Vegas!!!! Questions and Advice!!!

[pixiewings71]

We are going in April too, my brother is getting married. Thanks for the tip on the club pass, I'll share that with her. have fun, we've only been once so I really can't add to the tips here but I'll be watching this thread for more tips myself.

 

[KigerKat]

Next time we go to the Vegas I wanna go see the Pawn Shop that is featured on the History Show Pawn Stars

We just went a couple of weeks ago and stopped by the Gold & Silver Pawn
Shop!! We first went late on a Wednesday, and found out that the outside window is open 24 hours, not the entire store. We went back on a Saturday and got to go in, but none of the regulars were there. It's a lot smaller than you think, and half the store is full of their own merchandise (bobble heads, mugs, t-shirts...). If you go during the week, you have a better chance of seeing one of the guys, but it was still cool to go there!

We stayed at the Rio for an average of $40/night. The rooms were really nice and HUGE! We also got the Buffet of Buffets pass for $44.99/person and got 4 meals out of it.

There is free shuttle service from the Rio to Bally's and Harrahs and free monorails between some of the other hotels.

You can buy a 24 hour Deuce and bus pass for $7, which will also take you to downtown/Freemont Street. I really liked Freemont St. at night with all the street performers, live music and atmosphere. But definitely only ride the Deuce if you are hotel hopping on the strip. The other bus is has fewer stops and takes less time. The Deuce stops EVERYWHERE, almost every block.

Bally's will probably give you a coupon book when you check in with a B1G1 for the Eiffel Tower, along with a couple of other coupons. Eiffel Tower is a must do, especially at night! You can watch the Bellagio fountains from up high, and it is so beautiful!!

Definitely buy tickets from one of the 1/2 Price Tickets booths on the strip. I think the main one most people go to is the one in front of the M&M store.

Have a great trip!!

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Thanks, I'm glad you like them. I like taking photos of places I visit and doing portraits when I can. You can see more stuff on my blog at http://williambeem.com, if you like.

I did check it out! Amazing. I bookmarked you.

 

[twinkleintc]

Some great information to choose from & love the photos!!! Bellagio Conservatory is also a must for us, too, either before or after fountain show.
My brother lives in Vegas and works at Bellagio so we have been many xs. I sorta forget what it was like when we first started going. I miss the "awe" factor... especially now there are so many mega casinos/clubs & they kinda feel the same.
We still go to Freemont Street every few years. It used to feel like "Rat Pack Vegas", but that has changed.
Still one of my favorite adult get aways though!!!

 

[irishbosoxfan]

just went for the first time in oct. my take on budget vs splurge.

staying: ballys was perfect for us. we got an amazing price and were very happy with the room. while the hotel/casino was blah it connects to the paris and our tower was actually closer than to the main bally area. we spent most of our time in paris and always went out to the strip that way. the location is great, we were able to walk to plenty of places and cabs were cheap. we never used the pool b/c it was so cold so cant speak to that but i heard you can pool hop to paris.

food: i have a food allergy so a buffett is a no-no. check out restaurants.com. i got 4 certificates for $125 off food for $9 before i left. yes the restaurants were pricey but this was part of the reason i went to vegas (we could not care less about gambling). this really did help take a chunk off our bills. also proportions were big at times so we often shared an app and sides. our first big meal we tried to eat a full salad, app, and meal individually and it could not be done. i loved julian serrano, its a tapas place so you can go for a drink and one or two dishes or the full dinner as we did.

clubbing: if you want to club check out the club pass pack. we paid $120 which seems like a lot but the passes get you two things, no cover and skipping the line. considering you can pay 20-40 to get into a club it was a bargain as we hit at least 2 clubs/bars a night.

seeing: there is a lot to see that is free. we paid for the sigfried & roy dolphin habitat/tiger habitat. we loved this and it was worth the money. we did tix for tonight and saw crazy horse for like $30 each. if you do go to that don't get drinks. they are crazy overpriced and they were awful. we never made it to freemont street as there was a lot on the strip and my friend had been there and did not care for it.

transportation: i have a strong opinion on this. the bus pass and monorail is a waste. it was like $7-8 almost everywhere we went from bally's in a taxi. we actually joked that its not a real meter, they just set it to show up a random amount between that, because it was so consistent. we paid $10 with tip one way. the monorail was $5 one way per person and we had to hike to the back of the casinos. so that meant it was the same cost for the two of us to take a taxi. also the bus never showed up when we wanted it to and we were in a freak cold snap so shivered while waiting. we bought a bus pass for like 3 days and used it twice. bally's was a decent walk to a lot of casinos and quite frankly i could not stand the people on the busses. you know how people get pissed at people who do things in disney like take pics on pirates of the caribbean or try to stand up? i feel that way about people who insist on getting on the back of the bus without paying b/c the front is just too crowded and they have a pass anyway or refuse to move in b/c they are getting off at the next stop, or think they can scream stop to stop the bus in between stops. i have saintly patience (i walk thru times square on a regular basis going to work) but i litterally was losing my mind the two times we took the bus.

Our last trip we stayed at the MGM Grand Signature and we didn't spend a whole lot of time in our room/hotel. So when I ran across a deal for $56 a night at Ballys that included 2 buffets I jumped on it.

It's a North Tower Deluxe room and I can't find anything out about the room online. Is that the tower you're talking about? Do you have any pics of the room or the view?

Did you or anyone here who's been there like it? It's right at center strip so that appealed to us as did it's proximity to Planet Hollywood (We really liked it there)

Pros? Cons? It was so cheap it's actually making me kind of nervous!! LOL!

 

[plutolovr]

We're going back in March for the NASCAR race. We usually go to Vegas once a year and I love to gamble, so my budget is in the gambling. This March we are staying at the Aria and Red Rock Resort for a total of 5 nights for $zero, we are also using FF miles so flying is $zero. My DH also has free days from National Car so car rental will be $zero. We usually do one real nice meal like Craft Steak and one show. I have coupons for free buffets at Red Rock and a food credit for Aria.

 

[wbeem]

We still go to Freemont Street every few years. It used to feel like "Rat Pack Vegas", but that has changed.
Still one of my favorite adult get aways though!!!

Vegas attracts more than its share of strange people, and many of them go Downtown. That's one of the reasons I don't like it. I see people with signs telling me that God is going to end the world. I've seen adults wearing diapers and tennis shoes. I've seen a man dressed up as Santa Pimp (with a nice cane). It just sort of gives me the wrong vibe.

That said, it's a colorful place at night.


Free Concerts Nightly by wbeem, on Flickr


The Dark End of the Street by wbeem, on Flickr


Pioneer Club by wbeem, on Flickr

 

[Eeyore98]

Great:
- Blue Man Group at the Venetian. FANTASTIC show!
- Tix4Tonight...sells discount show tickets, several locations on the strip...we got a great price on our BMG tickets and were in the 2nd row!
- Le Provencal at the Paris hotel is a tasty French-Italian fusion restaurant
- Bellagio Fountains...best of the free shows. I didn't even mind waking the LOUD recording of "Con Te Partiro" waking me up early (we were across the street at the Paris).

Just Okay
- Treasure Island pirate show is beyond cheesy, but the effects are cool
- Mirage volcano

Overhyped/Not Worth It
- Treasure Island buffet
- Mystere (I thought La Nouba at WDW was much better! If you want Cirque, I hear "O" is great.)
- Lions at MGM. Do you have a zoo in your hometown? Same thing.

 

[dgr1973]

My DH and I went last July for our first time and stayed at Bally's. Found an amazing deal (29 per night) and you cannot beat the location! I agree the casino is a bit blah but I did win a little bit there, we are not high rollers at all so winning 100.00 on a nickel slot was a HUGE deal for me! We stayed in a south tower room which I actually wanted since it has much better strip views but the north tower is more recently updated. Slip the person checking you in a $20 and ask if there are any upgrades available and see what happens. I agree with pp about vegasmessageboards.com so much info just like the dis! Just take in all the sights and have a great time, I can't wait to go back in 2013 for my 40th bday!!!!

 

[reginaastralis]

My boyfriend and I just got back from four days in Vegas this morning (seriously, I have no idea how I'm still awake, lol) It was my first and his tenth, but let's just say, this trip was his most mildest ever.

We stayed at the Paris, which was awesome. We ended up getting a free upgrade to a Calais suite. We did not ask for this, just were legit given it when we checked it. It was amazing. We were right behind the Eiffel tower with an amazing view of the Bellagio fountains. I could have stayed in our room the entire time, lol.

My brain is completely fried, but I'll try to remember some of the things we did ...

We ate at Hash Hash a go go, which was amazing. We got there at 11am, and waited about 30 minutes for a table. Check it out, the portions were HUGE. It was really good, and wasn't that expensive ($60 for the two of us, plus tip ... and we had a couple of drinks) The food is seriously enough to split between a couple, but there were so many things we wanted to try, we each got something)

Le Burger Brassiere - this is in the Paris, and had some really interesting choices for burgers. We spent a little under $50 here, which included 23oz domestic drafts ... we had three.

We got pizza twice from the little stand in Paris, across from the buffet. You got two pieces of pizza and a drink for $10. It wasn't the best pizza I've ever had, but it was pretty fantastic. I think they are open pretty late as well. We also ate at the Earl of Sandwich twice, my BF had never had it, and fell for it hard our first night in. It's in the Planet Hollywood mall, and is open 24 hours. We stopped here after our plane touched down, and we were starving.

I know we ate other places, but it's probably the lack of sleep that's getting to me. We wanted to do the Buffet of Buffets, but didn't think we would have enough time to really enjoy it. We were only there for four full days, and the thought of spending one of them trying to stuff our face to the fullest didn't entice me at all. Plus, I'm not a huge eater, and it seemed like such a waste.

We stopped at the Walgreens and got snacks and stuff. It wasn't that long of a trip from our hotel, and we did it while checking out the strip. We got a bottle of tequila there as well, and it was actually $2 cheaper than back home. We made our own margaritas and enjoyed them while we were walking the strip. I'm pretty sure that's about as cheap as you can get. lol.

Our favorite show was Penn and Teller, which we got half price on. It was in one of the little coupon booklets. We spent $11 more and got closer seats, and we were really happy to do that. Also, there is a shuttle that runs from Bally's to the Rio.

We took a taxi twice because my boyfriend stepped on my foot, and it was killing me to walk. It's still swollen, and I'm thinking I might have to go and get it xrayed. Which will not be budget friendly. Needless to say, the taxi was worth it in our situation. We looked at the monorail, but I didn't think it was that worth it for us. The taxi worked out to around $10 but times, one was $12 I think. But, I was seriously in a lot of pain. My foot was so swollen I could only fit in one pair of my shoes.

I'll try to think of more. We came home way up, which was more than I could have imagined. I won $780 playing the Sex and the City slots at the Wynn. I'd never gambled before this trip, and I was only sitting down so I could rest my foot (and my boyfriend could play some poker). The ladies around me screamed, which was a pretty awesome experience.

Also, we didn't get to use this deal, but there is a deal going on at the Venetian for cheap Phantom tickets. Don't know if this is your sort of deal, but it couldn't hurt to look.

You'll have a blast. There is no way we were even able to scratch the surface, and I can't wait to go back.

 

[disneybirds]

Thanks for all the tips. We are going back in March for a 2nd trip. I have seen Phantom, but my DH would probably like to see it since he enjoys the music.

 

[nilseks]

We went in August. Stayed at the Tropicana, which was newly remodeled and great for the price. Rooms were really nice. I have stayed at many hotels. Stay on the strip--some of the off strip hotels like Rio are pretty nice, but you'll spend the difference in cab fare.

Best restaurant: Fire*Fly for tapas. Yummy! Off the strip, lots of locals there and for a reason--because it's really good and really cheap!!!

Be sure to check out 'Down Parasol' at the Wynn. It's an outdoor bar where they have a little 'show'. The trees are all lit up and it's really cool. It's also odd becuase there are a ton of trees and it's quiet--you don't even feel like it's Vegas. I love the Wynn. It's very stylish, but yet whimsical--it has a Disney feel to it!

 

[cajunbaby1]

When you go into the casinos ask where you sign up for a Players Card. Each hotel/casino usually has one. Often times they will give you a coupon book or sheet that has alot of good (or cheap) deals. They maybe buy 1 get 1 free on food,buffet or drinks. Lots of them used to have buy x amt of chips get x amt free play. Sometimes its a free tacky casino souvenir.
you'll end up on their mailing list; but hey you may get some good deals on a return trip to vegas!

 

[libinatorsmom]

Thank you all for all the tips! And wow awesome pictures! I am so excited! It cant get here fast enough! and I know the 5 nights will FLY by!!! Keep them coming!

 

[Taja]

Check out the free lion habitat in MGM. Be sure to take your camera. There is the Earl of Sandwich in Planet hollywood. Excellent.

Just read today that the lion habitat at MGM is closing in early February - I'm thinking the 4th. Ditto Studio 54. They're apparently planning a serious renovation of the property.

 

[pixiewings71]

You know what I remember doing a lot? Happy Hour!!!! It was great to find Happy Hour to get cheap drinks and appetizers.

Also, walk through the casinos, a lot of them have fun things just to look at. We saw the MGM lions, we thought that was fun. They weren't doing anything but it was still neat to see them. We walked through the shops in the MGM, checked out a few "attraction" type things they had (3D TV's, shops, there was a place to do a survey but we didn't qualify, the CSI attraction), it was fun.

We enjoyed Fremont Street, I'm hoping we get to go back. It wasn't insane with people in diapers or anything like that when we were there, the "craziest" thing we saw was some guy dressed up like a guy from KISS, full make-up, full costume, he was having a good time lip synching to the KISS songs they like to play. It was fun to watch him. We also had the girls hair straightened at a booth and a guy who was doing rice art wrote their names on a piece of rice for them for free. We tipped him but he didn't charge us the for the rice. It was fun, again, wandered the stores and such and just enjoyed the night. Oh, there was this guy who was painting pictures with spray paint and OMG he was amazingly good. It was just mind-blowing how fast he was and how good he was. Very talented.