Star Trek coming to Universal?

[ThemeParks4Life]

This thread brings back memories....

I think the window for a Star Trek attraction right now has passed. Without an active film franchise, there is not a mass appealing subject to build off of. The Paramount+ shows don't have half the cultural footprint NuTrek did, which was already contested by Beyond underperforming a bit. There needs to be some familiarity or connection for the general public to get on board with a Star Trek ride; Galaxy's Edge is a mixed bag largely because visitors don't feel immersed in the Star Wars universe when they're walking through the land.

Since this thread was last active, Dune has frankly become the current, relevant sci-fi franchise for a standalone attraction if Uni wanted to use a third party IP.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Wow didn't realize Star Trek is so niche? Love Star Trek! All my college friends, guys and girls know Star Trek! My family grew up watching Star Trek with our uncles. "live long and prosper!" Beam me up, Scotty! I am 37 years old though. Thought everybody has seen a Star Trek movie. lol. So out of touch of what is popular. Never seen Zelda, or sponge bob, which everyone seems to love!

i also thought that star trek was as big as harry potter or lord of the rings. werent the star trek conventions were huge?
so would star trek just be too boring? for modern audiences?

A complication with the theme park application of Star Trek is that you're kind of limited in terms of the sort of attractions that would really make sense. You'd want to capture the excitement and thrill of a space battle, so basically the ideal Trek ride would be Star Tours. But doing "just" another simulator seems like a pretty tired idea at this point.

Another wrinkle is deciding which Star Trek property to base the attraction around. Do the newer stuff, and you risk turning off the fans who don't like the new Trek stuff (like me, for example!). Do the older stuff, and you'll be accused of being out of date/touch.

I would love to see Star Trek make it into the parks, but it's tricky. I also think anything they'd do would end up being compared to Star Trek: The Experience from Las Vegas, which was pretty much perfect.

the original shows are more iconic but would be more boring?

20-something male here. I've only ever known Star Trek as Star Wars for nerds haha. What my brain thinks of regarding the IP is the Enterprise, the jumpsuits, the Phaser guns, beam me up scotty, Red Shirts always die, Pigs in Space, and RedLetterMedia.

Star Trek is a notable franchise and could make for a fine basis for a theme park attraction, but it also hits beats already done by Universal and Disney already. Simulators, action stunt shows, etc. I don't think a Star Trek RotR could even possibly hit as well as the current Star Wars one already has and does.

I don't mean offense to anyone who enjoys the property, it's probably got some great material, but it's just never interested me.

when i mentioned knowing about star trek from memes, i meant redlettermedia lol, but didnt mention them since they can be controversial lol

 

[IzzyB]

Wow didn't realize Star Trek is so niche? Love Star Trek! All my college friends, guys and girls know Star Trek! My family grew up watching Star Trek with our uncles. "live long and prosper!" Beam me up, Scotty! I am 37 years old though. Thought everybody has seen a Star Trek movie. lol. So out of touch of what is popular. Never seen Zelda, or sponge bob, which everyone seems to love!

I am in my 40s and yes I know of Star Trek and even watched one of the series at one point. But I also hung out with a pretty nerdy crowd. When I get outside that crowd it isn't something I hear about or see people watching.

Yeah, it's worth keeping in mind that every Chris Pine Star Trek movie made more than $350 million. it's not Star Wars by any means, but there's certainly an audience — particularly going back a generation or two.

I agree movies do OK, but I think other IPs do better and capture the hearts of the younger generation. I personally think that is what is missing from Star Trek, I don't know any boy who even knows what Star Trek is. My son has an entire toy area for Star Wars and you find Star Wars merch everywhere. Even though his father watches Star Trek, he doesn't have a clue what it is and I don't see it in the stores.

Another major consideration here is merch. Trek is second only to Potter in being an IP ideally designed to sell souvenirs. Unlike franchises like SW and LotR, the goods in Trek are mass-produced and signify a particular social role rather then an individual identity - a Trek uniform functions much like a Potter school robe. You're not dressing like Hermione or Riker, you're dressing like YOU were actually immersed in the fictional world. With phasers, you also have a single type of item that has had many iterations featured in the various versions of the franchise, akin to wands and sabres. I can easily see a future in which Uni is full not only of folks in flowing wizard robes and scarves but of folks in various kinds of Starfleet uniform as well.

Where can you even buy Star Trek Merch? Because is it really a Merch seller? I would think if it was you would see it in the stores more. I see Star Wars, HP, Nintendo, and Transformers Merch everywhere. Not so much Star Trek. No t-shirts in the boys section.

 

[Jake S]

I agree movies do OK, but I think other IPs do better and capture the hearts of the younger generation. I personally think that is what is missing from Star Trek, I don't know any boy who even knows what Star Trek is. My son has an entire toy area for Star Wars and you find Star Wars merch everywhere. Even though his father watches Star Trek, he doesn't have a clue what it is and I don't see it in the stores.

Right, but kids don’t buy theme park tickets. Parents do. Kids aren’t asking for Lord of the Rings toys but I believe it would do quite well in a theme park setting.

 

[IzzyB]

Right, but kids don’t buy theme park tickets. Parents do. Kids aren’t asking for Lord of the Rings toys but I believe it would do quite well in a theme park setting.

But a lot of families buy tickets because of kids. I am getting Universal tickets because my son is now tall enough to ride the rides and he loves Transformers and Spiderman. I will want Epic because my daughter loves how to train your dragon. I got Sea World because my kids love animals and coasters. I go to Dollywood every year because my kids love it. Once you have kids your destinations are less about what you like and more about what your kids are interested in. The reason we are not doing Disney right now is none of my kids are in the Princess phase and would prefer Uni. My other friends have Disney passes because their 6 year old daughter is in the Princess phase.

I just personally think there are other IPs on Universals list that would be more popular to more people. I am not saying Star Trek would be a flop and potentially down the road a single ride would be wise. Just think other projects will be ahead of this.

 

[Mad Dog]

My thoughts are that a good Star Trek attraction would probably do well, perhaps more because it's science fiction, and not so much the IP itself. But time has passed by for the allure of a full land. So I'd think no to a ST land....The poster who mentioned a Sci Fi land (ST replacing FF), in conjunction with MIB, has an idea that could work.