Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

mookybargirl

The Bellagio Fountains

Thanks Coatze and Gilly_flower for the trip reports. :beer:

Indout96

The Fremont street experience

CUPCAKE wrote: »

Hi anyone been to this dinner show? Any reviews. Has been off-broadway to high aclaim.

We went when it was at Rio and enjoyed it for what it was. Basically you are at an American/Italian wedding reception (for the italian bit read OTT M@fia types) where the actors mix with you during the meal - they may be on your table or just walking about. Then it just turns into a dance. Food is OK as long as you like cheese (Kathy came out starving :rotfl:)
It was fun but something to do once rather than every year. We have done the murder mystery one at Egg&I and Tony & Tina's was far better as long as you join in. They have a knack of picking on the extraverts and the wall flowers so if you dont want to be picked on try and keep in the middle but then getting involved is half the fun.

philswain90

Hi,

Off to Vegas on the 27th for the first time for 1 week and taking in the Ricky Hatton fight. I haven't any $ yet but was wondering if it was worth exchanging when over there? Has anyone done this before and got a better deal on the exchange rate? I have a post office credit card coming this week, as recommended by Martin, and will probably exchange a bit of money just to see me through the first day or so if i go ahead and exchange over there. Thanks.

Trust_2

The Sirens of TI

If anyone else has the intention of going to see either Jubilee or Penn & Teller please PM me your email address and I will send you a copy of the letter which was in my room from Marilyn Winn (Pres of Harrah's)

It is not dated and quite a few people from this have successfully used it!

Offers,
Discounted tickets for Jubilee $35 and complimentary upgrade
Penn & Teller $37.50

Gilly_flower

Hi pcg2001! I'm happy to give a some info on the rest of the trip - and feel free to PM me if you want any more info as I don't want to clog the thread too much

The trip was booked through Virgin Holidays - it would have been cheaper to do it independently BUT I paid about 2/3 with vouchers so made accommodation choices that I normally wouldn't have. I was very wary of prebooking accommodation but in the end we were pleased as it took all the uncertainty out of where were would end up for the night (after several long drives), and when we arrived in death valley in a howling sandstorm, we had a guaranteed place to stay, unlike the poor couple behind us who had their back window smashed by a rock, then got to the only accomodation in the valley to find there were no vacancies.

I booked the car separately through carhire3000 after some help from this board (cheers all!) - it cost £201 for 12 days, pick up at Dollar San Fran O'Farrell Street and drop off at McCarran in Vegas. This included unlimited mileage and all insurances for 2 drivers. We booked the cheapest compact and got a Dodge Caliber which was fine for 2 people. The Dollar lady looked horrified that we were considering driving a long distance in a "compact" and tried to upsell us, but as I usually drive a 1 litre micra I was already in a luxury car by comparison!

So brief summary:
Heathrow- San Fran - on Virgin, crap legroom on the seats but good "on demand" entertainment.
San Fran - 3 nights holiday inn express - great location in Fishermans Wharf (very touristy but useful for transport links). Don't pick up your car until the day you are leaving unless parking is included in your hotel rate as it's about $40 a day. If you want to go to Alcatraz get the tickets from here: http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/ as a lot of the other sites have a mark up. I'd recommend the sunset cruise.
Yosemite - 2 nights - amazing park, with lots of lovely short hikes - you soon feel like you are away from the crowds. Absolutely spectacular views, but a bit disconcerting when we were walking through clouds of dust due to ongoing rockfalls!
Then a LOOONG drive south (~450 miles)(the quick way over the Tioga is closed in Winter) to Death Valley, detouring via Seqoia (for the giant redwoods) and King's Canyon National Parks.
Death Valley - 1 night - lovely and warm! Furnace Creek ranch was very welcoming; death valley itself is interesting and you get to visit the lowest point in the USA, -192ft (i think!) below sea level.
Then 1 night at Caesars, Vegas (see previous post)
Then a stop at Zion Canyon before arriving in the evening at at
Bryce Canyon - 2 nights. We stayed at Ruby's Inn - a good place to stay and only a couple of miles away from the park entrance. Bryce is breathtaking - orange pillars or "hoodoos" and stunning views into the distance - I think it is more visually arresting than the grand canyon itself. However on the day we were there the windchill was -9C so it was a bit of a shock after sunning ourselves in Vegas!
We then drove on to:
Monument Valley. - 1 night. We stayed in Kayenta Holiday Inn - it was a bit grimey but adequate. Monument valley is stunning, and for Mr Flowers, this was the best bit of the trip due to all the cowboy film associations. I did the (very bumpy, but hell, its not my car...) 18 mile dirt road trip around the valley ($5 entrance per person) at sundown - brilliant. Another 200 photos of rocks....
Grand Canyon - 2 nights - We stayed at Grand Hotel Lodge in Tusayan, which is about 8 miles from the canyon itself. The Hotel was good but food and drink was expensive (but luckily Mc Burgers was next door...). It was an easy drive to the canyon (which is of course stunning) and while we were there we saw elk, jack rabbits and squirrels - no bears or mountain lions though! Lots more photos of rocks to bore our friends with, then back to Vegas for 2 nights to stuff ourselves stupid with buffet - hurrah!

Total mileage - 2345 miles in 12 days, but it didn't feel that bad ( and I was the only driver (see point 4 below....))

Ok! Last bit I promise - points for if you are planning a similar trip

1. Even if you are going to organise the trip independently, get Virgin's brochure and look at their tours - it will give a good idea of manageable and interesting itineraries which you can then put together yourself.
2. If you are doing a tour of National Parks, consider gettting an "America The Beautiful Pass" annual pass for $80. This gives admission to all National Parks (Grand Canyon, Bryce etc) where normally it would be $20-$25 per car per park. There is room for two signatures on the back and the ranger who sold it to me said "you can pass it on to someone else if you want to", so if you you want to recoup the outlay it looks OK to ebay the rest of the year's admissions.
3. If you want to stay in the National Parks themselves prebook - everything was full when we were there. Same for Death Valley.
4. If you don't like heights (or rather drops), think very carefully about the routes you take through mountain passes. I thought it might cure Mr Flower's fears, but no. He says he gets to choose next years holiday (Holland here we come.).

Mouth11

I am also heading out to vegas for the Hatton fight at the end of the month.
Was thinking of going to see Penn & Teller, anyone know where to get the best deal on tickets??
Also thinking of going to a gun range, has anyone been?? any tips??

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Mouth11, 2 posts above yours has P&T info.

leew914

Mouth11 wrote: »

I am also heading out to vegas for the Hatton fight at the end of the month.
Also thinking of going to a gun range, has anyone been?? any tips??

http://www.thegunstorelasvegas.com/

http://www.lasvegasgunrange.net/lasvegasgunrange.net/Welcome.html

I have been to the gun store and had a GREAT time in there!! I am a shotgun owner anyway, but getting to fire a full auto and a 9mm hand gun was cool. I will be checking out the Las Vegas Gun Range on my May visit as they have the Desert Eagle .50 which I am wanting to shoot (youtube it if ur not sure of the gun!!) Either way I dont think you can go wrong.

Lee

pcg2001

The Fremont street experience

Gilly_flower wrote: »

Hi pcg2001! I'm happy to give a some info on the rest of the trip - and feel free to PM me if you want any more info as I don't want to clog the thread too much

Gilly_flower, what a wonderful trip!! Thanks for sharing your itinerary with me! If I do go ahead and think about this type of trip I hope you don't mind that I contact you.

You mentioned that the drive from Yosemite to Death Valley was very long. Would have done anything differently, like driving back to San Francisco and flying to LV?

As for Holland, I am sure you will enjoy it as well. Totally different type of holiday, but I am sure that driving across the country will feel a much smaller task than your american road trip!

middy60

The Bellagio Fountains

so much miss vegas havnt been since xmas nd now only 7 weeks till my son is born u think its too far to take him in december hell be 6 months old