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TR - Long winded- Dec 4-9 Luxor/Bellagio - My dogs be barking "ouch"

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by vwhiten, Dec 10, 2014.

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  1. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    Will start off explaining the comment title - that became my husband's and my theme quote. This past year we both got very lazy and really have not exercised and kept in shape. This was our eighth trip in four years. We have always done a lot of walking. This trip we were so not in shape for this. We both complained of our feet, knees, and hips -- really everything from the waist down hurt. It reminded my husband of one of the marines he served with would complain that his feet hurt after PT and marching. He would say "My dogs be barking, ouch" This was repeated countless times by both of us over the 5 day trip. This was our first time going in December and we will probably go at this time of year from now on. The great thing was that even with the NFR going on for the most part no big crowds -- very little small children seen. The only night that was crowded was Saturday night.

    I had posted a thread before I left of how busy my schedule was up to time we left. I managed to get everything done and did not leave a single needed item at behind - actually a first for me. Departure day - our plane left Austin via Southwest @ 6 AM and was to land @ 7:00 am -- notice the word was - not did. We left our house around 2:15 AM to get to Austin by 4:00 AM - My husband, I will refer to him as the Marine - which is what a lot of his friends call him -- the Marine has a pet peeve - punctuality -- so we always get to the airport 2 hours in advance. We left our tiny Mayberry, Hill Country Texas town to trek our way to the big city of Austin. There is no traffic but the fog is pretty bad - the only ones out on the highways besides us are about 1000+ Bambis -- this is no joke the deer are terrible in the Texas Hill Country. So we get to Austin right around 4 AM thinking we would be the first in line before the counter opened -- but no there was about 20 people thinking like the Marine already lined up and only one ticket agent with only one automated kiosk open --- In about 5 minutes they opened several more with just as many ticket agents so it did not take long. We bought our tickets back in September and purchased the Early Bird boarding at that time. We had positions A28& 29.

    The flight left on time and I think I had about 2 hours of sleep over the last 48 hours because of my crazy work schedule. I tell my husband that if I was snoring, drooling, or flatulating during the flight to wake me up. I dozed off quickly and was not sure how long I had been asleep before he nudged me - Great what was I doing?? Snoring - I should have left that off the list. Next thing I know the pilot announces we are in a holding pattern over Las Vegas waiting for weather to improve - we circled for a while 20 or 30 minutes I guess and then he announces that we have to land in an alternate airport - Ontario, California to refuel and wait. We land and then they want us to sit and not get up because they are waiting on a weather check and we may be right back in the Air. I am in the middle seat and my husband took the aisle seat and he has already made his bathroom run while in the air. Now my bladder is yelling but we are waiting to get back in the air. It must have been about 20 minutes and one passenger gets up and is allowed bathroom privileges and then I get up 2nd in line. But you are not allowed to congregate directly in front of the front bathroom so I am standing by our seats. You may see me complaining about rude people during this report -- My pet peeve. While I am waiting people in front who see me dash up and cut me off - two people did this and then the woman directly in the seats in front stands up right in front of me and this was her third trip to the bathroom since we left Austin. I then make an announcement that if I you people do not let me get to the bathroom I am going to pee in my pants and it was probably going to smell like urine the rest of the trip - Yes I said that. The woman in front of me let me go before her since I really was already in line-- I get back to the seat relieved. Everyone was looking up the weather on their phones, tablets etc trying to figure out what was going on in Las Vegas -- Fog and 0% visibility No planes are landing or taking off. They then let us get off the plane and walk around this was around 8:40 Las Vegas time and we should have landed at 7 AM. We are hungry ad tired.

    My husband finds a Carl's Jr. We hadn't had Carl's Jr. since he was stationed in California back in the 80s. We both get a burger - back home it is almost 11 AM and we had not had anything to eat for almost 24 hours. I forgot how much I liked Carl Jrs or either I was just hungry. We hang out in the airport and finally around 10 AM they announce to get back on the plane and we are going to take off @ 10:15. We are missing 2 passengers and they specifically tell us to be close by. The stragglres show up and then we still didn't get off until about 10:30 -- The pilot says he has good news because we were one of the first flights in line to land when the fog lifted. After we landed and checked the monitors I saw that many flights hand been delayed and cancelled. We landed at about 11:30 AM 4 1/2 hours late.

    I was exhausted running on fumes as was my husband. We took a taxi to the Luxor -- We had a total of 4 taxi rides this trip and my opinion of the Taxi drivers took a big nose dive. He tunneled us -- and tunneled us big time. I was pissed but too tired to fight. Who gets on the highway to go from the Airport to the Luxor? His driving was horrible and he dropped us off at the wrong entrance to the Luxor. The cost was over $21 without a tip. My husband gave him a couple of dollars - we were both just too exhausted. I am sure he dropped us off at the wrong entrance where there was no bell captain to help us - and no one to complain to.

    But hey we are here. We are so tired and trudge our way up to the check in desk. We can check in early for $20 - of course let's do it. The Marine wants to stay in the pyramid even though we can get a free upgrade. I was pleasantly surprised by the room. Just a standard King - a little dated but not as bad as all the horror stories posted about those rooms. IT was clean and comfortable and it was a little warm in Vegas and we had the air conditioner on the Marine kept the room icy cold. The only problem with the Luxor was it's location. Even with easy connection to Excalibur and getting to the Monorail at MGM it was a hike. We moved to the Bellagio after 3 nights and after staying there I am truly spoiled.

    Now I have made it through the drama of getting to Vegas I will post my meals, shows, activities, and gambling in groups. - More later.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2014
  2. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

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    Meals, Buffets, Restaurants etc.

    Restaurants -Night #1 after resting up some we had a reservation at Benihana's at Westgate- By far our best meal and a very nice suprise. I had a $50 gift card I picked up from AMEX rewards. -- it didn't even cover 1/2 of the bill. We both got a chicken and vegetable dish at aroune $25 each. I had 2 cocktails a $9 each and my husband had sake at $14 that he said tasted like a$$ - but he drank it all. Plus it was about $5 extra each for the fried rice as opposed to the steamed that comes with the meal. With tip total bill around $128 - I thought it may be uncomfortable dining at the same table with strangers but it was really nice. There was a young couple seated next to us. The young man taught us how to use chopsticks and everyone at the table was friendly. The chef was marvelous - funny and entertaining. The food was awesome. Your meal includes a shrimp appetizer, the main course, and ice cream dessert. I loved it all. We ate for lunch at Sugar Factory one day. We were out and about at Paris. I remember seeing a groupon for Sugar Factory $30 for $50 of food. We split a regular cheese burger and fries and then split one of the large $36 drinks. The burger was around $17 - it was not that good - certainly not worth $17. The drink was good and the waiter said it had 8 shots of liquor. I drank 3/4 of it and if it had 8 shots of liquor I couldn't tell - it tasted good but it must have been a light weight liquer they were using. When the waiter brought the bill out it was around $72 -- he did not deduct the groupon. So he had to go back and fix it. I have found that when I use Restaurant.com and groupons you have to really check and make sure they deduct it.

    We also at the next day at Cheesecake Factory because I had a $50 gift card - again from AMEX. We usually split my favorite Chicken Farfalle but my husband was on roll of wanting hamburgers. He got the Macaroni and Cheese Burger and I got the Buffalo Burger -- These were great - far better than Sugar Factory. I love the Cheesecake Factory and I especially love the one at the Forum. The only thing I don't like is the close quarters in seating. There was a couple next to us and we could over hear them and vice versa. They started talking to us and the woman asked where we were from - "Texas" - she said I knew there was a reason you sounded normal - They were originally from Arkansas - we had a nice time visiting with them. Cost of meal was $32 for both burgers and 2 ice teas. Left tip in cash. The burgers were about $11 each with fries included where at Sugar Factory the fries were extra -- My advice is Sugar Factory is not worth it even with a Groupon. The last sit down full service restaurant we ate at was El Segundo - I was reluctant because I grew up in San Antonio and I am used to good Tex-Mex food - We had chips and salsa to start - Chips were good - Salsa - no heat and too salty and vinegary for my taste. We had pomegranate margaritas to start - good taste but they leave the seeds in to infuse - very irritating. We both got the Chicken enchiladas. The enchiladas were pretty good. The beans and rice I looked at ??? WTF. It was not mexican rice and beans. White rice with chopped cilantro and I am guessing lime and plain black beans. I didn't touch the beans and ate a few bites of the rice - Got another round of plain margaritas. I had a restaurant.com voucher for $35. I gave the waiter at the very beginning when bill came again the deduction was not made - he did correct it. I will stick to eating mexican food here in Texas.

    We ate at the following buffets for breakfast, Mandalay Bay - very disappointing- not a great selection and the Eggs Benedict were ice cold. Bacon was tough and chewy. We did have 2 free passes via Myvegas. MGM breakfast/brunch buffet was great. Couldn't find my favorite eggs Benedict but they had fresh carved ham and bacon that was awesome. They had a huge selection. We have had breakfast several times before here and always enjoyed it. We ate there free via myvegas and would have had it the next morning - Sunday but we were moving hotels and I was not up to walking all the way to MGM and back to Luxor as my dogs were barking - ouch. We ate twice at the Bellagio breakfast buffet and it too was wonderful - hot fresh Eggs Benedict. Mango yogurt, everything was great. Both times were free via myvegas. We also at at the Bellagio dinner buffet our last night. It was the only time there was any kind of line. This was on Monday night. We spent 20 minutes ih line to round the first turn. I told my husband we got a line pass from myvegas plus I have a Pearl mlife card. I checked the sign out front and sure enough we were in the wrong line - The other line had very few waiting. So we changed lines and got in after about a 5 minute wait. We could see tables empty everywhere. There was a large party waiting to be seated and the hostesses seemed very stressed and confused. There were also 2 separate areas not open for diners and I am sure there was at least a 45 minute wait in line. When we finished dining we noticed that the couple behind us in the long line had just sat down to eat.

    We also ate several lunches at fast food court. My favorite by far is Nathan's Philly Cheese and fries. I have a couple of coupons for buy one get one free. Used one at Luxor and one at the Venetian - they have the best fries. We also ate with a 2 for 1 at Original Chicken Tenders at Monte Carlo - I love this place too. The best chicken tenders ever -- they bread them fresh and fry them fresh - no pre frozen and sitting under lights. There was also a couple of trips to McDonald's at Luxor. We had a buy one get one free in the booklet they give out. My husband ordered a Big Mac meal and I wanted the Buffalo Chicken meal - She wouldn't let me order the meal - you had to order just the sandwich. I tried to tell her I can order the sandwich and then add the fries and drink - she literally said no ma'am I can't do that. So I said fine give me sandwich and change his order to a large drink and fries - I looked at my husband after she rang it up and said "Here's your sign" - I did not say it where she could hear me.

    Good thing we did a lot of walking each day with all the fast food and burgers etc.
     
  3. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

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    Gambling and drinking in Casinos.

    We eacih had $50 free play from Myvegas to use at Luxor - I squandered mine - I thought I was winning and it was just eating the freeplay, I changed to a Goldfish and turned the last bit into $10. My husband played his favorite Reel Em in and came out with $60 in his pocket. The cocktail service was poor at the Luxor and even worse at the Bellagio.

    My favorite place was Westgate. I stayed there when my husband was at the convention center strolling through the Hunter Christmas Expo and the Christmas Cowboy show. The plan was for him to go on Thursday and Friday but as mentioned we had a late start Thursday, so he went Friday and Saturday. Westgate was very clean the casino was updated - No smokey smell at all and the cocktail waitress was spot on. I played alot of DW on VP I also played a little spin poker and broke even - broke even after about 2 hours and then went to quick hit triple Devil machine - I am a little hesitant to play anything with a Devil on it - Devil, witch, Demon etc I just stay away from - I didn't notice it until I was into a few spins then I won $80 and was up by the same so cashed out and met up with my husband for late lunch. The next day I went back after a morning of shopping with him at the convention center. The same machine took $40 back. And the DW took another $40. The bar had some drink specials for Crown $5 or $6 each. My Husband got a usual crown and coke. I tried the Apple Crown with Cranberry juice - very good. I have seen Maple crown but never Apple Crown.

    I also meandered back down the monorail and stopped at Paris - lost about $50. Stopped at Ballys and lost $20 on Reel em in and then I found a HEE HAW machine - I saw a woman win a lot on one of these at Harrah's. I wasn't playing big it was either .15 or .30 on the first spin and I won $80 - so I was done and headed back to the Luxor. But stopped at Excalibur and won a little on $1 Monopoly. Tried Beetlejuice put in $20 and not even one 5 cent win on one line.

    The rest of the time we spent at the Bellagio. By far the worst cocktail service. Our first night there we were playing VP by the Lilly bar and never saw a waitress. We went back to the room and mixed our own in diet coke bottles and brought it down with us. Finally a waitress showed up after we finished ours and we got one Margarita each. My husband got lucky on a Willy Wonka on the first spin. He was making a minimum bet of 20 credits which I thought was 20 cents. It kept giving him free spins - a total of 24 then it added up to over $50 - he was at a 5 cent machine. I had a few wins I quickly put back in. Some machine that was a Triple Threat quick hit gave me about $60 on my first spin and a ocean theme with a pelican machine - forgot the name I won a small $80 on. I tried the Jetson's and lost. I wanted to try the Batman - it had the old Adam West but there was never an empty chair when I wanted to play. I played a lot of DW VP at Bellagio. No Royal Flushes I got one 5 of a kind and one straight flush. But my money lasted a long time in the VP machines. I also would switch to some Blackjack when I got bored and was losing on VP. I played on the quarter machines.

    I probably was down $500 total over 5 days of gambling. I didn't keep track of how much I lost where.
     
  4. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

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    We took the monorail several times to traverse back and forth from Luxor. We had a 2 for 1 four day pass. We realized how far the Luxor was from everything we wanted to do. It is still a long walk even using the monorail. As I mentioned before the standard room in the Pyramid was just fine and exceeded my expectations after reading numerous complaints on different forums. The inclinators were a bit rough. There was one that shook you pretty heard on the descent. Everyone that got on that one laughed and commented. Our room was quiet and clean and very cheap. We probably will not stay there again due to the location and over estimating our stamina. We saw the show Panda on Saturday night and we were pretty weary afterwards. We stopped at Walgreens to stock up on Crown and Parrot Bay Coconut Rum and the cabbed it back to Luxor. The driver drove like a bat out of hades and went the back way on the interstate. Cost was around $14 plus tip. I knew he took a longer way around but I also knew the traffic was heavy on the strip and he got us back in no time. The couple we talked to at the Cheesecake Factory said they took a cab on Saturday night and said that they saw the meter roll up over $5.00 just at one traffic light.

    On Sunday when we checked into the Bellagio for 2 nights we also arrived early. It wasn't even 10 AM. They let us check in early for no fee. We were in the north tower/wing 23rd floor facing the fountains. We were almost in the center. The room was great and view was spectacular. The room temperature was terrible. I am guessing that they have some kind of movement sensor. We had it set at 62 degrees - the lowest it would go and the thermostat said it was 68 degrees - No way was the room 68 degrees. It got cool before we went to bed. During the night I don't think the AC came on and I was miserable. I already mentioned the lousy cocktail service in the casino. Everything else was great. When I checked out I wanted to use 2 $100 Bellagio gift cards I got from AMEX - one was declined and when the front desk clerk called it said $0 available. I told him that I got them from AMEX rewards and have never had a problem. He made a call and it was loaded fo4 the $100 - it just took about 15 minutes to load.

    My Duh moment at Bellagio was when we went across to Planet Hollywood Miracle Mile shops. We have been through Bellagio several times and have always walked around the fountains outside to the front - which seemed like a long walk. We discovered a moving side walk that takes you from the front of Bellagio right to the crosswalk on the strip in front of Planet Hollywood. - I don't know how we missed that before. That saved a few barks from my aching dogs.

    We also took the free monorail from Bellagio to Monte Carlo - where I encountered another pet peeve - inconsiderate young men. Do mothers not teach their sons to open doors, give up your seats to women etc. My hint also to young men that want to attract a nice young woman. Don't drop the F-bomb every other word. Pull your pants up it is not attractive to have the crotch at your knees - It looks stupid and it makes you look like you don't have an a$$ -- yes women look at butts -- butts and eyes. Looking at your crack because the crotch is at your knees is not the same as looking at a man in a nice fitting pair of jeans. And take that stupid wide brimmed ball cap off that you wear side ways and walk normal instead of a pimp with a corn cobb stuck up your behind -- maybe that is why they wear baggy pants to hide the corn cobb. -- Sorry back to what set me off. We had to wait a few minutes for the Monte Carlo monorail. We at our age of early 50's were the youngest waiting. Until Moose from Archie's comics steps up as the monorail pulls up and plows his way through the people waiting and is first to board and sets his big A$$ down in a seat while older feeble people were forced to stand -- what a jerk. I pegged him as a young doctor in residency - I'm a nurse I know the type - judgmental - yes I am sometimes.

    Finally on our flight back it was delayed almost an hour due to traveling around a thunderstorm. I told my husband I could have guessed the flight was heading back to Texas. Why do people wear nasty clothing to fly? You don't have to be rich to have class. You don't have to wear Armani but would it kill people to at least wear jeans instead of nasty raggedy cut offs and t-shirts with the arms cut out or worse wife-beater t-shirts.

    I now need a rest from my vacation. I enjoy reading trip reports and I have made decisions on restaurants, shows, etc based on others.
     
  5. Simmy

    Simmy Tourist

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    Thanks for the detailed report! Glad you had a good trip despite the inconveniences.
     
  6. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    LOL, my wife and I wear sweats and/or pajamas when we fly...it's just easier to go through the security checkpoint with clothes with NO pockets and easy to be patted down.
     
  7. KyleB

    KyleB Low-Roller

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    I do the same thing tim, plus, it really hot on those planes, the last thing I want to have on are jeans.

    Nice report, seems like you managed to do a lot of different activities
     
  8. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

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    I have never seen anyone in PJs at the airport with the exception of small children. I would be up to the pajama jeans they used to advertise all the time.

    I neglected to give a little blurb on the RMEF Hunter Christmas Expo -- lots of expensive toys for the guys - lots of tables with guides and outfitters from Alaska, Canada etc. Right next door was the Cowboy Christmas -- Tons of vendors - Boots, Boots, and more Boots - hats, purses, jewelry - tons of it. I felt like I was back at home on main street with the boutique prices. I saw a purse I liked very bedazzled I was thinking it would be around $200 - No $500. Since my feet were hurting so much I tried on a pair of Sloggers at a booth - I used to own a pair several years ago and haven't seen them in a while.

    Hint you can't go shoe shopping when your feet are painful and swollen - I didn't mention that 7 1/2 hours on the plane my ankles and feet swelled like never before. I work 12 hour shifts and sometimes get some mild swelling at the end - This was unbelievable -- my husband describes it as cankles - looks like you are all calf and no ankles.
     
  9. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Good report! And the more trips we take to Vegas, the less we want to walk...:eek:
     
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