Here's my week in Vegas review, be warned, it's very long!
10-17-2004, 07:38 AM
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Here's my week in Vegas review, be warned, it's very long!
First off, this was for my honeymoon (belated, we were married 4 months ago). My wife and I are not big drinkers, parties, or club goers. We stayed at the Tahiti resort (timeshare) which my parents own. It's on Tropicana about 2-3 miles down from Las Vegas Blvd (The Strip). We had shuttle service to Orleans, NYNY, Mirage, or Riveria. We walked everywhere else.
We arrived Saturday in the early evening. We flew Southwest, flight was nice. Unlike most people around here, I find nothing wrong with Southwest, and the tickets were free (gift). You walk off the plane and within 10 seconds are slot machines, right in the airport. Definately Vegas. We had to wait 30 minutes for luggage to show up on the belt, first impression was Vegas airport is slow. But maybe it's just because of how many people there are in the airport (A LOT). There are big screens with info about shows and commercials in the baggage claim area, it gives off an atmosphere of excitement.
During the next week,we saw the following shows:
Skintight - topless revue at Harrah's. We had 2 for 1 tickets, which is why we saw it. That cost about $60 after taxes (there is 10% entertainment tax on all live performances FYI, on top of sales tax). This show has Shannon O'Keefe (playboy fame) as the star and some black guy. Good show, we had excellent seats, 4th row back. Good view of the boobies. The 5 showgirls plus Shannon, and 3 guys. The showgirls can actually dance (according to the wife) in this particular show. Most showgirls have small ***** FYI. B sizes are the biggest. The theater is small and quaint, couple hundred people
"O" (Cirque du Soleil) - At Bellagio. This show is based on water. The theater is large. Much more Vegas style, it was what I expected from a theater. The stage is many pieces that submerge into the water. Cirque Du Soleil shows are all about the music (live) and the acrobatics and those type of things. Very artsy, very cool, very expensive. $100/per person, only thing cheaper was limited view and that was only like $10 off per person. Our seats were balcony, 1 row frm the last row and still $200, You could see everything except the detail on makeup/costumes.
Blue Man Group - At Luxor. Most people know what Blue Man is. This show is simply awesome . Great live music, lots of fun, audience participation is very cool. I saw someone comment that this is a club show not and arena show and I disagree (mostly). It wouldn't go over well in an 60k seat arena, but in the THEATER it was setup in (again, another large one like O, probably 5k seats or something) it is perfect setup. This should simply would NOT have hte same impact in a smaller atmosphere because of the way the audience participates, IMO. We had excellent seats again. Row L (they started at A) and almost center stage. Tickets were $100/ea but WELL worth it. If you see one show at all, Blue Man is the one to see IMO.
Viva Las Vegas - variety show/revue at the Stratosphere. We had free buffet with 2 show tickets, so we said what the hell. This is a moderate theater, maybe 1000 seats, all set around tables. Not topless. 1 female singer, 3 commedians, and 5 or 6 showgirls. they couldn't dance as well as the Skintight ones.
David Brunner - standup comedy at Las Vegas Hilton. Our timeshare comped us 2 free tickets .It's a cabaret environment, first come first serve for seats. This is a $120 show normally. Good comedy.
Lance Burton "Master Magician" - Monte Carlo, magic show. Very cool magic show, lots of levetating and making people disappear. If you want to see magic, this one (or the Amazing Jonathan for "weird magic") are supposed to be the best in town. We go free tickets (balcony) for seeing a timeshare presentation.
One night we went to Freemont street. This is "old vegas". Where older hotels like the Golden Nugget still reside. Freemont street used to be the strip but now its all concrete walkways with this huge overhead LED based video screen by LG. Largest screen in the world they say. Every hour they do these cool shows. Freemont street is what you expect to see from Vegas based on what you see in older movies. Lots of bright lights every inch. On the Strip, where all the megaresorts on,things are much more spread out, but the resorts are more spectacular. Two different atmospheres.
Buffet wise, we had a few generic buffets, but one that really stood out in my mine was Paris. It was $40 forl unch, but worth it. Selection was huge and it was not just ordinary foods like some of the other buffets. I've read the ALaddin buffet is a good one as well.
We had some expensive dinner at Prime Steakhouse at Bellagio . That was a $200 meal after tip with only 2 drinks. The Montel Carlo Pub and Brewery is a must see for you beer drinkers, and a good place for sandwiches, burgers, etc, at normal prices. Harrahs outdoor court should a must see. The bar tenders flip bottles Cocktail style, but 10x more thent hat. Much more impressive. At night they also do fire breathing and the place isprobably crazy. Live music too.
The Fountains of Bellagios are another must see at night. These is dancing water and high shooting water canons coreographed to a variety of music tunes. Very impressive. We watched it for 1 hour to see all the different performances.
We did the other usual stuff, walked the strpped at day and night, lots of good pictures from my little S400. Walked through all the casinos/hotel lobbies. Most were just "eh" but others were very impressive like the Las Vegas Hilton, Bellagio, and Luxor, Venetian. The Grand Canal shops of the Venetian are a cool setup. The forum shops of Caesars were not as impressive. Paris is the best themed setup after a city, but I think they did an amazing job with Egyptian them of the Luxor.
We played some slots, no table gambling. Didn't really have time to sit down and do that. I won $35 one night, but we lost that combined over other nights. Probably down $20-30 in total in gambling. Could have been worse!
A few people now have told me food/drinks are cheap in Vegas, and I don't think they were compared to what you'd normally spend downtown in any major city. If you figure buffets are a wide choice of meals, then they could be considered cheap, but only if you actually eat that much food. Otherwise it's a lot of extra cash that you don't need to spend . Drinks were a few dollars more on average, but you do get MOSTLY liquour, say 90% or more of any given mixed drink. I don't drink beer, so I can't comment on those prices. Expect to spend a lot of cash on food and drink if you plan to eat/drink out every night. Next time I plan to eat in more (full kitchen at timeshare) and spend more money on shows.
Overall, Vegas is a great place and you need a good month to cover everything if you want to do all the shows, places to eat, gambling, etc. Everyone should go at least once in their lifetime. Since the wife and I are show people, we plan to go back many times to cover everything and see how The Strip expands. The new Wynn resort opens next year and will bring even more to the Strip.
We arrived Saturday in the early evening. We flew Southwest, flight was nice. Unlike most people around here, I find nothing wrong with Southwest, and the tickets were free (gift). You walk off the plane and within 10 seconds are slot machines, right in the airport. Definately Vegas. We had to wait 30 minutes for luggage to show up on the belt, first impression was Vegas airport is slow. But maybe it's just because of how many people there are in the airport (A LOT). There are big screens with info about shows and commercials in the baggage claim area, it gives off an atmosphere of excitement.
During the next week,we saw the following shows:
Skintight - topless revue at Harrah's. We had 2 for 1 tickets, which is why we saw it. That cost about $60 after taxes (there is 10% entertainment tax on all live performances FYI, on top of sales tax). This show has Shannon O'Keefe (playboy fame) as the star and some black guy. Good show, we had excellent seats, 4th row back. Good view of the boobies. The 5 showgirls plus Shannon, and 3 guys. The showgirls can actually dance (according to the wife) in this particular show. Most showgirls have small ***** FYI. B sizes are the biggest. The theater is small and quaint, couple hundred people
"O" (Cirque du Soleil) - At Bellagio. This show is based on water. The theater is large. Much more Vegas style, it was what I expected from a theater. The stage is many pieces that submerge into the water. Cirque Du Soleil shows are all about the music (live) and the acrobatics and those type of things. Very artsy, very cool, very expensive. $100/per person, only thing cheaper was limited view and that was only like $10 off per person. Our seats were balcony, 1 row frm the last row and still $200, You could see everything except the detail on makeup/costumes.
Blue Man Group - At Luxor. Most people know what Blue Man is. This show is simply awesome . Great live music, lots of fun, audience participation is very cool. I saw someone comment that this is a club show not and arena show and I disagree (mostly). It wouldn't go over well in an 60k seat arena, but in the THEATER it was setup in (again, another large one like O, probably 5k seats or something) it is perfect setup. This should simply would NOT have hte same impact in a smaller atmosphere because of the way the audience participates, IMO. We had excellent seats again. Row L (they started at A) and almost center stage. Tickets were $100/ea but WELL worth it. If you see one show at all, Blue Man is the one to see IMO.
Viva Las Vegas - variety show/revue at the Stratosphere. We had free buffet with 2 show tickets, so we said what the hell. This is a moderate theater, maybe 1000 seats, all set around tables. Not topless. 1 female singer, 3 commedians, and 5 or 6 showgirls. they couldn't dance as well as the Skintight ones.
David Brunner - standup comedy at Las Vegas Hilton. Our timeshare comped us 2 free tickets .It's a cabaret environment, first come first serve for seats. This is a $120 show normally. Good comedy.
Lance Burton "Master Magician" - Monte Carlo, magic show. Very cool magic show, lots of levetating and making people disappear. If you want to see magic, this one (or the Amazing Jonathan for "weird magic") are supposed to be the best in town. We go free tickets (balcony) for seeing a timeshare presentation.
One night we went to Freemont street. This is "old vegas". Where older hotels like the Golden Nugget still reside. Freemont street used to be the strip but now its all concrete walkways with this huge overhead LED based video screen by LG. Largest screen in the world they say. Every hour they do these cool shows. Freemont street is what you expect to see from Vegas based on what you see in older movies. Lots of bright lights every inch. On the Strip, where all the megaresorts on,things are much more spread out, but the resorts are more spectacular. Two different atmospheres.
Buffet wise, we had a few generic buffets, but one that really stood out in my mine was Paris. It was $40 forl unch, but worth it. Selection was huge and it was not just ordinary foods like some of the other buffets. I've read the ALaddin buffet is a good one as well.
We had some expensive dinner at Prime Steakhouse at Bellagio . That was a $200 meal after tip with only 2 drinks. The Montel Carlo Pub and Brewery is a must see for you beer drinkers, and a good place for sandwiches, burgers, etc, at normal prices. Harrahs outdoor court should a must see. The bar tenders flip bottles Cocktail style, but 10x more thent hat. Much more impressive. At night they also do fire breathing and the place isprobably crazy. Live music too.
The Fountains of Bellagios are another must see at night. These is dancing water and high shooting water canons coreographed to a variety of music tunes. Very impressive. We watched it for 1 hour to see all the different performances.
We did the other usual stuff, walked the strpped at day and night, lots of good pictures from my little S400. Walked through all the casinos/hotel lobbies. Most were just "eh" but others were very impressive like the Las Vegas Hilton, Bellagio, and Luxor, Venetian. The Grand Canal shops of the Venetian are a cool setup. The forum shops of Caesars were not as impressive. Paris is the best themed setup after a city, but I think they did an amazing job with Egyptian them of the Luxor.
We played some slots, no table gambling. Didn't really have time to sit down and do that. I won $35 one night, but we lost that combined over other nights. Probably down $20-30 in total in gambling. Could have been worse!
A few people now have told me food/drinks are cheap in Vegas, and I don't think they were compared to what you'd normally spend downtown in any major city. If you figure buffets are a wide choice of meals, then they could be considered cheap, but only if you actually eat that much food. Otherwise it's a lot of extra cash that you don't need to spend . Drinks were a few dollars more on average, but you do get MOSTLY liquour, say 90% or more of any given mixed drink. I don't drink beer, so I can't comment on those prices. Expect to spend a lot of cash on food and drink if you plan to eat/drink out every night. Next time I plan to eat in more (full kitchen at timeshare) and spend more money on shows.
Overall, Vegas is a great place and you need a good month to cover everything if you want to do all the shows, places to eat, gambling, etc. Everyone should go at least once in their lifetime. Since the wife and I are show people, we plan to go back many times to cover everything and see how The Strip expands. The new Wynn resort opens next year and will bring even more to the Strip.
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