<p>MOWC, yeah that’s what I meant. I’m an early to bed and early riser even in Vegas.</p>
<p>One thing to remember (you probably know) it’s really a long car ride to the Grand Canyon. Maybe a book-on-CD would make that more managable. It’s great to see, though. </p>
<p>When I was there w/my hub on biz, I toured a few art museums, and did a bus tour of the city (that was informative).</p>
<p>If you’re a gardener or like history, try the Springs Preserve: [Springs</a> Preserve - Official Web Site](<a href=“http://www.springspreserve.org/html/]Springs”>http://www.springspreserve.org/html/)
but be aware it’s way off the beaten track and if you take a cab over, make sure you arrange for them to come back for you!</p>
<p>I like the fountains at the Bellagio and the spa at the Wynn, which has my all-time favorite “water feature”: a Japanese soaking tub and five feet away, a shower that massages your back and neck–I went back and forth for an hour, and by the time I was done, I felt no pain at all. (I also had pummeled all those sore muscles into submission, and just standing up was an effort.)</p>
<p>When I went with my sisters, we had a great time just paying a taxi to drive us down the strip and stop in front of each hotel for a few minutes so we could take a picture of us in front of each hotel. I know it sounds lame, but it’s really fun looking at the pictures now–and we’d had a few drinks, so it was fun at the time, too.</p>
<p>My husband and I split meals up… we’ll have dinner in one place and a dessert a few hours later at another place.</p>
<p>I also like getting gelato at the Venetian, it amuses me endlessly to see “fake Venice.” I like the lobster salad sandwich at the “outdoor” restaurant there (Postrio).</p>
<p>Another vote for Ka at MGM for your Cirque show instead of O. I think your son would like Ka better, as it has more of a story to it and a lot of battle scenes and the mechanical aspects of the stage. I have seen both those shows twice and like Ka better.</p>
<p>There is a good Japanese restaurant on the lower level of MGM that might meet your diet needs. They have a wonderful warm mushroom salad on the menu and excellent sushi.</p>
<p>Lol, bookiemom posting on the Vegas thread gave me a chuckle.</p>
<p>Speaking of MGM, if anyone needs a place to stay, on VRBO.com you can rent luxurious huge rooms at the MGM Select for under $100/night. The room would be $600/night in any major city. It’s the nicest part of the MGM and has no casino, so it’s quiet and has really good room service food.</p>
<p>I also love to watch the goings on at the Venetian. They have weddings, one after the other with brides fully decked out lined up to get in the gondolas.</p>
<p>[Valley</a> of Fire State Park](<a href=“http://www.desertusa.com/nvval/]Valley”>Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada - DesertUSA) is less than an hour north of Las Vegas, if you like more active outdoor stuff. Cool rock formations and native american carvings.</p>
<p>Every trip my husband insists on visiting the dam* dam. Once was enough for me (hard hat tour here too).</p>
<p>if you have any beatles fans in your group, let me suggest cirque du solei “love” at the mirage, i believe.</p>
<p>Yup, that’s the show I recommended. Even if you aren’t a huge Beatles fan, the music is obviously familiar and very entertaining. I would think teenagers would enjoy it too, perhaps more than some of the other cirque shows.</p>
<p>Red Rock Canyon is only about half an hour away by car. There are some nice walks, rocks for climbing around on, and petroglyphs. We all enjoyed it.</p>
<p>Wax Museum at Venetian. Gameworks and the M&M store on the strip. Outlet shopping south of strip. if you are willing to chance downtown, the Fremont Street Experience. Someone already mentioned the Show at Excaliber…that’s always fun.</p>
<p>If you are there on the weekend, the swap meets are fun. Some of local casinos have bowling alleys and movie theaters…Boulder Station, Texas Station, The Orleans, Gold Coast. A 16 yo may like to see the Palms…one of the young celebrity hot spots. We had the pleasure (?) of hearing a free concert by Snoop several years ago when he had a concert on the roof.</p>
<p>Not sure if the animals are still at the Mirage. Caesar’s was fun to walk around. Several of the casinos have simulator rides. The Stratosphere has a drop ride and a roller coaster on the top for the dare-devils. The Silverton Casino (lodge!) has a giant Pro-bass store inside, in addition to a huge floor to ceiling aquarium.</p>
<p>It’s fun to drive down the strip heading downtown and seeing all the wedding chapels. Even the drive thru one! </p>
<p>A lot of the magic shows are pretty nice. We also enjoyed a trip to Lake Mead. Boulder Dam, not so much.</p>
<p>lol My folks moved out there when my kid was 2 weeks old. We can detail child care and activites for all age groups.</p>
<p>Finally, my folks drove us past the house of a previous Lt.Governor, that could have um…been a candidate for the Clean House “Messiest House in America”. The parents were dissappointed because the donkey was gone from the front! lol</p>
<p>This thread is amazingly rich with personal recommendations–far better than any travel guide! I guess the commonality that finds us all on CC extends to many realms.</p>
<p>Bookiemom, thanks for the restaurant tip. “What’s for dinner?” is the bane of my existence–even when I’m not cooking it.</p>
<p>dmd, on past spring break trips we’ve always cracked a bottle of wine in the room and sent the kids out on their own for dessert in the hotel restaurant or snack bar. This will be our first spring break without our oldest, whose break doesn’t coincide with the local one, so we may find ourselves splitting dinner and dessert. I don’t think we’ve ever been anywhere that offered so many choices.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There is something about the height of the NY NY roller coaster. ATt 207 feet, it is just outside the ten tallest coasters in the US, but there is something about the perspective of being surrounded by very tall buildings that is just terrifying. </p>
<p>[New</a> York New York Roller Coaster](<a href=“http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-yltlSuWqvzc/new_york_new_york_roller_coaster/]New”>http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-yltlSuWqvzc/new_york_new_york_roller_coaster/)</p>
<p>Coming in late, but I’d second the vote for Ka rather than O. Ka is unique, even for Cirque, which has some very amazing sets and performances. I’d also second the vote for Bouchon. We went for lunch one day and went back the next because we had such a nice time. We sat outside by a fountain. If you like sushi–there’s a Nobu in Las Vegas. We went to Craft Steak (same chef as Craft in NYC) and it was awful. My steak was cold and overcooked and we waited forever for the food. We went with a group of H’s business associates (steak house fans) and they didn’t care for it either. </p>
<p>While H was at the conference, I did the Hoover Dam/Lake Mead tour and loved it. I also went to a few art galleries. I had planned to go to the Grand Canyon but as people have said it was far away (not a day trip). The concierge at our hotel suggested going to see it by helicopter. That didn’t appeal to me, but it might appeal to a teenager.</p>
<p>We just came back on Sunday from a week in LV. Plenty of plays available at the discount ticket place including all of the Cirque performance except the new Criss Angel. We saw Zumanity (don’t sit near the stage unless you want some up close and personal involvement with four naked people two of whom whom are close to 300 pounds.) KA was great; really great. The Phantom of the Opera was a major disappointment in terms of the performance although the sets and technology are pretty good. We also went to the LA Comedy above Trader Vic’s. Very good comedians, and discount tickets are available.</p>
<p>We saw the new Steve Wynn Encore and it is spectacular. We drove over to the Hard Rock hotel. Lots of interesting memorabilia. The building itself is uninteresting, but a lot of construction is going on. We ate lunch twice at the Eiffel Tower restaurant in the Paris hotel. Good, but expensive food, and nice views. We also had the $20+ sandwiches at the Carnegie Deli at the Mirage. We got a supper and two lunches out of them. Some thoughts:</p>
<ol>
<li>Be careful crossing the street.</li>
<li>Go out of the city. There is some beautiful countryside around LV.</li>
<li>MGM/Mirage and Harrah’s own just about all the hotels in LV. The former is on the verge of bankruptcy because of its huge debt.</li>
<li>The City Center development will probably be finished this year. How many units they sell is a real question.</li>
<li>LV is not as cheap as it should be, yet.</li>
</ol>
<p>And one other thing: generally you do not have to buy the most expensive tickets to have a great experience at any Cirque show.</p>
<p>More on Cirque shows:
Ka has a story to it that I think your S would like better than O. O has cool special effects and is a great show, but it is more episodic and a little more on the artsy side than Ka. If you look it up online you can see a little preview of Ka.</p>
<p>I’ve also seen Love, and I liked that a lot, but my H didn’t like it so much. There is a lot of dancing in that show along with all the Beatles hits. </p>
<p>More on restaurants: you might like to do one of the big buffets for an early dinner. We liked the one at Wynn the best. It is expensive but everyone could have what they wanted.</p>
<p>Two words - Red Rock.</p>
<p>197,000 acres.</p>
<p>[Red</a> Rock Canyon](<a href=“http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/]Red”>http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/)</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I read a lot of the advices above. I’ve never been to Vegas I’m planning a trip there. I wonder what are some of the well known hotels? Bellagio, Venetian? MGM? Are the shows at the hotels? Do you get free shows for staying at certain hotels? or can you go to shows at a different hotel? </p>
<p>Is it okay to walk around during the day (summer) or it’s too hot? Do I need a car or walking is fine?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your inputs</p>
<p>I would not get a car. It is hot to walk around but you can use the trams and walk through most of the casinos. You won’t get free shows for staying at most hotels particularly the good shows but you can certainly buy tickets for any show at any hotel whether you are staying there or not.</p>
<p>(echoing ebeeeee here)
It’ll definitely be hot outside but you should be able to survive for the distance between the big hotels. Inside it’ll be nice and cool - they do what they can to encourage you to stay in their casino nice and comfortably. </p>
<p>You don’t need a car if you plan to spend all your time on the strip or downtown. If you have a car you’ll probably just park it at your hotel and not get in it again until you check out. </p>
<p>The shows are typically at the hotels and you can see any show at any hotel and the big shows aren’t free just because you’re staying in the hotel. However, many of the larger hotels have free attractions (volcano, dancing water, pirate ship battle, aquariums, etc.) to attract you to them (so you’ll drop money on their tables/machines).</p>
<p>And dress is pretty relaxed - expect a lot of people to be wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts in the casinos.</p>
<p>I’m going in late July - super cheap rates. Staying at the Wynn and plan on staying at the upper end of the strip and taking advantage of the pool.</p>
<p>
Yes, almost all the strip hotels have their own shows.</p>
<p>Examples:
Mirage: “Love” (Beatles)
Bellagio: “O”
Treasure Island: “Mystere”
MGM: “Ka”
New York, New York: “Zumanity”</p>
<p>Those are all Cirque Solei (sp?) shows.</p>
<p>Wynn has Le Reve.<br>
Venetian has Blue Man Group and Phantom.
Mandalay Bay has Mamma Mia.</p>
<p>There are also plenty of comedy shows. I recommend Carrot Top at the Luxor…the dude is weird looking but really funny.</p>
<p>For a first timer, I’d recommend staying at the Mirage. IMO, it’s reasonably priced, all the rooms were recently renovated (including the volcano in front)… it has a great location mid-strip and a nice pool.</p>
<p>If you go in the summer, it will be a scorcher…but you can walk around from casino to casino (if they’re adjacent and owned by the same company).</p>
<p>If you’re going further down or up the strip, you can take cabs or buy tickets for “The Deuce” shuttle bus.</p>