Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

Traincrashing

November / December

Thanks in particular to Ferf. I done a comparison table of Primm, South, North, and the San Diego outlet, of all the shops we would want to visit and was able to take out South because there was no shops which were only there that we wanted to visit. I also really like Hollister, Bath and Bodyworks and Betsey Johnson which are only in the North. The San Diego outlet is pretty good, but it doesnt have the juicy store, which is in both the LV ones.

mat5664

November / December

I get dragged down to the Primm outlet once a trip - it's an easy drive if you've got a rental car. I spend my time playing the machines in the casino, whilst the ladies do their shopping thing!

ferf1223

March

Traincrashing wrote: »

Sun 20th - Arrive 2pm, security, luggage, check in, see lion and dolphin enclosure, buffet dinner at The Mirage, Lion King at Mandalay Bay at 8(BOOKED), see Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay while there.

I know you have already booked the show - but I'm not sure if you will have that much time here - if everything runs to schedule and there's not much of a queue at the buffet then maybe but seems like it will be a lot of rushing around, really not sure that it is realistic to also include The Secret Garden unless you're just thinking a quick run around and go...but IMHO skip Shark Reef. It's on completely the opposite side of MB from the theatre, when we went we got of the tram stop and walked and it took forever - and if you have been to a decent aquarium before, Shark Reef is really not that interesting.

http://www.vegascasinoinfo.com/images/propmaps/mbmap.jpg

Do you have your Lion King tickets in hand? Or do you need to collect them at will-call?

adamg

August

I didnt like shark reef and would not go again cut it out if you are short of time

mat5664

November / December

stoneman wrote: »

Next is that because we are going on the BA flight to LAS on code share, the BA and AA systems do not match so we can not pre book or pay for exit seats, we have to wait till 24 hour check in and see what is left.

I think you may be able to pay for a seat. Put the AA booking reference into checkmytrip.com. That should give you access to the matching BA reference (as it's a BA operated flight) -you can then use that to book a seat if you want to.

stoneman

October

mat5664 wrote: »

I think you may be able to pay for a seat. Put the AA booking reference into checkmytrip.com. That should give you access to the matching BA reference (as it's a BA operated flight) -you can then use that to book a seat if you want to.

No that doesn't work. I put my AA locator number into the BA site and it shows my BA locator number for the same flight. But it does not allow me to purchase seats with it because it says I do not have an eticket. I have phoned both BA and AA and the consensus is the same, not allowed to pre book or prepay for seats on the BA leg until T-24

photome

August

Traincrashing wrote: »

Hey everyone. Thanks for letting me know that it's a bit much. We were only planning on going there for the Hollister outlet really. We're visiting the Premium outlet North on another day, and we're in San Diego for a week after and visiting the Las Americas Premium Outlet there, but the only one that had Hollister was the Primm outlet, and they also have a juicy couture store which I want to visit (I know the North one does too, but I definitely want to shop there and hope to get things from both!)

While I'm talking about all this actually, I think I'm going to post my itinerary. This is probably really ambitious but if yous can share your thoughts of how I could swap it about at all please let me know! Obviously the things which say booked can't be changed because they have set times.

Sun 20th - Arrive 2pm, security, luggage, check in, see lion and dolphin enclosure, buffet dinner at The Mirage, Lion King at Mandalay Bay at 8(BOOKED), see Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay while there.
Mon 21st - Grand Canyon tour @ 6am (BOOKED), arrive back approx 12pm, visit Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas mall, stripburger for dinner *voucher*
Tues 22nd - Breakfast at Hash House a Go Go *voucher*, general tour of the strip, The Venetian for outdoor ice skating and light show, game works for dinner *voucher*
Wed 23rd - Visit Las Vegas Premium Outlet North , travel to airport at 5pm, flight to San Diego at 7.20pm

As Ferf says skip shark reef, I would prob skip lions and dolphins as well, are you arriving by air from the Uk,(cant remember if you are going somewhere else first) if so you are unlikely to arrive at the hotel much before 4pm and you will be tired, assume you would want to freshen up before heading out for the evening in which case 3 hours left at most to see lions, go to buffet and get to MB for show, just isnt enough time, and of course you then have an early start the next day.

Dont forget everytning takes much longer to do in Vegas than most places, as the distances are further than you think, even from your room to the buffet in the same hotel can take 30 minutes plus, before you are seated.

IMO you are trying to squeeze to much in to to little time, relax and enjoy the sights and vibe af Vegas dont forget you need some time in the Casinos (I assume)

ferf1223

March

photome wrote: »

A
IMO you are trying to squeeze to much in to to little time, relax and enjoy the sights and vibe af Vegas dont forget you need some time in the Casinos (I assume)

I agree, though I suppose some aren't interested in the casinos - they can be a major time suck...but even looking around the various properties can take a few days, I think? It's a short time in Vegas, most of which seems to be planned to do things that aren't particularly Vegas-y. It's all relative to what people like to do on their holidays and if it makes someone happy then great...I'm just not sure about devoting that much time to shopping either...since there are outlets elsewhere in the trip especially...but I know some really enjoy shopping so maybe as someone who really doesn't it's not fair for me to comment.

Plans go out the window for most once they arrive - there's just so much to see and do it's easy to get distracted, it just seems that there's really only one day dedicated to exploring Vegas...and as many of us know from multiple trips, that's not a lot of time...not enough time to really explore the strip properly...though maybe enough to pop into the main properties for a quick look around then move on - which for some may be enough. I guess maybe as a taster trip it would give a general idea of the place, but I don't think that that short of a trip with that much time designated for other stuff will really do Vegas justice.

But that's just me and my Vegas-aholic self rambling. I would just manage expectations and either expect to feel a bit rushed around to fit things in, or to end up dropping some things from the itinerary when other things present themselves.

Traincrashing

November / December

Haha, yous make me laugh I'm starting to feel like I've already been because I read this forum everyday and have done for the past 6 months or so. We weren't planning on going to Vegas when we booked our trip. It just kind of happened and got squeezed in. I'm pretty sure if we like what we see that we'll be back.
Yes, we're going to LA first on the 16th, then doing vegas from the 20th-23rd, then San Diego until the 1st Dec, just in time for Thanksgiving with my uncle.
Shopping is a biggg part of the trip, I haven't let myself buy much the past few months so I'd have more to spend whilst I'm over there. My boyfriend definitely wants to see the secret garden in the mirage (he made us stay there for that reason, even though we could go visit it anyway, but I liked the look of the hotel so I didnt argue), but I suppose we could cut out shark reef if we didn't have the time. I had a problem during a booking because we took advantage of the free show tickets offer, and I was emailing someone in the hotel about it and she said that the tickets would be held for me until 7pm since we didn't arrive that early. We just wanted to go to a buffet for dinner, I don't really mind where, would there be somewhere else which would suit us better to go to before the show?
We definitely want to visit the casinos, but that isn't our main reason for visiting so we won't be dedicating too much time to them which is why I haven't included it in the schedule at all. This one isn't set in stone because I know it could all change. With our LA one I had to make sure everything was given a time since we booked two all day things so whilst sorting that out I thought I might as well do the rest of our trip too.
What do yous think about the outlets? I was thinking we could swap the 21st and 22nd round in terms of that? Such as doing the GC tour, then just exploring that day, and doing the Primm outlet on the 22nd so we had more time? And does visiting the North outlet sound okay for doing the day we leave? Sorry if this whole post sounded too much like rambling on!

zackary71

Saw Absinthe last night....absolutely amazing. Won't spoil it but it's the best show I've seen in 5 trips to Vegas. If you're easily offended in any way shape or form, I'd stick to Cirque !!