Viva Las Vegas

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

I'm going next month. Two weeks before the wedding like a crazy person. Never been. Where should we go? What should we do?

SCBojangles1138 · August 2010

Ok all of these are on the "new" (-er) strip

1) Ride the roller coaster on top the New York New York
2) Take a Gondola ride at the Venitian
3) See the free show at Treasure Island
4) Shop at Ceasars - cool stuff happens in that place
5) Go check out the old strip (I wish I would have)
6) Watch the fountains at the Bellagio
7) WIN SOME $$$ :-D

[Deleted User] · August 2010

The Lotus Hotel and Casino. You'll never want to leave.

Of course, I'm assuming you're a demi-god and a Percy Jackson geek like me.

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

These are good suggestions and inexpensive too!

SCBojangles1138 · August 2010

Thanks! I went when I was 18 (went with BFF and her mom on a work trip) so I had to get creative with what I could do and where I could go.

Seshat, where is the Lotus? I missed that one.

[Deleted User] · August 2010

It's not real, Bojangles. The Lotus is a place in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians book series. It's a hotel where they lure in demi-gods and feed them Lotus flowers so they never want to leave and instead play video games and basically indulge themselves for years on end.

It's my only knowledge of Vegas, and it isn't even real.

SCBojangles1138 · August 2010

Oh...heh...epic fail on my part. lol

goheels05 · August 2010

Go see a show and book your tickets, like, yesterday. We didn't plan ahead and everything was sold out when we got there. Cirque de Solei looked like it would be awesome.

goheels05 · August 2010

Oh and take the free gambling classes. Those are really fun. They let you play a couple hands with free chips, too.

Lenore2010 · August 2010

Eat at the Bellagio. I highly recommend the Prime Steak House. You can see the fountains from the balconies and they have the most wonderful food. We had our reception there. No, it's not cheap but it is worth it.

See Red Rock Canyon National Park and/or the Ring of Fire if you want to do something off strip and you enjot the desert landscape. They are both so beautiful. Needless to say, at this time of year I recommend seeing both closer to sunset, it is probably 110 degrees there now at noon.

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

That sounds fun, Heels. I've looked into a couple shows. We really only have the budget to see one. I'll probably go ahead and get tickets for Cirque de Solei!

Free gambling classes is a good idea too because I'm not much of a gambler.

future-mrs · August 2010

I've done a TON of research on Vegas because we want to go soooo bad! There's actually quite a bit of info in my Bio because we want to HM there (probably not going to happen now.) But yeah, it is there.

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

Ooo. Good tips!

I'll check out your bio, Future!

BecW2be · August 2010

Definitely go to the old strip! That was my tackiest, favoritest part!

See Beatles Love, if you can get tickets, and ride the gondola. Those are the two things I didn't get to do and regret.

Have fun!

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

I'll definitely hit up the old strip!

SarahPLiz · August 2010

The Bellagio is awesome all around. If you want to spend tons of money on dinner, go to Le Cirque for an 8 course French dinner. There are lots of restaurants in the tunnel between Caesar's and the Bellagio.

The one and only time I went, FI spoiled me. We went to see Zumanity, Love, and O, all Cirque shows. Zumanity is pretty racy. Love is really fun. O is just really really awesome!

BecW2be · August 2010

There's also a rotating restaurant at the top of the stratosphere that is awesome. I can't remember the name of it, but you can see all of Vegas while you eat.

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

That sounds cool too! I'll have to look into that.

Future, I freaking LOVE Pawn Stars. I definitely want to go to that shop.

npasquale16 · August 2010

Both times I've gone, I loved everything everone's said already and:

1. The lion show at MGM
2. Going up in the Eiffel Tower
3. Just wandering around each casino--the themes are so over-the-top.

The gondola is awesome--we has to do it inside because of the weather, but it's still a great experience. I loved Luxor the best just because of the awesome vibe. Mandalay Bay has a ot of great stuff for younger people. The Treasure Island free shows are a lot of fun and they're actually pretty long, considering they're free. The Bellagio fountains are amazing--I watched them almost every day I was there each time. The Eiffel Tower was scary as hell, but well worth it. The only thing I didn't actually do is ride the roller coaster at New York, New York.

missy68 · August 2010

The roller coaster IS awesome at NY NY. The Phantom of the Opera show is great and it's in a theater built specifically for the show. I highly recommend that. You can follow it up with a gondola ride, because it's at the Venetian.

The Luxor has a fantabulous steak house - that's where we took my reception guests for dinner. We didn't do the rides on top of the Stratosphere, because you had to pay an admission fee to the Strat, then a ride fee (or an all admission pass) for each one, and it was a large chunk o' change.

FatBurger on the strip is a fun place to eat. I actually liked it better than In and Out. We ate there twice.

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

I'm pretty easily asumed. I could just walk around casinos and be entertained.

I'll remember Fat Burger. We were planning on In and Out, so we'll add that to the list!

ebonyivory10 · August 2010

The Cirque website has some pretty good deals for summer, and there's also a discount ticket kiosk called Tix 4 Tonight where you can get seriously discounted show tickets for the same day. There's a few locations on the strip. Have fun, there is so much to see and do!

http://www.tix4tonight.com/

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

Thanks Ebony! That's a good tip!

FutureMrsFraser · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_viva-las-vegas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:9e7771ff-1444-4841-9400-57766574c997Post:abaadf68-e6a1-4518-97ea-2b4d4d56bf5a">Re: Viva Las Vegas</a>:
[QUOTE]Go see a show and book your tickets, like, yesterday. We didn't plan ahead and everything was sold out when we got there. Cirque de Solei looked like it would be awesome.
Posted by goheels05[/QUOTE]

I've never been to Vegas and seen their show there, but I've seen several of their other shows and it's always awesome. I agree on this one, if I ever go to Vegas, I'll be seeing that show for sure.

Qsuzy · August 2010

Went to Vegas in March and we had the best time!

If you want to go to a show make sure you search the websites for cheap tickets.

We went to Zumanity (2nd row) at NYNY. It is the cheaper of the Cirque shows out there. And we went to Penn & Teller (5th row) at The Rio, which was super awesome! It takes a little research online for cheaper tickets, but we were able to go to both shows and have great seats for about $140.

We also went to Red Rock Canyon and did a free group hike. And we also went to Ring of Fire National Park. Both places are gorgeous and lots of picture opportunities.

The FI and I loooove food. So to cut costs we decided to hit big name chef restaurants for lunch rather than for dinner. Same food. Smaller portions. Lower prices. Delicious.

Hope you have fun when you go out there!!

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

Thanks Qsuzy! Those are definitely great cost cutting strategies!

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · August 2010

The old strip/Freemont street is pretty awesome. There's a light show at night above the street. The casinos there are older and cheaper and have cocktail waitresses that sound like they've been smoking for 40 years.

The pool at the Hardrock is awesome.

If you want to go to a German beer hall, Haufbrau House Las Vegas is across the street from the Hardrock. It's pretty fun and surprisingly good.

The food at most of the casinos is awful UNLESS you go to the expensive restaurant/steakhouse, where it's good.

Mandalay Bay has several good restaurants and bars. There's a bar at the top called "mix" on the 64th floor. Pricey, but a really nice view. Arieole is a wine bar/restaurant with a three story wine cellar and Fleur de Lys is run by Hubert Keller. Both are quite good.

I'd recommend paying the $15 to go up in the eiffle tower at Paris and watch the Bellagio water show from there.

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

Ooo. All those sound great. Mery! We looove German beer. Will definitely be hitting that up.

missy68 · August 2010

I actually think the Luxor's buffet was pretty good. I went 10 years ago, too, and remembered it being good, then as well. They have a pastry selection that's yummy. Saturday and Sunday they have a champagne brunch, J and I did that with my aunt and uncle before the wedding.

J&K10910 · August 2010

There's an awesome Mexican restaurant inside Palace Station (which is off strip, but not too far and there are shuttles that leave from the mall and the Tropicana hourly), with awesome happy hour specials on really freakin' good margaritas. Also? That's the casino where I won all my money

vegasgroom · August 2010

I love Vegas and have been quite a bit. Here's my run down on things to do, not taking budget into account:

Eats:
* As one PP mentioned, Mix Restaurant at Mandalay is pretty awesome; my FI and I have rented out the place for our wedding reception next year. It's on the 64th floor of the THEhotel tower and there are views out one side of the strip, out the other side of the mountains, if you go just before sunset they'll have the shades up on the west-facing side so you can have both views. They have little two person booths that are nice and romantic around the edges of the restaurant. There's also Mix Lounge if you don't want to spend the money on the restaurant; the Lounge opens at 5 PM and is attached to the restaurant but only has views facing the strip. It's pretty cool to see the Luxor pyramid from above.
* good party/fun place to eat is Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, it's right in the middle of the strip across from caesars and next to Flamingo. Yeah it's a chain but it's a fun chain, it has a volcano that erupts once per hour, there's a third story outside party deck you can be seated at if it's at night or a cooler time of year and you want to watch the strip, prices are reasonable, try a "perfect margarita" if you really like tequila and not the fake sugary margaritas you get at normal restaurants.
* My favorite steakhouse is N9NE at the Palms, expect to pay about $80/pp if you wil be having drinks. Their surf and turf is worth killing someone for.
* Bellagio buffet - insane. Little pricey though as far as buffets go, so go hungry.

Gambling:
* If you're not trying to work on comps by gambling where you're staying, and you want to really see some characters, O'Sheas is my favorite place on the strip, it's right next to Margaritaville. They have $5 craps all the time, $5 blackjack all the time and I think often even lower minimum bets, their wait staff are actually very attentive and fast even for a 'budget' casino, they have craps lessons early morning and probably other games too, or if you want to reminisce about college, they have organized beer pong leagues too LOL.
* Flamingo - they're kind of hurting I think these days, but that is good for you, on more than one occassion FI and I have been walking through there and stopped at a nearly empty craps table that was showing $10 bets and we asked the pit boss if they'd make it $5 for us and he did lol. This is a nice option if you've got a Harrah's brand players card and want to stick to their properties but don't want to pay the $10 minimum that is typically in place; can't guarantee it will always work though, certainly not when they're busy.
* Palms - it's off strip but is where I typically stay because I really like the contemporary rooms, younger atmosphere and you never know who you're going to run into; I played craps with Nelly last time I was in Vegas.

Clubs:
* The Palms assortment of clubs (Ghost Bar, Moon, Playboy) are nice, and one cover gets you in all three, but of course the lines to Ghost are pretty long if you're not a gambler and get to cut. Both Ghost Bar and Moon have 50th floor or higher balconies overlooking Vegas which is what makes it worth going to.
* Tryst at the Wynn is another favorite.

Shopping:
* Forum Shops at Caesars, awesomely huge mall, three stories in some places, stays open really late, has a 50,000 gallon fish tank (feedings at 1:15 and 5:15 PM).
* Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian - cool indoor mall with canals that you can catch gondala rides in, etc.

Shows:
* I've seen four or five of the Cirque shows, but once you've seen a bunch they do get a little old, Beatles/LOVE is a good one to go to since it doesn't feel like every other Cirque show.
* If you don't mind some adult language, I love Jersey Boys, best musical I've been to.

Site Seeing:
* Freemont is worth going to at night for the light show, only downside is getting there by cab is going to run you at least $20 each direction, or you can take a bus but then you have to deal with certain arranged times to get back.
* Hoover Dam is an hour away if you're into that; I'm an engineer so I went and left FI at the pool last time. If you want to go on the Dam tour, get there early, I got there at 10 AM and tickets were already sold through 12:30 so I had to sit around for 2.5 hours. You can't buy them online or in advance so basically the earlier you get there, the less waiting you'll do; if you get there after 1 you may not make a tour at all.
* Stratosphere is pretty cool as others have mentioned; 105 stories up and you can even eat there.

Viva Las Vegas

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