Peanut's 1st trip to Vegas (3/3-3/6)

I'm back!! It's been a crazy weekend at work- working double shifts behind the bar trying to cover for the people who had to cover my impromptu trip, but i am ready to write my trip report.

A little background: The trip was completely last minute, my original plans were to take my five year old daughter to Boston for 3 nights, and take her to the Childrens museum etc, however looking at weather reports the thought of going in rainy weather didn't sound that great. While daydreaming I checked out lastminute.com and was able to score a 3 night package at Orleans including Round Trip Airfare for $260 per person. Ex hubby (Bob) came along as well- because my mother nagged me saying it would be a silly idea for me to go by myself...but the plan was for him to watch sophia at night while I went out to gamble.

I knew I didn't want to stay at Orleans for all three nights, mainly because of the location and I really wanted to be able to have a pool for Sophia- So I was able to book a 1 bedroom tower suite at the Mirage for $139 a night for two nights. So here goes the report:

Day One: We flew out of Boston at 3:30 in the afternoon, with a connection in Atlanda we arrived in Vegas around midnight. We took a cab to Orleans...there were three bell/valet standing around and noone offered to help with our luggage, we asked the bellman which way to the front desk and he picked up his coffee, and talked while drinking his coffee..."To the right". The young lady that checked us in was very sweet and personable and really made a good impression on us. We were in Room 1505, 2 queen beds. The sitting area was nice and the room was very clean and smelled fantastic.

We were hungry so we decided to take a quick walk around the Casino. This was my first trip the Orleans and I was really impressed, I would like to come back here on a future solo trip and spend some time gambling. We at at the Courtyard Cafe. I ordered the General's Chicken- it was actually really good, Bob ordered the late night $3.99 steak and eggs special that came with Toast and hashbrowns...He said it was great. 2 diet cokes and an OJ and our bill came to $20, not bad. We went back to the room and called it a night. Here are some pics from Day one:
View From the Room:

Bathroom area (note: the desk chair is not normally located in the bathroom, it was merely a step for the peanut to brush her teeth and wash her hands

The sitting area in our room: (Sophia would like to note her little stuffed dog and how much he was enjoying the room)

 

Day Two We woke up nice and early, grabbed a couple latte's from Seattle's best and walked over to the Coast Shuttle which arrived quickly and took us to Barbary Coast in no time at all. We walked around a little and decided to check out the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood. Not to much different then before. We ended up walking down the strip and going to 1/2 price tickets booth (or tix 4 tonight whatever it is called) at the Hawaiian Marketplace. The nice gentleman directing the line let us go in VIP because we had a stroller (we didn't ask- he insisted), there were so many shows on sale. I really wanted to take Sophia to see Blue Man, but the seats were still $100 a piece...We decided on David Copperfield because he is one of Bob's favorite magicians. Tickets were $74.50 each.

We walked over to the Tamba Indian Restaurant for lunch. They only had a buffet setup, but I was impressed at the large selection of primarily Northern Indian dishes. We ordered three Mango lassi's, filled our tummies and were off.

Made a quick touristy trip to M&M world, Sophia of course had a blast, she made her own colored bag of M&M's and we headed towards MGM. Took a look at the Lion Habitat- Sophia loved it and then picked up our Copperfield Tickets. We cabbed it back to Orleans, checked out and then took a cab over to Mirage.

It was only about 1 in the afternoon but were still able to check in. Our room was awesome we were in B-11, On the 27th floor. The suite was beautiful, Large bedroom, loved the very large bathroom area and closet area. It was perfect Sophia could watch Disney channel in one room, Bob in the other- and well I could gamble

Sophia wanted to spend the afternoon at the pool and since I "conveniently" forgot my bathing suit back in snowy NH this left Bob to hang out at the pool with Sophia and for me to go play some slots and video poker. I didn't have much luck on anythhing but I got a lot of play time out of the $20 I put in. We met back at the room and relaxed until about 6:30 and then took a cab to MGM for the show.

David Copperfield was great, we had some great laughs, I really like how involved a lot of the audience and Sophia got a kick out of his white goose "Webster" who "pee'd on the audience a couple times".

After the show got out we were hungry and Bob had said he wanted to have some Sushi. We headed back to the Mirage hoping to try out Japonais...we got there at 9:45 and guess what? Even though it says they are open til 11 they apparently had their last seating at 9:30. The hostess suggested Social House at Treasure Island, so we took the tram over and enjoyed an incredible meal. Sophia fell asleep in the booth, it worked out great for Bob and I because we were able to take our time and enjoy the different offerings. The sushi was far more "advanced" then the sushi I am used to back home, but we gave it all a try, everything was extremely fresh, the service was among the best I have ever had. We were stuffed and had ordered quite a bit of food our bill came to about $110 dollars. We left the servers $35 and headed back to the Mirage for the night.

Sophia and I at Paris:

City Center Construction pictures


Mirage Tower 1 bedroom suite Room B-11

 

Day Three:

I wake up earlier then everyone else, I head downstairs to the Roasted Bean and get a couple of bagels, muffins and coffees. The Bagels are very good, the muffin although it looked delish- was very dry and I had to throw it away. We eat up and head out. We walk over to Ceasar's, find some great deals at the Forum shops, catch the statue shows....and Sophia is having a blast looking at all the fish at the Atlantis section.

We get a cab and head up to Circus Circus thinking we would give the adventure dome a try. Much to our suprise Sophia is about an inch too short to ride almost all the rides, it was muggy in the their- despite it being a little windy and cool outside. Overall I wasn't really that impressed with the Adventuredome. Maybe when she gets older. She did the trampoline jumpy thing and rock climbing and then wanted to go and "look" at hotels again.

We got back in a cab and went to Bellagio- I followed the suggestion I have seen on this board many times, and arrived around 3:30, there was absolutely no line. Sophia was falling asleep so she slept in the booth for a bit while Bob and I took turns at getting some appetizers, we ordered a couple of drinks and just relaxed til about 4:15 when she woke up and was ready to eat. Dinner was awesome, they have quite a selection and I felt it lived up to it's name of being one of the best buffet's...However...I must comment that I was very disappointed with the desserts. The presentation was fantastic, but none of them were great.

Now very full we headed back to the Mirage, and relaxed. Sophia wasn't feeling very good and just wanted to swin in the Jacuzzi in the bathroom...Bob just wanted to watch TV so I went back downstairs and gambled for a bit. Brought a couple sandwiches back to the room around 9:30 from the Roasted Bean and then called it a night.
Sophia and I at MGM Grand

Sophia and Copperfield

Sophia and I shopping at the Forum shops

Sophia rock climbing at Adventuredome

 

Day Four: The last day is always so sad . We are supposed to check out of the Mirage by 12, but our flight doesn't leave til Midnight so we call the front desk and see what they can offer us for another night. $220...nope. I ask them to check their other properties and they tell me they can't. So I call NYNY thinking that would be fun for Sophia- the reservationist was super helpful and got me a deluxe strip view room at Treasure Island for $80 with my AAA card. Sold. They have a bellman from TI meet us at the tram and take our stuff over. We have room 28030, with an awesome view looking down the strip. Sophia checks out the pool with Bob (it's much warmer than Mirage's) which means more gambling time for me. We grab a quick lunch at the TI coffee shop and then Bob and Sophia go to the pool while I play some Blazing 7's 2 cent slot game and keep winning. Nothing big but I end up being up like $80. So I start walking around the casino and find the Wizard of Oz machine...It looks awesome, but both games have people on it, I decided to try the Top Gun game and it is very similar to Wizard of Oz with the speakers in the chair. I put $20 in the machine and cash out with $107...not bad. I call it a day. I decide this is why my parents always stayed and gambled at Treasure Island when we were kids, and decide I like it as well.

We walk over to the Venetian and I take Sophia for a ride in the outdoor gondolas. She absolutely LOVED it...she loved our Gondolier, how he sang and how pretty the Venetian looked. We walked down the street to Flamingo and checked out Margaritaville, then headed back to TI and caught the Sirens show. We had the "TI guest viewing" which was okay but not spectacular. Sophia loved the dancing...I wanted to block her eyes and smack myself for bringing her but she thought they were like the "cheetah girls" only more sparkly costumes...haha..

We relaxed for a bit and headed back to NH.

Final Thoughts: My next trip will be solo- without the ex or the daughter. I am thinking early June?? Even though Vegas is adult oriented...our cultured little five year old had a fantastic time! I would definitely bring her again.

 

Nice trip report. Those suites at the Mirage were beautiful! Did you book that through last Minute for that price, or was that a player's club rate?

 

Enjoyed your report, sounds like you had a good time. I like the Orleans, that was my homebase when I started going to LV pretty routinely a few years ago. I haven't stayed there in a couple of years though.
It's good to hear the food there is still a value. Never been in a Mirage room so thanks for the picture of your suite, I can see the lure for sure.

 

I hear ya about the 'Dome... When my kids were too small, it sucked. Now that they can both do pretty much everything there, its EXTREMELY worth the all day pass price for them.

Great report!

 

I got the prices in an e-mail from them. It said 30% of Tower 1 bedroom suites, they were absolutely beautiful and nice amenities...it's nice that they still do turn down service at night and put chocolates on your pillows...small touches!

 

Great TR and Pics. Thanks for posting!!

 

Excellent TR, sounds like a fun trip.

 

Thanks for the TR and pics. Glad everyone had a good time....

 

Great report and pics. Your daughter is an absolute charmer. It's great that you and your ex can do things like that.

 

Nice TR. I might have to check out the Mirage suites on my next trip.

 

Great report! Thanks for posting. Love the pics!