24K Magic in the air… New Year's Extravaganza at the Nugget!

Pop pop, it's show time, Show time, Guess who's back again?



Travel Day! I’m on my way to Fabulous Las Vegas for another New Year’s extravaganza! This will be our 5th time ringin’ in a new year in Vegas, but our first time spending it downtown on Fremont.

Quick recap of our past NYE experiences…

Our first NYE trip was ringing in 2017. We went to see Maroon 5 at Mandalay Events Centre then made our way walking down the middle of the Strip to the front of Planet Hollywood… it was epic! At least until the fireworks finished and everyone started trying to make their way to wherever it was that they wanted to go. There was no way to event move, we were literally squished, to the point of pain and almost making it difficult to breathe.

Our second NYE trip was ringing in 2018. We went to see Gwen Stefani at Planet Hollywood then made our way down to the South end of the Strip (to avoid the experience we had the previous year), taking in the fireworks from the corner of LVB and Tropicana. This was great, but almost felt like we weren’t really part of the action and excitement.

Our third NYE trip was ringin’ in the infamous 2020. We inadvertently found our way to the corner of LVB and Flamingo in front of Ceasars, just inside the railing between the sidewalk and the street. This is the most epic spot to take it all in when the clock strikes 12 midnight. The streets were packed, but we were comfortable as the railing was keeping us out of the madness. Watched the fireworks shoot out of Planet Hollywood and Caesars, could also see some from Aria, and MGM Grand. This spot was really magical. Having been through what we went through in our first year, we knew people had no clue what they were in for on the street side of the railing. Once the fireworks finished, madness ensued and people were literally begging for us to help them climb over the barrier. We spent a solid half hour just helping people climb over. There was even one family with a small baby that literally handed the baby over to my gf then looked for me to help them climb over. That’s how bad it is on LVB, people literally handing a baby off to strangers, just to try to get out of the madness.

Our fourth NYE was ringing in 2023. We went to the VGK game at noon on Dec 31st and I was chosen to go onto the ice during the 1st intermission to participate in a contest where I shot the puck from centre ice, and got a prize with each goal I scored. I got 4 out of 5 in and won some amazing prizes. Following this I got a text from a friend who was in town asking if I wanted tickets to the MGM Grand NYE party, which we took him up on. In case you were wondering, he is a heavy gambler, as this was an unbelievable party. Everything was included; dinner (caviar appy, lobster, steak, etc) premium drinks, gifts, pictures, entertainment, and a private show by Adam Lambert. Our plan was to head out to the Strip at midnight for the fireworks, but once we were in the party we decided to stay there for the ball drop. This party will most likely never be topped for us haha

That brings us to this year… I got an offer from the Golden Nugget to join them for their New Years Eve party… dinner, drinks, tickets to the FSE party all included as well as 4 comp nights in their Rush Tower. We talked about doing NYE downtown at some point, so this was a perfect opportunity that we didn’t want to pass up. We had to do some logistical maneuvering to make it happen as the gf is actually gone on a trip with her kids until Dec 30th. I’m heading to Vegas today, and she will be flying in on the 31st to meet me.

With that being said, I will be solo for the first 40 hours or so of the trip. So, I will most likely be updating the TR regularly throughout that time. Once the gf arrives I will continue to update, just might not be play-by-play.

What’s on the agenda?

Entertainment-wise we have the Golden Nugget NYE party, we’ll probably head out onto Fremont for the midnight festivities. January 1st we plan to watch the VGK Winter Classic game at Circa. I’ll be sportin’ my new VGK Winter Classic jersey On January 3 we are going to see Luke Bryan at Resorts World and we are topping off the trip on January 4th with a visit to the Fortress to watch the Golden Knights take on the Panthers of Florida. The gf got us exceptional seats for this game as a birthday gift… we’ll be seated 3 rows from the ice! This will be pure awesomeness!

We have a few spots picked out food-wise…. Nothing fancy… 8 East, Best Friend, Diablo’s Cantina, Bellagio Buffet. Probably hit up Saginaw’s and maybe Victory Burger as well to use up some food credit. Maybe Magnolia’s, Side Betty Grill. We have $250 resort credit with MGM so we’ll be filling in the other spots at MGM restaurants. We may go off-Strip for a bite at some point, we have Omelette House on our radar. We also might have a drink at Frankie’s Tiki Room. We did Golden Tiki on a previous trip and it was very cool.

Speaking of off-Strip, I’ll have a car for the entirety of the trip. One of the things I will be doing on my solo day is to make a trip over to Durango to check that out and get me a $1 chip. I will probably have a bite at Prince St. Pizza while there. I’ll also be heading out to Summerlin to visit Sports Town to possibly get a couple of my VGK jersey’s customized. Might make a stop at Red Rock, or maybe Rampart or Suncoast. We’ll see how I’m feelin’. Now that Tuscany Suites has table games, I will be making a pit stop there for the first time to play a little BJ and pick up a $1 chip as well.

Spinettis Gaming Supplies is also on my list of stops for the day. I don’t think I’ve ever been, so I’m looking forward to this. I may pick up a $1 chip from Barbary Coast, Boardwalk and Stardust if they have any. Those were a few places that I had visited during my first trip back in 2005, but I wasn’t collecting the $1 chips back then. So I missed out. Hopefully they have some that won’t break the bank.

At some point we’ll be visiting the newest joint on the Strip, Fontainebleau. I don’t plan on doing much gaming there, but I will pick up my $1 chip. Like Resorts World, it doesn’t look like a place I will be overly excited about visiting in the future, based on the videos I’ve seen so far. But we gotta check out the new kid in town nonetheless.

We also plan to visit the Atomic Museum at some point.

And finally… I plan to post some wii-wii pics throughout the trip, so keep an eye out for those… don’t be shy, take a peek… and take some guesses!

I'm a dangerous man with some money in my pocket… Let’s go!

 

Wishing you the best as you enjoy that Downtown Funk!

RICHARD

 

Good luck and hope that Air Canada is on time for you tonight. Luckily it’s raining and not snowing.

 

Looks good so far... Yes, rain is better than snow or freezing rain! It says delayed by 10 mins but the incoming plane has already arrived so hopefully nothing else keeps us on the ground here. The app shows us getting in to Vegas 20 mins early. I don't mind that

 

Ok our paths have crossed a few times, now is a good opportunity to make them actually intersect @ Plaza until New Year’s Day, and VMB inbox is open Have fun with what you’ve got planned, and shall you have a handpay or three

 

Sounds good. I've never been for NYE, but I'm sure you will have a blast.
Best of luck!

 

For sure... I plan to spend the evening and night casino hopping downtown tomorrow, so that will be a good opportunity

 

I'm snuggled in my seat on the big bird... this is a big plane!
Vegas... here I come!

 

Safe travels and looking forward to following along.

Mark

 

Good Luck , have a Happy New Years , will be following along

 

More WIWI @JRRestoule?

 

Yeah, I couldn’t believe how big the Dreamliner is. Sure beats the 737s we’re used to.

 

Anyone who quotes Bruno Mars going into Vegas gets my best wishes.

May your trip be filled with so much cash that you can't fit it in your pockets.

 

They spelled Hairy Read wrong...

 

1st beer of the trip... it's been a shit show since landing...will update in the morning.

 

Alright, quick recap of my travel day...

Flight left Toronto a few minutes late but the pilot made up the time in the air as we landed about 15 minutes early. No complaints there.

Waited for my luggage which was a little longer than normal but not bad. Made my way out to the shuttle area for the car rental facility and it was packed. I guess I'm not the only one that decided to rent a car at 1030pm on December 29. The wait was about 30-45 minutes and I finally boarded the 4th bus that came by.

Got to the rental facility and was greeted with another enormous line for Dollar/Thrifty. It was ridiculous really. They had 3 agents working when I got in line but one of them quit after serving about 2 or 3 people. So they were down to 2 people working and there was probably 50+ people to get checked in for their cars. This was the ultimate test in patience, and trust me, I got no patience lol

1 hour and 45 minutes later I was finally in my car leaving the rental facility. Yes, it took almost 2 hours to get thought that line. And of course they have no cars left haha I ended up with a Mustang convertible.

Finally got to the Golden Nugget at about 115am. I'm thinking it's gotta be quiet at check in at that time. Wrong. Another ridiculous line lol I checked the invited guest area but it was closed. Fortunately I seen that to the right of the main check in there is the concierge and I seen VIP, so I just went there and was checked in right away. Got to the room shortly after 130am.

So, plane lands at 945pm. Get into room at 130am. lol

I'm still on East coast time, so it's 430am internally. But I just got to Vegas and I'm a degen, so there's no way I'm going to bed without feeding the addiction Ended up playing slots for a couple hours, was down about $500-$600 but got a couple decent hits at the end of the night to take me back close to even...








Plan for today is to graba quick bite then head out to Summerlin, Durango, Spinettis, before making my way back to the Nugget for some Fremont Street action tonight. I'll let ya know if anything good happens.

 

Following along! I already know this is going to be an awesome TR

Specifically looking forward to hearing about your impression of Durango, as well as what the table game situation is like at Tuscany. And of course, Spinetti’s! There’s no place like it for vintage casino stuff… and I’m glad that you’ll be checking it out.

May there be a handpay in the cards for you today my friend!

 

Thanks man, I've been looking forward to today for awhile. I'll make sure to share my thoughts/info on Durango and Tuscany... and ya, a handpay wouldn't be a bad thing!

 

Fueling up at Saginaw's before hitting the road!

 

It'll be fun to whip around Vegas in this for the next week