Jimbo does Downtown #1

Trip Report
April 27 To May 1, 2004
Day 1 (Tuesday)

In February things worked out very well. I did my research all year jotting things down and making notes. I regretted that I didn't keep little notes while in Vegas so I tried to do that a bit for a more accurate report. The purpose of this visit was quality one on one time with the last of my three kids to accompany me to LV. Matt is my oldest boy, is 16 and like my other two kids is involved in drama as well as sports at their high school. I wanted to show him the usual LV sights and expose him to professional theater where the budgets are a bit higher than the summer stock that we find here in NH!

Last week was April vacation here in the lakes region of New Hampshire, so I purchased our tickets in December of 2003 when SW extended its travel dates and initiated a systemwide sale. I was able to purchase flights on SW's once a day non-stop to LV from Manchester, for $215 each. When SW started online check in, I called Customer Service and got a separate Conformation Number for myself so that I could print out our boarding passes here before the flight which I did. I immediately started looking for deals for tues-sat. I also decided that this was a good opportunity to try downtown. My usual annual trip is for a trade show at the LVCC and I have stayed in that area. While I have always enjoyed visiting the downtown and dining there frequently I didn't know if being there for a stay would be a curse or a blessing with the transportation problem of going to and fro. While I looked at both the strip and downtown, I was pretty much leaning towards staying downtown.

I searched everywhere: the offers above, tripreservations.com; vacation packages, travelworm, travelzoo, expedia, travelaxe, etc. The best deal I could find was at the Fitz. It was from i4vegas.com. They had the dates I wanted even cheaper than the Fitz. tues-fri nites for $142.00. I actually could get it for $5.00 cheaper at tripreservations.com but they had huge penalties for cancelling, while it would have been $15.00 to cancel thru i4vegas.com. While I explored other options including the POV and ACG, the price went up to $147.00 for the 4 nights and I decided to lock in before prices went up even more. It was a good move cause I looked till the end and it was the best price for what I wanted. I so wanted to try the LVC but couldn't get a friday. I could have stayed there tues and wed and moved across the street to the Fitz but I hate to move once I'm settled in. I will say that I was a bit nervous about reserving through a broker and not directly with the hotel, however, I called 2 weeks before my trip and checked the reservations. Everything was ok, I was in their computer and check in was a breeze. Check out took a minute or less as I returned the keys and was told everything was all set and to have a nice flight home.

I printed our boarding passes before heading home monday night (tues AM) ; it was a good feeling knowing you had an "A" pass in case you slept late or got tied up in traffic. I had worked on a flexible schedule for the first 2 days so that we could make the most of our time there seeing the sites and taking in the shows. Matt wanted a window seat and I prefer an aisle seat. We both got that and no one sat between us so we had that extra margin of comfort . After a long flight and a time change I figured that we wouldn't plan too much. I bought tickets in feb. for the Scintas. Boarding was so easy with preprinted BP's, we just dropped off our luggage and went thru security. We are getting good at it as are the screeners. Matt had steel arches in his shoes and took them off but still didn't make it thru. He got pulled out and was checked out while dad made fun of him!The flight was great. We had our little Lorna Dunes and a nice grinder that my wife made for us to eat. We had a smooth flight and arrived 20 minutes early. This is my 6th flight with SW. All have left on time and all but one was early. Plane was clean and comfortable, and the luggage came up promptly.

I had thought of a limo but realizing that time at the baggage area was part of the hour, 1.5 hours would be required for the trip downtown. So I thougt maybe we would just grab one with our luggage outside. Then I didn't feel like riding around for an hour.....just wanted to get to the hotel. I got two RT shuttle tickets on ALC (LVL's purple buses). We put out luggage in and were off in less than 2 minutes, arriving at the Fitz at 10:40 am. Our room was ready and we went to settle in after registering. Is this cool or what? The room was clean, comfortable and quiet. Now I remember two major complaints here about the Fitz: the AC was noisy and the elevators were slow as mollases. Well, the ACs are noisy but really not more than a fan in the window would be. Now it happens that my kids all like to sleep with the fan on, as does my wife (I shut it off when I go to bed) so it didn't bother us at all. Now in 4 days of coming and going many many times, neither of us waited for an elevoator more than 2 or 3 minutes, usually much less. There are 4 elevators serving the 34 floors.Even friday was a breeze.

The bathroom is a nice size but the counter was so wide that I had trouble seeing to shave.....damn bifocals! Too many mirrors anyway......make me feel guilty with my love handles! The bathroom was handicapped accessible. I don't know if they all are of if we got one that wasn't needed but if I was any shorter, my feet probably wouldn't hit the floor on the throne! I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to work the shower head that detached. I didn't say anything to Matt, less his old man would look stupid. He told me that he had trouble figuring out how to use the shower head so I didn't feel so bad. We unpacked and walked down to the Bay City Diner at the golden Gate. I had prime rib which was excellent......but you can't convince me it is only 8 oz! Matt is a light eater and junks out so he just had a shake. We went over to pee at the Berlin wall! We took pictures......in good taste of course, of this slice of world history.

It was like 95 degrees so we crossed over to the California and then walked to the DTC and purchased 30 day CAT Passes. We hopped onto the 302 and headed down to the Bellagio and across the street to Barbury Coast. I wanted to see Big Elvis but it was too early so we hopped the shuttle to the Gold Coast. We walked to the Rio where I got tickets to see Ron Lucas. I saw the show in feb. He is a great entertainer and Matt enjoyed the show very much. Getting out we waited around to see Mascarade in the sky. Security made us stay all the way back near the wall cause Matt was under 21 so it was hard to see the stage but the rest was ok; I don't think it moved him much. We walked over to the GC for their buffet. I had an ACG 2 for 1 coupon. That place is so nice. Big, comfortable, clean and good selection. Matt really enjoyed the buffet there and got up a couple of times....unusual for him. I like it as well. We returned to the Rio cause I had 7:30 pm tickets for the Scintas.
Matt is the kid that needs lots of sleep, has trouble adjusting to Daylight Savings Time, now suffering from jet lag and a 3 hour change in time. Would the Scintas be able to keep him focused?

YOU BET THEY COULD!!! Great show, so much talent and so professional. Music was clear, audio perfect and non stop entertainment from beginning to end. How could one family have so much talent, I wondered all the way through the show? Must of got some of our share, I figure.Matt and I are a generation apart but there was no gap in this performance. It was excellent and a great LV entertainment value. It is a good theater and all the seats are good (but from my february posts, if you have a 2 for 1 coupon, get your seat first and then tell them you have the coupon, not the other way around). We hopped a shuttle back to the BC and walked to the Flamingo for the 302 to downtown. It was great to hit the sack. Day two allowed for a good morning sleep and the battle plan was for Mac king at Harrahs and Mamma Mia at MB. One was to be a big disappointment..........

To be continued................

Jimbo

 

Originally posted by HurricaneMikey:
What makes a good trip report?

Having it posted all at once--Multiple posts for the same report are annoying, and I tend to skip them.

Well, guess I lost Hurricane MickeY! Sorry, HM..................

Jimbo

 

Hi Jimbo just wanted to know how much you paid for your Ron Lucas tickets?

 

Sounds like a nice father and son trip so far! Looking forward to part two.

 

Escape:

With coupon it was 6.95 each (cost of one drink). Coupons were being handed out in front of Harrah's and I think they give them out when you join their slot club.

Just found 2 for 1 for Ron Lucas at the rio and Mac King at Harrah's if you want them email me:

[email protected]

Jimbo

 

We will be staying at the Fitz in 2 weeks. We stayed there last year, and I remember those nasty loud AC's. I was hoping they would be replaced or fixed by now. We have requested a Strip view. I wonder if there are certain floors or sections that are updated that we could request at check-in.
Anyway, I like the friendliness and the value (3 night comped from last year's play). I also found that the slot attendants are very helpful, to the point of even telling us some machines that usually hit!
Thanks for the info about internet access near the bell desk--good to know. Where do you pay?

 

birdie:

You buy the time cared from a machine right next to the computer. These are getting common all over LV now and prices vary. I never did find the ones at LVC but I was told here that there are ones at Stardust and at the Trop too. If you want to wait til morning you can go to a sidewalk cafe and only pay for what you use at .20-.25 a minute.

I paid $5.00 for 20 minutes on a card (like a phone card); it had a code on it which you enter into the computer; it shuts off when your time is up. You can use the card several times until you hae used up all your time.

Jimbo