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Monorail?

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by bobbylight350z, Jan 26, 2016.

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  1. bobbylight350z

    bobbylight350z Tourist

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    I am going to Vegas for the first time this April and I had some questions about getting around. I notice that nobody really seems to mention the monorail here, but it is a very quick (perhaps the quickest?) means of travel on the strip? I saw that it is quite expensive to be "public transportation", but that aside is it decent? Let me explain my plan first, since the walkways around the strip look very confusing.

    3 of us, (21, 21, 23) are going to be staying the the Flamingo from SAT Apr 2nd - THURS Apr 7th.
    I want to take 2 whole afternoons, or as long as it takes - to visit/walk-through the following Hotels. I will go south one day, and north the next.

    From Flamingo South:

    -Caesar's Palace
    -Bellagio
    -Paris (ride Eiffel Tower)
    -Cosmo
    -PH
    -Monte Carlo (want a few checks from here,rumor has it a re-brand could be on the way?
    (hard rock cafe)
    -NYNY (ride coaster)
    -MGM Grand
    -Tropicana (as a history buff, I love anything left from the rat pack days, even if only in spirit)
    -Excalibur
    (walk to IN & OUT)
    -Luxor
    -Mandalay Bay


    From Flamingo North
    -LINQ
    -High Roller
    -Mirage
    -Venetian
    -Wynn
    -Circus Circus (I love Fear and Loathing and want to see what is left of the rotating bar, even if the alcohol is gone)
    -SLS
    -Stratosphere (observation tower)


    I'm sure all of this seems very un-ordinary and possibly just a downright waste of time, but I am a completion-ist and I get a great satisfaction from just seeing and experiencing all of these places, taking pictures, and being able to say "I've been there".
    We all know plans in Vegas are hard to keep but we will see.

    Is an all-day pass on the monorail the quickest way to move between these places considering what I want to do?
     
  2. Canadianeh

    Canadianeh Tourist

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    Wow, I wouldn't think you'd find the monorail very convenient for what you're talking about doing - at all. For one, the monorail stations are all well behind the strip, making you walk way out the back of the different hotels. Where if you walk right down the strip, you'd be going from one to the other, sometimes with barely going outside. I personally take the monorail 2 times a year, when I'm in Vegas for a trade show at the convention center. From any of the hotels (specially on the east side of the strip), it's a very convenient way to get right to the convention center inexpensively and quickly. But walking hotel to hotel, I would think it's very much 'out of the way'. Why don't you wait til you get there and check it out?
     
  3. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    Ok, here is the issue with the Monorail.

    It is behind the strip on only the east side. That means, even when you ride it, you are going to do a LOT of walking. If you were standing at entrance to NYNY for example, the walking you would do to take the monorail to the front of Caesars Palace is very comparable to the walking you would do to just walk the whole thing.

    The monorail is convenient for conventions at the convention centre. It is convenient if you want to head all the way to SLS. Or if you have a number of things to do on the south strip, and a bunch centre/north, without a bunch in between. And it is handy in the dog days of summer when its just as much walking but you would rather walk in air conditioning.

    For you in particular, you want to stop at almost every hotel going South anyway, so you are probably just as well to walk it. There are also some free trams on the West side of the street, from Bellagio to Crystals and on to Monte Carlo, and then for Excalibur-Luxor-Mandalay Bay. Going north, the monorail is an option for a ride out to SLS to see that, Circus Circus, and Stratosphere. But you could also just hop on the Deuce (a bus) for cheaper. A lot more direct. Or you could take a cab/uber all the way up and walk back (or walk back to Circus Circus then cab back).

    Also, a heads up that the walk to In N Out could be a bit awkward. I'm sure someone on here has done it and could comment further, but with the highway overpass there, I am struggling to remember what they have for pedestrian options there. Don't think there is much
     
  4. ItsVegasTime

    ItsVegasTime Vegas Addict

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    We tried the monorail once. Never again. It ended up being way more walking (or at least it felt like it). We would rather just walk the strip and pop in to the casinos for a rest and a drink as we want.

    We've walked the whole strip and back several times, I think you could do this in a day assuming nobody has issues with mobility or anything. Or if you are staying center strip, go one direction and back one day, and the next day go the other direction .
     
  5. Aces and Eights

    Aces and Eights VIP Whale

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    Regarding the tram that travels among Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay, there are two monorails. The first monorail is an express between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay which does not stop at Luxor. The Excalibur station is on the southwest corner of the walkways that cross Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Ave. The second tram, although it has a track to that same station, doesn't stop there. It stops at a station next to Excalibur where you have to walk through the casino and out to the corner (long walk). Both trams stop at the same place for Mandalay Bay.

    If this is your first time to Vegas, you will find that the walks between casino/hotels can be quite long, especially when walking past Caesars Palace. But you will find it as long, if not longer, to walk to the back of the casinos on the east side of Las Vegas Blvd to get to the Monorail station. It's worth it if you are going a longer distance down the strip without stopping in between (such as MGM to Harrah's/The Linq or beyond). From Harrah's/The Linq the Monorail takes a turn toward the Convention Center, Westgate, and back to the strip at Sahara. I heard at the time they built it, all the hotels were contributing toward the Monorail construction fund, but the owner of Venetian didn't contribute so the Monorail did not go toward Venetian after the Harrah's/Imperial Palace (now The Linq) station.

    You might want to spread out what you are going to see during the day since you will be there for five nights. But again, you are 21 so I'm sure you have more energy than most of us.
     
  6. BarelyHangingOn

    BarelyHangingOn VIP Whale

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    We walked the majority of the strip over a couple of days last time around averaging roughly 8 miles a day according to my fitbit. The mono rail doesn't really help your plan as the others pointed out.

    Take a look at the map I am including. The free trams are on the left of the map and the monorail is on the right side.

    It's a bit hellish crossing back and forth over the bridges and down the stairs where half the escalators are broken. I would stick to one side at a time type thing.

    You can easily start your day off at Treasure Island and then take the free Tram over to the Mirage and save a bit of walking time. Not much.

    From the Mirage walk over the Caesars Palace and up the bridge to the Bellagio where from here you can take the free tram over to Aria/Cosmo or you can walk out the sidewalk into the Cosmo out the other side through the Crystals mall into the Aria.

    From the Aria you walk out the south side into the Monte Carlo and out into the street to NY NY and then over to the Ex.

    I would probably use the free tram to go between the Ex, Lux and Mandalay and back but people will debate that.

    On the way back cross over and your Tropicana and MGM and then maybe use the monorail to get back to Planet Hollywood. It's a pretty bad walk on that side of the street back. Lots of time share jerks and sleeze bags with their hands out until you get back to PH.

    From PH then walk up to the various casinos is the strip so you want to be out on the sidewalk checking it all out not behind everything on the monorail.

    If you are going to do the casinos get a buss pass and don't miss Fremont St its the best part of Vegas.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    If you are looking to do lots of hotels, a suggestion.

    Start from Flamingo and pick one side of the street or the other. And just start working it. For example, cross over and get to Bellagio. (do Caesars if you want, but could be later). All the way through Bellagio, out the back door across to Vdara and then Aria. Alternate is out front door of Bellagio,then into Aria. Then Monte Carlo from the back to front. Then NYNY. Cross over to Excal, thenLuxor that MBay.

    That is quite a bit of time, especially if you stop to drink, eat and play along the way.

    Then either cab back, or work your way back up the other side.

    About the only way the monorail is going to work for you is MGM-Flamingo.

    As you can see, normally working one side vs back and forth works better.

    A better map of the monorail and strip is to use google maps. Everything there is to scale.
     
  8. bobbylight350z

    bobbylight350z Tourist

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    Wow you guys are fast. I appreciate the advice. I had no idea it was that far back. When you look on google maps it looks so convenient!

    I suppose I'll just use the monorail to see Circus Cirucs/SLS, and I'll walk the south end.

    Scenario: I am at Mandalay Bay, and want to get straight back to The Flamingo. Would It be best to take the short Mandalay- Excalibur monorail since it's station appears to run in front of the hotels? Then Deuce bus, or maybe MGM monorail to FLAMINGO stop? Or wait for duece at Mandalay? Or maybe just get a cab/uber and stop being a cheap ass?

    I appreciate the help, just want to be prepared.


    EDIT: found the big edit button

    I think Im going to go for what nostresshere and BarelyHangingOn suggested. Thanks for going into detail about how they all connect. The walkways and such are the only part of Vegas that I can't really study from google maps. This will help a ton.
     
  9. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    From MB it would be most convenient to take the Deuce down the strip to the Flamingo. Your other alternatives you have to do some walking to get from one point to another. Guess it all depends if you want to casually walk up and down the strip or if you want direct point to point travel (like MB to Flamingo).

    Looking at the places you want to see the only time you need to ride the monorail is from Flamingo to SLS but then you could just take the deuce just as easy since you want to get to The STRAT and the monorail doesn't go that far. That means that you either will walk or catch the bus to get to the strat, may as well just take the bus instead of the monorail IMHO.


    But then looking at your list I would probably just walk it. From Flamingo, go to Bellagio, cross the street to Paris and PHO, walk across the street to Cosmo and MC and NYNY, cross the street to MGM, then across to the Trop, then hit Excal, luxor and MB. Note, it isn't a very pleasant walk to In n Out because you have to walk over the interstate, IMHO best to catch a bus to In n Out.

    Then the next day, go north and hit the east hotels first, Linq and High roller, Palazzo and Venetian, Wynn, then catch the bus to SLS, then strat (best to just buy the day pass), then back to circus circus, mirage and Caesars Palace (at CP you have their forum shops so probably best to hit CP when you go north and are near the Mirage).
     
  10. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    on google maps.. make sure you zoom in

    and, switch to google earth view
     
  11. Mikey07

    Mikey07 Low-Roller

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    We use the Monorail a lot but that's because we usually stay at the Signature. Otherwise I'm not sure it would be worth our while.
     
  12. irishdave

    irishdave VIP Whale

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    I've stayed at the HGVC Flamingo several times and the monorail is super convenient to the hotel, but it's really only convenient to go to MGM on it.

    You could use it to ride down to MGM and hit Trop, NYNY, Excel, Luxor, and MB. The monorail makes them a lot more accessible from the Flamingo area and I think that would actually be worth the cost in time and money. I don't think you'd get a good bang for the buck on anything else.

    You could use it to go north for the SLS, Circus Circus, and Strat, but those all seem like isolated outposts to me! I guess you could take the monorail to SLS and bus to to the others, but I think makikboy has the best approach by walking up to Wynn and catching the bus from there.

    You can do the rest by walking just as fast as anything else, Flamingo is a really good location. And I wholeheartedly endorse nosstresshere's suggestion of splitting it between the east and west side of the strip, much more efficient and a much easier walk.

    And cab it or uber/lyft back from MB, probably less than the monorail ride if you split it three ways and your feet and legs will thank you!
     
  13. hotreds

    hotreds Illegitimi non carborundum!

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    how far is the walk from the MGM station to the Tropicana?
     
  14. phantomfj

    phantomfj High-Roller

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    I'm guessing about 10-15 minutes? Maybe there is a shorter route that doesn't involve walking thru mgm casino, but we weren't sure so we just followed the signs to get to the mgm casino then across the walkway
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2016
  15. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    I used to use the monorail a lot before the fares started going up. For a time the rates didn't compete well with cabs. It's probably a better deal now but now I rent.We would usually pick it up from Harrah's because we were staying there or at Rio and used the shuttle to get to the strip. I've done something similar to what you are planning. We would take the monorail to MGM from center strip and casino hop back. And I've gone to the former LV Hilton and done the same back. But the monorail isn't worth it unless you are traveling long stretches because of the long walk from the stations to the actual casino/hotel. Don't forget that many MGM casinos are connected by their own trams, too.
     
  16. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    I think if you are going to pay and don't want to walk, you should just uber the whole thing. It won't be much at all.

    Otherwise I would tram from Mandalay to excal, walk the pedestrian bridges through NYNY to MGM, and then just walk up that side. If you already have a monorail pass, you could take it to Flamingo station, but I would not buy the pass for that trip.
     
  17. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    Longer than you would think, and if you are not used to MGM it is easy to get lost coming that direction. To me, the escalator to the tropicana pedestrian bridge always "feels" like its in the wrong place. Feels like the front of the casino when its really the side.

    Once you know exactly where you are going a fast walker could do it in 10 minutes fairly easily.
     
  18. hotreds

    hotreds Illegitimi non carborundum!

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    Thanks, gents! We're going from Harrah's to MGM Grand to Trop to see Rich Little. We use the Monorail a fair amount. Although from LuxorI( BMG) to Rio(P&T) we'll be taking a cab. To the OP: I don't think you'll need to buy monorail tickets if your goal is to visit every casino. Just walk on one side one day, the other side the next. depending on how much time you spend in each casino you could do this in two or four days, breaking up your visits N/S of the hotel. The casinos way off center strip you could probably hit in a few hours one day- during the day. I understand that you don't want to venture out too much in that area at night. I think I'd just take a cab for that part of my tour.
     
  19. 1LuckyMomma

    1LuckyMomma High-Roller

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    While we're on the subject, where would one catch the tram to Aria from Bellagio? We'll be staying at the Flamingo as well. Using the monorail to get to the convention center and back but we use the bus the rest of the time. We'll be at Bellagio for the buffet one night and I'd like to hit Aria after.

    We walk the strip a lot. I would never consider using the monorail to make that many stops. You would really waste a lot of time. I'd rather walk the strip or catch the bus and cover big distances at a time.
     
  20. hotreds

    hotreds Illegitimi non carborundum!

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    https://www.vegas.com/transportation/las-vegas-monorails/
     
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