CSI: The Experience inside the MGM

Recently I had the opportunity to check out CSI: The Experience inside the MGM.  Going in, I had no knowledge of the television show, so I didn’t really know what to expect.  I am not sure whether that added to, or takes away from the experience.

Overall, it wasn’t the most fun thing I have done in this city, but it was ok.  I am not sure though that I would go if I had to pay full price.

You walk in and are immediately inside a gift shop.  Of course they need to capitalize on merchandise to get as much money as they can.  There, you sign in a go over to see the “lead investigator” who assigns you to one of three cases.  A short video follows, telling you what you will see inside as well as what you will do after you leave your “crime scene.”

Our scene involved a body found in the desert.  We were to look for any clues that would help us eventually solve the crime.  It wasn’t nearly as interactive as I would have liked.  We had to stay behind ropes and just look in on the scene.  After about 5 minutes, we felt we has seen all there was to see.

We then made our way out to different stations where we could use the evidence we had collected to help us solve the crime.  While these were interesting and taught me a lot about forensic science, everything seemed to be spoon fed to us.  There was really no thought required as the answers we sought were practically given to us.  We wrote what we learned from each station on our clipboard and eventually it would lead to us finding the guilty party.

At the end, there was no real mystery as the guilty party was apparent.  

Finally you can receive some diploma and/or take some photos, of course all for a price.  We declined as I really don’t like this system of trying to milk even more money from people who had already paid quite a bit to get in in the first place.  Unfortunately, inside the crime scenes you are not allowed to take photos.

Overall, I would give this a very mild recommendation.  I certainly would not pay full price, but if you can find some discount tickets, or better yet comps, it is an ok way to spend an hour or so.  It certainly could use a makeover though in order to bring it up to date with other tourist attractions that can be found in the city.

If you want to learn more about CSI: The Experience, you can check them out here.