Do You Prefer A Busy or Dead Time In Vegas?

I was really torn when trying to plan my next trip. I'm fairly low on vacation time so trying to maximize my time off. I was thinking about the 4th of July since my firm is giving us Friday the 5th off but I was put off thinking it will probably be too crowded. It's a double edged sword:

- Not busy - better chance of getting the room I want, not fighting for a seat at a good BJ table (hate it when I have to wait in line to gamble) or at the machine I want to play. Easier to get a seat in a restaurant without a reservation not to mention shows.

- Busy -is better people watching. I hate a dead craps table. Just two of us there make the money go very fast. A busy table takes a while to pay people so I have a longer session. When it's busy there are more options for live shows.

I ended up booking the days just before July 4th to take less time off and still avoid the crowds.

Do you book for busy or dead days?

 

My favorite time to go is July, August.

It is not dead, but not too crowded either.

I am a fan of the heat so that is not an issue for me.

 

Dead. Cheaper rates, thus I'll have more to spend. I really haven't been during a busy time besides when the rodeo is there but I'm not sure if that's considered busy.

 

I like off-weekends with a small event. I get the accommodations and everything I want and get to attend an event I want, but there's enough players to keep it interesting as I don't like playing alone all the time. busy weekends are when the big events are and that's nice, but everything is just so crowded it's way more of a challenge.

 

Busy enough that I can find a poker table to play at, not so busy that I have to wait a long time, or wade through throngs of people during the day to get there.

 

Is there even a "dead" time for Vegas????

Give me my choice of machines, table games and 0 lines for meals and that would be awesome.

Even if I picked the least crowded Vegas trip it still won't give me the above.

I will say my wife and I love the early morning Vegas time (4-5am) where it actually gives the above. Of course the options are limited for meal choices.

 

We went over the Fourth of July last year. It wasn't too bad. Enough people to keep it fun. Never too crowded.

 

We have been in Las Vegas for a few recent Fourth of Julys and its not really that busy of a time for Las Vegas.

Its not a party type holiday (Halloween, New Years Eve), or a special night out holiday (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day) or a big dinner holiday (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas) - its more of a family togetherness/lets go to the park or the beach type of holiday.

As far as Vegas goes they usually only do the big fireworks shows if July 4th is on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday... since its a Thursday this year there might be something going on at some of the local parks or down at the lake, but I wouldn't expect much at all on The Strip (Stratosphere usually does their small show every 4th, whether the other properties will do something is pretty iffy).


But as for the general notion of busy versus slow: we prefer slower times for the same reasons the OP brought up: don't like big lines everywhere, want to be able to choose whatever game we want to play not circling the slots or putting in your name for a spot at a table. If we do go to Las Vegas over one of the busier times we we will usually book a few days afterwards so we can then relax a bit and spend some time doing what we want before its time to head home (IE: when we did New Years Eve we didn't head home until the 5th of January, when we did Halloween we left on the 5th of November).

 

We enjoy the pool parties most of all, so mid May-early June is out favorite time to go. We avoid MDW because it's too crowded and overpriced but at other weekend is usually up our alley. Hot but not too hot with good crowds at the pools and clubs.

 

Dead for sure. Mostly due to rates, but probably also due to my age (53)!

 

The deader the better for me.

 

Not sure if there are any "dead" periods in Vegas anymore, but we do try to visit during less popular times like winter, non-holiday week-ends, etc.

There still are lots of people during these periods to keep things interesting. I like to people watch.

One trip I arrived on Christmas day. The Cal Downtown was literally a morgue. As the week progressed toward New Years it became more and more crowded.

 

exactly.

I like busy but not insane, no more NYE for me.

 

I like the busy weekends better....I just love walking out on the strip for the night around 10ish and its packed, every spot on the strip is jam packed. Love seeing people having a good time

 

We're in our 50s and we like it busy.

This year we went for NYE which was great! We go every year for the opening week of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament - love the excitement in the sports books!
We've visited over Labor Day weekend, Halloween (we were there for a trail marathon October 29), Thanksgiving (boring!) and NFR (several years of the new Las Vegas marathons as well as the 2009 and 2010 RnR marathons occurred during NFR).

 

I prefer dead. It's easier to find cheap airfare and good rooms. I love being able to walk up to most restaurants with no reservations and to be able to play the most popular slots whenever and not in the middle of the night.

 

Most definitely prefer the quieter times. Week before Christmas is my favorite, or right after New Year. The quieter times seem to have gotten fewer in the past five years.

 

My favorite time to go to Las Vegas is over Thanksgiving, Christmas time or NYE. I prefer it to be less crowded and much cooler.
I don't care much for the summer months but I haven't done 4th Of July yet and Wynn gave me a nice offer that I couldn't refuse.
For the record; NYE certainly isn't less crowded but I like the fireworks and watching the drunks act all crazy. It's very entertaining!

 

Personaly I prefer it quiet during the week days but i love Vegas on the weekends:evillaugh

Everyone looking fine and smelling good, out to enjoy themselves avoiding jerks and drunks. Not much worse than having to listen to a steaming drunk bleet about his/her losses.

I do a bit of people watching myself. Enjoy the differing styles year on year especially the ladies

 

I have gone from Nov-Apr everytime I have gone. It is still decent weather wise there but sucks here in MN. I have been there 3 times for super busy times, once in nov-dec was the rodeo, once in feb during the Super Bowl, and another time was last april was some movie theater convention.

The Super Bowl trip was packed but a ton of fun and I would easily go again for it.