Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

ferf1223 · 20 May 2009 at 12:21PM

The Bellagio Fountains

BillTrac wrote: »

As we are off on Saturday armed with digi and dvd camcorder I will sign up to Flicker on our return(cant be doing with Facebook)

On a lesser note, does anyone have any idea of the procedure for parking at IP? I know its free, but do you check in then park, or park then check in?

Valet park (free, but tip on pick up) and then check in. You may find subsequently that self-park is more to your liking, but upon arrival with cases, etc...valet is really the way to go. Both valet and self-park are free for everyone (not just guests)...though at busy times valet may only accept guests...and on occasion we've seen some hotels (Harrah's comes to mind) monitoring self-park too.

Cand · 20 May 2009 at 12:28PM

The Bellagio Fountains

Loving the flicker page (just signed up) there is some fab pics on there well done Stew great idea!

ferf1223 · 20 May 2009 at 12:46PM

The Bellagio Fountains

BillTrac wrote: »

As we are off on Saturday armed with digi and dvd camcorder I will sign up to Flicker on our return(cant be doing with Facebook)

On a lesser note, does anyone have any idea of the procedure for parking at IP? I know its free, but do you check in then park, or park then check in?

Just in case it helps - here's a map of the IP property.

http://www.imperialpalace.com/images/non_image_assets/ILV_imperial_palace_property_map.pdf

You can see that dropping the car at valet will mean a very short walk to check in at the front desk...while self parking, will be a very loooong haul with the cases.

luci · 20 May 2009 at 12:55PM

The Bellagio Fountains

OK, OK I've signed up to Flickr. What a faffing about creating a new email address, that I didn't want or need, and then it wouldn't accept any of the user names I tried. :mad: My feeble brain can't remember any more log in details or email addresses so I'm bound to forget what I signed up with.

My Flickr user name is luci MSE in case I forget.

ferf1223 · 20 May 2009 at 1:11PM

The Bellagio Fountains

pretty user friendly so far, this Flickr...a bit annoying to have to upload to my account and then to the group (and then only 6 at a time) but not too bad...have put our Encore room photos there.

dushking · 20 May 2009 at 1:25PM

Hi guys,

First I would like to say that we are a huge loyal readers of this forum and this is our first big post here, yey! :rotfl:and also like to thank all of you for sharing your experiences and offers you have found, it has been of great help. :T So far we have been able to find great deals for our holiday to Vegas this July.

This is our second trip to Vegas from the UK, our first time was in December 2007 for only 3 days/4 nights over Christmas. We stayed at the MGM, and it filled all my expectations for my first time in Vegas. The hotel was huge, and there were a lot of things to do, the rooms were clean and big. I now know we didn't have a great view - it was facing Hooters and the airport- but I was still impressed, I also didn't know the $20 trick back then doh! However, the service was always good and the food halls + entertainment were amazing. Unfortunately as we went in December it was cold...very cold, so we didn't get to try out the pool area.

I kinda regret it now, as I know MGM has great pools, unfortunately I have no plans in repeating hotels (even now that MGM has that great offer with the buffet and extras included :doh:) I think if you can only afford Vegas a few nights every year or two, at least you have to pick a different hotel everytime!

- This time around we booked 6 nights at Mirage using the code 35VOLCANO for just $480 including taxes. Which i think is a great rate, having in mind i had a full weekend included.

We were really looking for something in the middle part of the strip, and after comparing prices with TI, Planet Hollywood and Monte Carlo...i think Mirage was the best option for a middle range tariff with a nice pool and good location. I would loved to stay at the Bellagio, Venitian, or Wynn but i think we need to save a little more for those hotels.

- We booked a one way flight from LAX to Vegas with Southwest Airlines for $59 each - I think is the cheapest airline in the US!

- We bought 2 tickets to KA at MGM for $146 dollars using one of the offers posted in this forum. We saved more than a $100 dollars on that one!...waiting to find good prices for O at the Bellagio is my new mission.

- Planning to buy Phanton of the Opera tixs with TravelZoo offers too :j

Last time we managed to get tickets for Copperfield via tix4tonight, (the magic tricks were quite good) but it was completely impossible to get tickets for any of the Cirque du Soleil (even in December!!). So this time i am going prepared and with tickets already in hand, possibly for two of their shows. Tix4tonight was great for many other shows and we were lucky as they were very close to the MGM. The Knight Tournament in Excalibur was cheap ($25 or so) and fun, be aware that the food is crap, just go for the show!

We ate at Treasure Island's buffet and was very good. MGM's not so much. This time we are planning to go for buffets at Bellagio, Planet, Wynn and of course at the Mirage.

Is incredible how much there is to do on the Strip, you think 3 or 4 days would be more than enough to tour one street up and down. But I was really struggling with time, i found out that you can spend a whole day easily in one hotel and not get bored. :eek:
There is so much going on everywhere that it can be overwhelming, so for first timers prepare to be chilled and not to try to do everything in one day, it can be very tiring...specially if you walk the distances can be deceiving, lol.

This time we booked 6 nights 5 days, and hopefully i can visit the hotels we didn't last time. I planned on taking a tour to the Grand Canyon, but i think this will have to wait till next time, as i think a longer stay in Vegas is needed, i don't want to feel rushed :whistle:. So next time i would at least book 10 days in Vegas and leave enough time for the grand canyon.

I think Vegas is such a great destination, and compared to Los Angeles (my regular combination) is so much cheaper and easy to get around. I love Los Angeles, but there is too much going on in that city, you can't relax, but in Vegas you can...and is sooo pretty at night.:dance:

Oh yeah... and we booked our flight 3 months ago with Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow to LAX at £360 return!! That is cheapest you can get for a summer tariff. :beer:

*Our full trip will include Los Angeles ( 7nights), San Francisco (1 day trip), Vegas (6 nights) and San Diego (5 nights - going for ComicCon International)

Alex and Jen

Cand · 20 May 2009 at 1:26PM

The Bellagio Fountains

luci wrote: »

OK, OK I've signed up to Flickr. What a faffing about creating a new email address, that I didn't want or need, and then it wouldn't accept any of the user names I tried. :mad: My feeble brain can't remember any more log in details or email addresses so I'm bound to forget what I signed up with.

My Flickr user name is luci MSE in case I forget.

Glad I wasnt the only one who found it a faff! It took me ages but defo worth it in the end.

I will try and add some pics at the weekend when I get a min.

Christa1 · 20 May 2009 at 3:41PM

Funkyfin: We are going the other way. LV to Yosemite and had planned just to hit the main route for around an 8 hr journey, the road via DV looked really like a local road and we thought would take much longer, can you let me know what yopu think from your journey?

ferf1223 · 20 May 2009 at 4:27PM

The Bellagio Fountains

Shame the dining credit is restricted to fine dining (at least it would be a shame for us!)

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=001&code=MKT254

Book by May 29.

Stay at the AAA 4-Diamond MGM Grand Las Vegas for $62-$72 per night. That's 20% off regular rates, and this deal includes more than $75 in extras (per stay):

$50 fine dining credit to experience a restaurant from one of the many celebrity chefs that call MGM Grand their home, including Tom Colicchio, Michael Mina and Joel Robuchon
$25 in free slot play
Two free passes to Studio 54 or Tabu, MGM Grand's nightclubs
25% OFF Grand Spa services, including massages and facials

This offer is available for the following dates:

$62 ... July 26-30
$72 ... June 29, 30; July 1, 12-15, 20; Aug. 9-13, 20
Other surrounding dates are slightly more

bounty99 · 20 May 2009 at 4:34PM

The Lion Habitat

day one-6th may

got off the plane and entered McCarran airport, we were giddy with excitement at finally arriving and seeing the sea of slot machines ahead of us! we walked fast and kept saying to each other 'Vegas baby Vegas'.
We got our luggage and went to catch the shuttle, first thing that hit us was the heat as soon as we stepped outside and boy was it a welcome pleasure! We bought the shuttle tickets and went to sit in the shuttle, waited for around 10 minutes and we were on our way. Arrived at Caesars and were once again giddy with excitement but now multiplied by 1000! We proceeded to the check-in desk area whilst our eyes darted to the left and to the right just wanting to soak up everything we saw, and it hit us - WE'RE IN LAS VEGAS! our first time here!
There were no lines at check-in so we proceeded to the next available desk, while Bal was going through the procedure of showing his ID and credit card i was pondering the idea of asking for a complimentary upgrade, shall i or shall i not? Having read on certain forums that the classic room was an utter disappointment i just had to bite the bullet and ask and who cares if she said no, thats the worst that could happen in this situation, so i asked the lady if there were any complimentary upgrades available and dammit i forgot to stick a $20 bill in my hand to show her i was willing to tip for the favour! Now what will our chances be at scoring an upgrade?! She said she'l have a look on the computer if anything was available and sure enough she spoke those beautiful words 'i have upgraded your room' result! We were in the Forum Tower in Room 5229, it was newly refurbished and we were so happy with it! The room was big, bright and airy, we had a walk-in shower, a tv in the bathroom mirror and the loo was separate. The view outside the window was of the car park, Rio was in the background as were the mountains. The bed was huge and big, i had to jump on it to get on it and it was so comfy! Only downside was there was no hairdryer, oh well who cares, we got an upgrade, whoo hoo!
We freshened up and went downstairs, first things first, we went to make our Total Reward cards, made them, and as an incentive they gave us 2 $20 off vouchers at Augustus Cafe or Cafe Lago.
We decided to play roulette first, i took out my crisp $10 bill put it on the table and in return i was given 10 $1 chips, i knew where i wanted these to go, on 9 Red, dealer spinned the wheel and whaddya know, i lost!
oh well, at least i had my first ever roulette experience! i went to stand by Bal who was still playing and this is when i first encountered a cocktail waitress, 'cocktails', i was quick to pipe up and ask for a colorado bulldog, yay! she came back in less than 5 mins, i tipped her $1 and had my first Vegas drink and boy was it strong!
After Bal was done with roulette we decided to play 3 card poker, i love this game, cos we play it here in london casinos and we had 3 aces in one hand and won quite a few pounds, so this game i love! i go in with $50 and i dont do so good, so i put in another $100 or so and i still dont do so good, to the point where iv used up my gambling allowance for the day! Bal's doing ok, just breaking even but we move away from the table down in monetary terms, we decide to go eat at cheesecake factory and we're loving the sky and statues, once in cheesecake, bal orders a chicken burger and i order a raspberry truffle cheesecake, both are delicious but so filling we were hardly able to finish off, i really regret it now, could do with eating something as yummy as that right now!
after cheesecake factory we decide to go Bellagio as its only next door so we're on our way, till we pass another 3 card poker table at Caesars and bal says to me 'lets play just one hand, come' im umming and aahing but what the hell, lets do it! so we sit down, and the cards arent in our favour at all, at this point i know this aint gonna be a hit and run, Bal gets a couple of pairs, nothing major, next round Bal decides to put quite a few chips on pair plus, picks the cards up one behind the other, we look at the first one and its a Queen, not bad, could do worse, i'm waiting to look at the next card til he decides to put them on play with $10 on top! 'but you havent looked at the other two cards!' i say...he's all cool,calm and collected and all i know is if dealer beats us thats all the money in his pocket to the casino! Dealer flips over her cards, iv forgotten if she qualifies or not...then she flips over our cards, one - by - one, boy the anticipation is killing me! ok so we knew the first one was a Queen, next card is also a Queen! Wow! ok so at least we made monies on pair plus, then we see the next card, its a QUEEN!!! We both shout out YES! and start laughing like psychos!!!! dealer congratulates us and pushes the $100 black chips towards us, $700 we made in that one hand! thats why i love this game! you just dont know what hands you're gonna be dealt! We make our way to the cashiers cage and Bal hands her the chips to cash up and she asks for my ID, but i mention that its Bal whose cashing them in not me but she says as i look under 21 she will need to see my ID! Not only do we win $700 but we also get compliments, i'm loving Vegas already!
so we make our way over to Bellagio and stop at the fountains, i couldnt really understand what the fuss was about before i saw them in person but now i do. The fountains were dancing to pink panther music and it just looked absolutely beautiful, im so envious of those ducks that swim around in there.
After the fountain show was over we went into the bellagio casino, made our players card and were given $10 free slot play as an incentive, we sat down at the first slot machine, followed the instructions on how to activate the free play and off we went with the button pressing, neither one of us understanding what this that or the other meant, even though bal was up by $10, funny thing what bal kept doing was everytime he was up he would cash out his voucher, play again, cash out voucher again, so funny to watch him do that and i was now down to $0 in my free slot play! boy i really hope my luck doesnt run like this all week! Bal cashed in the vouchers and we went to play more 3 card poker at bellagio, as soon as we sat down i got bad vibes and so did bal, no one was happy on the table, the guy sitting next to bal didnt get a single run of any good cards, the people sitting to my right looked glazed and robotic, it kinda looked like they were chasing the money. We decided to leave after a few rubbishy hands and unfortunately left Bellagio feeling kinda deflated...oh well...uh oh i looked at the time and it was 01.15am, we had to be awake for 5am as we were going on our Grand Canyon tour, so we went back to Caesars and straight to our room for our forty winks.

day 2 will follow shortly

Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

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