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My Lost Vegas...

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by Grid, Jun 9, 2017.

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  1. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    Some chatter in another thread lead to this article

    I popped my Vegas Cherry in the summer of 1999. My Dad was doing a trade show in town and asked if I, his eldest, would join him.

    All I knew of Las Vegas at the time was what I saw in reruns of "Vegas Vacation". Chevy Chase made it look fun, so I naturally said yes.

    Holy Shit... Vegas was the greatest place on earth! The sights, the sounds, the themes, the food, the games, the chicks it was literally everything I loved in life. Nothing could have prepared me for the blast of Awesomeness that hit me as soon as I stepped off the Airport shuttle and saw Treasure Island for the 1st time.

    To read the article in full, feel free to read on here:

    https://sites.google.com/site/lvgrid/important-documents/1--my-lost-vegas
     
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  2. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    Enjoyed reading about your memories & assessment of how they have tried to ruin our fav city!
     
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  3. bshowell

    bshowell VIP Whale

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    Ha- your airport shuttle ride sounds so similar to my first (and only) - we were at Sahara so literally saw evvvvery casino ever.
     
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  4. Gino

    Gino "The King of Inappropriate."

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    Great read..Your TR's make me laugh Thanks.
     
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  5. tmoney25

    tmoney25 High-Roller

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    I had a bad shuttle experience in Waikiki. It was only $5 per person, so we though it was a good bargain. The shuttle was a big tour bus, that should have been our first tip. We drove around all around Waikiki dropping people off until we were the last ones. Then he stopped and said, "Here you go!"... we driven by our hotel at least three times!

    So the first time we went to Vegas we took a shuttle, it was only $7/person. I was very worried. We were going to MGM Grand and I wondered how many places we would stop off at first. Thankfully we were the 2nd stop. The first stop? A young couple stayed at a dingy looking motel that was on Swenson St, a couple blocks before Tropicana Blvd. They were on the Shuttle for maybe 3 minutes! ... I looked it up on Street view and you have to go back to 2009 to see it open, it was called Marvin Gardens. It's flattened now.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2017
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  6. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    Awesome man, thanks!
     
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  7. npom

    npom VIP Whale

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    Enjoyed reading your report. I really miss the old places. Spent a lot of time at Sahara. Our first hotel we ever stayed at in Vegas was Imperial Palace. I sure do wish all those places were still there.
     
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  8. Tarstarkas

    Tarstarkas High-Roller

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    My first time was also the old Imperial Palace. I liked having coffee on the balcony first thing in the morn.
     
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  9. Ghandi

    Ghandi Tourist

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    My first time in Vegas was also around 97-99 (I was in elementary school). Dad owned a rental store and we went to the film industry convention every year since it meant a cheap family vacation. It was the best. MGM's arcade was amazing, plus the theme park and sand beach pool. Treasure Island show was great and the arcade was too. The Circus Circus shooting gallery was next level old time fun. Saw Stomp and Sigfried and Roy. It was like a different style of Disneyland that my parents enjoyed too. This really setup my love of Vegas and I hate that it was so different when going back after I turned 21.

    Really think millennials would have so much more fun in that kind of Vegas. Disney is huge right now. Kitschy themes are awesome when drinking and way more fun to wander around in for no other reason than curiosity. You can have the exact same nightclubs that exist now inside a themed place. You could even have some themed ones!
     
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  10. Gino

    Gino "The King of Inappropriate."

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    My first trip was 1994. I stayed at the Stardust. Nothing in the world will ever come close to the feeling I got when I saw that iconic, beautiful, monstrous fucking sign as we were coming up Las Vegas Blvd. I was in a 1995 Lincoln Towncar limousine with my best friend Johnnie. A Green Day song was on the radio, and I was absolutely stunned at all the immense size and beauty of the place. As much as it's changed, for the worse imo in a lot of ways, I still get misty eyed during the limo trip from McCarran. No place like it in the world for me. I bitch and kvetch about resort fees, drink ticket systems. paying for parking (and tbh I've rented a car ONE TIME) but it has been and always will be my favorite city on the planet.
     
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  11. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    I arrived in Vegas for the first time in January 1997, the day before NYNY opened to the public.

    My perceptions are similar to yours. The difference, I spend little time on the strip these days, and likely even less in the future thanks to parking fees. They lost me, and likely won't get me back in this lifetime.
     
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  12. iamsomedude

    iamsomedude High-Roller

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    Las Vegas was definitely a much more magical place for kids when Vegas was family-friendly (and when Wynn was a bigger player on the strip than he is now, although I can't give him all the credit). There was plenty of entertainment for all ages, and it is saddening that Vegas is becoming less and less themed and unique, because that's what made it an amazing vacation destination in the first place. Sometimes I do look at this site for some nostalgia: http://www.lvstriphistory.com so I remember what Vegas was like back in the day.
     
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  13. kevin853

    kevin853 High-Roller

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    Great site. Thank you for posting it.
     
  14. waverunner

    waverunner ------VEGA$------

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    The difference in Vegas now compared to then that i have witnessed is mind blowing.

    The Resorts were few and far between, especially after Dunes/Aladdin going south.
    There were a few Golf courses on the Strip.
    There were many many gas stations on the Strip.
    There were prehistoric monsters on the Strip.
    The medians between the Strip were baron and bare, just cement.
    I would drive along the Strip and have to avoid tumbleweeds on windy days.
    You could park your car in front of the Resort.
    Everyone today complains about music keeping the patrons awake while sleeping, but when i was a young man the sounds of crickets chirping in the middle of the night had the last laugh.....Club bass vs Cricket bass, no contest.
    There used to be a Helicopter pad in between the Dunes and Boardwalk.
    Lots and lots of Motels on the Strip.
    Now, the Strip with most of the action is Wynn down to Mandalay Bay. Then, it used to be Sahara down to Caesars.
    The Strip Resorts used to be horizontal, now it's vertical.
    Seigfried & Roy used to be the headliners at the Frontier.
    Westward Ho used to have shuttles taking you from the Casino to your room.
    There used to be Jai Alai at MGM Grand to bet on, not on TV screens but live on the property.
    There used to be a non smoking Casino on the Strip long before the health hazards were brought out later.
    I may be one of the few people in here who has stayed at the Marina Hotel and MGM on the same wing and floor.

    The biggest change was Vegas going vertical. That allowed more resorts to be built on the Strip and/or construction to built on current Resorts to extend the property vertically which then allowed Vegas to get rid of Golf on the Strip along with parking in front of the Resort. It's all about sq ft, that's why there are hardly any drive in movies throughout the country, especially in and near cities.
    Vegas has indeed changed over the years, but for me personally it is what it is.....and that's fine with me.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2017
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  15. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    I agree with the Millennial assessment and I think you might be the 1st to hit upon it. At one time every major resort on the strip had a decent arcade. Those all got gutted, and yet we are building large arcades with bars for the Millennial crowds. They do like cheap fun, same with the Hipsters. Vegas is starting to cater to them now, and yet everything major going on is a high end restaurant or shopping area.

    I hope Resorts World gets built, has an awesome theme and does big business. Maybe others will go back to the themeing. Take a look at Maccu, almost every joint has some sort of cool theme. So that demographic still wants a cool place to game. Why not the rest of us? Not everyone is looking for "California Beautiful" when they pick a resort to stay at.
     
  16. JWBlue

    JWBlue VIP Whale

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    For the most part the first trip is always the funnest!
     
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  17. Kobra2848

    Kobra2848 VIP Whale

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    My first trip was also in 1999 staying at the Golden Nugget downtown. It was part of a package from SW that included shuttle service. I remember booking the Golden Nugget because it was the nicest hotel for the price and much cheaper than any of the strip options. On the shuttle our first stop was Westward Ho and the look of horror on my wife's face as the shuttle let people off. It didn't get any better at the second stop Circus Circus. It sure was a relief when we walked into the Golden Nugget and saw how nice it was.

    Mark
     
  18. flyguyfl

    flyguyfl MIA

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    I remember some of this from my first trip in the mid 70's while TDY to Nellis. There was space between casinos where you could see desert and also park.
     
  19. waverunner

    waverunner ------VEGA$------

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    Yep, that's why you don't see people walking from casino to casino like you do nowadays on the Strip. That's why a lot of the Hotel/Casinos on the Strip were named Sahara, Sands, Desert Inn, Aladdin, Dunes, etc.
    That's why i love this aeriel view of the Strip from 1975:
    http://gaming.unlv.edu/Xanadu/then.html
     
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