Vegas Coasters...

Incidentalist said:

One other thing to do if it's up your alley. Mandalay Bay has a decent aquarium. It's a bit pricey but I'm an aquarium fan and I found it rather entertaining and it's no more overpriced than anything else in Vegas. The way I look at it is with the free booze and the cheap buffets, they get you back for any attractions that you might want to take in (coasters, shows, etc...).

Not to mention Mandalay has the best pool in vegas.. Great Wave pool.. Great to cool off in vegas.

I would stay at Excalibur over Circus Circus but Excalibur is getting a little run down. I have stayed there a few times and the location is excellent. Another cheap hotel with a great location is Imperial Palace. It is located right in the middle of the strip, across from Caesars Palace. Some of the rooms even have balconys.

Thank you all (especially Coasterville Dave) for the advice. I have plans to visit the *strip* soon so the heads up is GREATLY appreciated. :-)

-Tina

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Gimme speed, height, airtime and plenty of LAUNCH!!!

As far as Despy is concerned, pretty sure that Buffalo Bill offered a deal after 4 or 5 pm on the POP wristband....go for it, or you won't forgive yourself for missing out on the shoot-em-up log flume. Despy also served up *very different rides* from front to back of the train, and you'll want to try at least a couple rides...(even if it is kinda lame for a hyper, it still has *gorgeous* views).

Also, the POP band came with the same BOGO deal for Manhattan Express as a single ride, there's a decent S&S tower there, a Frog Hopper ;), and the coolest multiplex for simulator rides...think there was like 8 movies when I was there.

If you're in Vegas for more than a day or two, or on the way from SoCal, I recommend the trip to Primm. Of course, the only re-rides I found in Vegas were Speed and Big Shot....
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Tact is for people not intelligent enough to comprehend sarcasm...;)

As far as coasters go, there's already enough information here that I don't feel a need to comment more about it -

EXCALIBUR offers some great deals and is amongst one of the cheaper hotels in Vegas (along the Strip, of course). Location is good, although probably not the best, in Vegas. And, the hoakey castle/knight/dungeon theme plays very heavily amongst families with kids, so beware of that. LUXOR, also of the Mandalay group of hotels, is a VERY cool place to visit, with plenty to do there as well. Mandalay Bay, situated at the end of the strip, offers the classiest casinos and best restaurants.

The IDEAL place to stay in Vegas, in my opinion, is PARIS, situated across the street from BELLAGIO. Paris offers the best location right in the middle of the strip, not too far from the Mandalay Hotels, right next to the ALADDIN (with a cool indoor shopping mall), and not too far from CAESAR'S PALACE (also with a very cool shopping mall) and the MIRAGE. Paris' casino is probably one of the better casinos in Vegas (it ranks up there with the MIRAGE casino as far as not being very "smokey"). Paris, while not as expensive as Caesar's, Bellagio, or THE VENETIAN (and all-suites hotel and now the largest in Vegas), is a bit more pricey than "lower-tier" hotels like THE TROPICANA, CIRCUS-CIRCUS (don't stay there - it's a total waste), or STRATOSPHERE.

The coasters are a cool side-show to Vegas, and if you're going there just for the coasters, you are going to be disappointed. It should be a secondary, maybe even a tertiary, or less, priority for your trip.

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"That's DOCTOR Evil. I didn't spend six years in evil medical school to be called 'Mr. Thank You Very Much.'"

Thanks guys so much for the info, anybody with anything to add, just chime in:). I'm looking @ Excalibur for a stay now, not Circus. As for vegas coasters, to me that is just an extra thing to get me to go. Not really going for much gambling, will do a little, but going for all there is else in Vegas. Shopping, Star Trek, Coasters, Shows, attractions. Vegas is like the ultimate Theme Park, its an entire city. I have no expectations, so I won't be disappointed with anything, and I truly appreciate all you guys have told me, esp some of the free and more affordable things

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I'm Baaaack...

Well I wasn't going to add anything about the coasters, COASTERVILLE DAVE pretty much summed everything up excellently in his comprehensive post. But I would add that MANHATTAN EXPRESS is the most disappointing thing to come along since the AMC PACER. It's difficult to find the loading platform inside the casino (which is a very cool casino, by the way), it's very, very rough, and there's not much good about it at all except for the all-too-brief views it offers of the Vegas skyline.

The coaster's lift hill, by the way, is accessed after the ride has already left the casino. The cars travel at low speeds through only a PART of the casino (it would have been cool if it would have traveled through the casino more on its' way to the lift), exit, and then travel in between the casino buildings on the outside, with little to view along the way. The lift hill faces AWAY from the strip, so you would have to be a contortionist to see much. The only part of the ride that's up against the strip is the "maze" of track that includes the looping sections, and you'd be hard pressed to focus on anything else during that. I honestly forget how many loops are in the ride in total but they add nothing to the ride (the drops weren't any good though, either).

Even if it was a bit rough, you can't NOT RIDE IT. You may think a coaster over 200' tall is a standout on the strip, too, but in all honesty, it isn't. Everything is so fricking huge out there the coaster is only a side note to everything else that is going on.

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"That's DOCTOR Evil. I didn't spend six years in evil medical school to be called 'Mr. Thank You Very Much.'"

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TeknoScorpion said:
Planning to do Cirque Du Soliel and Blue Man Group.

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Blue Man is worth the trip, all by itself. Of course, that's from someone who saw the New York production multiple times when it was the ONLY Blue Man production, way before it was a "hit". Now there are 3 more set shows (Chicago, Boston, Vegas), the rock tour, and another set show due to open in 2004 (Berlin).

We stayed at the Barbary Coast, and I was very impressed. It's a smaller property, pretty much in the middle of the Strip. Very nice rooms, not very expensive, and since it's "just a hotel", not a full entertainment complex, you don't have to walk a mile to your room when you get back at the end of a long night...

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"Friendship -- more lasting than love, more legal than stalking."
*** This post was edited by GregLeg 10/14/2003 3:37:11 PM ***

Greg is not joking about walking a mile to your room...as I learned the hard way. I recently stayed at Flamingo,decent prices, GREAT location, but my room was literally a 5 minute walk from the elevator, and I walk pretty fast. Ugh.

I stayed at Stardust (next to Circus Circus) on a previous trip and liked it a lot. It was cheap and clean and the pool area was very nice and not at all crowded. And the hot tubs were open 24 hours! :) If you run out of gambling money (and "free drinks") may I recommend the 99 cent margaritas at Westward Ho. They're delicious. Or, head over to the food court at the Riveria and spring for a half-yard or yard margarita from La Salsa. Easily the best drink I had in Vegas...and I had several. ;)

As for aquariums...there's a free aquarium at in the forum shops at Caesar's. Also, the cleaner the casino air, the tighter the slots. I played at Imperial Palace (where they have celebrity impersonator blackjack dealers) and won big! I also like O'Sheas, Slots-o-Fun, Casino Royale, and anything downtown!

Check the message boards at www.travel2vegas.com for lots of info and trip reviews. Have fun!

I've only seen one mention of downtown here, so I'm going to put my 2 cents worth in. For a first timer, the Strip is the place to be since it puts you into the middle of everything. Just walking through some of the themed hotels is a blast.

WE prefer staying downtown. The Golden Nugget is our 4 star hotel of choice, but we have also enjoyed the Main Street Station along with it's micro brewery. Freemont is cheap and clean, but we prefer the nicer rooms since this is generally an adult vacation for us. We are gamblers as well, and prefer the much less "stiff" atmosphere of downtown to the strip.

By all means spend at least a couple hours downtown in the evening to see the Freemont Street Experience. Downtown generally has lots of free stuff going on at night, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

Of the SIMS we saw on the strip, the one at the Luxor was probably the one I'd recommend the most. Atlantis at Caesar's was okay. Personally, I enjoyed the fountain that comes to life more and it was FREE.

At circus circus, I would suggest getting the POP and hit the Crazy Clown/Funhouse (don't recall the name) SIM. It was awesome!

Another excellent show is Lance Burton at Monte Carlo and it won't cost you and arm and a leg. Even his simple illusions are outstanding.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

Im not sure if anyone who has visited Las Vegas has noticed this, but...both of our "big" outdoor coasters are over 200' tall and still seem small. That's because almost every building on the strip is a good 300ft tall.

Its kinda funny if you think about it. When you go to your local park the rides seem a lot taller since there is generally just other rides in the immediate area.

BTW... i know this is a little off topic BUT Las Vegas can run a coaster next to a water park year round, and SFMM can't? Speed isnt all that quiet either...hmmm.

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=brandon=

I have seen the new Project-X ride and that looks intense. Somewhere I read that they are trying to get a permit to build a 700+ ft rollercoaster down the side of the Stratosphere but I don't remember where I saw that, anyone else know?

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Skol Vikings
August 28, 2004-The Day I Am No Longer A Free Man

That'd be the Arrow Fishhook coaster that the municipality of Las Vegas firmly shot down.

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--Maddie--
What do I Listen-To?
Hot stuff.

Thanks, I found an old article on RCDB.com but I thought I read somewhere that they were reconsidering it.

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Skol Vikings
August 28, 2004-The Day I Am No Longer A Free Man

brandon - you are right. I was shocked to find out that the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel is 500 feet tall. It just doesn't look big when every building around it is also massive.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.