My 1st time in Las Vegas

Yeah funny thing is I am bulking right now at the gym and all this cardio is going to KILL ME! Oh well, I will hit the gym hard at our hotel in the morning and eat a TON of food.

...I just hope I am not ripped up like Rambo when I get home.
 
what are you going for? I've been to Vegas many times and am a lot like you. I don't gamble much if at all. Wife and I went about a year and a half ago for a week. That was too long to be there with just the two of us.

Food: Prices have gone up in recent years. Used to be you could go there and spend maybe $100 on all your meals for a 4 day trip. Not so anymore. Most Casino's offer kick ass buffets, but be prepared to shell out 15 for breakfast and 20-25 for lunch/dinner.

Entertainment: Non strip club entertainment is everywhere. You're already going to the Cirq du Soliel with Chris Angle. that's in the Luxor. Those shows are kick ass, but be prepared to show up early for them. Lines are hella long. Outside of that, seriously save yourself the cash this time and just walk. The Casino's are massive and entertaining. You'll have more fun just walking around and coming across things to do than if you tried to plan it all out.

The area: There's plenty to do in the area as well. When i was last there I rented a car and drove to the Grand canyon. it was a long ass trip, but worth it. A: They are building a new bypass for the Hoover Dam, so this could be the last chance you're going to have to ever drive over the dam. The South Rim of the Grand canyon is worth the drive. I rented a car for one day and drove there and back. It's a long drive, but fun and scenic.

Cool things to see: Shark Aquarium in Mandalay Bay. Madame Trusseau's Wax museum. Titanic Exhibit. Ceaser's palace has the living statues.

Things to avoid: Don't go do a timeshare walkthrough unless you are really hard pressed for things to do. They offer great incentives, but they will suck up 6 to 8 hours of your life. Last time I went, we did it just to see what it was like. We got something like $400 worth the event tickets for $150 for doing it. got to pick what events we got to do, but unless you're looking to do a cheap trip it's not worth it. Don't think you're going to walk the whole damn strip and be ok with it. It looks small, but it's not. To walk nonstop from one end to the other end is easily an hour and a half if not 2 to 3 hours. Prepare to pay for a taxi. There are some shuttle running around, but not nearly as many as there used to be. Do not think you can walk to the Palms from the strip. It seriously looks like it's like 3 blocks away from the strip when looking at it from your hotel room, but it's not. It's about a 2 hour walk.
 
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Ya gotta bet big to win big! When im on a roll i'll throw down $50-$100 a hand on blackjack but that's what you gotta do when the cards are hot!


I'd love to be able to do that, but I can't. I just HATE when I lose, I get pist.

I know you have to bet big to win big, but I am content with sitting and getting free drinks. I sat at Hooters on $20.00 for 5 hours. I was always up 20-60 at a time for the entire 5 hours. I had about 8-10 Grey Goose and Soda's. :lmao: It was a great time with the people that surrounded me.
 
I was just there for CES at the beginning of January and had a blast

It is also a pretty good deal to use the people mover for any of the bigger distances
I think it was $20 for a 3 day ticket



Sapphire Club....

I won't look at strip clubs in Michigan the same again!
 
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Oh yeah, x2 on the timeshare thing. They'll tell you it's an hour or so for some free tickets but trust us, it's ALL DAY LONG and they'll give you some party sub and Pepsi for the time. It's also a HIGH PRESSURE sales gimmick, nothing more, nothing less. We got a timeshare there and it's great, but for what I paid it can be had on eBay for about 2% of the original cost. Politely decline.

And use the shuttles when you can. It's worth it. A cab form one end of the strip to the other is about $20. We took one to the old part, the Fremont street experience. That was cool and worth the cab ride. They have a bus called "The Duece" because it's a double decker. It runs all day and for $5 it will take you anywhere, but it stops every 100' or so without exaggeration. Take a pass. It's quicker to walk, unless you're tired and want an hour break.
 
What am I looking at to rent a car for the day price wise? I'll rent the cheapest thing possible.


We rented a Seabring convertible for the day it was like $80 I think. by the time taxes and fees were done it was about $120. You can go cheaper than that, or if you have points to redeem on a credit card or bank account you can go that route as well.
 
We rented a Seabring convertible for the day it was like $80 I think. by the time taxes and fees were done it was about $120. You can go cheaper than that, or if you have points to redeem on a credit card or bank account you can go that route as well.

And between driving, sight seeing, and heading back, how much time will it eat up? I'm sorry but since you posted this it is really interesting to me. The girl and I would LOVE to see the canyon.
 
What am I looking at to rent a car for the day price wise? I'll rent the cheapest thing possible.


I found a reservation through Alamo for $10 a day on a small car
ended up about $50 after taxes for 3 days.... when we went to get a car they had no compacts so told us to pick what we wanted....

They had a few Challengers and Stangs but we picked a Caravan for ease of use =P
 
And between driving, sight seeing, and heading back, how much time will it eat up? I'm sorry but since you posted this it is really interesting to me. The girl and I would LOVE to see the canyon.

If you don't stop at the Hoover Dam (with the construction around it, it's sort of a ruined view) you're looking at 4 hours drive time each way. So 8 hours in the day will be driving. We stopped at the hoover dam for about 30 minutes. You can go inside, but they stopped the hard hat tours due to terrorism. You can take an upper level tour which would probably be cool as well.
 
and don't confuse the other rims that are close for a good view. You want the South Rim. It's worth the extra drive.
 
oh, and 75 MPH Speed limits in Arizona makes driving 85 less illegal lol at least it did to me.
 
Drinks & food are quite pricey there. At most places a top shelf martini is $3 more than a domestic beer.

If you want to go to a club; Tryst & XS are the best, Pure is good too. Hard Rock has a sunday morning party at the pool (might not in winter). If you want to go to a strip club, the spearmint rhino is the best.

There's an outside restaurant at Paris that's great for lunch & people watching. The wait is usually pretty long, but you can call ahead.
Bobby Flay's restaurant in Caesar's is good for lunch.

Lambo dealer inside the Venetian; Ferrari dealer inside Encore/Wynn.

There's no real reason to go beyond Encore. Everything north is old or vacant.

View from our room over new years
b901ba85.jpg


Nick
 
I was there in April (2nd time), just a few things to note.

Osheas is a great dive casino, I never paid for a drink there the whole night, even when I wasnt gambling. Way laid back, lots of fun cool peeps and beer pong!

Renting a car from exotic rentals is fun, but make sure you look it over with the guy well before. Note the curb rash, dents, torn leather etc. They can try and stick you with that stuff. I had a good experience renting a porsche carrera cabrio from exotic rentals right next to the harley david place. Took it out to the hoover with the wife, made for a nice road trip for only like $400 or something.

The cheap buffets all have like 1-2hr waits now it seemed in the MGM where we stayed and even other casinos we tried. Like others have said, food prices there went up.

Have fun!
 
One other thing...


I noticed if you start a players card you typically get a discount on buffets at that particular casino.

We did a Seafood buffet and it knocked the price down from $28 to $15 with the card from the Stratosphere
 
There are lots of good buffets all over the different casino's. Plan to spend some cash to get in, but TONS of food choices and not really a time limit you are in there. For breakfast my favorite was the bakery at the paris (next door to Bally's if I remember correctly). They had some AWESOME turnovers and price wasn't too bad. Better than the buffet since I'd rather eat bigger later on.

There are lots of free shows at the Casino's. Caesar's has a bunch in their shopping area. Mirage has a water / volcano eruption. There is the pirate show and that ship outside of Treasure Island, Venetian has the gondola's on the water canal running through it, Flamingo had some animal exhibits like penguins and stuff. I think there was a show at the Alladin in the shopping area. I know there were some good restaurants in there too. Just walk around and see what you can see. And plan to walk a lot! Things are not as near as they seem.

If you are renting a car, think about checking out Red Rock Canyon. I drove out there one day in the morning and hiked around. Pretty cool scenery and not very far from the strip. I think it was only 30-40min. Got some cool pictures when I was there.

The old side of the strip is fun to see as well. The Freemont Street Experience is pretty cool to see and worth it if you still have the car. Some interesting sights between the new & old strips. I remember passing a bunch of those wedding chapels and hotels that rented themed rooms. :lol:

I would skip the Criss Angel show if I were you. It has 100% TERRIBLE reviews. I was booked to see it last time I was there and I cancelled it. Go see the Blue Man Group at the Venetian, any of the Cirque de Soleil shows, anything but that one.

There is an awesome restaurant in the Mirage that serves Brazillian Steak on a stick, they bring it to your table. Can't remember the name of it but it wasn't a bad meal at all for the price.
Are you thinking of Rumjungle in Mandalay Bay? Awesome brazilian style food. And if you eat late, it turns into a nightclub. Then you don't have to wait in the long line that forms for the club. You are already in! We finished dinner with Gogo dancers in cages over our head. Hot!! :D They have a 3 story bar all stocked with Rum. You can see the bartenders climbing up in there. It's pretty cool.

We rented a Seabring convertible for the day it was like $80 I think. by the time taxes and fees were done it was about $120. You can go cheaper than that, or if you have points to redeem on a credit card or bank account you can go that route as well.
Yeah we rented a sebring vert last time out there. Only used it driving around the strip. And the top was only down in the evening, but we were there in the summer. I am sure it's much more moderate temps this time of year.

They have Z06's and Vipers on the eastside of the strip, kinds like dead center area. LOL...if you are feelin lucky!! :lmao:
Watch those, they measure tire rubber before letting you take it out and have TONS of restrictions on them. I looked into renting a viper for a day. It was SUPER limited by all the freaking rules. Wasn't worth the trouble. I am pretty sure mileage was limited as well. Didn't allow for a 24hr blast through the desert like I was planning. I would've gotten out of the strip and run out of mileage. :banghead:
 
yea, the exotics have a 15 mile allowance, then you pay something like 2 or 3 dollars a mile after that.
 
There are lots of good buffets all over the different casino's. Plan to spend some cash to get in, but TONS of food choices and not really a time limit you are in there. For breakfast my favorite was the bakery at the paris (next door to Bally's if I remember correctly). They had some AWESOME turnovers and price wasn't too bad. Better than the buffet since I'd rather eat bigger later on.

There are lots of free shows at the Casino's. Caesar's has a bunch in their shopping area. Mirage has a water / volcano eruption. There is the pirate show and that ship outside of Treasure Island, Venetian has the gondola's on the water canal running through it, Flamingo had some animal exhibits like penguins and stuff. I think there was a show at the Alladin in the shopping area. I know there were some good restaurants in there too. Just walk around and see what you can see. And plan to walk a lot! Things are not as near as they seem.

If you are renting a car, think about checking out Red Rock Canyon. I drove out there one day in the morning and hiked around. Pretty cool scenery and not very far from the strip. I think it was only 30-40min. Got some cool pictures when I was there.

The old side of the strip is fun to see as well. The Freemont Street Experience is pretty cool to see and worth it if you still have the car. Some interesting sights between the new & old strips. I remember passing a bunch of those wedding chapels and hotels that rented themed rooms. :lol:

Are you thinking of Rumjungle in Mandalay Bay? Awesome brazilian style food. And if you eat late, it turns into a nightclub. Then you don't have to wait in the long line that forms for the club. You are already in! We finished dinner with Gogo dancers in cages over our head. Hot!! :D They have a 3 story bar all stocked with Rum. You can see the bartenders climbing up in there. It's pretty cool.

Yeah we rented a sebring vert last time out there. Only used it driving around the strip. And the top was only down in the evening, but we were there in the summer. I am sure it's much more moderate temps this time of year.

Watch those, they measure tire rubber before letting you take it out and have TONS of restrictions on them. I looked into renting a viper for a day. It was SUPER limited by all the freaking rules. Wasn't worth the trouble. I am pretty sure mileage was limited as well. Didn't allow for a 24hr blast through the desert like I was planning. I would've gotten out of the strip and run out of mileage. :banghead:



Actually it was called "Samba" and it's at the Mirage. I think it was like $38 and included all the sides, etc. The meats were beef, pork, chicke, turkey, sausage, etc. Too much to try all of it, but damned good.

And I still stand by my warning about the Criss Angel show. Do a google search about it, --all bad. Maybe it got better, but it's a running joke as to how bad it really is. Something like a bad acid trip I hear. I looked through hundreds of pages of reviews on this show and I want to say I saw maybe 5 or 6 good ones. Must've been Criss himself. I like his TV shows and met him once in the Luxor casino, but I just heard his show was teh suck.
 
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