The Las Vegas Strip, Casino By Casino (Part 1)

My cousin will soon be making her first trip to Las Vegas, and while I got to talk to her briefly about it, as usually is the case I didn’t remember everything useful I might have.  That and the fact I needed a post to kick off this blog gave me the bright idea to take on the Strip casino-by-casino, giving my experiences.

The level of detail will vary wildly based on how much I know about any particular place.  ”Gambling” to me means slots and Blackjack only, so if you’re in to poker there’s nothing here for you.  I’ve eaten at lots of buffets and seen most of the headlining shows, though.  My taste in food is “ordinary” so while you can get just about any crazy speciality food you want somewhere on the Strip, I can’t help you with that, either.

One more thing to say upfront: just about everything in Vegas costs 2-3 times what it should.  Accept it in advance, budget for it, and then just let it go — you’ll have a much better time.

And so we begin at the South end of the Strip…

Mandalay Bay

Never gambled nor stayed here.  I’d imagine it would be annoying just because of the distance involved with going anywhere else on the Strip.

I have, however, been to the Shark Reef.  It was fairly interesting, and somewhat of a good value (remember, again, that any discussion of costs here is relative) at less than $20 per person.  Nevertheless, on a first trip I’d skip it.  Better stuff to see and do.

The Mandalay Place shops are somewhat interesting, with a small independent book store and a fairly cool toy store, if either of those things interest you.  But there’s better shopping to be had further up the Strip.

Luxor

Home of the much-maligned Criss Angel Cirque Du Soleil show, Believe.  Haven’t seen it, but I have a long-standing plan to take another cousin to Vegas, and she’s a Criss Angel fan, so, for better or for worse, someday I will.

Haven’t gambled in the casino, except maybe once to play some slots.  Seeing the pyramid structure of it all from the inside is pretty cool, though.  And they have an IMAX theatre, if you’re looking to kill 90 minutes.

Excalibur

I’ve stayed at Excalibur several times, and highly recommend it as a discount place to stay.  The rooms are cheap(er) and clean.  The buffet is fairly good.  The food court has a Krispy Kreme.  The only negative, and it is a big one, is that they position people at the entrance/exit to the room towers and relentlessly hound you about signing up for a timeshare tour in exchange for show tickets.  I really hate that.

The gambling at Excalibur is fine.  They have your usual assortment of slot machines.  You can always find $10 Blackjack and sometimes even $5 Blackjack, though those tables are always crowded.  The dealers are polite, if not bursting with personality.

For the kids, there’s a fairly decent arcade on the lower level, complete with the chance to collect tickets for small, junky prizes.

The house comedian is Louis Anderson (it’s a budget place, see) and the house shows are a medieval dinner show thing and the male stripper revue, Thunder From Down Under.  Yeah, I’m not linking that one.  If that floats your boat, you can Google it yourself.

As far as getting around goes, you can walk from here to anywhere in the heart of the Strip, if you are in okay shape.  And though it is a hike itself, you can head over to the MGM Mirage and get the monorail to reach just about anywhere.

Overall, I recommend Excalibur highly.  Just be prepared to keep your head down and march past the timeshare people.  I make a game out of it, using other hapless guests as human shields to slide through.

Tropicana

I don’t believe I’ve ever been inside.  I can only say that they have annoying timeshare people planted on the walkways outside of the place.  They seem to feature traveling exhibitions — at various times I’ve seen they had Bodies, and the Titanic artifacts show.  We’ve seen both of those in Pittsburgh, and so had no interest.

New York New York

I stayed here once, way back in 2000.  It’s a step up from Excalibur, but not a huge one.  A little bit nicer, and a little bit pricier.  Has an even nicer arcade for the kids, too.

As far as food goes, we like the restaurant America, as well as the ESPN Sportszone (which has some cool but frequently out-of-service games as well).  Several places around the casino have Krispy Kreme donuts.

Here we find our first rollercoaster of the Strip.  I’d say it is exciting in that it has plenty of twists and turns and loops.  And I’d say it’s painful, especially if you have long legs.  I’ve ridden it twice, and gotten a headache each time from getting knocked around.  If you like rollercoasters, might as well ride it once.

House show is Zumanity, the “sensual side” of Cirque Du Soleil.  Along with Believe, its the only Cirque show on the Strip I haven’t seen yet.

Same deal with getting around — just go across the walkway into MGM Mirage and you can reach the Monorail.

MGM Mirage

MGM Mirage is unfathomably gigantic.  The casino goes on and on for what seems like forever, leading into an area of shops and restaurants that is just as big.  And if you want to get to the Monorail, you’ll walk through it all.

The Cirque Du Soleil show here is Ka.  Saw it.  Didn’t care for it.  I classify Cirque shows by their ratio of artsy pretentiousness to crazy acrobatic feats.  I prefer more of the latter, and Ka provides the former in spades.

Other shows — you can see the Lion Habitat for free.  David Copperfield performs here frequently — we saw his show and it was good, but no Penn & Teller.  They have lots of visiting headliners — we’ve seen both Dennis Miller and Robin Williams here, for instance.

Only played slots here.  Once, in 2000, I found myself with time to kill and only a $100 bill.  I put it into a slot planning to cash out at $90 or so.  For some reason, though, a small crowd gathered around me and I felt compelled to keep going.  I left with $0.  Not the MGM’s fault, though.  Remember to gamble responsibly.

Haven’t stayed here.  I see no real advantage to it over the cheaper NY NY and Excalibur.  The buffet is okay, but not spectacular.  They have a Rainforest Cafe, which is what it is.  Worth a trip if you’ve never been to one.

End Of Part I

And that’s about enough typing for me.  In Part II I’ll tackle the middle of the Strip, and in Part III I’ll finish up with the North end of the Strip and the noteworthy off-Strip properties.

Happy gambling…

[Update: Part 2 is now available.]