Vegas 9/29-10/4

Greetings all,

This is an overdue trip report, excuse as to why at the end. This trip was an exciting one for us as my husband and I had not been to Vegas in close to 4 years. I was surprised to see just how much had actually changed in such a short amount of time. Since it has been about 2 weeks now I will try to remember the best I can most of the details. We do not play table games and we do not drink but we still have an awesome time. Sit tight, this will be a long one. 3 nights at Venetian, booked 1 night at Mandalay Bay the day before we left and then 1 night at Stateline Buffalo Bills. We drove to Vegas since we live in Orange County, CA and it takes just a little under 4 hours for us to get there. Left at 5 in the morning Sunday, no traffic at all and were there by 8:45 and that is with a stop in Barstow.

We got to Venetian and the line to check in at noon was literally half way down the long corridor. Shockingly though, we were at the front desk in just 25 minutes. Got to the front, asked for a non construction room and she told me we were on the 33 floor, cool. Got to the room and what do we see, of course, construction. No biggie at the time, so we thought. Loved the gorgeous room and bathroom. View of Mirage Volcano and the North end of the strip was real nice. Requested turn down service at check in. Went out to the Frontier to have dinner at their Mexican restaurant about 3. Dinner was great and we had planned on coming back again later in the week but time just got away somehow. Played there for a while and won about $20 on $5 so that was not bad. Walked back towards the hotel and stopped in the Mirage and looked at their salt water tank behind the counter and then went back to The Venetian. Put warmer clothes on as it was actually cold there and then we went over to Harrahs and had a shake at Ghiradelli's and listened to the music. Walked through all the little hotels on the way and went to the Imperial Palace and walked through the car exhibit there. The hotel seemed less smokey than our last visit but still not all that great. We did play there a little, both put in $10 into slot machines and walked out with a little over $50, so that was nice. Went back to the Venetian about 10 as we were exhausted and no turn down, no fresh towels but we were so tired we just said forget it and went to bed.

Day 2
We were awoken at 5:30 by the extremely loud construction!!! Then the whole room shook, as to what the cause is, we haven't a clue. Not to pleased about this but decided to get up and get ready for the day. We are both morning people, myself that is a tad earlier than I like but for my husband that is sleeping in as he gets up about 4:45 every day for work. We took our time getting ready and then headed over to Paris and got there about 7:30. Had their awesome breakfast buffet. The crepes were yummy. I had blueberry and my husband had just a plain one as he is not a fruit in his food person. Awesome fresh fruit too. And absolutley no one there. Walked over to the Aladdin to see the shops but since we were so early nothing was open so we just strolled through and then walked back to Paris to go up the tower. It was really nice up there. Started to get windy actually and was a bit cold. Went back into the casino and played the slots for a little bit there. We both put in $20 and came out with $87, so we made our money back plus breakfast and tower and then some. Went back to the Ventian to request turn down again and to get some more film and then we were off. We drove down to the Sahara and rode the roller coaster 4 times. It was a lot of fun and we really had a great time on it. Very fast! We then drove a little down the strip and made a u turn and stopped at Westward Ho, I think. It was a place that had these obnoxiously gigantic hot dogs. My husband thought that was the greatest thing. As for myself, I am a vegetarian, so to see all those people scarffing down these monster hot dogs was not what I call a good time. My husband said it was good, I will just take his word for it. On our way out to the car right in front there was an Elvis impersonator. Totally cracked me up for some reason and had to get a picture with him. He told my husband that he could go up on stage with him and sing if he liked but we passed. Got back to the hotel about 4 and decided to go down to the Grand Lux cafe for an early dinner. Seated right away and that was the only thing that happened right away. Ended up taking an hour and 45 mintues to get a grilled cheese and BBQ Chicken pizza. They ended up comping the meal and giving us a free cheesecake that we took up to our room.

After our ordeal at dinner we went to Madame Toussad's wax museum. We had an awesome time in there. My favorite was at the end, George Bush! We had someone take our picture with him and that is going to be our Christmas card this year. The picture of him came out better than he really looked there.

Decided after much anticipation that we would head downtown. Tons of traffic because streets were blocked off. They were filming a movie called Loney Tunes with Brendan Fraiser and Jenna Elfman. We did not see either of them but did see them street racing. Went into Binions just for Mikey! Played a few slot machines there, nothing much. Went over to one of the other casinos there and same thing. Went into all of them, some I think had the "teeth optional" for employees. A different crowd down there. It was interesting and frightening at the same time. Saw one of the light shows, the Tropical one and that was just way to cool. Saw the guy that does spray painting pictures and then a fight and then we were outta there quick. It was a bad one and cops were everywhere, we ran all the way back to car. I would have liked to have seen another show but not after that.

Went back to Venetian and up to our room and you guessed it, no turn down service. At that point I went down and talked with a manager to see if we could possibly be moved to a different room because of the construction. She told me that the hotel was 99% booked and they had no where to move us but that she would comp us our 3rd night there. Okay, that was fine with us. She had some fresh towels sent up right away and said that she would have turn down come the next night for sure.

Day 3
We decided to venture out to Hoover Dam. My husband in all his 33 years had never been there before. Of course we were up again at 5:30 because of construction so we just got up and ready and headed out to find this place. We got a bit lost at first but ended up finding our way. Got there just as they openned. We skipped out on the movie after 10 minutes and went to the elvevators and that is when it happened. The "guide" was EXTREMELY serious about the whole thing and was talking as if he were reading off a card. Well, it just struck me funny and then he said something and I could not help it, I started to giggle and once I start, I can't stop. The people around us started laughing, it was contagious I suppose. We get off and he was still going at it with some guy as to why they do not want the elevators to stop midstream and for him not to bring that up again. We see the genarators and get back on a different elevator, cool, no mister Dam man for us this time, it will be fine. Well, here he comes and gets in with us. I tried not to laugh and made it half way up and lost it and then everyone was laughing this time because this guy kept going on about how he wanted our tour to continue. As I got off his words to me were "Young lady, this is very serious stuff" all I could say was "Indeed it is". Without another word we were out of there.

Headed back to town and went to the Mirage to go into the Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden. I loved this as did my husband. I love dolphins and had a great time there watching them. We swam with dolpins in Hawaii 2 years ago and it was so cool, I was so tempted to jump in with these guys but restrained myself. After the garden we went to Bellagio for late lunch at the buffet. Walked through the conservatory in awe with all the fall flowers and decor and then saw the blown glass on the ceiling, anyone know the name of that? Then on to the buffet. It was good but definatly not worth the $17 for me as everything had something with meat. He loved everything, all that meat that he does not get at home, heehee. The pizza there was good though, good rice too! For some reason they had no salads out so I was out of luck. They were switching over to dinner. Got back to the room and the weather went from cold to colder almost instantly. Then it started to storm, then pour down rain. This started about 5 I suppose. We did manage to run over to the Mirage across the street and then took the tram over to Treasure Island to go to their candy store. They did not have our favorite peanut butter malt balls so we went back to Venetian and actually for the first time played the slot machines here. The casino was packed with people and this was on a Tuesday night. We found 2 slot machines next to each other in a corner hidden in the back and had the best time. We both put in $20 at first and then from that cashed out with $120 for me, $100 for my husband, put in $20 again each and cashed out with $170 for my husband and $98 for me. Played another $10 each and came out with $136 total. We had so much fun just sitting there and laughing and having a great time. We kept ordering a virgin pina colada and virgin Margaritas, each time the same exact cocktail waitress would card me, a real people person obviously.

This was our last night here and I so hoped that they would have turned down the bed and so on. I just love that. Well we get up there and they had actually been there! The bed was nicely turned down with a ton of chocolate left all over the place. I went into the bathroom and was shocked at everything they left us. About 10 bottles each of bubble bath, bath gels, lotions, soaps and so much other stuff that I was just in shock. They left us 5 loofas. All this and all I wanted was for them to leave fresh towels and turn down. It was very nice though. I didn't have any $5's so I left a $10 on the pillow for turn down, guess they really liked that.

Day 4
Sad to check out of the Venetian but we were excited to go to Mandalay Bay for a night. We got there and let's just say it is no Venetian. While the hotel has to be the best smelling one on the strip their customer service is totally lacking everywhere. We checked in and the girl at check in was extremely rude. All she said to me was that she needed an ID, and that the room number was in the book she handed me. Amazing! We went upstairs and the room was nice, it was on the 18th floor and we overlooked the pool. It was still cold and overcast and they had closed the pool for the day about 1 so we never got to use it. We went to the Shark Reef Tank and had an amazing time. We love that kind of thing. We spent about 2 hours in there. We got to watch them release some new shadowfin sharks into the tank. The first one was sucessful, the second was eaten by another huge shark. Poor little guy. We both felt that it was worth the money by far. Others in there did not seem to feel the same. When we got there we walked right in, when we left, there was an hour and half wait to get in. Went to their buffet for late lunch/early dinner. Same thing as Bellagio pretty much for me. I did eat a ton of fresh berries though and loved that. Waitress split my husbands drink all over the table, camera and me and never said a word, took her time getting a towel and then finally came back after we had cleaned it all up with napkins from everyone giving them to us.

That night we went over to see the T-Shirts at New York New York. That is very moving! We spent a while just looking at all the messages. We even saw several bridal bouquets along the fence. Went into Excalibur and played there for a while on the video roulette. Met a couple there and had a great time playing with them. We all had virgin pina coladas and had a great time, actually winning some on that. Went back to Mandalay and played there for a long time. The casino was empty. There was a latin group in concert there and we saw a ton of people going through the casino but once it started no one seemed to be around. Went back to the room and packed up. We did not get much sleep as the walls were paper thin and the people next to us must have been sick because they were sneezing and blowing their nose all night long. They seemed to use the restroom a lot too, heehee.

Day 5
We checked out of Mandalay about 8:30 and headed over to Palace Station for some reason. We had breakfast there and it was great. Then we played there for a while and made about $50 on $10. Then on to Buffalo Bills at Stateline. Once we got to Stateline we were able to check in right away. There was no one there. We then went and got a wristband for all the rides. We rode the roller coaster 2 times, then the log ride 2 times and the Big Shot ride 2 times and then went to see a movie there. After the movie we went to the outlet stores and I had a great time there. Old Navy was having a huge sale and I was able to get a ton of stuff for me and my husband and a few tshirts for our housesitters. Went back to Buffalo Bills and played on the roller coaster 6 more times and then they closed it. Played the slot machines for a while and listened to a live band in the bar. Between the two of us we put in about $80 and came out with $350. Since we were unable to get much sleep at Venetian and Mandalay we decided to call it an early night and went up and went to bed about 10.

Day 6
Had breakfast and I made one last Old Navy run while my husband went to the magic store to get some things for our 8 year old nephew and then we were on the road and home by 2:30. We came back home with about $1000 and were quite pleased about that. But the best part of the whole trip and coming home is that we came home PREGNANT! Did not happen there, but found out shortly after getting home. That is why there has been a delay with this report, I have been a bit preoccupied with other things right now.

If you made it all the way to the end, good for you and thanks for listening to me ramble on and on! Hope you enjoyed it!

Jeannie

 

Jeannie--

Great trip report!! Congrats on all the winnings and of course the new young-un' on the way!

I'm glad you finally got to see downtown, such as it was...

Mikey

 

Congratulations!

It's amazing how much can change within 4 years in Vegas, glad you had a good time. Too bad it was too cold for the pool at Mandalay, since that is their big draw.

Also, the name of the 2000 piece blown glass sculpture is Fiori Di Como by Dale Chihuly.

 

Great trip report. It is amazing how much Vegas has changed we were like you two had not been there for about 5 years, could not believe it. Glad you had a great time and congrats on your new arrival.

 

Good trip report. I was there the same dates you were. My husband and I always stay at the Flamingo. We've been going twice a year since 1986. I usually spend most of my day time at the pool but this time I had decided to "play tourist". Good thing since the wweather was really cool and the Flamingo pool is always cold even in the summer. I did enjoy going to the downtown casinos and the ones from Slots a Fun on down toward the Flamingo. I've been to the ones on the other end of the strip many times. Did get to see the Tropicana which I hadn't been in before. Also went over to see The Palms and visit the others over that way. The day I went it was raining and I was walking. Still enjoyed seeing things though. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

 

Great Trip Report!!
We were there when you were...across the street at TI....watching the crane and the rest of the construction....must not have been fun being up close. Sounds like you had a great trip though.
Congrats on the new addition to the family!!