Caeser's Palace
Now this made me laugh. I can only assume the entire front contained a picture of Toni Braxton in a reclining pose but was gradually being taken down. To those who hadn't deduced that, it would look like the show was being advertised on the strength of her foot alone. A Christy Brown does RnB show if you will.
On the Russia holiday last year Elton John was in town at the same time we hit St Petersburg. It was a strange coincidence that on this year's big trip I run into him again, this time doing a show entitled "The Red Piano". Music by the little fat man and artistic direction by David LaChapelle (not to be confused with the black comedian). I like LaChapelle's work but can't stand Elton John so gave this a miss!
The trevi fountain clone again.
Liking the pipers
The newest Cirque de Soleil show is Love, a Beatles inspired show at The Mirage. It sounded terrible and I'd not heard good reviews of it, so I gave it a miss.
The erupting volcano at the Mirage was also getting renovated. :( But they owners were promising an even bigger eruption show when fixed :)
Like the Bellagio, the Venetian is one of the posher hotels on the strip.
They're showing The Phantom of the Opera here. A little tip for you, the shows in Vegas are often reduced versions of the equivalent show in Broadway or the West End. That's because whilst guests are watching those they're not spending money in the casinos. So the management entice you to the casino with the show but don't want you in there longer than need be!
Inside the Venetian hotel. Not too dissimilar to the Vatican galleries.
See!
The Blue Man Group used to have a show in the Luxor, that's where I saw them in 2002 but moved to the Venetian a while back. For those that haven't seen it I definitely recommend it. I've seen it 3 times now (Vegas, Berlin and London)
More tacky sky. Part of this is a trick by the hotels to help you lose track of time so that you spend more time in the casinos.
What a waste of cash! It is funny hearing people saying that having been to The Venetian they never need visit Venice. I think they should, the water isn't that clean for a start!
Interesting water feature in the Venetian.
The Palazzo is the shopping area of the Venetian. Lots of stores that only rich people can afford to buy things from. This is Michael Jackson's favourite place to shop apparently....after Toys R Us that is!
In a country as PC as America its nice to see the occasional mistake being made. "Handicap elevator" indeed! I'm surprised nobody complained and attempted to sue. Perhaps that's too big a gamble to take.
Treasure Island seems to be losing its pirate theming, there used to be a huge skull and cross bones there! Over recent years some of the hotels have moved away from the family demographic to focusing on attracting adults only. I guess this one of them.
On my first trip to Las Vegas I stayed here so Treasure Island or ti will always be a favourite for me.
That's the cloud, part of the Fashion Mall complex, which is fairly new too. It certainly wasn't there in 2002. At night they apparently project visuals onto that UFO shaped roof.
Looks like a zeppelin refueling.
The Wynn is another of the posher hotels. Not obvious here but the building is all gold. Not real gold mind, just the colour! It's so posh it has an 18-hole golf course behind it.
They're building a second golden building alongside, which has been given the name "Encore"
I think I'm inside the Wynn here, its a little confusing.
Another waterfall water-feature this time in one of the balcony bars in the Wynn.
The Wynn's opulent shopping complex is called Esplanade. I was getting dodgy looks from the security here so I split fairly quickly. Snobs!
Looking South from Wynn
Looking North from Wynn
Canyon Blaster inside the Adventuredome at Circus Circus is still a pretty good corkscrew coaster. I think its unique indoor location helps cover up how rough it is.
They don't let adults ride this coaster. One of those nigh-on-impossible credits. I even tried doing the "ask for a complimentary upgrade" trick I'd chickened out of at the hotel, but that didn't work either. They say everyone has a price, not here it would seem.
Heading East from the strip and you'll end up at The Hilton. There is only one reason to visit this hotel.
and its not to see Barry Manilow, although apparently they had to extend the auditorium by 50ft to fit his nose in. (A cheap joke not to be sniffed at)
nor is it to ride the second new monorail, which seems to work unlike the Luxor one, and which is due to be extended all the way down to the airport.
It's to visit the Star Trek Experience which is part museum part walkthrough thrill ride.
I'm not a trekkie or trekker or whatever they call themselves, but it was clear from the queue line that a significant percentage of people here were. I can't even say which Star Trek this is from.
There are displays featuring costumes and props from all the seasons including that one with the guy from Quantum Leap that no-one liked. When I visited this in 2002 I was blown away by a teleporter effect in the Klingon attraction where you are moved from a queue line for a simulator ride into the enterprise and it is still as good today. A really really well done illusion.There's also a second attraction featuring the Borg which wasn't as good although it still had some nice effects.
However rather disappointingly the whole complex is being closed down, which is a great shame as its a superb attraction and the only reason to visit the Hilton hotel. Rumours that Manilow needed more room for his nose are at this moment in time unconfirmed.
In the Nascar Cafe there is a Speed Rollercoaster which I'd done last time I was here. On this occasion it wasn't running at all. The entire entrance hall had been roped off. Disappointing but not overly so as I'd already ridden it.
The stratosphere tower and you can just make out the see-saw ride.
and you can make out the spin ride here!
at the base of the Stratosphere station from where I bought the wristband that would allow me access to the three thrill rides at the top. A little tip. If you get a taxi here you'll probably have a guide book there you can take. There are discount vouchers for the Stratosphere in there.Having popped my ears I took a quick walk around the observation platform and got some photos of Vegas.
That's the Circus Circus Adventuredome and behind it the Golden Trump Tower.
The Golden buildings are the Wynn and Encore hotels.
Don't look down.
The Wynn's golf course.
Some weird shopping complex North of the strip. Not sure if the brick red building is part of that though.
That's the X-Treme ride sending another group of silly idiots over the edge of the Stratosphere. I was going to save that one for last!The first ride I did was Big Shot, the drop tower. For some reason I failed to get any pictures of it but it was great. I loved this ride in 2002 when I did it on the final evening with "Viva Las Vegas" playing and I had a south view over the strip with it all lit up.
Not expecting to top that I wasn't too upset at being asked to ride on the North side facing away from the strip. I did have a Finnish guy next to crap himself on the ride and he quickly made his way back down having ridden it. But fortunately he wasn't as bad as this guy.
Having done the drop tower I chose to do Insanity the spinning ride next. 5 pairs of riders sit in a seat that looks like it should have more restraints than it has, it rotates, then the arms lift back so you're sort of looking down then once up to speed the whole lot moves out over the edge of the tower giving you a ridiculous view straight down. This ride was really really scary and I wasn't comfortable on it at all, at least not for the first minute. Like the Starflyer rides I have to spend the initial period figuring out where I'd like to land in the event of a malfunction. I wasn't the only one doing this, I got into a rather heated exchange with an ex-pat from Newcastle about who was going to land in the pool 900ft below first. Once I'd gotten over to that I was able to take my hands off the handlebar and wave to the people watching from the observation floor.
By the time I had to ride X-Treme I was already resigned to the fact that I wasn't going to like the ride but it wasn't too bad. Actually once I got over the fact that the ride stopped suddenly it became kind of dull. The height really didn't bother me that much but having ridden hundreds of coasters I was expecting it to go all the way down to the ground then come up, so the abrupt stop was new to me. Having said that as soon as I'd done this ride I followed the Finn back down to the ground.The rides atop the Stratosphere are by far the best rides in Vegas, as long as you have a head for heights.
Back at Paris.
and I did go back to Coyote Ugly that night. Just don't ask for a water!
That night I also went and saw Ka, the Cirque de Soleil show that has a permanent residency at The MGM. Once you see the stage you realise that this can't go on tour nor could the theatre be used for anything else. For those that don't know the stage is a massive hydraulic monster that can move around and rotate in all directions. So one moment it can be a beach complete with sand then they can tip it up and turn it into a mountain.I've seen lots of Cirque shows but this is by far the best one I think. It has a coherent story rather than just being a series of routines loosely strung together. Some of the other shows may offer better stand-out acts but this has a better overall feeling to it. I should also add that being in the front row made it especially good for me as I had a ridiculously close up view.
That night's dinner was spent at Seablue also in the MGM.I had Lobster Bisque Soup for an entree
Battered Pepper stuffed with dungeness crab
Lobster turkey dog with peppered mushroom
King Prawns with a spicy dip all for a starter
Kansas ribeye with potatoes, mushrooms and giant asparagus. Really good!
and for dessert a Coconut, raspberry and mango sorbet selection.
The cocktail this evening was a Summer 75, which was recommended by the waitress and extremely strong. It set me up just nicely for the evening.
This is the lobby of the MGM and the only place in this hotel to get get free wifi :D
Back to the Bellagio. I'd kept missing the famous fountain show here as I was exploring the other casinos when the shows were playing.
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