Dos and donts around Vegas

[mu_hilltopper]

Traffic?  Pish, posh.  I can't imagine anyone will be around Vegas the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

[rocket surgeon]

Traffic?  Pish, posh.  I can't imagine anyone will be around Vegas the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Bet ya a dollar it'll be nuts-college football Saturday, people still enjoying a place in the 80's(temp.) where you don't have to use a passport, go thru customs AND TSA.  Vegas will just offer deals that many cant pass up.  I just got back from Vegas in August and thought this might be a slow time due to heat?  The place was a zoo.  It was only 101 degrees and I'll tell you, that was way more comfy than the 80's I experienced getting off the plane in Milwaukee on Sunday

[jsglow]

100 degrees in Vegas is quite comfortable.  Now 110-114, that's really hot.

So that trip to the Grand Canyon back when our kids were young that I mentioned?  We did it in August and thought our car thermometer was broken when it read 110 at 11 pm.  Turns out it was spot on.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

100 degrees in Vegas is quite comfortable.  Now 110-114, that's really hot.

So that trip to the Grand Canyon back when our kids were young that I mentioned?  We did it in August and thought our car thermometer was broken when it read 110 at 11 pm.  Turns out it was spot on.

I was in Vegas for my 21st 2 years ago, my birthday is in mid-late August and the weekend we were there I don't think it topped 90. I hate the heat so it was very welcome for my birthday weekend. Got really lucky.

[rocket surgeon]

It's been a pretty hot summer.  115 is about my limit.  Gotta be in the pool.  90-100 or so is beautiful.  80 with their humidity or lack thereof, is almost chilly. Havasu almost like clockwork, is 10 degrees warmer than Vegas on any given day

[ZiggysFryBoy]

You must have heard about my night with three hookers at The Mirage

so you jizzed outside and it was red?

[StillAWarrior]

That being said, stuff on the Strip is a lot further apart than it looks.  Even if a hotel is "next door", it can be a 20-minute walk front door to front door.

Reminds me of the time -- wow...25+ years ago -- that my brother and I were staying at the Flamingo and decided to walk to the brand new Excalibur that "looked" like it was right next door.  Bad idea.  Those hotels are absolutely huge, and are much, much further away than they appear.

[Coleman]

Reminds me of the time -- wow...25+ years ago -- that my brother and I were staying at the Flamingo and decided to walk to the brand new Excalibur that "looked" like it was right next door.  Bad idea.  Those hotels are absolutely huge, and are much, much further away than they appear.

Not to mention there is rarely a direct path, unless the hotels are connected by inside walkways.  You'll have to go down some steps, walk around a bunch of stuff, find the pedestrian street path, cross the street, walk up some more steps, go through shops, and THEN you're in the casino.

I stayed at the Luxor for a work conference which was at the Mandalay Bay. Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay are all connected by foot paths and a tram (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandalay_Bay_Tram) between the three hotels. While I did venture out one day to see the rest of the strip (Bellagio, Caesar's, etc.), for the most part I just stayed within those 3 hotels and casinos, and there was plenty to do with just those 3. Each hotel has 6-8 attractions/shows, 5 or 6 restaurants and 4 or 5 bars (not counting the Shoppes at Mandalay Place between the Mandalay Bar and Luxor which had another 5  bars and restaurants in addition to many shops) so there were like 20 things to do/see and plenty of places to eat in my 4 days there, besides the gambling. I would go to the sports book at Mandalay and play blackjack and roulette on the nice floor at the Mandalay Bay before retiring to the less-nice Luxor. I also won 3 grand at the Luxor penny slots from putting a $10 bill into the machine. I was done gambling after that.

Each hotel has something relatively kid friendly. The Mandalay Bay has the shark reef, the Luxor has the Titanic exhibit, Bodies exhibit, and Criss Angel's magic show. The Excalibur has a medieval times-ish tournament dinner. And just across the street is the roller coaster at New York, New York. Lots to do just in that little corner of the strip.

[Benny B]

The Wind, the Rain, and the Lava, baby!

So... antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals?

[MU82]

For shows, terry factor is a must see.  I saw him twice and would do it again if I were taking newbies. 

The fall of Atlantis show in Caesars forum shops mall.  Moving statues put on a show about every hour I believe

Back to the kiddies for topper- M & M world has 4 floors,of fun-on the strip right next to the big coke bottle between planet Hollywood and MGM on east side of Vegas Blvd. this looks to be right up an 8-10 year olds wheel house-don't forget their toothbrushes

[MU82]

I'd park 'strategically'.  Moving the car is a pain.  Do note that the biggest sh*tstorm in years started this Spring when MGM Corp? (I think I'm remembering correctly) started charging for parking.  The locals went insane.

Wait ... the MGM charges to park? Do other hotels do the same now?

My daughter, who is driving down from Seattle (with a couple stops in between to visit friends) made a reference about having to pay for parking and I told her, "Casinos don't charge to park, silly."

Looks like daddy was wrong. Again!

[jsglow]

Wait ... the MGM charges to park? Do other hotels do the same now?

My daughter, who is driving down from Seattle (with a couple stops in between to visit friends) made a reference about having to pay for parking and I told her, "Casinos don't charge to park, silly."

Looks like daddy was wrong. Again!

Yep. That's what happens when you build an 18,000 seat arena and not add any parking. Now it's not everyone mind you but certainlythe wave of the ffuture.

[Coleman]

Yep. That's what happens when you build an 18,000 seat arena and not add any parking. Now it's not everyone mind you but certainlythe wave of the ffuture.

Is it just the MGM? Or all MGM-owned properties?

[Benny B]

If'n any y'all get sick of the Vegas B.S. there's plenty of free parking up in Reno.  Benny and the Mrs. are heading out there again in a couple weeks.  For those who haven't been, it's essentially Vegas with a sweatervest... and y'all know how much Benny and the Mrs. love making fun of the sweatervests.  (Incidentally, my last three trips out there, I've run into at least one person wearing Marquette apparel; though in fairness, I'm pretty sure some of them might have been around to see Fr. O'Donnell's installation.)

Sorry to piss in everyone's Vegas frosted flakes, but seriously... Vegas in the summertime is hell on earth (and here you thought they called it "Sin City" for other reasons) and in the winter, Reno has Tahoe.  The University of Nevada (state flagship) is in Reno, yet UNLV (the Pacific time zone equivalent of UW-Platteville) enjoys much greater notoriety.  An easy 3-hour drive from Reno will land you in the heart of Napa/Sonoma, but a 3-hour drive from Vegas will barely get you to the outskirts of LA, where you're just a 3-hour traffic jam away from downtown.  And most importantly, though I have not independently confirmed*, there is more beer - from both standpoints of variety (absolute) and quantity (per capita) - in Reno than Vegas.  And yet, Vegas is literally (as in literally, literally) 10x as popular as Reno (42+ million tourists visit Vegas annually compared to Reno's 4.3 million).  It just goes to show you... never underestimate the drawing power of top-notch hooker bloodlines, openly gay magicians, and Siegfried & Roy.

Oh... and did I mention the air races in Reno?  Red flag, pshaw; these planes you can see up close (which is great except when they crash).  Hopefully I get done with work early enough on the 14th to get out there for the T-6 qualifiers.


* yet... because despite what Keefe will tell you, there is indeed a limit on how much beer the human body can consume every 24 hours.

[warriorchick]

Is it just the MGM? Or all MGM-owned properties?

All of them, my friend...

[Coleman]

All of them, my friend...

yikes that's like half the strip.

[MU82]

All of them, my friend...

All except CircusCircus and MGM Signature. The latter is valet only, so that means tips every time you have your car parked or retrieved.

But all the Caesars properties (Ballys, Harrahs, Rio, Flamingo, Linq, etc), Hilton, Marriott, Wynn, etc, still don't charge to park. Most say they are "reviewing" the situation - which I take to mean that they are seeing if there's any lasting backlash against MGM and, if not, they'll be charging to park, too.

It pisses lots of us off but in the grand scheme of things it's only a fraction of the cost of a Vegas trip. Most MGM parking tops off at $10/night. So parking for a 3-night stay is still cheaper than one day's "resort fee," which is a total cash grab. And I can lose the equivalent of a resort fee in about half a second on the craps table!

[jsglow]

If'n any y'all get sick of the Vegas B.S. there's plenty of free parking up in Reno.  Benny and the Mrs. are heading out there again in a couple weeks.  For those who haven't been, it's essentially Vegas with a sweatervest... and y'all know how much Benny and the Mrs. love making fun of the sweatervests.  (Incidentally, my last three trips out there, I've run into at least one person wearing Marquette apparel; though in fairness, I'm pretty sure some of them might have been around to see Fr. O'Donnell's installation.)

Sorry to piss in everyone's Vegas frosted flakes, but seriously... Vegas in the summertime is hell on earth (and here you thought they called it "Sin City" for other reasons) and in the winter, Reno has Tahoe.  The University of Nevada (state flagship) is in Reno, yet UNLV (the Pacific time zone equivalent of UW-Platteville) enjoys much greater notoriety.  An easy 3-hour drive from Reno will land you in the heart of Napa/Sonoma, but a 3-hour drive from Vegas will barely get you to the outskirts of LA, where you're just a 3-hour traffic jam away from downtown.  And most importantly, though I have not independently confirmed*, there is more beer - from both standpoints of variety (absolute) and quantity (per capita) - in Reno than Vegas.  And yet, Vegas is literally (as in literally, literally) 10x as popular as Reno (42+ million tourists visit Vegas annually compared to Reno's 4.3 million).  It just goes to show you... never underestimate the drawing power of top-notch hooker bloodlines, openly gay magicians, and Siegfried & Roy.

Oh... and did I mention the air races in Reno?  Red flag, pshaw; these planes you can see up close (which is great except when they crash).  Hopefully I get done with work early enough on the 14th to get out there for the T-6 qualifiers.


* yet... because despite what Keefe will tell you, there is indeed a limit on how much beer the human body can consume every 24 hours.

Benny, I've been to Reno. Reno sucks.

[jsglow]

So we've got the Welcome Sheet in our place for when family or close friends visit.  Typical stuff like how to turn on TV and location of the local Target.

Anyway,  in the last paragraph I ask folks to contribute a bottle of high quality liquor to the cabinet for all to enjoy going forward.  I guess that's our resort fee.

One time just to be a smartass my brother in law left a six pack of Busch Light! Scratch him off the Christmas gift exchange!

[Benny B]

Benny, I've been to Reno. Reno sucks.

Yes, that was kind of my point, though Elon Musk disagrees. 

Nevertheless, between Reno and Vegas, one thing is clear... the surest way to not suck is to blow.

[rocket surgeon]

then you have laughlin(vegas lite) and the river and golf and ATV'ing.  prices are much lower as well

[jsglow]

I had to decide between a year old self-driving car thread or our great 'dos and donts around Vegas' thread.

I chose.  Don't.   

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/11/08/self-driving-shuttle-crashes-in-las-vegas-hours-after-launch.html

[Benny B]

I had do decide between a year old self-driving car thread or our great 'dos and donts around Vegas' thread.

I chose.  Don't.   

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/11/08/self-driving-shuttle-crashes-in-las-vegas-hours-after-launch.html