Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

ferf1223

March

luci wrote: »

Since then I have had an outline plan and even after 2 weeks there are still things we could have done. Yes we have an idea where we are going to eat most nights, but it's not cast in stone and can be changed easily. However by having it written down it means we don't come home suddenly remembering that we were going to try this place or that place. We often have 2 or 3 places pencilled in for one night and decide at the time which one, if any, we are going to.

Exactly...and we find sometimes that if we plan a few things - other things slot into place more naturally - when we know what times are taken for certain things, some times the best time to do other things pops out and things fall into place. We do always leave plenty of free time - but it's nice to have a bit of structure, even if we know it can all change at the drop of a hat.

I'm actually getting a bit twitchy as right now we have nothing specifically planned for September...the last trip we arrived with literally nothing specific we came back feeling a bit like we didn't really do anything (other than lose money).

I keep hoping that Absinthe will be extended but losing hope a bit now...we've seen most of the shows we want to see and while we have talked about seeing O again, I'm not sure we're ready to commit.

And we read about this place via a LVRJ deal recently:

http://www.roosnmore.org/

So hoping that they will have an open date while we're there.

luci

May

Don't worry ferf, you have plenty of time to put a plan in place.

We didn't actually have anything planned for our last trip with just a couple of weeks to go as we thought we had pretty much done everything. However there were r.com certs to use, a Travelzoo meal deal, Wicked Spoon to try and before I knew it, the middle 8 nights were pencilled in.

Tuesday is usually the main shopping day with a Stripburger on the way home. However the following week we wandered out of the hotel with no plans for the rest of the day. As we were passing the bus stop, hubby remembered that we still had a valid bus ticket so we jumped on with no idea where we were going. As it was the SDX I asked him whether we were getting off at Paris or Wynn and he said, "Let's go back to the Premium Outlets". So we did. Managed to get a few more things including a 4 wheeled cabin size trolley case which wasn't even thought about.

DeeLasVegas

ferf1223 wrote: »

Exactly...and we find sometimes that if we plan a few things - other things slot into place more naturally - when we know what times are taken for certain things, some times the best time to do other things pops out and things fall into place. We do always leave plenty of free time - but it's nice to have a bit of structure, even if we know it can all change at the drop of a hat.

I'm actually getting a bit twitchy as right now we have nothing specifically planned for September...the last trip we arrived with literally nothing specific we came back feeling a bit like we didn't really do anything (other than lose money).

I keep hoping that Absinthe will be extended but losing hope a bit now...we've seen most of the shows we want to see and while we have talked about seeing O again, I'm not sure we're ready to commit.

And we read about this place via a LVRJ deal recently:

http://www.roosnmore.org/

So hoping that they will have an open date while we're there.

Not sure I'd go all the way out to Moapa for this. Do you have kids with you? Then a possibility I guess. But for adults not really (just my opinion). I wouldn't class this as a zoo much more ramshackle and in the middle of the desert than that. Plus side - you get to hold the animals. Takes about 50 or so minutes off I-15 N. Get good directions not the easiest place to find. Pricey for what it is.

Gollom

My digital camera has just given up the ghost. Is it worth waiting till I get to Vegas or are the days of much better pricing in Frys etc. long gone?

sarahlasvegas

August

xx_Jo_xx wrote: »

Wow - BF has just booked us a week to Vegas in August staying at the MGM Grand... Ive never been to Vegas before but he has... I came on here looking for some pointers on things to do and see and I am amazed and the amount of pre-planning you all do! Im feeling somewhat under-prepared now and feel I should draw up my battle plans immediately! :rotfl:

Thank for all the info - Its amazing (and slightly intimidating!) I shall need to allocate myself some quiet time and go through the thread later!

Thanks for the tip on taking an extension lead along....such a simple thing when you think about it but it never occured to me before!
xx

Out of the 20+ people that came to my wedding 2 years ago - the only 4 that didn't enjoy Vegas where the ones that didn't plan or rearch the place at all "nothing to do but gamble" and "everywhere was so expensive"...yeap if you eat and drink only in the Bellagio it is gonna be....

Have a good read of here, and trip advisor, and do a wee list of things you would like to see/do/places to eat etc that interest you. You don't have to follow it, but it gives you an idea. I printed a map of hotels my first time and just put a few bullets of things of interest by each hotel... Im coming up to my 3rd trip and have a list of about 20 things on it, for a 9 day trip - and am quite happy that ill probably only do 10 of them :rotfl:

BlueWorldOrder wrote: »

Not all of us! I've seen some posts where people have pre-planned their dinners for ever night of their holiday, a bit much for me IMO. It's good to plan but I also think it's good to get there, explore and just lose yourself in the place too and find little things for yourself.
Enjoy, it's a great place

Different strokes for different folks - but i plan dinners around the shows/pre booked things i have. So thats probably 2 out of 9 nights with fixed plans. If im seeing LOVE at the Mirage, it just kinda makes sense to me to revisit a favourite.

ferf1223

March

DeeLasVegas wrote: »

Not sure I'd go all the way out to Moapa for this. Do you have kids with you? Then a possibility I guess. But for adults not really (just my opinion). I wouldn't class this as a zoo much more ramshackle and in the middle of the desert than that. Plus side - you get to hold the animals. Takes about 50 or so minutes off I-15 N. Get good directions not the easiest place to find. Pricey for what it is.

Thanks - no kids (no thank you!) we just like animals and like the idea of getting to interact with them a bit more than normal - although I'm nervous about places like this - if they really are good places for the animals or not...sounds OK - with the owners being vets.

We've been to Mesquite (on the way to Zion) and so know the general way there, though I have read that you want to have directions with you as sat nav may not really help.

I didn't think that $20pp was much - not with what we throw away/spend gambling anyway...and it would get us out of the casino for a few hours.

Have you been?

ferf1223

March

sarahlasvegas wrote: »

Out of the 20+ people that came to my wedding 2 years ago - the only 4 that didn't enjoy Vegas where the ones that didn't plan or rearch the place at all "nothing to do but gamble" and "everywhere was so expensive"...yeap if you eat and drink only in the Bellagio it is gonna be....

Exactly - I have a few friends and family who fell into that category too...and when you ask if they did any research or planned anything - they didn't. There are some exceptions, but it's such an overwhelming place if you just land and say 'right, what do we do now?' you're not going to get very far.

DeeLasVegas

Yes been there on school trips. As I say it's OK as an educational tool for the little ones but for adults pretty pointless. I guess if your into that things it's OK. But personally it's not worth the $20 and gas to get there. That's just my opinion though. I'm sure you could find other things to get you out of the casinos that is much more enjoyable.

Wizbit82

July

stoneman wrote: »

Congrats on getting married Wizbit, what was the afternoon tea at the Manderian like, oh and how much was it?

I booked ahead via Opentable on my iphone so it was quite straight forward, just arrived and were given 2 couches in the window with a view of the Strip. The tea lounge itself is part of the 23rd floor 'skylobby' reception area and is not very big so I'd book if you want a view.

We all had their classic afternoon tea which was $40 per head and included tiny little round 'sandwiches' (I'd say a tad larger than a 50p piece) - you normally get a selection of 4 (ham, egg, smoked salmon and another one that I cant remember) but as we didnt like all flavours we could choose what we liked. You also got 2 small fresh scones each, with 2 different jams and 'devonshire cream' (this is not clotted cream :-() and finally a plate of 4 tiny pastries (carrot cake, raspberry tart, lemon drizzle and chocolate - literally half a mouthful each)

To put it this way - I went to In&Out Burger en route to Mandarin with OH and had a meal there (which at the time I thought I may regret) but it turns out I would have been really hungry had I not eaten prior to afternoon tea.

Service and surroundings are nice and it was good to go for a treat (my bridal shower) but would I go back?????? Being a bit of an afternoon tea geek I would probably say no as although it was good, it wasn't quite in the 'special enough for 2nd visit' bracket. They do get points for giving me a compimentary specail cupcake for the wedding (however I left it in the car in 103 degree heat so it had to be binned -looked nice though!!!)

Will let you know general comments about the wider Mandarin when we check in on 1st Aug - I have high hopes so fingers crossed

stoneman

October

Wizbit82 wrote: »

We all had their classic afternoon tea which was $40 per head and included tiny little round 'sandwiches' (I'd say a tad larger than a 50p piece) - you normally get a selection of 4 (ham, egg, smoked salmon and another one that I cant remember) but as we didnt like all flavours we could choose what we liked. You also got 2 small fresh scones each, with 2 different jams and 'devonshire cream' (this is not clotted cream :-() and finally a plate of 4 tiny pastries (carrot cake, raspberry tart, lemon drizzle and chocolate - literally half a mouthful each)

Not like the Ritz then:D
Think we will give it a miss at that price.