What’s the coolest thing about Las Vegas? Yeah, those insanely ginormous casinos. All the different themed ones are just so much fun to see from a distance, as well as from inside.
The New York shows off huge landmarks from the Big Apple. The Venetian actually has a canal system in the middle of its shopping mall, completely with gondola rides! The Paris has its own Eiffel Tower that you can actually go up for a gorgeous view, while you digest the most delicious crepes. Yes, each Casino seems to outdo the next one. Bigger. Better. More detailed. More interactive. It’s basically a theme park for adults. I’d say “without the rides,” except there’s plenty of those too!
But what gets me is that pop culture needs to get in on the fun. Years ago, I recall going to The Star Trek Experience in one of the hotels. It was a small part of a hotel, but it had a neat 4-D type of adventure where you’re walking around the Enterprise and encounter The Borg. It was definitely fun, and at the end of the ride, you enter a gift shop and Quark’s Bar! It’s a legitimate bar that looks just like the Ferengi’s bar from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was really awesome, but sadly shut down in recent years.
So why aren’t others joining in? How amazingly awesome would a Star Wars-themed casino be? It could look like the Death Star from outside! Take your pick of costumes for casino dealers to be dressed as. Definitely set up a Star Wars Cantina Bar full of alien-themed drinks and appetizers. Put in a Star Wars Museum with all sorts of props from the movies. Do special Trilogy Showings in a movie theater.
There’s a regular Star Wars Celebration held every year to honor the Galaxy’s coolest movie ever, so why not expand that to a huge themed casino? Stars can regularly show up for autographs. It’s the perfect opportunity to really offer a slew of activities, rides, and all-around entertainment for kids! There’s already a number of Star Wars slot machines all over Vegas, so it’s not like Lucas is afraid to get involved. He could even set up some online casinos offshore or overseas like www.partycasino.com, to let Americans gamble online and get even more entrenched in the Star Wars lore.
Just picture walking around the actual Star Wars Casino in Vegas. You saunter up to a Black Jack table and see a dealer dressed like Han Solo, complete with white shirt and black vest. He takes your chips credits, flips over your cards and instead of “good luck,” he gives a wink and says, “May the Force Be With You.”
How cool would it be to have a Star Wars Casino?
While I was compensated for this post, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own and in no way were influenced by the company.
Photo via Flickr
It would definitely be cool … to me. But I don’t know about the larger crowd who comes to Vegas. I was a huge fan of the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton (which, as you said, went away a few years ago … and the hotel is not even called the Las Vegas Hilton anymore). And while I loved drinking at Quark’s Bar, it was never too crowded.
I was actually there on the last weekend it was open … it was packed with Star Trek fans in costume all lamenting the fact that it was going away. When we went on the Experience “ride” it was hard to tell who the actors were and who the riders were! We ended up drinking at Quark’s bar into the wee hours chatting with all the folks there. I still have a drink list that I borrowed from there that night (even the menus were for sale).
So, yes, I’d go … but I fear that I’d just be going to the last weekend of the Star Wars casino a few years after it opened, sharing stories with a guy dressed as Chewy in the Mos Eisley Cantina while the band played a lamentable version of the famous cantina song…
I totally get what you’re saying, Dave, but two things:
1) This is Star Wars, not Star Trek. Much bigger, broader appeal.
2) The biggest problem with the Star Trek Experience was that it was just one event, a small part, of a “normal” hotel. And it was off the beaten path a bit. If they set up a full-fledged casino on the strip, that was completely Star Trek themed (shape the whole building like the Enterprise), it certainly would’ve done more to attract a bigger crowd.