Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2017

Lilylou709 wrote: »

Hi, it's our first trip to Las Vegas and nothing like any holiday we have had before, normally all inclusive beach holidays...
Have booked a 2 trips to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.
Would like to go to a show or 2
I know everyone is different but what kind of spending money should I take?
I am travelling with my husband, daughter (17yr) and Mum (74yr) not big drinkers gamblers or fancy eaters, just haven't got a clue how much to take we are using Monzo and Soldo prepaid cards and taking Halifax clarity credit card, also will take some cash too.

Another concern is dress code what's expected/accepted, husband just wears knee length jean shorts (is that ok most places?)

Going in 2 weeks for 10days and starting to panic now 😣🙄

Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks in advance 🤗

One place we will be visiting on out trip is the Pinball Hall Of Fame. I went there four years ago and if you like Pinball it's the place to go . They have games from the 1950's to the current day.and a few classic video games from the 80`s
Free entry just bring some quaters.

Also there are some cheap eats near by Mcdonalds, In n Out Burger,Subway and Jack in a Box

Got back from our Holiday on Friday and starting to get back into UK times. Back to work today too I will try and get a little report together but we all had an amazing time and I needn't have worried about taking the children on the long flight

Ok so here is some sort of trip report, our dates were 21st July to 3rd August for myself, husband, son (6) and daughter (1)
I hope it's a little helpful for those thinking of taking children.


Flights -
We booked through Virgin Atlantic using our Air miles so we just had to pay the taxes. We didn't book our daughter her own seat as decided to share the journey with her on our laps or chair. The night before the flight we travelled down to Gatwick and stayed at Copthorne Effingham, it was around £80 for 1 night which included 2 weeks parking, a lot cheaper than other airport parking.
At the airport check in was easy until we had to wait and have our bags checked after going through the machines as I had left a Vaseline in a side pocket of my bag ooops. Flight left on time, air stewards were really helpful and as the aircraft wasn't full moved us to 2 empty rows of 3 so we could spread out a bit more and so our daughter could lay down sleep. I had previously phoned and booked a sky cot and kids meal for our daughter but neither had got through to the flight somehow. I gave on of the stewardesses the flight details for the way back so that we could have a kids meal home. Everything else went well on the way there, they even had our buggy waiting in the corridor for when we got off the plane. It was very quick going through passport control.
The flight back was a little different, flight attendants were not as happy or helpful. The plane was not full again with loads of empty seats so we moved ourselves once in the air and we could spread out again. I asked about the kids meal but what they had actually ordered was a baby meal of pureed food which my daughter hated and we ended up with normal meal for her again. The buggy at this end we had to wait until we got to baggage claim so if you have a toddler a baby carrier will be good


Downtown -
Our first 2 nights we stayed Downtown at Golden Gate, we used Uber from the Airport which was all good and driver helped us a lot. We booked an XL size as we had some big luggage.
We had booked a 2 Queen Room through Hotelopia for £130, cheapest hotel we could find for the dates, but they had only booked us a double room with the hotel. At the desk they could see what we had originally booked and could see we had kids so said they would upgrade the room and send up a rollaway bed. Not sure I would have said the room was an upgrade but then I haven't seen the basic rooms, rollaway bed came up though and the room was fine for 2 nights. We took a little blow up bed with us for our daughter.
During the day we walked along Fremont, went to the Container Park where the kids could run around the treehouse play area. We watched the Preying Mantis come to life at sunset. It got really busy in the evenings as there were quite a few different concerts / shows on and they closed some of Fremont street up to general public. We grabbed a pizza on the first night and Mcdonalds the next as it was quick and easy.


Vdara & Mirage -
We got an Uber again from Golden Gate to Vdara where we had a myvegas reward for 2 night comp room. Vdara is our favourite and usually our go to hotel in Vegas. We requested a high floor fountain view room, as we were early she said she would have a look and to come back later on but there were no high floors available. Once we got back our room was ready, although not really high it was a good place and had a partial fountain view which was good. Vdara was the only hotel to give us a cot for our daughter free of charge. We used the pool while we were there and had a massive breakfast in their caf!. We also had some cocktails in their Vice Versa Bar.
After our 2 nights we took another Uber to the Mirage for another Myvegas reward 1 night comp room. It was not as nice as the Vdara but good enough.


Road Trip -
I won't put too much detail as it is not all Vegas but we hired a car and drove to LA for 4 nights. We booked an Airbnb for £230 as it was a lot cheaper than hotels in the same area, we stayed in Garden Grove. Nice people and nice house. First day we went to Hollywood as our son wanted to see it for himself. We got a 2 day park hopper ticket for Disneyland for £540 online for the next couple of days, it was amazing!! Then we had a day trip to Laguna Beach.
On the drive back we stopped at Baker for the Aliens haha, Peggy Sue's and then the 7 Magic Mountains near Las Vegas which are there until next year. There is a miniature version in Aria I think it was.


Monte Carlo -
We booked through lastminute.com for 4 nights @ £150 which included 2 free buffet passes.
Check in was a bit slow. There are currently renovations going on and we got woken to banging around 6am a couple of mornings. We did complain but got told they were working 4 floors up so shouldn't be able to hear. Water drainage in bathroom was really slow too. I wouldn't book here at the moment if you like to sleep in but other than that it was ok. A lot of the casino floor has gone due to the renovations. We used the buffet passes and just had to pay for our son, I thought the buffet here was really good and loads better than Aria, I would recommend eating there. While the renovations are going on you can use either MGM Grand Pool or Mandalay Bay. We used MGM's pool which was really good and spent a morning in the lazy river. We took our own rubber rings in.
I had to go into Sambalatte too as I needed to try a rainbow latte ☺ we went in for brunch so had pastries too.

Car Hire -
We booked a SUV with Alamo through Virgin Holidays for 10 days @ £300.00. This included taxes, insurance, breakdown etc and just had to return it full. We picked it up from the airport, my husband did the kiosk thing and managed to get an executive upgrade SUV in the garage. A bit different to our usual car hire in Vegas as we normally get a mustang or camero etc but as there were 4 of us this time we had to go for roomy.


Food -
We had a Myvegas Reward each for the Aria Buffet. While we were there kids ate free so a good free meal for all of us. I think I was expecting a bit much as although the food was ok I left feeling a bit disappointed with it.
We went to Rainforest Caf!, I think this was better when it was in the MGM Grand but food was good.
We had quite a few quick easy meals as we had the children with us so also ate at Panda Express, In n Out burger, Pizza, Pinks etc
We did have a nice meal in the Beer Park, atmosphere was good and meals were big. My husband had a MyVegas Reward for a free pitcher of Beer when you buy the nachos. Nachos were good.


Gambling -
We didn't do much this trip but managed to take it in turns sometimes to slip off and put a few dollars in the machines I didn't win big but then I wasn't betting big. Best win was probably $203 from a $20 in.


Days Out -
Shark Reef - Myvegas reward for 2 entries
Flamingo Gardens
Obviously all the hotels along the Strip
My son enjoys watching Counts Customs and ATM Tanked with my husband so we had trips to them and he met a few of the cast.
We were going to take the kids to Springs Preserve but we were all ill that day some stomach bug
We looked in the Golden Knights Shop and OH ordered the Jersey which is out in September. It would be good to see a game if they are playing while there.
We shopped in Premium Outlets North (a favourite), Forum Shops, Miracle Mile etc. There's a nice bath treat shop called Nectar in MGM.
We went to town square where the kids could run around in the play area and in the water fountains which they loved.
We took a trip to the sign for a photo opportunity.
We also went to the Avengers Station at Treasure Island as my son loves his superheroes, we got a $5 off each person card from people giving them out on the strip. It was good to see but I do not think it is worth the admission fee they charge, it was not as big as I thought it would be.

I think that is about it.. We had a fabulous time and my son wants to be back there

50% off Geoupon today with code TODAY50..... flamingo brunch with bottomless mimosa s for 2 was $32 so @ $16 it's a steal..or dinner for 2 with h unlimited beer or wine was $44 so @$22... Food is okay certainly worth that ...pity it's only until Oct 1st....we don't go till Nov .

cheers kroberts, was just curious!


Hovis, code might be specific to u, I cant get that code to work in the 3 accounts I have, I just get the 20% off !