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When: Friday, May 16 thru Sunday, May 18, 2003!!!!!
Where: Las Vegas, NV in the USA.
Possible RT Party Plans/Itinerary:
Sat., Oct. 19, 2002:
1st report from ~opal*essence~:
(Click for link of virtual tour and pics):
The Stratosphere!!!
I went there last week with Thief and my two wee ones. This is said to be the highest building west of the Mississippi and the needle is over 1,000 feet in the air. The Stratosphere is a bit away from the main new area of the strip.
We had to go thru the casino area to find the buffet and it was $15 per person. A bit expensive but it was mostly a seafood buffet. So for those of you who enjoy crab legs, there was a huge table of nothing but crab legs!!! TONS!! ALL YOU CAN EAT! They kept piling them on over there. Plus they had those steamers, they called them pot stickers or something? LOL But i figured they were steamers. I had the salmon which was fantastic!! Had all sorts of other things too, baked chicken, mexican (shredded beef YUM) and tons of desserts. One thing I learned, don't get any cakes from the dessert section of buffets for the cake is dry from sitting out so long.
From there, we walked around the shops inside which were really great!! There were alot of great deals in those stores you have to go past to get to the rides: leather shop, mink blankets, trinkets, souvenirs, ice cream...etc etc, it was nearly like a mini-mall. Some of the merchants were nearly wanting to GIVE that stuff away! Slashing prices by half in some cases, which told me of the markups and that they were not getting many people in there and aching to move their stock.
While we waited for the elevator to take us up, there was a mechanical bull ride that we got to watch a bunch of guys get bucked off, as well as an arcade that was all around us.
You have to pay to go to the tower lookout area and if you want to go on rides the lookout area price is required too as it is on the way. It was $13.00 for the tower look out and the Big Shot ride combo per person.
The Big Shot is the ride that slings you up the top of the needle at 45 mph, STRAIGHT UP! Your stomach is in your heart, heart in your throat and vice a versa. Then you are dropped down and then brought not as fast back up and dropped again and each time progressively less high and not as fast. My daughter (who is 9) just made the limit by a few inches of having to be at least 48" tall to go on this ride. It seats 4 on each side of the square and you are in there pretty tight. We went at night, so the view with all the lights was spectacular!! It was an awesome ride!! They take your pic at the first shot up and you can purchase them if you wish. Also can go back up for $3. The guys' legs were wobbly after getting off but my daughter and I were good to go and she was so excited she wanted to do it again! LOL There is a pass for $20 or so to go on both rides (Big Shot and rollercoaster) all day long. The rollercoaster looked like it went a bit slow, as it winds around the outside of the top of the needle.
The tower was really nice at the lookout. The restaurant at the top I was told is very expensive and most likely have to have reservations for. Please do check out the link for some awesome pics and the virtual tour. The ride was definitely worth it!!! Next stop is: Circus Circus!!
Fri., Jan. 31, 2003:
Report from ~opal*essence~:
Circus Circus!! A few months ago, my family and I ventured off to the big red dome tent!! AND WOW what we found!! It seems like it is geared more to the kids and young at heart but wow it was alot of fun for the child still resides in all of us!!! We hit the buffet first which was one of the better priced so I am told and the food was pretty good!!
There is a huge central area where the rides and all the fun stuff to do is in there!! From Putt-putt/Miniture Golf to rollercoaster and one of those 3D theaters where your seats move around as if you are really there!! Plus arcades and some really cool vendors and it was just a really neat fun place!!
My family and i went on the log flume type ride and WOW that was wild!!! They of course take your pic as you go down the large hill right before or as you are hitting that water!!! Normally, i don't purchase these pics on the rides they offer, but this one, i just couldn't resist!!!! hehehehee, of course us 4 sat right up front to get the maximum thrill.....My daughter, me, Thief and my son
Now my son wears glasses, he has those bendable wire frames, real small, and they actually stayed on til right after the huge last splash, and he reached up to wipe his eyes and the lens of water, and then.....{{{{SPLASH}}}} there went his glasses right into the water!! DOH! We couldn't get them out as they were under 5 feet of water, but the maintenance man saw them wedged under a track sooo they had us come back in the morning as they would lower the water level after midnight sometime to 2 feet of water and could get them. Now my son always wore these glasses crooked, drove me nutz, he liked them that way....(15 year olds, whatcha gonna do?) sooooo you would think most likely his glasses would be scratched or bent to a pretzel???? NOPE!! THEY GOT STRAIGHTENED!!! ahahaha.....
So anyway, it was a great time and we still have a couple free tickets for the rides we didn't get to use cause they were all chicken and wouldn't go on the huge rollercoaster inside the dome with me *grins* So i am saving them to take another with me *winks back to Him*
Ok, now today, I had an appt for hotel room tour and was given a proposal. After looking again on the map and then going down there again, I am not leaning towards staying here but I wanted to take a peek and let you all know what I saw. If you click on the link at the top of this post for CircusCircus, you can take the tour and see how nice it is *S*
They quoted me two prices for their rooms. The older building at $74 or the newer in the tower with all the restuarants and fun stuff to do at $84. Not too bad, that's per night and on a weekend on the strip is hard to come by as the prices are always jacked on the weekend. Plus when you check in, they give you all these lil coupon books and auch, save a 100 bucks throughout the casino *S*
Well that concludes my report for CircusCircus and next up, i'll make the list of all the hotels i've contacted and the prices they list as well as the hotel i am gonna recommend we stay at and most likely the one i am gonna want to stay at!! *winks to Fan* hehehee
Thurs., Mar. 13, 2003:
Report from ~opal*essence~:
yyyeeouch!! i just got back from the strip. Took the tram from TI to the Mirage. I had the buffet at the Mirage, 16.03 after tax for just me, yikes! food was good but not alot to choose from entree wise
Thief believes the days/nights of the big buffets for a good price are lonnnnng gone. *lol*
then i thought hmmm let's see how far a walk it is to the Coyote Ugly bar at NYNY....yeeeouch...long walk course i had on my cowboy boots, low heels, but still, it's a long walk...so i would recommend we get cabs outside the Mirage if we do end up going from there to NYNY. They do hail them there at the Mirage and there are a ton of them right there too, so that's cool.
I may change things around a lil so we are not walking too much, but will explore some more and see what happens. *S*
The Mirage has a volcano outside that erupts every 15 or so minutes and oh that was really neat to see!!! A water fountain with lights and fire and it looks like boiling lava, it was really neat...!!
Walked past Caesars Palace and they are still doing some construction outside it but as I got down to the Bellagio and the water show out front, which also goes off every 15 minutes or so, that was just beautiful!! There are speakers piped outside along the walkway and lighted trees and it is just gorgeous, playing Sinatra and some really great music, gave you such a romantic feel!!! I got to see them do the water show to the song, "Hey Big Spender!!...speeeeeeeeeennnndd a lil time with me....!" It was really neat and I could not help but tap my foot and wiggle and dance right there! The water canons and how they do the fountain sprays was just awesome!!! It nearly reminded me of walking along the Seine when I was in Paris, the Eiffel Tower replica was behind me all lit up from the Paris Casino, it was just a really beautiful spot!!
Walked further on and found out there is a tram from the Bellagio to the Monte Carlo, but by the time i found that on my way back, I could have walked along the sidewalk and made it there! LOL They make you wander all the way thru the Monte Carlo Casino to get to the tram for the Bellagio....
I did finally make it to the NYNY casino and it is cool looking on the inside as it looks like a mini NY neighborhood! real neat...The lil bistros and cafes were really cool, just like in NY too *G*
I walked along the 'streets' and found the Coyote Ugly bar, went in and there were not many people there, as it is only Wed night and it was still early too...it looks like anyone can go up on top of the bar and sing and dance hehehehe *grins as i think of some of us going up there and doing that *lol*
Will check out some more places later on and walk along the other side of the strip...was following some Irish lads tho' thru the crowd...MMM MMMM MMMMM!!! *swoons over that accent* Soooo make sure you bring some good walkin shoes or catch the cabs!!
Will report more as I explore!! *hugs and smooches*
Thurs., Apr. 3, 2003:
Report from ~opal*essence~:
Oooo weee!!! I just came back from the Air Force Base here. For those of you who may not know, one of the benefits of the military is that they offer great deals for when we travel or want to go have some fun at resorts and hotels, shows...etc., etc.
Thief found out that Disneyland is just a 4 hour drive from here and we are going to take our two children over there as a surprise pretty soon. I went on line to look to see if we could get some discount tickets and remembered the military offers alot of great info on the surrounding areas of each base that you may get an assignment to. Soooo I just went over there this morning to check it out.
WOW! Talk about jackpot!! So many magazines and brochures for not only Disneyland but also for all kinds of shows, buffets, rides and things to do here in Las Vegas!! Everyone, please bookmark this site: I Love Vegas. This is the one big thick magazine I picked up and oh WOW the info that is in here! A great map, hotel prices for those of you who have not booked yet, sweepstakes, Tipping Tips (As Vegas is a huge Tipping City) and all sorts of info! Including for those of you who would like a shuttle from the airport to your hotel, there is a listing of places to call for just $4 per person!!! There are coupons, and an excellent restaurant guide that will even tell you the average prices. Just an outstanding magazine!!
There is also some good suggestions on what to wear, what the average temp will be in May and a place to go to and get discount tickets for those shows you may be interested in!!
If anyone wishes to have one of these before the party, there is a place where you can order a single copy and have it sent out to you now!!! Please check the site for ordering! *hugs and smooches*
Note from Cinnaminn:
You can try this URL to find out the right link to click for ordering a single copy of the "What's On" magazine if you want:
http://www.ilovevegas.com/headerNF2.tpl?whichPage=conventions/convention.tpl&whichMenu=None
Or you can call 1-800-494-2876 to order one.
Sun., Apr. 6, 2003:
Report from ~opal*essence~:
Last night, I went out to check out Coyote Ugly at NYNY Casino. On the way, I stopped at Palace Station Casino to grab something to eat. I didn't get far into the casino before I saw Jack's Irish Pub (be sure to click for a wee lil ditty on Jack's Irish Pub hehehee) and stepped in to see how it was. Noisy, nice bar tho' and then i saw towards the back, that there was a stage and a band was set up to play in just 20 minutes. The Wild Celts!!!! I had seen these guys play at a festival once and remembered the lead singer esp as he wears a kilt and he is from Ireland and he has an awesome voice!!!
So I stayed a wee while and had a peppered turkey sandwich that was HUGE and some ginger ale which they make right there in the Pub!! YUM! After the first set, I could hear some limericks whirling in my head so i wrote them down and I went up to give them to the Wild Celts but they were about to do the 2nd set so I waited til afterwards and then went over and read them to the lead singer (drools) heehhehee....he loved them and thought I had a great pen (way with words)! Thanked me as i gave him a copy and he said he would put them up on their website!!! COOL!!!
These are the limericks I wrote:
The Wild Celts
Down to Jack's Irish Pub
Grabbing a bite of a Sub
On came a band
From the enchanted land
Twas the Wild Celts to rock this club!
How I yearn for the Emerald Isle
Wandering o'er the lush hills a while
For a lad to kiss
Would be sheer bliss
I'd walk many a distant mile.
As the ancient flutes play
The fiddle sings come what may
I'd roam along
In my heart a song
And sleep 'neath the fairy mound all day.
So come handsome Irish Man
Put down your Black and Tan
Whirl me in your arms
Delight me with your charms
And we'll love all night to the pipes of Pan!
by: ~opal*essence~
04/05/03
I had a great time and was there til about 11:30 and then I drove on down to the NYNY Casino to peek at Coyote Ugly. It was packed, I got there around 12:30 and there was a line to get in. I went over to the one GORGEOUS HUNKY bouncer and asked him how Friday nights are and he said not too bad, it doesn't get packed til 11pm.
If you click on the link I left, it will tell about this bar and that yes, women are encouraged to get up on top of the bar and dance with the bartenders!!! *EG* AND! you can leave your bra on the line in the back...(i saw all the bras from my last visit here).
I'm gonna go back to Jack's Irish Pub and get a copy of the Wild Celt's cd and ask them all to sign it!!! *G* Have to tell them they should get a T-shirt too if they don't have them!!
40 more days til Party Time!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mon., Apr. 14, 2003:
Report from ~opal*essence~:
Well, I walked the strip yesterday, and OUCH!! I had walked some of it the day before and in my flats, (not a good idea). Yesterday, I did so in my sneakers and still ouch! Walked from Treasure Island all the way down to Excalibur and then back, stopping here or there along the way as I was checking out restaurants/cafes to plan for us to eat at. I must say there are alot of really nice restaurants here, a bit expensive and I'll try to stay away from those that are expensive, but oohhhh they do have some gorgeous ones! Esp the Italian ones....beautiful!
I believe I just about have the places picked out now, just have to make a few phone calls and see about a possible back room for us on Friday night for dinner. I hesitated to plan lunch at all on Saturday cause I know how we will all be exploring and there is soooooooo much to see and do on the strip!! So please know that tho' I'll have a place, if you don't make it, no worries, I won't make any reservations for then.
Ok now as i explored the strip yesterday, I'll go one by one at some of what I did see. *S*
Went from Treasure Island on the tram to the Mirage and I noticed in the Mirage, they are working on the inside rainforest bar and cafe area now. I hope this is finished before you all make it here next month! This is a nice lil quiet spot I really like.
We walked on across the street to Harrahs and down to the Flamingo, I saw where the Second City Comedy Club is at, where I may be getting a deal for all of us to go to on Saturday night. Still waiting to hear from the one guy there. We also went out to their courtyard, near the Flamingo Room (another place to eat at which was pretty nice), to see the real flamingos and the african penguins! Not to mention the huge koi, I believe they are, and swans and ducks. Kids loved it! Waterfalls and streams and the penguins were soooo cute as they jumped down into the water and swam right by us!!! I'll have pics of them later on today. We also went to peek at the famous pool that if I remember correctly, Elvis' ghost hangs out at times. We did see Elvis too, *grins* Just outside the Flamingo getting pics taken with people passing by as he tried to entice them into some free slot play at the Flamingo. *EG*
From here we went up to the Bellagio to try to catch the water show but just missed it. It comes on every hour during the day. So we walked on down to Monte Carlo and I peeked in there to check out this one cafe that I may be able to get us a back room for. Hopefully will find out later on today. Monte Carlo has some nice statues!!!
From here we went on further down to NYNY and I popped in there and couldn't find the restaurant I was looking for, but they sure do have alot of places to eat at and if the Monte Carlo falls thru, may just go here to eat on Friday night perhaps at Gonzales y Gonzales or there are a ton of other places in there to choose from as it is set up like streets in NYC. There is a great looking roller coaster here too that takes you all thru the casino as well as outside!! It's callin to me *EG* So I know I'll be riding that one soon!
There is also a wonderful monument outside the Statue of Liberty for 9/11 complete with several T-shirts signed by different people who were there when that happened. I even saw a T-shirt that said Condolences from Scotland. They have a good pretzel place and oooo we had some great ice cream here too!
From here, we walked around and went to Excalibur!! Oh this is where I was in heaven! All the medieval things and themes were just great! But wow what a HUGE Casino that is! I know for myself, I will have to go to the Dinner Theater with the Jousting Knights and all that!! *Grins* They have a nice lil food court type of place where there is lots to choose from and I was thinking perhaps a nice lil Sunday late brunch here? But man they looked like they had a much better ice cream shops including these waffle cone cups whose tops were dipped in chocolate and then dipped into nearly every kind of sprinkle and candy bar crumbs you could think of!! YUMMM!
They have all kinds of nice lil shops in this casino and my daughter has her eye on this pink princess dress now. Expensive but she fell in love with it on sight.
From Excalibur, we could have taken a tram to the Luxor or Mandalay Bay but we are leaving those to explore a lil more another time so we hot footed (and i mean that literally as our feet were burning from the walking) across the street to the MGM Grand Casino. This was pretty nice, we didn't get to explore it a whole lot as Thief said there are tons of great shops in there, but we did get to see the real lions in a small habitat behind enclosed glass. Two trainers were in there with the two lions and playing with a couple of balls with them.
From MGM Grand we walked on over to the M&M World....oh yesss! I had to go there!! and WOW they had everything you could think of with M&Ms on it!! LOL From glasses to T-shirts to bedding and Xmas stuff! There is a free 3D movie on the second floor and you can keep going up and up for more merchandise! Word of caution however: You CAN buy m&m's there in ANY color you want! But it's $8.00 a pound!! YIKES! So you are paying for the purty colors so we opted not to do that and instead just bought an M&M glass mug for 9.
From here, we took the elevator on down to the basement where the huge GAMEWORKS is at. For all those who adore video games they had a ton in this place! Virtual Reality and Star Wars Pod racers to NASCAR speed racing, pinball and I even saw an old Ms. Pacman and Centipede for us old folks. LOL You can't use coinage here, you buy a game card that allows you either time or money equivalent and you insert this card in the slot on the games to play them.
From here, we walked on down the strip and saw a Walgreens where you could get drinks/soda (as we were really thirsty by then) for a more reasonable price and all the 5 & Dime type stuff as well as some souvenirs for alot less than in the casinos. Course there are tons of people on the sidewalk trying to hand you (the men only) flyers for uumm strippers and the like. Once in a while you come across someone who wants to give you free show tickets or a map of Vegas or something nice like that. I had an elderly man who was deaf hand me a US Flag pin and wanted $2.00 for it which I did get.
We went down to the Aladdin and Desert Passage shops and rested our tired feet on the wall there for a while before walking down into the many great shops inside! Wow!! Talk about alot of neat things in there!!
We then took the bridge on over to the Bellagio so we could catch the water show that was to start in just 5 minutes!!
We made it as Elton John came over the speakers and played "This Is Your Song."
From here, we walked back to the Mirage to the tram to Treasure Island.
Now on Sat., I had gone myself to Treasure Island to catch the free Pirate Street Show at the Buccaneer Bar to see if this one spot is right to watch it from. The English ship comes around the corner and is right there next to the window! We couldn't see the pirate ship that well but wow the rest of it was really neat! This show is every 90 minutes starting at 5:30. Had a delicious pina colada with whipped cream on top while I waited for the show which people start to gather about 30-40 minutes ahead of time.
So words of advice....
PLEASE bring GOOD walking shoes!! You'll need it as the strip may not look long on a map but it is on your feet after a while. Or you can take taxis/shuttles/trolleys for a price and there are free rides by guys bicycling you around in these lil rickshaw type of carts but you tip them as payment. Or you can also rent lil scooters and the like or if you really want to, rent a ferrarri *EG*
As far as dress, depending on what you are looking to do, something cool and comfortable (temps right now range in the 60-80s) and maybe have a couple lil warmer things to wear at night as it still gets cool here in the evenings (50s). ((This could be even warmer by next month)) If you want to dress up, there are lots of fancy restaurants, expensive but gorgeous. I'll be scheduling us with middle of the road to the less expensive to be sure that the restaurant prices are not out of anyone's reach no matter your budget. If you wish to seek out other arrangements for dinner or lunch and/or entertainment, please do feel free to do so. *S*
Just remember this is YOUR vacation too and I just want you all to have a good time when you are here!
For more info please check out the other Party pages Cinnaminn has created.
Til next time!Just 31 more days til party time!!!*hugs and smooches*
~opal~
Tentative Itinerary!!!
- Friday
- 5 pm: Meet 'n' Greet in Fan's room at Treasure Island
- 7 pm: Buffet
- 10 pm: Head to Coyote Ugly Bar at NYNY Casino and/or on your own afterwards *S
- Saturday
- 11/12: Meet for lunch (have not figured out where yet)
- 4:30/5pm: Meet for a Wine Tasting
- 6:30/7 pm: Dinner at a restaurant near the locale of the tasting and hopefully after this, catch a comedy club act and then on your own.
- Sunday
- 11:30 or so: Meet for breakfast/brunch (place yet to be determined) most likely a breakfast buffet
For Sat. night, I would choose a show, but considering there are so many who have all sorts of different tastes, I figured the best thing to choose would be a comedy act. A place where we could go and have a drink and relax and laugh and have a good time. Of course, there are strip bars if some would rather or if you'd rather go to a show, go for it. *S* But that's what I had in mind for the weekend, trying to keep costs down and yet still have a great time. *S*
Personally, i am leaning towards seeing The Amazing Jonathan, if no one has seen him, he's a riot!! A great magician/comedian....but an Improv would be good and we could always go from there to the strip clubs *EG* who says we can't do both? the Night will be YOUNG!! *LOL*
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This web page started 24 October 2002.
Updated as of 23 April 2003.
