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8 Days, GN, Bellagio, Gordy Brown, Zhumanity, Chris Angel, MyVegas, Groupons, Travel

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by daveg000, May 19, 2013.

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  1. daveg000

    daveg000 VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    It all started in March

    We had been in Vegas in January, and in March my wife was talking on the phone to one of her friends about our trip to Disney World that we were going to take in June with the grandkids.

    I had been saying (whining, complaining) that I would rather go to Vegas.

    Out of the blue I heard her say "I think Dave is planning a trip to Vegas before that." What? I had mentioned it and she had looked at me like a piece of excrement. Perhaps my impeccable timing had been off?

    Anyway, I got right on it.

    It was March and TIME TO PLAN (half the fun!)

    Time to look through my offers.

    I had used the time share for the weekend, the trip in January, so I had to schedule the strip for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Schedule the time share for Sun., Mon., and Tues, leaving the first two days somewhere else.

    First, the strip Hotel, everything else should be easy.

    We stayed at the Bellagio in January, so I was thinking Mirage or Mandalay. Before January, we hadn't been to Vegas in 18 months, because of my Baby sitting job. So Mirage was only offering 3 nights and Boyz to Men tickets - my wife wasn't interested.

    Mandalay was 3 nights and $100 - I started thinking location and my wife's hips, so Bellagio, 3 nights, $150, and $50 in birthday money was my choice.

    I did have a 3 Complimentary Nights with Upgrade to a Contemporary Room- $150 in FREEPLAY - $100 in M life Resort Credit- 2 Complimentary Take 2 Buffet Passes at EXCALIBUR, but decided against it this time. I DID like the cheesiness, but am not quite sure my wife was ready for it.

    We did play there some, when we ate at the Steak house and went to the Australian BeeGee show on MyVegas last time we were there. The Steak house was excellent. The BeeGees were good. The hotel, a little cheesy.

    I called Bellagio and asked for the 16th, 17th, 18th, and was told "no go, a big convention". No problem, give me the 9th, 10th and 11th - DONE

    Next Get online and schedule timeshare, 12th, 13th, 14th, - 2 minutes later - DONE

    Now I will have to schedule the 7th and 8th, I'm thinking downtown. We stayed at the Golden Nugget in the Rush tower one night on our last trip in January. We loved it, The Charthouse was great, my wife liked the spa, But we weren't feeling any love, just emails talking reduced rates. $5 off?

    I looked at my Boyd offers to see if there was anything for MSS, - nothing. Oh well perhaps it was a little early for GN May offers, so I decided to wait.

    TIME TO GET THOSE MYVEGAS REWARDS!!!

    Now I don't need rooms from MyVegas, and I don't want to waste the rewards on cheap things, except the Belagio Buffet, since I love it and I am Staying there.

    FRIDAY MORNING comes and I'm in front of my desktop computer, my trusty laptop at my side (it's always there, right next to my smartphone. My wife thinks the tablet is hers) MyVegas - 4 for me, 4 for the wife. Yes we had both bought a small amount of chips,

    NOW FOR A LITTLE MyVegas ASIDE :
    I see so many questions out there about MyVegas and getting those rewards.
    1.) YES if you can buy 4, you can use 4.
    2.) I have Roadrunner turbo, a step up from basic, not as fast as their top speed but fast enough. Both my laptop and my Computer are I7- 3rd generation and fast.
    3.) After I made a cut and paste file with my first name, last name, and email address and focused on the one reward a day, I never failed getting what I wanted.

    So here I go before I knew the above

    Bellagio Buffet, DONE
    Camelot steakhouse, DONE
    Zhumanity - DONE

    Getting anything else I wanted - SOLD OUT

    Check my Email - nothing from Golden Nugget. Log on to their site, log onto Landry's site - can't hurt to prime the pump - nothing. Check Snail mail, nothing.

    Make reservations for Zhumanity, Monday May 15th, Front row a, seats 7&8. Decide to get Nine Fine Irishman $100 dinner comp for the show on Saturday.

    Make Reservations at Southwest , PRICEY - arrive in Vegas at 9:15 AM leave 8 days later at 1:55PM.

    SATURDAY MORNING comes and I'm in front of my desktop computer, my trusty laptop at my side (it's always there, right next to my smartphone.)

    My goal: Nine Fine Irishman and Circus Circus Steak house

    RESULTS: my fat non-typing fingers screw me up between the two computers - Nothing!

    I make a file with my first name, last name, and email - I can cut and paste a lot faster, right up there with the best of them. I also decide that I should go for one thing at a time. After all, I have six weeks.

    My wife and I go out and hit a few rummage/estate sales and when I get home the snailmail has a Flyer from Golden Nugget. 2 free nights, $50 in slot play, not great, but resulting from a one night stay, I guess acceptable. I call and make the reservations, during the conversation, I mentioned we had stayed in the Rush tower, and was this for that? She said "no", I said I would be glad to pay the upgrade, she clicked a while and said "you have the Rush Tower."

    Now in the back of my mind, I remember someone posting a Travel Zoo Gordie Brown / Buffet deal at the GN. I book that, and now the first day is planned. Hit Hennessey's Downtown at 11AM for 2 for 1 fish taco Tuesday, drink a few, enjoy downtown, check in, eat at the buffet, 7:30 show. (That completely changed later)

    I look at the MyVegas rewards and Nine Fine Irishman is GONE. Oh well, maybe it will come back in the next six weeks. I'll save one for it. If it doesn't show, we can walk across the overhead and use the Excalibur Steak house reward, it is already in the bank.

    SUNDAY MORNING comes and I'm in front of my desktop computer, screw my trusty laptop at my side (it's always there, right next to my smartphone.) Open up my cut paste file. MyVegas 2 for me, 1 for the wife.

    I have decided to go for the Luxor Steakhouse, while the huge weekend crowd fights for the Circus. paste paste paste.

    Luxor Steakhouse - DONE


    MONDAY MORNING comes and I'm in front of my desktop computer, screw my trusty laptop at my side (it's always there, right next to my smartphone.) Open up my cut paste file. My vegas 2 for me, 0 for the wife.

    Today I go for Circus Steakhouse, - paste paste paste.

    Circus Steakhouse - DONE

    Now I will wait to see if Nine Fine Irishman comes back.

    Looking at all this booty, I just realized that I am going to have to overplan! Pity me!
     
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
  2. daveg000

    daveg000 VIP Whale

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    Ok, We are still in March, the planning phase, I left the last post with:

    Golden Nugget - Tues May 7 and Wed. May 8th
    Bellagio - Thur-Sat May 9th - 11th
    Timeshare - Sun -Wed - May 12th - 15th

    MyVegas:

    Bellagio Buffet
    Camelot steakhouse
    Zumanity
    Luxor Steakhouse
    Circus Steakhouse

    Travel Zoo
    Gordie Brown / Buffet Golden Nugget
    ______
    So the 9 fine Irishman MyVegas reward has disappeared and soon the Steakhouses rewards disappear also.

    All come back at half the reward - Nine Fine Irisman is now $50 and the Steakhouses are all $75. Wow, I got my steakhouses before the change, but I wondered if they had been cut in half also - more on that later.


    Anyway, my wife looked at the menus and we decided to take the Sporting House Bar at NYNY $75 reward for the night we are going to Zumanity.


    Meanwhile, The GN calls and said the Tuesday night Gordy Brown show will be dark, so we switch it to Wednesday. I make Charthouse reservations for Tuesday night.

    I'm not quite done getting stuff:

    A $219 GN Spa package for pops up on TravelZoo for $99 and I get it for my wife.

    A Paris Groupon for a lunch buffet and free drinks for $36.

    A Mirage Groupon, for two head hunter drinks at Rhumbar for $15 - I buy 2!

    I get bankcard rewards for 2 $25 PF Changs Giftcards

    An Amazon.com Local certificate for 2 for 1 original meal at Johnny Rockets on Paradise

    Now I know that this is getting ridiculous, and I still had two rewards that I could get from MyVegas. Did I mention I own both the LVA and the ACG coupon books?

    I finally decide (it's now mid April) to get the Chris Angel show tickets and call it quits. $930 in comps from my Vegas (hopefully my Steakhouse comps were still $150) is enough. I'll still be able to get 4 on my account next time, I would think.

    Now I have to make reservations, I add in the Circo at Bellagio, in my never ending quest to find an Italian Restaurant in Vegas that my wife likes (non Chain, she likes Maggiano's Little Italy).

    3 shows (Gordy Brown, Chris Angel, Zumanity), 5 major restaurants (Charthouse, Circus Steakhouse, Excalibur Steakhouse, Circo, and Tender at Luxor) So I set one up a night for each night we are there.

    I had to make daily calender sheets with the certificates clipped on to know where to go each day. Bummer.

    So next, on to the trip.
     
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
  3. pokerbucketlist

    pokerbucketlist Low-Roller

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    I'm a planner, but man, thats a lot of planning! No room for the, 'cool, look at that restaurant/bar and we are hungry/thirsty, lets go in!!
     
  4. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    How was your trip Dave?

    Edit - Oops sorry, just noticed that you just started the trip report and the planning portion wasn't prior to leaving.
     
  5. Blonde_4_ever

    Blonde_4_ever LasVegas4ever.com

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    "I'll still be able to get 4 on my account next time, I would think."

    They downgraded the numbers of Rewards everyone had. You will be back to 3 I am afraid.
     
  6. Check-Raise

    Check-Raise High-Roller

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    What do you mean by the copy/paste thing with regards to MyVegas? I read about MyVegas here and play it sporadically to try and get some rewards, I've never put money in to it and don't plan to but in about 5 sessions of playing on there I have like 5k in reward coins or whatever, seems reasonable to me. I don't ever take their links or share things on my facebook, do you do that kind of stuff to get your points up? At the rate I'm going I'll be lucky to get 1 free pass to Zumanity or something :p
     
  7. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    So I'm not just imagining things.. I knew I had 6 the other day, and now back to 4 today.. poop :nono:
     
  8. daveg000

    daveg000 VIP Whale

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    Tuesday March 7th

    I did it again, I love the trip reports here with the beautiful pictures, of places, meals, and people, I look at the few pictures I remembered to take, and I see no places, no meals, and very few people. I did decided not to take pictures of plain quads on VP. Oh well, here it is.

    We Landed in Vegas a half an hour early - 8:45 AM Vegas timeGetting our bags and rental car went quickly and I was turning on to the Strip by 9:15 AM ( that turn is always when I really feel like I'm in Vegas!) We headed straight Downtown on the Strip, which wasn't Crowded at that time of Day.

    Our plan had been to go to Hennessy's have a few drinks, Enjoy their 2 for 1 Taco Tuesday, bum around Downtown and checkin to the Golden Nugget at 1PM. It was 9:45AM and Hennessy's didn't open until 11 AM. My wife's stomach was growling and soon she would be, So we went and had lunch at Magnolia's at the 4 Queens (2for1 LVA), bummed around downtown, had some drinks at Hennessy's and surprise, won at my first gambling foray:
    [​IMG]

    Took a picture, looking out at the Zip line Construction:

    [​IMG]

    Then We Checked in.

    When we made our reservations they had tried to put me in a different tower than the one we were in last January and I told them I would be gald to pay the upgrade to the Rush Tower. Also last January, I used the east entrance, this time I used the Rush tower Entrance and Checkin ( Always thinking about my wife's hips). To my surprise, I was charged no upgrade fee for the Rush Tower.

    I didn't ask for close to the elevator, because no rooms are far from them, but I did ask for it last time and our room was right next to them.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    On a lower floor, the view not inspiring, but I'll take close to the elevator every time.

    [​IMG]

    We went down after unpacking and gambled, walked around Freemont and drank.

    Earlier in the day I took this picture of the daily cleaning of the Chart House tank.

    [​IMG]

    We had reservations at the Chart House at 7Pm. Great meal as always!

    After the meal we enjoyed the entertainment on Fremont Street. Wife went upstairs, I gambled
    ________________________
     
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
  9. daveg000

    daveg000 VIP Whale

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    I checked, I'm afraid you are right Blonde! Back to 3. I should have done one more, but my schedule was full enough.

    I'm not even going to set up 3 apiece next trip - just too hectic for me. not enough spontanaity . I missed meets because of those rewards. I would have liked to have met The Bucket. I wish we would have met Lady Fortuna, Vegasnut and traveler, at the meet a week earlier than we did. I would have LOVED to meet Dewey, but no, we were going to steak houses and shows.
     
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
  10. daveg000

    daveg000 VIP Whale

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    When you try to redeem rewards in the morning, the good ones only last a very short time. 20 -30 seconds I would suspect.

    You click on Redeem. Then the page that comes up wants you to type in your first name, your last name, and your Email address. I type so badly, that I could take that 30 seconds up, trying to type that in right.

    So I made a file that I could cut and paste those items from. Fast and precise!
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2013
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
  11. daveg000

    daveg000 VIP Whale

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    Wednesday March 8th

    I got up early and left my wife sleeping while I went downstairs to gamble. I call her 2 hours before we need to be anywhere (She takes that long
    getting ready) This is an everyday routine. Most nights I walk her back to the room, and then go down and gamble. She likes to relax a little on Vacation - can you believe it? I will leave this out from now on, but that's what is happening everyday.

    Anyway we went to the Carson Street Cafe for Breakfast/lunch. My wife had an 11AM appointment at the SPA For a Massage and Pedi (TravelZoo

    for $99) I went to Gamble while she enjoyed. That's the whole point! .Nothing interesting gambling, while we stayed at GN, except I hit a lot of quads, and NO premium quads.

    The weather was on the cool side the first day, but there was a continuous warm up the next 7 days.

    I visited the 4 queens and the Fremont, but decided I was doing better at GN.

    Finally my wife left the SPA and called me to come get her (in the middle of a hot streak, but she is directionally challenged.) We drank, gambled and walked Fremont until it was time to go to the GN buffet and go see Gordy Brown (travelzoo $27 apiece )

    I've always liked the GN buffet (ask my bathroom scale, I've never met a buffet, I didn't like) but the BIG SURPRISE was the Gordy Brown Show. I laughed until I cried. I walked out with a sore face, my wife agreed, one of the best shows we have ever seen. $27 for the show and a GN buffet? How can you go wrong?

    After the show, we again immersed ourselves in the Fremont Street Experience until it was time to retire.
     
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
    15 NIGHTS, 16 DAYS, May 8-23, MGM PK, GOLDN NUGGET, TIMESH, MANDALAY
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