discount tix for that as well, wife and i had a blast in there...at those ages, circus circus which is nearby should be more then enuf to keep em busy as well....

also, again, not sure if you had been before but the dealer room does have a entry fee as well...i think its part of the daily ticket cost...

Quote (allgoodthingsjeanluc @ Jan. 18 2007, 7:41 am)

Also, airfare is really high right now. We are in FLA and rates to Vegas for that week is crazy! I dont want to cancel and disappoint the kids. We dont have the time to drive. Any suggestions for that?

You may want to look at southwest.com. Usually, Southwest has pretty good fares, even to/from FL. And Southwest has "Ding!" fares, which is software you download to your computer, and when you connect to the internet (or usually once or twice a day if you have your internet always on), they will have even cheaper fares sometimes, that are good for only a few hours.  You just have to catch it right.  What you can also do is (at least Southwest) book a fare that you think is the lowest you'll see , and then if you find something lower (or one of the Ding fares comes up lower), you can switch to the lower fare. By the way, that Ding software is free, so it doesn't hurt to download it to see what it comes up with before Vegas.

I live in AZ also, so I can't help you out too much, and I obviously don't watch FL fares that closely, but it doesn't hurt to try different things.

Thanks for that airfare advice.  I will look into that software too! I wonder if the fare gets cheaper as time goes by. Used to be that way.  But one month before it gets high again. Well, if we are meant to go, we will and I will find just the right price! Thanks again for your help.

Well Creation has a special room rate... try to get the Hilton for that price.  I know the tv station I work for is sponsoring a vacation package to Las Vegas this year in association with the convention. SO I will get extensive discounts on my stay