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Paris, Pinball, and Mistaken Identity: Jan 11-15

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Leeza14, Jan 18, 2015.

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  1. Leeza14

    Leeza14 VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    I’ve been lax in posting TRs the last couple years, so I’m trying to get better at that again. I don’t feel like I have all that much to share, but we’ll see how long this gets, I guess. Here we go.

    Arrived Sunday the 11th after a great flight. Taxi line was short, but our cabbie tried to long haul us. I put a stop to that, and he hit the button to charge us a couple bucks more since he “determined” we refused the best route. He also took us down the Strip instead of coming in the back way. Ticked me off – he did not get a tip. Arrived at Paris and had a short check-in line. Long story short, it took over three hours to get into our room, and that was only because I kept checking back every hour. The fourth desk agent finally put us in a different room, and instead of having a newer red P room, we had an old blue one. It was really quite worn and tired, but at that point, we were just glad to be in a room (and happy with a corner room). It was clean, comfortable, and did the trick; it just badly needs a facelift. Waiting to get in, we lost several hundred dollars, which would pretty much be the story of our trip overall.

    The rest of this I’ll just write in highlights rather than chronologically. Seems to flow better that way:

    Downtown: We headed to Main Street Station on Monday night after losing lots of cash that day on the Strip. Sister-in-law happened to be in town for a conference, so we met her at the 777 Brewery. The national championship game was on, so we were surrounded by Ducks and Bucks (had to root for the Big 10 team, of course!). Food and drink were great as always. We spent time on Fremont afterwards and showed her several places we love. Had a great time! Love the vibe downtown but just can’t pull the trigger on staying there; we love the Strip. One note: Not a fan of the seemingly new trend on FSE – young women wearing nothing but pasties on top. There were some scary sights with that look. It’s not attractive on most.

    Food: Mon Ami Gabi twice for breakfast (excellent food and service! The crepes are to die for! ). Le Burger Brasserie for dinner once (decent food, way too expensive for what you get, service was marginal at best). The Pub at Monte Carlo (YUM! Spent my $50 MyVegas credit here – had about $15 left, so I told the server to get something, so he bought the bus staff two things. Service was fair). Le Cafe Ile at Paris for dinner ( got the $39 three-course special – steak was good but sides were cold – baked potato wouldn’t even melt the butter. Service was pretty good). Tropical Breeze Café at Flamingo for brunch (we usually love this place, but this time, not so much. Nothing was the right temp – omelets and toast must have been sitting for quite awhile before they found their way to the table. Keno service was fast, though).

    Drink service: We were at all Total Rewards properties except Rio and also gambled at MGM and Monte Carlo. The only place we had decent drink service (and it was actually very good) was at Caesar’s; drinks came quickly and had a lot of alcohol—hubby is not even close to being a lightweight, and he commented that he got a decent buzz. Bonus! Second runner up was Bally’s. Worst was Harrah’s (I walked for over five minutes in that casino to even find a server. Had terrible heartburn and needed a water. Once I finally found one, she was rude and turned her back on me. Went to the little store and bought one there).

    Gambling (slots): TIGHT. Ridiculously tight. We saw one hand pay during the entire trip. We broke even at PHo and Caesar’s, so those were a little better than the others. One of our servers told us that she never, ever plays the machines during January and February. We go knowing we’ll probably lose, but c’mon – let us at least play a little bit before it’s taken. Not the case this trip (with one exception, which will come later).
    New experience: We always try to do at least one new thing each trip, and this being trip #20, it still wasn’t hard to find something. We settled on visiting the Pinball Hall of Fame on Tropicana. We are going to get a pinball machine for our basement, so we thought, what better way to try some out and find one we like? I did my research beforehand, and once we walked to MGM, it was only another 1.2 miles to the place, according to their website. We decided we could walk (I walk regularly, but hubby does not). We took off from Paris and walked and walked and walked….Come to find out, it was twice that far! From MGM, it was 2.4 miles, and when you add in the additional .85 miles from Paris to MGM, our one-way walk was over 3 miles. Thankfully, it was only 60 degrees with a healthy breeze! LOL We had a great time playing pinball (we did chuckle at the garage-like feel of the place), but that walk back about did poor husband in. He took a nap, and I went shopping. Win-win.

    Second new experience: We were going to live on the wild side and take on two new things this trip. That second thing was seeing Absinthe. We had tix for the Wed 8:00 show (and we were slated to leave at 4:30 the next morning). Bad choice. Hubby really didn’t want to go (still suffering from that long walk, I’m afraid). We had dinner and discussed it. I came up with an idea: I had $40 in my pocket, and if I could turn it into $120 (half of what our tix cost), we’d be OK with not going – but if I couldn’t make it happen, we’d go. He laughed (given our losses the last three days) and said it would never happen. I, however, had “the feeling.” I chose a dollar Double Gold, his favorite, and sat down. I was up $20 right away, and then $40…and then a dry spell. THEN I was up $120! I did it! I took off to find a young couple to take our tickets, which was MUCH harder than I ever dreamed it would be . Geez. The first two couples said they had to be up too early for a morning flight (c’mon – you are 25 – pull an all-nighter!), the third couple had seen the show and loved it, and finally the fourth couple I found was thrilled to take them off my hands. I hope they had a great unexpected time! Here’s the thing I did not anticipate: Each one of the couples thought I was hawking a timeshare visit – Haha!! Free show tickets? Of course they did! We got a good laugh about that later – we would have thought the same thing. One more surprise: When I got back to hubby after finally giving away the tix, he was up another $50 on the machine for a total of $170, so we only lost $50 on the tickets overall. We’ll go see the show in May for sure – just not the night before we go home. We’re officially old.

    Bally's shops: Thought they might finally be open, but now it's a February date. Can't imagine how much revenue is being lost from this long-delayed opening.

    Trip home was quick and easy. Looking forward to the pools being open in May and having a mid-day break there, drinking and munching on the cheese platter. :thumbsup:
     
  2. btodd

    btodd High-Roller

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    Great report! Thanks. I always giggle at the walking distances, even with my many trips the distances always turn out to be further than I anticipate!
    Good for you for finding new things to do every trip.........I love reading about adventures in Vegas!
     
  3. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Thank you for sharing!
     
  4. vegasqc

    vegasqc VIP Whale

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    8pm absinthe is over by 9.30 pm were you in bed by that time?
     
  5. Leeza14

    Leeza14 VIP Whale

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    It wasn't the 9:30 that was the deal -- but after the show, we'd walk back and probably have a couple more drinks, and we knew we'd end up in the casino on the way up to the room! Better safe than sorry, and so that was the decision we made. We were happy with it.
     
  6. RDO248

    RDO248 Low-Roller

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    That's funny. I had a similar thing happen once when I couldn't make an Elton John concert and had 2 tickets I wanted to pass on. Everyone in line I tried offering them to had that funny look and maybe they to thought it was a scam. Too bad as I ended up just giving them to the bell hop to keep, sell or whatever he wanted.
     
  7. captainron62

    captainron62 VIP Whale

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    I have heard other people say it is near impossible to give away tickets. Everyone thinks it is a scam. I tried to give away KA tix a few years ago with no luck either.
     
  8. kramer99

    kramer99 Tourist

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    Nice report. Without staying at an MGM property, how were you able to use the $50 myvegas credit at Monte Carlo?
     
  9. Leeza14

    Leeza14 VIP Whale

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    I had a one-night stay booked at MC with MyVegas points, too. Just didn't stay there.

    Yeah, the ticket thing...I changed my opening line quickly, saying, "Hey, I'm NOT a timeshare person...just someone who can't use these great tickets tonight and don't want them to go to waste." LOL
     
  10. Blonde_4_ever

    Blonde_4_ever LasVegas4ever.com

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    Enjoyed the report. Crazy about the tickets.
     
  11. Porkchop

    Porkchop Low-Roller

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    Nice writeup. I'm adding that Pinball Hall of Fame to my checklist, for my next trip. :)
     
  12. NvrSumR

    NvrSumR Low-Roller

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    My wife and I saw Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for free in 2006 because someone gave us the tickets. I thought it was a scam too, he had to convince us to take the tickets. I can't explain it, other that everyone being so cautious anymore.
     
  13. Packer

    Packer VIP Whale

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    Good job on the TR. I remember last year I had front row Donny and Marie tickets and didn't want to go so I went there to sell them. After 1 1/2 hours I couldn't give them away. It was packed and many people in line but maybe they didn't like me! Probably due to me dressing up as Elvis.lol. kidding. Finally a older man and his wife came over and I said they are on the house and just enjoy. He wouldn't hear of it and literary forced face value on me. I will never do that again. I also always bust up when I read these trip reports about the lengths of the walks. "Its only 1/4 mile" 3 miles later they are waiving for a taxi.
     
  14. Leeza14

    Leeza14 VIP Whale

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    Glad to hear I have company on the ticket issue! I thought maybe it was just me! Ha.

    The walking thing IS funny! I wouldn't have been surprised at the long walk except for the fact I (thought I) did my research first. The Pinball website is so far off that it's sad. I wonder if it's to encourage people to walk down or if it's just an actual error. I didn't mind the walk at all, but I was the only one who didn't. Oops. ;) We were both still glad we went, though. The range of machines there is amazing.
     
  15. cardfelon

    cardfelon Low-Roller

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    Walking to the Pinball Hall of Fame is quite the haul from MGM. If you are still looking for a machine send me a PM. I own a pinball company. We have about 300 used machines in stock and also sell new machines.
     
  16. abrolsma

    abrolsma Low-Roller

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    I think that everything is a mirage (no pun intended) in the desert when it comes to walking. It's just RIGHT THERE! How long can it take.. :)

    I'm disappointed to hear about Harrah's drink service. I used to know a lot of them back in the day - and rarely had trouble getting drinks. With my upcoming stay I'll need to find somewhere else to lube up. :) I always found the Margaritaville by Flamingo had really good service..

    Thanks for sharing!
     
  17. FullBoat

    FullBoat VIP Whale

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    You almost kill you hubby, and then leave him to go shopping? Geeze... you could have at least lied, and said that you went to go play slots. :poke:

    Thanks for the report. I did the same thing 1 trip. Oh, it's only about 3/4 of a mile. That was a LONG 3/4 mi. Took a cab back.
     
  18. pphold

    pphold pp Park Place Degenerate

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    OK I read the TR like 3 times and sides the Header about PINBALL HOF I did not see anything in the story line? I have it on my to do list but have not done it. I might have to on this trip. I drove by it like five times thinking I should stop and didn't. I was thinking I'll go later. And one time Pleepleus offer to drive me there.

    I like the ticket story. I had extra Penn and Teller tickets from being Diamond and try to give them away with no luck. You are right when you say free ticket people run away from you thinking you are selling timeshare....LOL
     
  19. Tammy58

    Tammy58 Frugal Slot Jockey

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    Must have missed this report back in January. Loved your report! We won't do shows the last night anymore either. Mainly due to the fact we feel we are missing out on last night gambling and walking the strip. Last trip we had tickets to a show at the Orleans, we were staying at South Point...we dumped the tix in the rubbish...we were not in the mood to go. I was much more careful about booking ahead for this coming trip. Tight machines on the strip...yeah I feel ya.
     
  20. tnkc

    tnkc High-Roller

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    I can completely relate to skipping the show, but Absinthe was great!
     
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