Help with Vegas plans

[BC Disney Lover]

I've been reading this forum and a few other Vegas ones and I've found lots of great tips and advise. I've also found a million more things I want to see and experience in Vegas. But the more I find to do the more questions I have.

It's our 2nd trip to Vegas and our first trip anywhere without kids in 5 years We are going August 24-27 staying at the Flamingo and we are 33 and not really nightclub people. We love to try new restaurants and aren't exactly cheap but don't want to pay outrageous prices either. Now for my questions:

We have tickets for the 7pm show of The Beatles Love, can we do Fremont Street after the show or is there enough time? Any suggestions on where to eat before the show.

What else is in the Fremont area other than light show?

We're only there for 3 nights, we have 1 show booked already. Should I book another or will that we overkill? Maybe one night just for Fremont?

I want to go to the outlet malls, is there anything else we should do in that area and should we go morning, afternoon?

We did the dam tour last time and enjoyed it, any other tours you would suggest?

I wold love to spent a day at the pool, is a cabana worth the money?

We've heard that dueling pianos are great to see, where are they and should we get there early for seats? Is something we would watch for awhile and move on or a whole night out?

Thanks for putting up with all my questions, looking forward to suggestions!

 

[Stacerita]

I've been reading this forum and a few other Vegas ones and I've found lots of great tips and advise. I've also found a million more things I want to see and experience in Vegas. But the more I find to do the more questions I have.

It's our 2nd trip to Vegas and our first trip anywhere without kids in 5 years We are going August 24-27 staying at the Flamingo and we are 33 and not really nightclub people. We love to try new restaurants and aren't exactly cheap but don't want to pay outrageous prices either. Now for my questions:

We have tickets for the 7pm show of The Beatles Love, can we do Fremont Street after the show or is there enough time? Any suggestions on where to eat before the show.

We just recently did the Love show. Its a great show, so good choice. We did BLT burger prior to the show which was yummy, then after the show we went to the Revolution lounge. You can get in with your show tickets and can get 2 for 1 drinks there with them as well. Good deal. You can do Fremont street after.

What else is in the Fremont area other than light show?

The light show is like every hour. Other than the light show, there isn't that much else. You can gamble, drink and hang at the older hotels. They also have concerts there on the weekends. This is the 40th anniversary of 1969, so the bands are all playing songs from that time. Lots of fun and dancing.

We're only there for 3 nights, we have 1 show booked already. Should I book another or will that we overkill? Maybe one night just for Fremont?

I would only do one show, and keep the other nights open. You can always find last minute cheap tickets to shows there if you change your mind. But I personlly wouldn't try to over plan.

I want to go to the outlet malls, is there anything else we should do in that area and should we go morning, afternoon?

There is a Disney outlet there as well. Other than that and places to eat, not much really.

We did the dam tour last time and enjoyed it, any other tours you would suggest?

Didn't get to do it last time I was there, but the Haunted Vegas tour looked like a lot of fun. You might want to check that out.

I wold love to spent a day at the pool, is a cabana worth the money?

I have done the cabana thing a few times. And while its nice, its not all that. If you have a group, I would do it. It splits the cost and you have enough chairs for everyone. If not, you can usually find two chairs or loungers side by side out in the pool area.

We've heard that dueling pianos are great to see, where are they and should we get there early for seats? Is something we would watch for awhile and move on or a whole night out?

Unless you are really into that sort of thing, I'd check it out for a while, have a drink or two, then move on. There is way too much to see and do.

Thanks for putting up with all my questions, looking forward to suggestions!

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[BC Disney Lover]

Thanks Stacerita, great advice! I agree with you that I should not overplan and just go with the flow
I've followed the threads on the Girls Only trips and hopefully will make it on one eventually. I saw that some of you are meeting in October, my family and I will be there 18-23 so I'll be on the lookout for LGMH

Angie

 

[StreamMaster]

Hi BC !

We just got back from our second LV trip and had a great time. We are LV noobs so I can't give you a lot of input, but I can let you know what we did over the 7 days.

Got to Freemont St. Enjoyed the light show and found a GREAT steak place at the Golden Nugget called Vic and Anthonys. Expensive but VERY good food and a wonderful environment.

After Beatles Love you should have plenty of time to head up to Freemont St. As far as food before the show, the Mirage buffet is good, so is HoB and Carbie Cafe ( both at Mirage ) P.S. The Terry Fator show is great !

Things to take a "pass" on ( IMHO ).

Zigfied and Roy's Secret Gareden ( ZzZzZzZz ) Acctually made me sad for the tigers.

Sirens of TI OMG !!!! What a mad house !!!! Huge show, No room for anyone !!!! Literally hundreds of people shoulder to shoulder and no place to move at all !!!!!!!

Good luck on your trip, will look forward to your trip report ( and tips

 

[Magix]

HoB is at Mandalay Bay, not at the Mirage. I'll give another vote for BLT Burger at the Mirage. I've eaten there twice and it's terrific. Good burgers, great and unique shakes. There's also a California Pizza Kitchen and a Carnegie Deli at the Mirage.

I've seen Cirque du Soliel "Love" twice now and it's spectacular!

The Freemont Street Experience goes very late into the evening, so you'll have plenty of time to catch a show. It's neat to see (I caught the "Kiss" show last time I was there, which was fun), but there's not really much to it. You can gamble downtown, but be prepared for it to be pretty cheesy, old Vegas style stuff. The Golden Nugget is a very nice place (I've stayed there twice now), but the rest of the street is pretty icky.

At the pool, I'd go without the cabana. Haven't found one yet that seemed like it was actually a good deal.

 

[jlima]

We have tickets for the 7pm show of The Beatles Love, can we do Fremont Street after the show or is there enough time? Any suggestions on where to eat before the show.

What else is in the Fremont area other than light show?

We're only there for 3 nights, we have 1 show booked already. Should I book another or will that we overkill? Maybe one night just for Fremont?

My favorite restaurant at Mirage is Japonais. Great sushi, wonderful atmosphere & interesting menu.

Fremont St is "old" Vegas; expect lower table minimums and lots of souvenir shops. (My DH won $1100 playing craps at Las Vegas Club once.) There's also street entertainment. Look at the FSE (Fremont Street Experience) website for their show schedule & times.

If you are into shows, or if there is someone you want to see, by all means see more than one show. You are seeing a great show; I've seen LOVE four times and I'd go again in a minute!! Las Vegas is the only place you can see Barry Manilow, Donny & Marie and Bette Midler.

I want to go to the outlet malls, is there anything else we should do in that area and should we go morning, afternoon?

There are two outlet malls in town + one a 45 minute drive away on the way to California in Stateline. The Premium Outlets is all outdoors; this is the mall near downtown (there is a Disney outlet store at this mall). The LV Outlet Center is the former Beltz Outlet mall & is all inside, with the exception of one outbuilding that has Off Fifth & the Disney Warehouse (Disney Warehouse is the store that sells Disneyland clearance merchandise). Any time is good. This mall is also near a newer mall called Town Center; it has the Claim Jumper restaurant, the Yard House restaurant & Rave Movie Theater.

We did the dam tour last time and enjoyed it, any other tours you would suggest?

If you rent a car, try Red Rock Canyon or Valley of Fire; or if you are into hiking, Google Grapevine Canyon; it is about 90 minutes from Vegas on the way to Laughlin. I've never been, however I know people who have done this hike & it comes highly recommended for viewing Indian petroglyphs.

I wold love to spent a day at the pool, is a cabana worth the money?

If you are staying at a property that has a popular & crowded pool, and you plan on staying all day, then yes, it is worth it to have somewhere to relax in the shade & leave your stuff. However, cabanas can be hard to book, as casino guests who gamble a lot usually are assigned cabanas first. We stayed at the Flamingo on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend once and their pool was PACKED. I would have loved a cabana. I had pool passes once at Mandalay Bay; and we asked when we got there if there were any cabanas left; and were able to get a daybed cabana and it was wonderful to have shade & some privacy as Mandalay's pool is ALWAYS crowded.

We've heard that dueling pianos are great to see, where are they and should we get there early for seats? Is something we would watch for awhile and move on or a whole night out?

I recommend the dueling pianos at Harrahs. It is in a bar near their sports book, with windows that look out onto the Strip/Carnival Court area. I went with my mom on a Wednesday night once; what we did was go during their karoke show at about 8:15 & got a table; and the piano show started at 9 pm. There are twin sisters who are the piano players and they are WONDERFUL. I would call Harrahs & verify times, when you are planning. There are also dueling pianos at The Bar at Times Square at NYNY.

Have fun planning your trip!

 

[RyJMom]

We were just at the Harrah's dueling pianos a few weeks ago and the time is still 9:00. We also went about 8:15 and saw some of the Karoke. There is no cover charge before 9:00. This place is tons of fun and a must do for us every trip.

 

[woody73]

We have tickets for the 7pm show of The Beatles Love, can we do Fremont Street after the show or is there enough time?
Yes, there is enough time.

Any suggestions on where to eat before the show.
We've seen LOVE twice and loved it. If you like buffets, the one next door at TI was quite nice.

What else is in the Fremont area other than light show?
Expect to see some old casinos.

We're only there for 3 nights, we have 1 show booked already. Should I book another or will that we overkill? Maybe one night just for Fremont?
We really enjoy the shows in L.V. If there's something you would really like to see, book it in advance. We typically see two shows: LOVE and Elton John, Phantom and KA, Spamalot and La Reve.

We've heard that dueling pianos are great to see, where are they and should we get there early for seats? Is something we would watch for awhile and move on or a whole night out?
How long you stay depends on how much you like the music, the pianists, and how they're working the crowd. We've seen Dueling Pianos at NYNY and Paris LV. Both had wonderful shows.

Thanks for putting up with all my questions, looking forward to suggestions!

Woody

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I've been reading this forum and a few other Vegas ones and I've found lots of great tips and advise. I've also found a million more things I want to see and experience in Vegas. But the more I find to do the more questions I have.
Here are a couple of really good message boards for vegas in case you don't know of them, I thought I'd share them with you:
Las Vegas 4ever message board: http://www.blonde4ever.*********/ okay that's supposed be y u k u dot com/directory. Don't know why the Dis blocked it out, but put the letters together. It's a fun, safe message board.
Everything Las Vegas http://www.everythinglv.com/forums/
and Vegas Message Board http://vegasmessageboard.com/

It's our 2nd trip to Vegas and our first trip anywhere without kids in 5 years We are going August 24-27 staying at the Flamingo and we are 33 and not really nightclub people. We love to try new restaurants and aren't exactly cheap but don't want to pay outrageous prices either. Now for my questions:

We have tickets for the 7pm show of The Beatles Love, can we do Fremont Street after the show or is there enough time? Any suggestions on where to eat before the show. The 2nd show of Love starts at 10:30 so yes, you'll make it Fremont St.
What else is in the Fremont area other than light show? Gamble, drink, walk around and take pictures. Don't turn your nose up to something because it looks old. I had great fun at El Cortez of all places. I thought it stunk to high heaven, but it reminded me of how much fun Vegas used to be with very minimal investment. I played for 2 hours on $20 up and down and ended up cashing out up from their dollar machines. El Co is on East Fremont. Here's a fun Downtown slide show all about Downtown. Just when you think it's done, it's not. The song will play through at least 3x before the show is done. http://john-uk.com/LasVegas/LasVegasSlideShows/Downtown.html

We're only there for 3 nights, we have 1 show booked already. Should I book another or will that we overkill? Maybe one night just for Fremont? I would set aside one night just for Fremont because I love gambling and I love Downtown.
I want to go to the outlet malls, is there anything else we should do in that area and should we go morning, afternoon? There is an incredible outdoor outlet mall near Downtown. I can't recall the name off hand, but if you google downtown las vegas outlet mall I'm sure it'll show up.

We did the dam tour last time and enjoyed it, any other tours you would suggest? Not if I only had 3 days in the Promised Land, err Vegas!

I wold love to spent a day at the pool, is a cabana worth the money? Not unless you want to spend $350+ per day for the use of one.
We've heard that dueling pianos are great to see, where are they and should we get there early for seats? Is something we would watch for awhile and move on or a whole night out? I think it's something you'd watch for a little while and then move on. There is a fun Carnival Court also just outside the door of Harrah's in the same area where the Dueling Pianos are.
Thanks for putting up with all my questions, looking forward to suggestions!

Have Fun!!!

Hi BC !
Things to take a "pass" on ( IMHO ).
Zigfied and Roy's Secret Gareden ( ZzZzZzZz ) Acctually made me sad for the tigers.
Sirens of TI OMG !!!! What a mad house !!!! Huge show, No room for anyone !!!! Literally hundreds of people shoulder to shoulder and no place to move at all !!!!!!!
Good luck on your trip, will look forward to your trip report ( and tips

I agree with your things to avoid. I went to the Sig & Roy Secret Garden years ago and it's worth it if you are there for a long trip or are looking for things to do besides gamble, but if you're only there for 3 days, I'd skip it. I've heard great things about Terry Fator, too.

The Freemont Street Experience goes very late into the evening, so you'll have plenty of time to catch a show. It's neat to see (I caught the "Kiss" show last time I was there, which was fun), but there's not really much to it. You can gamble downtown, but be prepared for it to be pretty cheesy, old Vegas style stuff. The Golden Nugget is a very nice place (I've stayed there twice now), but the rest of the street is pretty icky.

I'm going to have to disagree with your assessment of Downtown. Downtown is what old Vegas used to be. Those Mega Casinos on the strip weren't built on the backs of the winners, they were built on the backs of the losers. Ever take a look at the pay schedule on most of the BJ games on the strip?
OP, if you want better odds for gambling, your best bet would be Downtown or at the locals casinos. Oh yeah, and there is so much to see for free, every hotel is a sight to be had just by itself, that is why I don't think you should have to pay to see S&R Secret Garden. The Sirens at TI are zzzzzz... Have fun!
ETA: I go to Vegas at least 4-5x a year. Any questions, let me know. I'd be glad to help you if I can.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

If you decide to go to the Fremont Street Experience, you should sign up for their email. They'll email you a pdf to get coupons for area casinos & restaurants. Actually, here's the pdf link so you can see for yourself if there's anything that interests you. I think they are all good through the end of August at least.
http://www.vegasexperience.com/coupons/FSE_coupons070209.pdf