Las Vegas

[Amina516]

Have you been? What did you do? What should I do?

I am fortunate enough to have a few days to get away and have booked flight and hotel to Vegas for just 3 days with the hubby.

I know there will likely be so many things to do that I wont be able to decide. We would like to go to the stratosphere for some possible rides (i know thats way up and off the strip) and to see the insane aquariaum at Mandaly Bay. I had wanted to see a Cirque Du Soleil show but the one show that plays on Thursdays when I wanted to go, has been suspended for now (im not complaining, someone fell and died).

Any suggestions for a first timer? I figure what ever I dont get to this time around, will just inspire me to come back later.

[Jetfire]

I've been there multiple times, and I'm heading back down in a couple of weeks myself. Here are some of my tips and experiences.

If you rent a car or bring your own car, it opens up a lot more options. Hoover Dam is only an hour or so away; you could go check it out. Also the Speedway does tours that are quite neat if you're any sort of racing fan.

If you're just on foot, then the buses are fine for your needs. The Ace and Deuce (renamed something else, but they are the double length and double decker buses) run up and down the Strip and head down to Freemont street all day. Day and MultiDay passes are pretty cheap, and if you go the other way you can get off at a mall and an outlet mall for some shopping. It also takes you past the Stratosphere (but check the route, only one of the bus routes go right by the Stratosphere)

Make sure you go down to Freemont for an evening. The show in the sky is neat. And you can zipline down the street if you want.

Cirque shows are great. I've seen the Beatles show and loved it; the show you wanted to see is starting up again shortly so it might be available again as well.

The Penn and Teller show at the Rio is great as well. You can get a free (plus Tip) shuttle to the Rio from most of Harrah's properties (Balleys, Ceasars, etc...) The Rio is advertising a zipline between their two towers now too, but it's probably an arm and a leg. Might be worth it if you're into that sort of thing.

Blue Man group is a great show too. Even if you don't go for the show itself, try to be around their theatre before the show starts; they do a small parade that's neat to watch.

The Terry Fator show is great too; the best thing to come out of America's Got Talent IMO.

Vegas is HOT and DRY. So make sure you drink plenty of water and other (non alcoholic) liquids. There are CVS and Walgreen pharamacies every other block or so, which provide a cheaper place to stock up on drinks and snacks, instead of buying in the casinos themselves. Most of the shops in the casinos are charging Movie Theater level prices, so the pharmacy options are nice. If you go out on the strip itself, you can find more normally priced fast food restaurants too.

Be prepared to walk ALOT, even if you have a car. The Casinos are HUGE and tend to take you in roundabout routes. A monorail pass is good to go see a number of them with minimal outside time. On the opposite side of the strip, there are monorails between some of the casinos (Bellagio to Aria, and Luxor to Excalibur) which are automated and free. Wandering among the casinos is worth it, just to see what's going on.

In any case, the Number 1 thing to do is STAY HYDRATED. Otherwise, just go and have fun and see what catches your eye. (But drink lots of water; I had one friend who went to Vegas and he got sick after a few days due to dehydration issues)

[lvsssycat]

Love Vegas.

At the Strat they do a great happy hour on Level 107-which is right above the spinning restaurant and just below the rides. From 5-7 it's half price martinis and apps. If you do that on your way to the rides, go to the desk behind the elevators and tell them you are going up for drinks and you won't have to wait in the long ride line, you go right up.
You can watch people jump off the building while having cocktails--which is a blast. You can just walk up to the rides when you are done there.

Definitely wear comfortable shoes and drink lots of h2o.

I also enjoyed the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor.

Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay is cool.

Last time I was there I bought a package deal and got the Titanic Ex, Shark Reef and the roller coaster ride at NY NY for about 50 bucks--good deal.

Have fun!!!!

[Victory Sabre]

I'm leaving for there in a week from today (I'll be in the air in a week from right now).
Here's the wikitravel page for Vegas.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Las_Vegas

Here's the link to the metro bus, where you can get schedules.
http://www.rtcsnv.com/transit/routes-maps-schedules/

If you, or hubbie is at all into pinball, go to the pinball museum.
http://www.pinballmuseum.org/

If you like history, and ghost towns, there's tons of them in Nevada.
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/nv.html

Also - always get the casino cards. You can get some pretty good rewards for signing up. I've got to find mine, and get them into the suitcase.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Cirque shows are great. I've seen the Beatles show and loved it; the show you wanted to see is starting up again shortly so it might be available again as well.

Love. Go see it. The combination of Beatles music and Cirque du Soleil aerialists, acrobats and dancers is AMAZING.

Definitely wear comfortable walking shoes. I wouldn't be doing flip flops.

Stay hydrated. You can get bottled water at the aforementioned drugstores, but all the casinos also have convenience stores if you can't get to one. It will be more expensive there though. Whatever you do, don't buy your bottled water from people on the street.

Don't make eye contact with the slap n' slippers--the people who stand on the sidewalk and hand out flyers for sex places. I call them slap n' slippers because they smack the flyers against the palms of their hands, and then try to hand out the flyers to people passing by. Of course, ignore this if you want flyers from sex places.

Second the recommendation for Fremont Street. I've had my best gambling luck there, and the lights over the street are pretty cool.

[Jester]

If they're in town, go see Penn & Teller's show at the Rio. Spectacular!

[Jetfire]

I forgot about it but yes, get the Casino cards, even if you don't gamble much. Especially get it for the hotel you stay at or for any shows you go to. Get the cards BEFORE you buy your tix too. Mom and I have had Total Rewards for years, and we've gotten excellent deals on our visits through the years; we could stay weekday nights at Balleys for free basically due to our previous visits.

You can probably get your better tix deals in Vegas when you're there; Tix4Less or whatever those kiosks are have decent deals for most of the popular shows, but not all of them.

And I'd third Penn and Teller but I suggested them first. After the show they tend to wait outside the theater and are very approachable.

[Victory Sabre]

And I'd third Penn and Teller but I suggested them first. After the show they tend to wait outside the theater and are very approachable.

Well, I'd third them, but I've never seen them, but plan on it Tuesday. I also know they greet the audience after the show. How cool is that.

[Jester]

It's very cool. The one part of it that pissed me off was that Teller, the short one in the act, is actually 5'10"...making him 2 inches TALLER than me.

He looks so short because Penn is 6'6". Which is pretty damn tall.

[Victory Sabre]

Yeah, I'll be looking up at both of them, just a lot more for Penn. I'll also be wearing my Penn's Sunday School shirt when I meet them after the show.

[Aislin]

The show that was canceled Ka, is back running minus the scene in which the artist was killed. http://www.tix4tonight.com/ sells half price and almost half off tickets to popular shows and if you buy one ticket you get to skip the line the next day. They also have half off meals and buffets. We have an every other year timeshare at planet Hollywood so we are always looking for deals.

[violiavampyr]

One of these I hope to go to Vegas, but first I need to convince BF that it's ok to go on vacation without the kids every now and again.

I'd like to stay someplace with a purely epic pool.

[Antisocial_Worker]

My boyfriend went with some friends last month, and recommends the Erotic Heritage Museum and liked downtown more than the Strip. Said the hotels downtown have more character and are more reasonably priced anyway.

[Dentarthurdent]

Hoover Dam is totally worth seeing. It's probably the most impressive manmade thing I've seen. All I did in Vegas was go to a casino and flush $20 down the toilet, cheerfully stop gambling and get a burger, and proceed to get lost for 4 hours, during which time I pulled into a sketchy 7-11 parking lot full of hookers. Hookers need slurpees, too. So yeah, all I really have to say about that general area is that you should see the Hoover Dam.

I understand there are...shows and things. Someday I will go see some. Until then, this is all I've got.

[Amina516]

[URL="http://www.mirage.com/entertainment/love.aspx"]. Of course, ignore this if you want flyers from sex places. .

Um, who doesnt?!?! I promised some friends some hooker papers so I have to pick up a few anyways. Lol.



Victory, thanks for the awesome links! I wouldnt have thought to look at the Vegas Wiki page. It breaks down all the shows and goins on.

unfortunately, the Penn and Teller show is not available on any of the dates we'll be going, so thats out. Going to try to see Ka (Thanks Aislin for showing me its back on!!), since thats the only Cirque show on thursday and hit up Mandalay Bay Shark Reef at some point.

Someone, thanks for the tips on Happy Hour at the Stratosphere. Drinking and watching people leap off a building sounds amazing.

Im so excited!! Flight leaves tomorrow evening.