AC/DC – April 7th – 10th Trip Report

AC/DC – April 7th – 10th Trip Report

So my brother and I headed to Vegas to celebrate my 40th birthday by seeing AC/DC one last time (third time in one year). We are not big gamblers and for the most part I am very cheap. But I am notorious for my research and have read more then I care to admit in preparation for this trip. The main reason for this report is to share what I learned; I hope you enjoy.

I heard Allegiant Airlines files out of Bellingham and had some good prices. Booked flight and hotel special (one passenger flies free); hotel was the Tropicana. Really quick on Allegiant; too call them a no frills airlines is an understatement. Seats don’t lean back, everything cost money on the plane; yes even water; but none of this really bothered me. Just know that if you don’t follow the rules with this airline you will pay. Couple of big things that seem to be recurring issues with them, checked bags/carry on, not checking in on time. I won’t go into this, but if you want to know more I can share.

We live in Seattle, so we had to drive the two hours to Bellingham; flight was at 8:10PM we got there right at six, checked in and just hung out. They began boarding 40 minutes before departure and we were on the way 10 minutes early; got in about 15 early (ya).

So I had read on several posts that there are a lot of flights that get in right around 11 pm on Wed night; they were right. It took two trams before we finally were out of terminal D.

Now I had wanted to stop at the grocery store for liquor before getting to the hotel and so I decided to check out getting a town car before we left… that worked out really well. $42.00 for an hour plus tip and no waiting for a taxi (the line was long but couldn’t tell you how long). We had only carried on luggage so were in the car 5 minutes after arriving on the tram. Went to the Vons on Tropicana, 15 minutes in the store and then down to the Tropicana hotel. From airport to hotel with stop it was 35 minutes. Tipped the drive $10 bucks and we were off to check in.

Once I had booked the Tropicana as our hotel, I decided I would check out their internet site. I noticed they had a Facebook link so I checked it out. There were several posts with comments good and bad about the Trop so I thought I would “Become a Fan†so I could get back to the page easily. A day or so later I got an e-mail from the Trop thanking me for becoming a fan and asking if I need any help planning a trip. I responded that I was already booked and that I was coming down for my 40th. They responded saying they had upgraded me from a Garden room to an island room (nice). Well to be fair, they probably don’t want anyone to stay in the Garden rooms but nice just the same. They also said that they had made a note to upgrade us to a suite if one was available.

So we checked in and guess what, a suite was available, double bonus. I was afraid to say anything but I wanted to make sure there were two beds, she said yes. We make the trek off to the room…. all the way at the back of the hotel, but were in Vegas so who cares.

Get to the room and open the door on the first try ( I have read others miseries of the key card not working after a long walk), go in and here is this hug open room with a couch, two chairs a table, a bar with a refrig. Go into the bed room, a Jacuzzi tub in the corner and king bed with mirrors on the ceiling. I turn to my brother and say “the couch is yoursâ€. We make a few drinks to celebrate, my brother pulls out the hide a bed and lies down and his ass proceeds to hit the floor. Thank god I had put my drink down or we would have had our first party foul. I call the front desk, no rooms at all with two beds but they will send up a roll-away.

We figure we have 30 minutes at least so we unpack; 5 minutes later, the bed was there. Say what you want about the Tropicana, but the service it top notch; they know they are not the bell of the ball but they try hard.

So we wanted to go check out the Drunk Parade (we were to late by the time we go there, so more on this later) so we head out; plane landed at 10:30 and it is now only 12:30 and we are two drinks in and on our way out.

We decided to take the monorail @ the MGM, of course we got lost trying to find it… but made it to Harrah’s, and we wanted to check out the live band. Screwed around down at that end of the strip for a few hours and decided we were hungry. Head to the Flamingo for the $1.99 burger and fries. Get deal, not much of a wait, the beer was $5 for domestic and if you wanted cheese on your burger it was another $1. The burger was just Ok, but the fries were good. Great deal for 3 in the morning.

Screwed around some more and finished the night out at 5:30 am.

Finally got out of the hotel around 2 pm; although still didn’t get that much sleep, but drunk again by now. Went the MGM for the buffet but were told they take the lunch food away at 3, so we went to the Excalibur to try there. Lunch ended at 3 there also but they just added the dinner to the buffet line. So we paid for lunch at 2:45 and dinner was served at 3; saved $8 a person. Food was just ok but just what we were looking for.

Headed to Hooters for the $100 free play, what a waste of time; although it would have been great with we had won. I found a $.25 Jacks or Better and proceeded to grid out $20.00 for the next 3 hours. Drink service was great but I was right next to the restaurant and even though I was full the wings smelt tempting.

We were heading out with a friend of my brothers that night; we met him at the Trop and headed over to NYNY to just sit and catch up. After two rounds of beer we decided we would try the drunken parade one more time. On the way to the car the thought of wings creped back into my mind (could have been because the Hooters sign was right there behind the car) which I of course verbalized. Everyone agreed $.25 wings sounded good. But when we got there we found out the $.25 wings are not available until after midnight (it was 11:15). But the $9.99 prime rib was available so we took three. The prime rim is served with a jalapeno corn breed muffin that was ridiculously good. The prime rib was good and the same with the mash potatoes. Well worth the $9.99.

Off to the Venetian for the drunken parade; now if you have not heard about this read on, otherwise you can skip the next paragraph.

I read about this on several TR but of course I don’t remember who the authors were, so please except my apology for the lack of proper credit. The drunken parade is at the Venation at the bottom of the escalator just outside Tso. Tso is easily one of the most popular dance clubs in Vegas. Now we arrived at around 12:30 and stayed until 2:30, without a dual moment. We took our seats at a VP machine, put in $20.00 and only played when the waitress or security was walking by. The drink service was great, I had 6 rum and cokes and 2 beers in 2 hours. We watched as drunken 21 to 40 year olds tried there best to stay upright and disembark the escalator. The comedy was out of this world. The best were the girls that were not really all that confident in their ability to walk in high heels when they were sober, let alone drunk and trying to get off a moving escalator. None actually went down, but we had several near misses. My brother’s friend, a local, had never heard of this but has decided this is the best people watching in all of Vegas.

After we got dropped off back at the Trop we gambled a little and then headed to bed around 4.

Friday, not much excitement, we were too hung-over after the first two nights. So we decided to save ourselves for the AC/DC concert. Slept in until 9…. I can never sleep in hotel beds. While my brother slept I went and picked up our will call tickets. Stopped at Starbucks for coffee and muffin… that was all we had to eat that day. Got back to the room and my brother was up so we of course started to drink.

Took a nap before the concert and started to drink again as soon as we woke up. Now we wanted to take drinks with us over to the MGM and figured we would finish up just before having to toss them as we went in. Little did I know that the MGM Garden area lets you take drinks in…. That’s right, go ahead and bring in what ever you want as long as it’s in a plastic cup or bottle. Dame I would have brought two drinks if I knew this.

Anyway the concert was excellent except for the bitch that wouldn’t let us by to get to our seats, but we were drunk enough not to care that much. AC/DC played 4 off the new album and the rest were a best of list. They finished with “For those about to Rock†cannons and all. Great concert!!!

After the concert we decided we should spend some gambling money at the Trop since we got the nice room. Went to bed at 4 again. I called for a late check out but was denied. 11 o’clock it would have to be.

I of course woke up at 9. Decided I would pack and shower while my brother slept. The shower was also a steam room so I turned that on thinking the steam may do me some good. It said it needed 10 minutes to heat up, I gave it 20 while I did some packing. I went to shave and realize my brother had borrowed my shave cream and left it in the shower; so when I opened the door and grabbed it, I notice the steam had heated it up. I pushed the button not thinking too much about the can being warm, and too my surprise the thing exploded. Now I’m not talking shrapnel exploded, I mean all of the contents of that bottle came shooting out in a matter of a second.

Needless to say there was shave cream everywhere. I was cover, the mirror in front and behind me, the ceiling, the door, carpet…. everywhere. Of course this is exactly when my brother walks around the corner… “What the f*ck did you doâ€â€¦ we had a good laugh and a nice way to end the trip.

Took a cap to the airport, $20 with tip – 10 minutes. Slept most of the way to Bellingham on the plane and then 12 hours once I got home; yet still not enough.

Great trip, the folks at the Tropicana were great, everyone from the front door to the check in to the maids, all were worthy of a 4 star hotel. The hotel it self has seen better day, but I did see one of the newly remodeled rooms and it was on par with the service.

I hope you enjoyed.

 

OMG the shaving cream...

Was that a party foul?

Drunk walk is not on my list. Too many have talked about it that I must go see it. I will go to bed early so I can wake up at 1 AM to watch.

I did see the after the Playboy Party last year at the Palms but that is all on a flat surface. A moving, gravity enhanced, object will just add to equilibrium problems of alcohol. Book it, I am there.

 

Great Trip Report

Who did you book the town car through?

I'm thinkin' of doing the same thing in two weeks. Town car from airport, stop @ Von's on Trop for 'supplies' and then head to MGM.

Got any pictures of the 'parade'? Lol

 

No party foul with the shave cream, not alcohol was spilled and I left an additional $20 for the maid.

The car service was with Las Vegas Transportation.

http://www.lasvegastransportation.com/

I put a comment on the reservation that I wanted to stop at the store so they knew up front. The drive was very cool and knew right where to go.

 

Allegiant Problems?

You mentioned an issue with Allegiant Air and their carry ons. What's the deal with that? We're flying with them on Friday.

 

Great TR.

Please do expand on your Allegiant issues - I have my parents booked out of Bellingham in a couple months....

Thanks.

 

Nothing Better than AC/DC Live! Have seen them many times. For Those About To Rock...We Salute You!

 

So here is the thing with Allegiant; they are very clear about the dimension of your carry on luggage, which are different from what you can put up top and what goes under the seat. They will measure and will charge you $35 per bag per leg of your trip (yes $70 round trip) but you can prepay for checked luggage at a rate of $40 round trip. I read several reviews that said that they would not be charged on the first leg but then on return, when they had no way to change luggage or leave something behind they would get charge. Simply make sure your bag meets their dimensions once its packed.

Issue number two, DON’T BE LATE! They clearly state that you must be checked in 45 min prior to SCHEDULED departure; if you are late you forfeit your ticket…not fee, you will not get a credit and have to pay a penalty, you just forfeit the entire ticket. They suggest you arrive 2 hours early, I would follow this advice. If you are in line and do not check in before the 45, they do not care.

So I measured my bag, the first one was ½ inch to big, so I changed bags. When we were leaving Vegas, the guy in front of me had that same bag and they charged him $35. And of course he said, but they didn’t charge me on the way down…. that’s there trick.

We got to the airport 2 hours ahead of time had no problems other then sitting around and waiting.

 

GREAT REPORT!!!

Loved it, reallly gonna try that drunken walk of shame thing this next trip.


Best part crack me up your brother fall thru couch bed. That must have seen better days.....funny story though, along with your shaving cream story.

Hoookers and blooooow!

 

Great report! Can't wait to get there myself.

 

I fly Allegiant

I have no problems with Allegiant for me. The airline charges for everything as he stated. Nothing is free.

Carry on baggage, as long as it is reasonable is fine. I use my old leather MGM Grand soft bag and take it on all the time.

Their seats do lean back, but if you are in the first exit row or the row in front of the first exit row those seats do NOT lean back because it is an FAA mandate for quick evacuation of the plane.

I sit in the second exit row and those seats do lean back.

Usually, the airline will offer you a $1 luck draw. Whoever wants to, they can write their seat number on a dollar bill and put it in a bag. They draw and one person wins it all.

They will go slowly with teasing on who won. Like, everyone in the back rows, you did not win. If you are in a window seat, you did not win. I have never won.

Sometimes, the also have a $5 draw, but I don't do that.

 

Sounds like you had a ball. I am so doing that walk of shame!!

 

Thanks for the TR. Seems like you guys had a fine buzz for most of the trip.

later, GVJ

 

We've never had problems with Allegiant carry ons
Ours are within the dimensions but usually on the way
home they look like a tick about to pop.
Have seen others that really push the carry on rule
having a carry on and a backpack stuffed like sausages.

If you book a seat in advance coming back from Vegas you
can check in on line 24 hours prior so if you don't check luggage
as long as you are at your gate a half hour early you won't have a
problem. Sometimes the security line is long especially for the early am
flight but last time we left at 8:15 and breezed right thru. Have also seen
some riducously long lines at Allegiant check in counters, but it seems as
the flight time gets near they pull those passengers ahead.
Do note on Allegiant if you book a seat, they usually put you
in a premium seat for like 14 or 15 bucks but you can change that down to 7 or 8 bucks. So for 8 bucks you can avoid being at the airport 2 and 1/2 hours early.