Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

Stew68

The Secret Garden

newty428 wrote: »

I've been persuing this forum for a bit now and am hoping some of you kind people will be able to give me some sound advice!

Me and DH are off to Vegas next Friday (Yay)!! I was lucky enough to win this trip in a competition on Capital Radio. We are staying in the Wynn for 5 nights, we have a helicoptor trip around the Grand Canyon booked for the Saturday and we are booked in to see Cirque du Soleil "O" on the Sunday. (I'm not gloating, honest)!

Neither of us have been to Vegas before, I am looking forward to seeing the fountains at the Bellagio and I deffo want to go to the Outlets. But can you advise me places to eat in the vicinity, other things we should deffo see, casinos (not gamblers but fancy the slots). How do we get to the outlets? Anything else I might find useful???

Thank you for your time

If you're not gloating, i'm not jealous!! Congratulations on your win, hope you can carry it accross the Atlantic!!

Eating around the Wynn area, well there is the obvious answer the Wynn Buffet, most people here say it is the best one on the strip, well worth a visit. Accross the strip at the Fashion Show Mall is Maggianos an Italian restaurant I ate at during my last visit, really good Italian food.

Stew

Teahfc

The Bellagio Fountains

Book a table at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel, Slip a $10 to the maitre d and get a front table outside over looking the pavement and the strip traffic ...plus and the big pull it is right opposite the Bellagio fountains and on top of that its a great steak house. $$ around 35 USD a head. :beer:


A Must is the stunning Volcano outside the Mirage ( do hold onto your wallet /purse a little tighter at all times during all these shows as they are pickpockets paradise !

Inside Caesars in the Caesars Forum there are various statue show and Spago another very good restaurant for both food and people watching and agin around the $$ 35 USD a head .

Drink I always find not too cheap in Vegas unless you are playing the tables or slots and seen to be there a while not just 10c cents in slots and expect a free beer :rotfl:.If you do play the slots then a waitress will come round take your order and then when she returns always good to tip 1 dollar or two or 3 dollars for 2 drinks and you will ensure that if you stay playing you will get another opportunity to get a 'cheaper' drink.(when in fact you may lose enough $$$$$ to buy a case of beer )

I find it easier at times to nip to a supermarket ( one between the Planet Hollywood hotel and MGM )and load up wth a few beers /wine etc and even some snacks and get pre loaded in your room before you hit the town :T


Downtown there is a great under cover light showing 'the Fremont street experience' is on after dark and well worth watching .....take the bus or a cab DO NOT attempt to walk it is a good few miles and also a very tricky dark at times stretch of road from the strip to downtown :eek:.

Have a great time :beer:

GRIGGSY

TangoBunny wrote: »

anyone give me a rough idea of drink prices in the casino lounges......we never got to go to any last time as we had my daughter(16) with us
How much would we expect to pay for say a voddie and coke and a glass of beer

We paid $20 for a bud and a vodka sprite in the bar within the MGM casino. However, if you are at the tables or using the slots it will cost you whatever you want to tip. I think the beers were approx $6-7 in most of the casinos if you went to the bar yourself, but if you are gambling then the cocktail waitresses will come round saying 'drinks' and you just order with them.

TangoBunny

The Secret Garden

We don't gamble so it's bar prices for us I'm afraid.....by the sounds of it prices have gone up a bit based on what we were paying poolside last time round

pennylane99

The Bellagio Fountains

squiggle37 wrote: »

MGM Grand, Flamingo, Mirage, Paris, caesars palace, encore, mandalay bay resort & casino, hard rock hotel, any really they all similar prices.

Oh I dont know which one to choose from they all look good on the pictures.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks

If you are booking Wynn or Encore through Virgin Holidays, they have a special offer of $150 resort credit included.

Book a minimum 3 night stay at the Wynn/Encore and receive $150 resort credit letter upon checkin for use at various locations throughout the Wynn & Encore (excludes all retail, Danny Gans tickets, gratuities and casino play) - Only valid for bookings made between 02Mar-31Aug'09, departing between 01Jun-13Sep'09.

Froggitt

The Fremont street experience

Calling any of you lucky people over in Vegas right now......please could you have a look in any Casino Sportsbook and let me know the odds of the American Idol contestants over there. Thanks

funkyfin2000

The Bellagio Fountains

Guys,

What restaurents on restaurents.com are on the strip? I havn't a clue what ones to get? Cheesecake factory ins't in the list?
any suggestions?

Also...Anyone got any good guides on how to play this fandangles fruit nmachines!

When we went last year, i couldn't understand them at all,. the pictures nvh has posted all mean nothing to me! I can play uk fruit machines but i just don't understand?

How do I buy credits etc? Do i need a card?

Rich

mookybargirl

The Bellagio Fountains

funkyfin2000 wrote: »

Also...Anyone got any good guides on how to play this fandangles fruit nmachines!

When we went last year, i couldn't understand them at all,. the pictures nvh has posted all mean nothing to me! I can play uk fruit machines but i just don't understand?

How do I buy credits etc? Do i need a card?

Rich

I'll give it a go - lol
I'm SO bad at playing fruit machines in the uk - too many buttons and options. Vegas is easy by comparison. The majority are very straight foward. I put my money in and play max bet (so I'm playing for any features). You can't really go wrong to be honest as the machine generally guides you into what to press etc. Maybe start off in the 1c areas and see how you get on. I played a great 1c machine in the Venetian, something about tabasco sauce.
You don't need a card and credits are made up depending on what type of dollar note you put in. Seeing it as credits rather than cash takes the guilt away as you then don't see it as money (very similar to to using chips). The cards people use are players cards to keep track of any points (sorry if you already know this). You don't need one to play. If you win, you'll get a ticket printed from the machine and you can cash in at any cashiers desk or you can pop the ticket straight into a machine as it will at exactly the same as cash. Hope this helps

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

funkyfin2000 wrote: »

Guys,

What restaurents on restaurents.com are on the strip? I havn't a clue what ones to get? Cheesecake factory ins't in the list?
any suggestions?

Also...Anyone got any good guides on how to play this fandangles fruit nmachines!

When we went last year, i couldn't understand them at all,. the pictures nvh has posted all mean nothing to me! I can play uk fruit machines but i just don't understand?

How do I buy credits etc? Do i need a card?

Rich

You can practice for free at some of the UK casino sites - skybetvegas and Virgin casino and a few others have some 'real' slots you will find in Vegas. Cleopatra II, Lil Lady, Texas Tea, Wild Wolf, Enchanted Unicorn and probably a few others (can't check them now as I'm in the US and you can only play if you are in the UK).

Most these days require 3 triggering symbols to win the feature which is usually free spins...some require 3 triggering symbols on a played line and others are 3 symbols in the window...good to check the machine info before playing to see what you are looking for as there are several variations. I actually prefer non-free spin bonus features but they are disappearing fast.

Remember that when you play a multi-line slot your stake is the number of lines you've chosen (we always play all lines) times the number of credits per line you are playing times the value of each credit...so if you have a 20-line $0.01 machine it will cost you $0.20 to play 1 credit on all lines...but you can play 2 credits per line for $0.40, 3 for 4 $0.60 and so on. Watch out for the max-bet button as in some cases it can be $5 or more. Also watch out that you know the denomination of the machine - is it $0.01, $0.02, $0.05, etc...some allow you to change the denomination...my MIL was playing a 20-line machine set at $0.05 - she thought it was $0.01...so rather than playing $0.60 per spin (20*3*.01) she was playing $3 a spin (20*3*.05) - she did get lucky and got a good win but learned a lesson.

Also if you play a progressive machine (one with a big payout shown at the top - usually in digital letters) in some cases you cannot win that top amount unless you are playing max credits. one example is the Hot Shot penny slots. there are 4 levels of progressives you get to play for IF you are playing max bet ($2.00). every trip I see someone all disappointed when they thought they hit a big win on the progressive and they didn't qualify as they were not playing max bet.

I know it probably sounds more confusing now but it's really not that hard, and usually if you don't know what to do someone will help you - but my main advice is know what amount you are betting and read the machine rules before you start - so you know what you are looking for.

trets77

The Bellagio Fountains

newty428 wrote: »

I've been persuing this forum for a bit now and am hoping some of you kind people will be able to give me some sound advice!

Me and DH are off to Vegas next Friday (Yay)!! I was lucky enough to win this trip in a competition on Capital Radio. We are staying in the Wynn for 5 nights, we have a helicoptor trip around the Grand Canyon booked for the Saturday and we are booked in to see Cirque du Soleil "O" on the Sunday. (I'm not gloating, honest)!

Neither of us have been to Vegas before, I am looking forward to seeing the fountains at the Bellagio and I deffo want to go to the Outlets. But can you advise me places to eat in the vicinity, other things we should deffo see, casinos (not gamblers but fancy the slots). How do we get to the outlets? Anything else I might find useful???

Thank you for your time

wow what a prize ... your Gonna have so much fun:beer::T. if you want to get about ( outlet malls ) hiring a car is best idea IMO

i was just thinking today that this threads guide could use some restaurant recomendations .

what i was thinking was linking a floating thread to the guide for several well liked places . The threads would be on the travel board . :idea::idea::idea::idea::idea:

people could suggest a new restaurant to review and start a thread for each week. :idea: . Due to space limitations i obviously cannot put all the different reviews in the Guide but i should have enough space to link to a fair few in the current guide .

The start off points are pretty easy ... the restaurants that get most nods on here . you have heard 2 ( Mon Ami Gabi @ Paris and The Peppermill ) but i think the natural choice for 1st up is of course everyones Fav The Cheesecake Factory @ The Forum Mall .

So i Invite anyone who wants to , please give us your Opinion on The Cheesecake Factory .......... HERE

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=20816625#post20816625