Lots of Changes at TI - Treasure Island

Lots of changes have recently happened or are taking place:

Removed carpet in parts of Lobby and replaced with Wood
Suites have had furniture updated
Tram to Mirage being refurbished (so closed for a while)
Buffet (DISHES) closed - new Sports Themed Bar and Buffet under construction
Part of one gift shop lost to construction above
No more KENO - Keno was in two places (Coffee Shop and Sports Bet) - both are GONE!
New Self Check-in Kiosk - If you come from the parking garage (optional of course)

 

Carpet being replaced with laminate, casual eating being replaced with another concept, self check in kiosks, keno being removed... Sounds on par for the strip if you ask me!

Hope the changes are to your liking and to fellow TI fans!

 

They really should have put the check-in kiosk at check-in. Crazy idea I know! All cabs drop you off at check-in. I'd venture to say 99% of those cabbing/riding sharing their way over (hell even walking) would never know they have a bank of machines wayyyyyy over by the garage.

I'm actually shocked that MGM and ti agreed to upgrade the tram. I assumed it would have been killed off years ago. The Steve built it 25 years ago to link both of his properties. Why would Mirage want to send their guests to ti? And why would ti want to lose their over to the fancier Mirage? I'll never understand it!

 

The "jacked-up ness" with Treasure Island began when they lowered the skull and crossbones and replaced with that primary color-crap signage. Not to mention when they did away with the Pirate Battle out front. It was cheesy, but it was Vegas kitsch and it belonged. The throngs of folks who stood out there just to catch a glimpse of the battle.

 

This is a property I never really liked. I never disliked it but there was never any draw to the place for me. I enjoyed the Pirate battle but that’s about it. I am glad it’s getting updated any property that upgrades and improves itself is a good thing even if I don’t patronize the joint.

 

I’m still waiting for my first offers after a 15k day on slots, haha.

 

I thought the monorail company had a lot to do with this. Since it's already there, it just needs upgrades. I am under the impression the monorail company wants to link all of the monorails on the strip (both sides) and they finished with the "CET" side, and now they are connecting MGM Grand to Mandalay Bay (which goes to Excalibur),

Then I assume after that, somehow link Excalibur to The Park (if it's still there?), which covers Mandarin/Crystals/Vdara/Aria/Bellagio.

THEN they would have to connect Bellagio to Mirage (with Ceasar's in the middle).

 

Nope, the Las Vegas Monorail Company has nothing to do with the private Tram running between Mirage and ti. They own the leg on the other end of the Strip from SLS to MGM. And nothing else.

They have no interest in duplicating a Monorail on the "MGM" owned side, since it would be redundent to what they have on the "CET" side. The only thing I have heard was them running a line past their MGM station down to Mandalay Bay to cash in on Raiders traffic to the new stadium.

And even that would have nothing to do with MGM, who owns their own tram from Mandalay Bay to Excalibur.

LVMC couldn't link the MB - Excal tram down to the City Center one and then down to the Mirage ti one since they all use different cars, system and rails. So unifying them all would be next to impossible. They would have to tear them down.

City Center uses a real Monorail. The other two sets on that end of the Strip use a pully car system.

 

Thank you for the clarification, Grid! Shows how little I know and how bad it is to assume things

 

I wish all their employees dressed like pirates.

 

Be careful what you ask for. Then they'd be after you booty all the time.

 

I see no issues with that!

 

Well like everything Steve Wynn did, the Mirage and Treasure Island was a very cool complex and well thought out. It revolutionized Las Vegas and if you ever went there back in the early days, it was truly magical. The same feeling you got when you went to Disneyland for the first time. As far as I'm concerned the Vegas story for the late 80's to date will be that Steve Wynn did all these different projects that put Las Vegas on the map again and then other people took them over and fucked them up. I will be surprised if Wynn and Encore don't follow suit. They'll be as cool as they always were for a while, just like the Mirage was when MGM first took it over. Then......you'll slowly start to see what happens when you lose that Midas touch of an eccentric leader that "gets" Vegas. The whole story from the Mirage in 1988 to Steve being ousted in 2018 is sad and also pisses me off. Maybe he's like a degenerate gambler in that he just can't help himself and eventually destroys everything in his path.

 

I was so pissed that Keno was gone when I was there in June. We always stay at the Mirage and tram it over to the Coffee Shop at TI for breakfast and Keno every morning. We got to the Coffee Shop, asked to be seated near a Keno screen, an they looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about. As soon as we sat down, I saw the screens disconnected and wanted to leave. That was a relaxing, fun, breakfast, gambling while you eat, without having to do much of anything. I feel bad for the lady that used to run it. She was there almost 18 years doing it.

 

Treasure Island in the late 90's was magical for me. The pirates, the battle, the theme everything was awesome. It was like staying/playing in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride! I took that tram back and forth between there and Mirage at least 10 times a day. It was like a free ride at an amusement park. Then walking into Mirage with all those slots and a bright tropical theme, it was like being on some magical island. Fake birds in the fake trees. Those thatched huts over the gaming areas. It was just a happy place.

Now Treasure Island is embarrassed by their own name, they would rather be called ti. No more pirates to be found and only a handful of remnants from her former theme. Blame Phil Ruffin for that. And the Mirage's theme? I dont know. Is Black and depressing a theme? They took a page from the Rolling Stones and literally painted everything Tropical Black. Black walls, black ceilings, black black black. That one you can hang on MGM.

Does their new lack of theme attract more people? Hard to say, they both seem to be doing well. But it is not what I would prefer. I guess there just isnt enough Grid's out there to keep things the same.

 

I'd worry about the hook hand.

 

Thanks for the information. Not surprising, this has turned into a "good old days" thread and yeah, Phil's brought his expertise from running gas-stations and The Frontier to the TI. I've kinda always liked the property in it's both "glory days" and still today.

 

You can learn to deal with the Hook Hand in order to experience what they can do with that Peg Leg!

 

I was disappointed as well when they closed the Caribe Cafe at the Mirage and no more Keno while you eat. I new it was the beginning of the end at the Mirage when I came down one morning and the MGM design geniuses were starting the process of removing all of the thatched roof areas over all of the gaming. I told my wife that morning... we need to move over to Steve’s new place. We did and never looked back. The Mirage and Treasure Island were so fun and a total escape from everyday life. As Hurricane Mikey put it many years ago, the Mirage lost its soul.

 

I had forgotten about the thatching in the Mirage casino. Yeah, it used to have that whole Trader Vic's theme going.