Las Vegas attractions?

I am planning a trip to Las Vegas sometime this summer. What attractions are worth a visit?
The one I know about are: New York coaster, Speed, Desperado, stratosphere stuff.

Are there any other amusements rides, or should any of the ones above be skipped?

Any other Vegas tips would be great too!

My biggest Vegas tip is don't go during the summer!

Other than that...there is the Adventuredome, which you can get a ride all day pass and play a few hours. Doubt that the lines will be bad. It's definitely worth a shot.

Some of my favorite stuff is no longer then from my last visit (2007), but there is plenty to do in Vegas. How long are you going?

As far as my opinon about the Vegas coasters-

Roller Coaster @ NYNY-it's expensive, but you're going to do it regardless, more than likely. It's a unique experience, and if the trains were better, it would be more fun. I didn't hate it, but that was after a long island from cyote ugly.

Speed-By Far my favorite coaster in Vegas. Get a ride all day pass, go in the morning and ride till you're tired of it, then don't forget to go back at nite. It's the only coaster I've ridden on both my Vegas trips.

Canyon Blaster-Wish I'd spent more time at the Dome, it was closed early on my last visit. Canyon Blaster is actually a decent Arrow looper, with unique surroundings.

Desperado-It's worth the trip out...if you're going to be in Vegas for a few days and rent a car. I loved it, but didn't bother going out on my last visit.

Stratosphere-not only are the rides completely terrifying, there are cheap gift shops there for all of your gifting needs. Lots of cheap, cool Vegasy stuff. Xscream is terrifying, Insanity is fun and scary, and Big Shot is a normal S&S tower with a great view. They also have the new (expensive) sky jump there that I want to do, but I've been told by countless people to book EARLY if you want to do it as it fills up pretty quick.

Trek is gone (for now), R.I.P. The Monorail is fun, but its a pain to get to regardless of where you hop on as you have to spend so much time walking thru casinos just to get to the staions.

Don't miss the free shows, especially The Fountains at Bellagio.

There are great cheap eats in Downtown Vegas, but only during certain hours. And the Freemont St. Exp. is fantastic.

If you're a foodie, Vegas is a dream, regardless of whether you pay a lot or not. Don't miss the Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood, voted best in Vegas, and it has a lot of incredible mediterranean food. Paris' buffet was good to.

And then there are the shows. Both of the shows I've seen are no longer there. But seriously, you can spend a lot of time just wandering thru your favorite casinos.

Where are you staying?

I thought Canyon Blaster was exceptional for an Arrow coaster. Really smooth... I wonder if that's because it's inside and not exposed to any elements.

I also think the rolling stock was slightly better than the old Arrow trains.

Wow! Thanks for the info!

We are just now planning so I don't know all the details yet.

Unfortunately, summer is the only time that will work for everyone in our party. We will be staying 4-7 days.

We would like to stay on/near the strip. We will have 5 adults with us (a suite with 2 bedrooms would work for us). Do you have any recommendations for the best place to stay? (doesn't have to be the cheapest place, but preferably not the most expensive either.)

Tekwardo said:
I also think the rolling stock was slightly better than the old Arrow trains.

I agree with this, but it's funny to hear. The trains are identical to Drachen Fire's, and for years I've heard nothing but how horrible those trains were.

Tek nailed the coasters for me. Won't add much. The overhead restraints don't seem to be as bothersome on Speed as the other loopers I've been on. Speed is the best coaster in Vegas. I hate New York New York...but you know you are going to do it anyhow. It just looks so cool. I could argue that Insanity is the "best" ride in Vegas. It is also the scariest ride I've EVER done.

Desperado...it is the tale of two halves for me. From the drop to the mid-course brakes it is awesome. They have a couple bunny hops that give good air. After the brakes....yawn! It might be worth a trip if coasters are your primary goal. But I doubt you need to take the time if you enjoy the Vegas stuff.

P.S. They have a spinning Steak House on Strat that obviously has awesome views. There are better food options though...not that it is bad by any means. However...if you make a reservation for the restaurant they have a special "restaurant only" elevator that lets you skip the line. Once you are up there, nobody checks to make sure you go to the restaurant. You are free to go where you please. Buy your wrist-band up there and you have skipped the line and saved yourself a significant amount of money as they charge a lot just for the ride up! That is my freebie Vegas hint. Took me a few times to realize they have a chink in the system.

I'm not saying that I have ever done this ;)...but I'm pretty sure it can be done.

All of the places that have the rides suck, as far as Vegas goes. I haven't been back to any of them since my first visit in 2003 or whatever it was. Speed was the only thing I found remotely interesting, and I'm not sure that's worth having to traverse half the city to get to.

Yeah, what everyone else said. :) Although I didn't get to Adventuredome or Desperado so I can't comment there.

If anyone in your group is interested in pinball games you must check out the Pinball Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, when I went, we didn't have a lot of time, so I was only there about 20 minutes, but I could have spent hours and an ungodly number of quarters. Not only is there a vast variety of games, but they're in possession of some extremely rare machines too, like Pinball Circus, which is in a vertical, video game style cabinet.

Anyway.

With regard to Roller Coaster™®© at New York New York, make sure you hide any phones or cameras in pockets before approaching the platform. I was not allowed to put my phone in my pocket and instead had to pay 50 cents for a locker (and of course there was no change machine there, so I had to go back downstairs to the cashier). I was told phones aren't allowed to exist on the ride at all, even in cargo pockets. So, save yourself 50 cents and secure any loose items before you go up the stairs. :)

If you're looking for somewhere not el-cheapo but not upscale that's convenient to everything, I suggest Harrah's. It's smack dab in the middle of the strip, so you can walk everywhere. It's big but not so expansive that you get lost looking for your room like at Caesar's, and it's above average overall for service, IMO.

bwallac said:

We would like to stay on/near the strip. We will have 5 adults with us (a suite with 2 bedrooms would work for us). Do you have any recommendations for the best place to stay? (doesn't have to be the cheapest place, but preferably not the most expensive either.)

We were in Vegas the week between X-mas and New Years in 2005 and 2006. Both times we booked our hotels through Lasvegas.com. In 2005, we stayed at Caesars, and in 2006, we stayed at Paris. We got excellent deals both times booking through that web site. The prices will vary quite a bit with time. So decide which week you will be going and start watching for price fluctuations. We bought show tickets through the same site. If you plan on going to any shows, buy your tickets in advance. Don't expect to walk up to the box office that day and buy tickets. Take advantage of the free stuff: the fountains at Bellagio, the volcano at the Mirage, the pirate show at TI, the waitresses at Hooters. Summer will be ungodly hot.

It's also good to get on e-mail lists of the various chains. Harrah's is the big one (Harrah's, Caesars Palace, Bally's, Flamingo, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Imperial Palace, Rio), and I always get good offers from Venetian/Palazzo. I must have fallen off the list from Mandalay Bay-Luxor (meh)-Excalibur (dump), because I haven't seen anything from there lately. Once you're there, it takes five minutes to sign up for a slot card. Do it if you ever plan to go back.