Luxor 11/5-11/7

As this is my third trip in about 8 weeks, I have to say that I wasn't looking forward to it as much as usual--I was a little burnt out. Of course, once the plane landed, that all changed!

This trip, I went with Katie, who doesn't really gamble. I tried to change that with an introduction to the penny machines but I guess the multi-lines can get a little confusing. So K pretty much shopped and I pretty much gambled.

Here are the highlights:

Hotels:

Stayed at the Luxor tower. Rooms have been renovated since my last visit. Not sure I like the color scheme as much but the room and bathroom were fine. View of the pyramid from my window.

Did the usual walk up and down the strip. Stopped in at Planet Aladdin. Finally, the interior is a little more Planet than Aladdin. I think it's beautiful--very modern design elements. They've opened up the casino into more areas of the shopping center. Within the casino, there's an escalator going down (entrance was barricaded) and, at the bottom, there are these columns covered in real crystals ($4 million worth, as I am told by a casino host)--it looks like diamonds. I asked where it went and I was told it was to the hotel lobby (Truthfully, I don't know if this is a different escalator than the one they used to have since I was pretty turned around over there--I guess the new casino entrance to the shopping center threw off all my directional cues). The buffet is finally back downstairs and is fully operational with 7 food stations. I didn't eat there so I can't comment on whether or not the previous quality has returned or has even improved.

Went to the Hilton for the first time in probably 15 years. I thought it looked like a nice place so I signed up for a players card to get on their radar.

Food:

Paris buffet for lunch. Honestly, it was good but I didn't think it was as good as the breakfast buffet. Maybe I'm just a breakfast person--I don't know.

Kokomo's at Mirage. Nice restaurant--love the atmosphere. We just had soup, salad and some wine. The soup was a lobster bisque, served in a puff pastry. OMG. The best! Salad was also very good.

Quark's Bar--appetizers and drinks. We had onion rings, served with three dipping sauces and coconut shrimp. The rings were mighty tasty but I've had better coconut shrimp. Overall, the food was very passable. The drink of choice, the warpcore breach, went down easily. I'm not much for rum but this was good. One complaint: The printing on the menu was very difficult to read--too small. We were laughing as I think the average age of the customers in there was 45 or so and NOBODY could see it. Plus, it is a little dark. We mentioned to the server that your average Star Trek fan is clearly older than 12 and the writing needs to be bigger. Blank stare. We were visited by a Vulcan and a Borg while we dined.

Pyramid Café at Luxor: Good food. I ordered the chicken lettuce wrap appetizer and it's easily a meal by itself.

Best for Last: Commander's Palace. Wow! The service, the food, the atmosphere: A++++++. Get a restaurants.com coupon and have a really good time.

Shows:

Star Trek the Experience. I'm a Trekker so I loved it. Very much fun. We got the 1/2 price tickets and the good news is that the is one of the only shows for which you can buy your tickets in advance---doesn't have to be same day.

Love. There are no adequate words. What an amazing experience. Thanks to Gregrio's good advice, we got seats in section 209, high up, and we were extremely pleased.

Transportation: Walked, cabbed and took the monorail for the first time. I liked the monorail--no traffic. I think if you're going from Luxor or MB up to some place like Wynn or Hilton, it probably is a good value. Otherwise, between walking to a monorail station from the west side of the strip and the price of the ride for two people, I'd say a cab is probably a better choice.

Gambling. Lost money at all the best places!

 

3 trips in 8 weeks?!? How do you get so lucky? I thought the warpcore breach is a bit too fizzy so I went with something else whose name I can't remember. Good to know the Aladdin buffet is back to its former self, location wise anyways...will try it on my next trip.

 

Well, let's see...first trip my friends and I had planned for the Feast of San Gennaro. Second trip, one of my best high school buddies was coming out to visit her father for a few days and didn't think she could handle the senior citizen routine for more than a couple of days. I came out to rescue her. This trip, my boss paid for his wife and me to go. It's been an unusual year. I didn't mind the fizz on the drink. I wasn't confident that I would like a rum drink as much as I did. I do want to try some of the others, though. Let me know how the buffet is. It really is one of my favorites but I heard that it had gone way downhill when it was relocated.

Lori

 

How lucky can you get 3 trips in 8 weeks and your boss pays for you and his wife to gofto Vegas. Great TR wish I had a boss like that.

 

It was a negotiation really. Sometimes, well most of the time, my desk gets pretty messy and it drives him crazy. So, he offered me $1,000 to clean it. I wasn't really interested in the money so I countered with two comp days off and two nights in LV. When his wife heard about it (she works here also), she offered to clean up her messy work area, if she could go too.

 

I guess that's the benefit of living only one state away. I've thought of doing the Star Trek Experience sometime, so I'm wondering what is the cost of a full price ticket and how long does it take?

 

Hi Denny,

The full price ticket is something like $35. When you first walk in there's a pretty cool exhibit area that has an Aerospace/Star Trek time line. So, basically, it starts out with Galileo and the like up to modern day, interspersed with that is the fictional time line such as the birth of Zephram (sp?) Cochran, who discovered warp drive. It's a pretty long walk through that. If you try to read everything, it could take a while, Then you get to the rides. I would say that the one ride experience takes about 30-45 minutes or so (there's some stuff that goes on before the ride but I don't want to give anything away). I didn't do the Borg ride. There's also a backstage tour that adds another $30 to the ticket. We didn't do that either. If you go to Tix 4 Tonite (many locations along the strip and downtown), you can pick it up for half price. If you're a big Trekkie, you could probably spend an afternoon there. After the ride lets out, you are miraculously in the gift shop and then Quark's Bar.

Lori

 

I recently went to the Hilton for the first time and really enjoyed Quark's bar. Yeah, the menu was a bit small, but my bigger problem than the size of the print was how dark it was in there. And yeah, I'm right in the age bracket described too (hate to admit that). It was our intention to ride the rides but a few drinks at the bar seem to have erased that intent from our memories!

 

I think I may have just found a way for my boss (Mr. Type A) to pay for my next trip.

 

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Thank you for the validation. Yes, it was dark and the small typeface doesn't help. If I go back, I'm bringing a magnifying glass!

Regarding the ride: I think you made a good choice, Kikky. That ride is pretty bumpy. I would imagine that a stomach full of alcohol might not sit too well in there. Next time.. ride first---drink later. The ride is a lot of fun and the end is a crack-up. I'll say no more....