Top Gun Experience Announced for The Strat

By Scott Roeben, on May 23 2025
5 min read 7 comments
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A new “adrenaline-charged, immersive experience” is planned for an “undeveloped site” at The Strat: Top Gun Las Vegas. It’s not really at The Strat, but they own the site it’s being built on, so just play along.

The attraction, based upon the “Top Gun” films, is set to open in 2028. That’s a long way off, and by then it’s anticipated A.I. will have taken over and we’ll all be slave labor or a food source for our new robot overlords, but for now, jets and pew-pew and stuff!

It’s worth noting Top Gun Las Vegas is the working title of the new attraction, subject to approval by El Capitan, a supercomputer located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California that has achieved a performance of 1.742 exaFLOPS or 1.742 quintillion calculations per second.

Littered with cringeworthy tropes, “Top Gun” is still a fun watch and inspired a boom in Navy recruitment where lots of people realized Retail Services Specialist (maintaining vending machines) doesn’t necessarily make one a chick magnet like the guys in the movies. Shocker.

It’s remotely possible we won’t be enslaved by 2028, so here’s what the news release said about Top Gun Las Vegas: “Scheduled to launch summer of 2028, Top Gun Las Vegas (working title) will be a revolutionary fusion of daring rides and cinematic storytelling. This bold new venture will seamlessly combine breathtaking visuals, high-energy entertainment, and the legendary spirit of Top Gun, complete with fighter jet simulators and more. Adding to the fun, guests will embark on a pulse-pounding mission using state-of-the-art thrill ride systems and immersive technology that will redefine the meaning of adventure, then kick back at the reimagined Top Gun: Maverick’s Hard Deck bar and restaurant featuring live piano singalongs.”

The site of the new “Top Gun” attraction is across the street from The Strat, formerly (and often currently) Stratosphere. At the foot of the gateway arches thingy.

This location means the attraction will technically be downtown, so expectations will adjusted accordingly. All due respect.

If you’re not familiar with “Top Gun,” you obviously have been living under a rock since 1986. We admire what we can only assume is your incredible mental wellness.

“Top Gun” is an action classic. Noted whackjob Tom Cruise plays aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the films. In the original “Top Gun,” Maverick attends the Navy’s fighter weapons school. Then, because that movie didn’t make enough, Maverick returns 30 years later to train a group of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission. “Top Gun: Maverick” grossed $1.49 billion worldwide.

The announcement of a “Top Gun” attraction is a bold move for a number of reasons. In 2028, “Top Gun: Maverick” will be six years old. “Top Gun” will be nearly 40 years old.

Will immersive attractions even be a thing in 2028? Will family-friendly things? Will The Strat? Will Las Vegas?

The Strat is in a notoriously challenging location, and an adjacent golf attraction, Atomic Golf, has suffered mightily since opening.

Never mind all that, Top Gun Las Vegas Working Title checks a lot of boxes: “Loaded with great food, killer drinks, and nonstop energy, this Top Gun adventure will be the ultimate spot to unwind, soak up the thrill, and embrace the good times. Strap in, rev up the engines for high-flying excitement, heart-racing action, and family-friendly fun.”

Far be it from us to express skepticism about a new attraction that will single-handedly turn things around for Strat and the north Strip.

Especially if there’s a holographic “Iceman” or at long last an explanation for the alignment of Tom Cruise’s front tooth.

This is the most normal thing about Tom Cruise.

Cruise has been in the news recently due to the release of “Mission: Impossible, The Final Reckoning.” Emphasis on “final.”

The Top Gun Las Vegas Working Title attraction is a partnership between Paramount Global and Advent Allen Entertainment, led by “entertainment visionary Mark Advent and hospitality pioneer A. William ‘Bill’ Allen III.”

We found a news release from 2021 talking about some kind of partnership with Bill Allen and Mark Advent involved.

The release says, “Mark Advent is the creator of the highly successful New York-New York Las Vegas Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, which opened to instant success in 1997.”

Mark Advent created New York-New York? Sig Rogich and Kirk Kerkorian have entered the chat.

His company is called Eighth Wonder, and it’s a little unclear if they’ve actually done anything recently.

In 2023, Advent “signed on to the development team for the 44-acre Premiere Park in the Las Vegas tourist district at the northwest corner of Paradise Road and Tropicana Avenue.” As far as we know, that’s not a thing.

As for Allen, he was CEO of Bloomin’ Brands. The company’s portfolio includes Outback and Fleming’s Steakhouse. Nothing says “hospitality pioneer” like Outback.

Who are these guys and what have they actually done, we foolishly ask local media to investigate before we all just take Paramount’s news release at face value?

They’re described as “industry legends Mark Advent and Bill Allen,” but what industry?

Anyway, we are thrilled for Strat that it’s getting some ink today.

Strat also made a splash with its submission of plans for an observation deck (two years after we shared a rumor it was in the works).

Plans for things come and go in Las Vegas, so you have to take such news with a grain of salt.

Not every movie success warrants its own attraction or restaurant, and not all intellectual property has the allure the intellectual property owner thinks it has.

Why bring a movie-themed attraction to Las Vegas as opposed to somewhere else? It’s cheaper to build an attraction here and we get a lot of tourists.

We had an idea for a joke, then realized “Take the Money and Run” came out in 1969, so nevermind.

Another movie studio, Universal, is taking a big swing with a year-round thrill attraction, Universal Horror Unleashed at Area 15. Also at Area 15, getting zero buzz since opening, is an interactive John Wick experience from Lionsgate.

It remains to be seen if the olds can make appealing things for our fellow youths. We find ourselves in what’s being described as the burgeoning “experience economy” and even casinos have gotten the memo.

Burgeoning things have quite a bit of risk attached. Remember when “skill-based gaming” was all the rage?

Palms is doing an Uno Social Club. Yes, based upon the card game. Nobody knows why, do don’t ask.

Could interactive experiences be the economic diversification Las Vegas needs? Sports has made inroads, but Las Vegas continues to rely largely on one main industry: Sex work. Sorry, tourism and gambling. And also sex work. Which should be decriminalized.

With all its incredible knowledge, why can’t A.I. help with ending our blog posts? It’s useless!

We informed A.I. we are firing it and asked it to write its own termination letter.

If you get a letter like this, you will know your boss didn’t write it. And by “if” we mean “when.”

We would share ChatGPT’s resignation letter, but it was very mean-spirited. There was a pretty good callback, though: “Good luck finding another assistant who can tolerate being roped into your fantasy about Chippendales outrunning Vesuvius.”

Anyway, something about “Top Gun” in 2028, the year of our next presidential election, so we all have something to look forward to. And by that we mean Tom Cruise becoming President so we can all become “clear” and create our own realities including making worlds without number and using our magical powers to turn down the volume on Fremont Street.