Going to Vegas for the 1st time ever

[Gunslinger08]

I'm leaving for Vegas Friday. Wife will be with me until Monday morning, then I'm on my own until Thursday. Staying at Mandalay Bay.

What do you guys recommend that my wife and I do together on Saturday and Sunday? A couple of ideas I had: lunch at the top of the Stratosphere, O (is this casual? I want to wear shorts all week), Zombie Precinct (haunted house type thing at New York-New York), gambling.

 

[Jadow]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
I'm leaving for Vegas Friday. Wife will be with me until Monday morning, then I'm on my own until Thursday. Staying at Mandalay Bay.

What do you guys recommend that my wife and I do together on Saturday and Sunday? A couple of ideas I had: lunch at the top of the Stratosphere, O (is this casual? I want to wear shorts all week), Zombie Precinct (haunted house type thing at New York-New York), gambling.

The Stratosphere is on the butt end of the strip, about as far from the mandalay bay as you can imagine, not worth going down there.

On the strip I like the area from MGM down to Ballys, then cross the street to caesers and work back up to NYNY, that's the best part.

You could catch a show, Penn and Teller at the Rio are OK, I only saw Cirque de Solei KA, and KA wasn't that great. Awesome theater though.

The Miracle Mile mall that wraps around Planet Hollywood is pretty cool too.

Read my prior post from about an hour ago for some other ideas.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Any recommendations for casual dining? I hate dressing up, especially for a meal.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Any recommendations for casual dining? I hate dressing up, especially for a meal.

Pretty much no one in Vegas cares what you dress like unless you are going to the club.

 

[Jadow]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Any recommendations for casual dining? I hate dressing up, especially for a meal.

You don't have to dress up most places, MGM has a lot of restaurants. There will be food everywhere, and most of it good. My favorite place is the seafood buffet at the Rio, allthough there's some top line places like Craft Steak (Tom Colicho from Top Chef's place), and big name restaurants from just about every celeb chef you can imagine. Not really casual though.

For casual, there's food courts and good food everywhere. There's a pizza place at NYNY that I like.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: Jadow
On the strip I like the area from MGM down to Ballys, then cross the street to caesers and work back up to NYNY, that's the best part.

MGM is directly across the street from NYNY... Or did you mean walk up the street on the East side and down the street on the West side? Cause that's definitely fun.

But I will say this: when I was there a month ago, the sidewalk was shut down for construction between Bellagio and Monte Carlo, so you can't walk all the way down to NYNY without crossing back over. Don't know if that's still the case, but I imagine it is.

 

[Jadow]

yeah I like to make a big Circle, MGM down to Ballys, cross over to Caesers then work back up to NYNY which is across the screen from MGM and connected via skywalk over the road.

If there's construction, just go back to the other side.

My favorite section of the strip is MGM to Planet Hollywood

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: queenrobot
Okay, besides hookers and blow? Anyone have any other suggestions? I am staying at the Stratosphere, and driving my own car there.

Thats a lot of gamble right there :Q

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Jadow

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: Wreckem
There is no reason to take a cab from one place on the strip to another.

The Duece has $5 all day bus passes.

You know why they call it The Deuce? Because it's shit. I got one of those passes, sat in traffic for 30 minutes to go half a mile, said "fuck it," got out, walked, and made it from The Bellagio to TI in less time than it took the bus to make the trip. If you're going to drive, use side streets to avoid the Strip; the traffic is like getting fucked to death by a horse.

Agree the Duece sucks a55. Takes like 20 minutes to 50 feet beacuse of all the people. Just pay the dough.

if its cool enough you are better off walking, thats how slow the bus is. several of the casinos have walkways between them from luxor to mgm. then if you take the monorail which does cost a bit more than the deuce, its WAY faster. what takes 30 minutes for the bus takes like 4-5 in the monorail. and between some casinos theres a private tram free

 

[prism]

Fat Tuesday's in Caesar's Palace for High Octanes (Everclear mixed with OJ in a big plastic sports bottle), O'Shea's for beer pong (if you're into it), and I have no idea why no one has mentioned the club Pure in Caesar's Palace; I thought it was excellent.

 

[GoatMonkey]

Have a cocktail at the Shadow bar in Caesar's. And of course, walk through their mall with the changing sky. It's a classic place to take a shot on the craps tables too.

Take the long walk through all of the hotels on the strip to see what there is to see. There are various attractions at each hotel. Pirate show at Treasure Island of course. Animals at some hotels, the man eating tigers and that kind of thing.

The Flamingo is an older hotel, it has penguins, flamingos, etc., and an awesome pool. Most people would skip it as it's not as obvious so I thought I would point it out.

Catch a show if you're going to be there long enough. I'd do one of the old crooner acts before those guys all die, it's a Vegas classic. Cirque shows are always a winner. Or see some classic Vegas showgirls.

Check out the Palm's with the glass pools hanging off the side of the building used in The Girls Next Door, and the glass window in upper level bar's floor.

You have to walk through the Luxor. That's the pyramid. It's just cool architecture and a bunch of cool Egyptian style stuff inside.

Yeah, O'Shea's is a good cheap place to gamble if you want lower minimum bet tables. You can grind out $50 for hours on the $3 or $5 blackjack tables and try to drink your money's worth.

There's really too much to list. I could go on.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Jadow

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: Wreckem
There is no reason to take a cab from one place on the strip to another.

The Duece has $5 all day bus passes.

You know why they call it The Deuce? Because it's shit. I got one of those passes, sat in traffic for 30 minutes to go half a mile, said "fuck it," got out, walked, and made it from The Bellagio to TI in less time than it took the bus to make the trip. If you're going to drive, use side streets to avoid the Strip; the traffic is like getting fucked to death by a horse.

Agree the Duece sucks a55. Takes like 20 minutes to 50 feet beacuse of all the people. Just pay the dough.

if its cool enough you are better off walking, thats how slow the bus is. several of the casinos have walkways between them from luxor to mgm. then if you take the monorail which does cost a bit more than the deuce, its WAY faster. what takes 30 minutes for the bus takes like 4-5 in the monorail. and between some casinos theres a private tram free

Ive never spent 30 minutes on the bus. 15 max. Then again, I only go to Vegas during its slow weeks.

 

[edro]

I also really enjoyed the Piano Bar in New York New York.
You have to get there early to get in, but it is well worth it.

The pianists are top notch performers.
As the night went on, one pianist whipped out an electric guitar and plays it for most of the songs.
It was badass.

 

[Drakkon]

I like seeing the animals - Lions at MGM, sharks at Mandalay bay, flamingos at...the flamingo, dolphins and tigers at the mirage, butterflies at the bellagio, and the freaky animatronics at Ceasars

If your looking for some cheap frills at each casino sign up for their club card....you'll get a collection of coupons for that casino and their sister properties. Usually end up with a discounted meal, some $ in free slot play, and a discounted show or two.

If you are here this month and like haunted houses check out circus ciircus - the adventuredome is one giant haunted house - while its $40 for entry its a pretty intense but elaborate production.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Wreckem

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Jadow

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: Wreckem
There is no reason to take a cab from one place on the strip to another.

The Duece has $5 all day bus passes.

You know why they call it The Deuce? Because it's shit. I got one of those passes, sat in traffic for 30 minutes to go half a mile, said "fuck it," got out, walked, and made it from The Bellagio to TI in less time than it took the bus to make the trip. If you're going to drive, use side streets to avoid the Strip; the traffic is like getting fucked to death by a horse.

Agree the Duece sucks a55. Takes like 20 minutes to 50 feet beacuse of all the people. Just pay the dough.

if its cool enough you are better off walking, thats how slow the bus is. several of the casinos have walkways between them from luxor to mgm. then if you take the monorail which does cost a bit more than the deuce, its WAY faster. what takes 30 minutes for the bus takes like 4-5 in the monorail. and between some casinos theres a private tram free

Ive never spent 30 minutes on the bus. 15 max. Then again, I only go to Vegas during its slow weeks.

oh on busy nights, it crawls... its so slow its not even funny, and waiting for buses suck, basically unless ur lucky u coulda walked to many casinos by the time you actually get on the damn thing. its every 15 minutes or so but still, you are adding the slow traffic crawl to that time and it starts to get ridiculous. right now its probably getting cooler so walking between casinos is pretty easy.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Wreckem

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Jadow

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: Wreckem
There is no reason to take a cab from one place on the strip to another.

The Duece has $5 all day bus passes.

You know why they call it The Deuce? Because it's shit. I got one of those passes, sat in traffic for 30 minutes to go half a mile, said "fuck it," got out, walked, and made it from The Bellagio to TI in less time than it took the bus to make the trip. If you're going to drive, use side streets to avoid the Strip; the traffic is like getting fucked to death by a horse.

Agree the Duece sucks a55. Takes like 20 minutes to 50 feet beacuse of all the people. Just pay the dough.

if its cool enough you are better off walking, thats how slow the bus is. several of the casinos have walkways between them from luxor to mgm. then if you take the monorail which does cost a bit more than the deuce, its WAY faster. what takes 30 minutes for the bus takes like 4-5 in the monorail. and between some casinos theres a private tram free

Ive never spent 30 minutes on the bus. 15 max. Then again, I only go to Vegas during its slow weeks.

oh on busy nights, it crawls... its so slow its not even funny, and waiting for buses suck, basically unless ur lucky u coulda walked to many casinos by the time you actually get on the damn thing. its every 15 minutes or so but still, you are adding the slow traffic crawl to that time and it starts to get ridiculous. right now its probably getting cooler so walking between casinos is pretty easy.

On the flip side, it's not a bad idea to hitch a ride on the deuce around the Stratosphere if you're headed to Fremont Street. You're at the end of the strip already, so there aren't many more stops to make at that point.

 

[Minjin]

The rides on top of Stratosphere are a must. At night, they were incredible. One of the best things I've ever done. I don't know if they would be better during day or night.

Definitely go see a Cirque du Soleil show if you can get a good deal on tickets. Again, one of the best things I've ever seen (I saw Ka).

Everything else has been mentioned or emphasized enough.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

The Beatles Love show....must see it if you are a fan.

 

[OCGuy]

A line of blow off of the clown statue at Circus Circus.

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: edro
I also really enjoyed the Piano Bar in New York New York.
You have to get there early to get in, but it is well worth it.

The pianists are top notch performers.
As the night went on, one pianist whipped out an electric guitar and plays it for most of the songs.
It was badass.

Agreed. That piano bar at NY NY was freakin awesome. We went there early for a friends bday celebration and ended up staying there the whole night! They really know how to keep the crowd into it.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: cheezy321

Originally posted by: edro
I also really enjoyed the Piano Bar in New York New York.
You have to get there early to get in, but it is well worth it.

The pianists are top notch performers.
As the night went on, one pianist whipped out an electric guitar and plays it for most of the songs.
It was badass.

Agreed. That piano bar at NY NY was freakin awesome. We went there early for a friends bday celebration and ended up staying there the whole night! They really know how to keep the crowd into it.

Same here, I went when I was there 2 weekends ago for a bachelor's party. The groom loves piano bars so we had reservations and got there early. Had the best table in the house (well, one that could seat 12) and had a great time all night. Some creepy lady even left and then came back with a blinking bow tie for him. Old and ugly, she was, unfortunately.

 

[CRXican]

it's called Bar at Time Square - BATS

 

[queenrobot]

Originally posted by: OCguy
A line of blow off of the clown statue at Circus Circus.

I am afraid of clowns. Otherwise, I probably would have stayed at the Circus Circus

 

[rockyct]

Originally posted by: edro
My favorite part was the Hoover Dam.

I really enjoyed that trip as well but I'm a nerd. The souvenir of a piece of the original transmission line is also pretty cool.