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We had stayed overnight at Manchester Airport at the Radisson SAS Hotel so we could get up early and get to check-in around 6am. We boarded the plane a little bit late at 10am for our 10 hour direct flight to Las Vegas. We arrived in Vegas to be hit by the desert heat and got the shuttle bus for only $5 to our hotel. This time we decided to stay at Bally's as it is in the middle of the Strip and as it is not themed it is not as expensive as some of the other hotels. We got a free upgrade and got a fantastic view of the Strip on the 24th Floor, which included seeing part of the Bellagio Fountains.
We wasted no time and had a go at the slots, including Star Wars and Men in Black in our hotel, then we went to the Barbary Coast casino, and then explored the new section of the shops at Ceasar's Forum with its curvy escalators. Adam also got distracted by the Victoria's Secrets display!
Then it was off back to the hotel for an early night, stopping off at the Flamingo on the way.
We decided to go to Bugsy's Deli in the Flamingo but it was gone! Instead we had bagels from Nosh at our own hotel. They were lovely with lots of choice of bagel and topping. We then booked tickets for the show at Bally's "Jubillee" and also tickets for the Jubillee backstage tour. We managed to get a saving of $72 on the show and $10 off the backstage tour as we were staying at the hotel. We also booked to see "We Will Rock You" at Paris. We booked the Sunday matinee and paid $49 instead of $100. We also got a discount as we were staying at Bally's.
We walked through Paris, which was connected to our hotel, across to the Aladdin where we stayed on our last visit, to the Coca Cola shop and the M&M World Store where we saw the 4-D show "I lost my M in Vegas" which was just as funny as ever.
Next it was off to the MGM where we stopped off for a quick drink in the Rainforest Cafe which turned into a smoothie, cheeseburger pizza which was gorgeous, and some free chicken strips! Thank goodness for doggy bags. Next we stopped off at the Lion Habitat and had our picture taken with Jessie, who was only 16 weeks old and already weighed in at 44lbs. What a cutie.
Adam then went in search of the DDR machine near the Nickelodeon shop, where he met a pro who could do all the songs. Next stop was the Tropicana for our free pull where we won a pack of cards each. We also saw the free Airplay Show.
We headed off for New York, New York and booked to see the Rita Rudner Show. Then it was off to Monte Carlo, the Boardwalk and the Bellagio to see my all time favourite the Fountains and the conservatory and chocolate fountain, yummy.
Free pack of cards from Barbary Coast this time, then on to O'Sheas, Imperial Palace, Hurrah's, Casino Royale and the Venetian where we had our favourite donuts, Krispy Kremes (chocolate glazed custard filled, cinnamon glazed apple filled, iced chocolate cake and the lovely lady gave us a free donut!). Adam met and had his free photo taken with a showgirl called Dona.
It was then onwards to look at the new $3.3 billion Wynn Hotel. We were a bit disappointed with the plastic grass and flowers but it was still quite impressive. The Bellagio is still the best in my opinion, although the Wynn did have a nice horsey.
We headed on down the Strip to the Riviera, that was celebrating its 50th anniversary, where we got free mugs and playing cards, then we nipped over to Circus Circus (which was full of kids, boo). Adam headed off to the Disney Rave DDR and then we queued for ages and ages to see Spongebob 4-D motion ride, which wasn't very good at all and very disappointing. Then it was off to Slots A Fun with our coupons, Westward Ho, Stardust and the New Frontier. We then had some yummy Mexican food at the Fashion Show Mall.
No rest for the wicked, after being fed and watered it was off to TI or Treasure Island, and the Mirage to look at the White Tigers, without poor Siegfried and Roy. Then it was off to Caesar's Forum Shops and the Cheesecake Factory (Chocolate Oreo Mudslide Cheesecake, yum). Oh there's a FAO Schwarz puppy after our cheesecake! Well with only two FAO Schwarz shops left in the whole wide world we just had to buy a puppy (only a little one though). This is Birthstone Penelope the Pup, renamed Vicki (after the Vegas Vicki neon sign). We also adopted a few of her Puppy chums, although this was only temporary until they were adopted by my mum and friends Liz and Maggie. The little darlings. I still haven't managed to persuade Adam to attempt to get a large Patrick the Pup home yet. We managed a medium one on our first trip to Florida Florida 1997 but I'll just have to make do with a photo of a large one. Maybe one day...
Adam then persuaded me, I still dont know how, to get tickets for the Celine Dion show "A New Day" at $175 each plus tax, Ouch!!!!! (hope my bank manager is not reading this!). We then went to watch the Fountains of Bellagio and did a bit of gambling at the Boardwalk.
After a bagel breakfast we got on the number 301 bus (very cheap at $2) and headed downtown to Freemont Street. We stopped off at various gift shops and casinos including Fitzgeralds, Four Queens, Golden Nugget, Mermaids (for free beads and a prize draw), Golden Gate, Plaza, California, Main Street Station (which was a lovely old railway station with stained glass windows and original tiles, fans, chandeliers, wood pannelling. It was beautiful and felt very old and historic. Quite rare for Vegas as they just tend to blow the buggars up and start again!), Las Vegas Club, Binions, Freemont Hotel, Lady Luck and the Gold Spike. Phew!
We saw all the old Vegas signs (the "Neon Museum") like Vegas Vick and Vegas Vicki. We stopped off for lunch at Neonopolis which was very disappointing and was desserted by people and shops. There was just time for a quick stop at El Cortez and the Western Hotel before getting the bus back to the Strip.
We got our free photo at the Imperial Palace (what no showgirl!), then 2 for 1 drinks at the Barbary Coast.
After a quick rest it was off to the Excaliber where we went to the Fantasy Faire and raced dragons and knights, but didn't win anything. We were beaten by some little biddy kids, bah humbug. Adam had a go on a DDR USA to work up an appetite for an All American Burger in the Sherwood Forest Cafe which was lovely especially as they did pink lemonade too.
We went to the Luxor and saw Pirates 4-D adventure with Steve Martin which was very funny. Then we crossed over to the Tropicana for our daily dose of free playing cards and used our free coupon to see the Las Vegas Gaming Museum.
We ventured slightly off the Strip and called in at Westin Casuarina, Tuscany and Terrible's (which had great slots and was a really good casino, but more on this later). It was then on to the Hard Rock Cafe, Ellis Island and back to our hotel which felt like miles in the blistering desert heat.
We went to see the Imax Haunted Castle 3-D film at the Luxor, then stopped off for pizza at New York New York before returning to Bally's with a Raspberry Mousse Cake from Lenotre in Paris. After a quick rest it was off to Tropicana to see another free Airplay Show and to collect our free playing cards before going to see the Rita Rudner Show at New York New York. Rita just stood on stage and talked non stop for over an hour, she was really funny even if she does look a bit scarey in our photo.
We headed off to the Venetian then across to TI or Treasure Island where I got very excited at winning a whole $10 from a $1 bet on the Men in Black slots. We had a lovely kebab/wrap from Great Wraps at the Fashion Show Mall before going to Barbary Coast to get the free shuttle bus to Orleans where Adam found a DDR Extreme. We got free cocktails (Orleans Hurricane) and I won $5, obviously my lucky day. We then got the free shuttle bus back to Barbary Coast and headed back to Bally's in time to see the Jubillee show. The costumes were fantastic, all glitz and feathers but I didn't think the show was as good as the Follies that we had seen on our last visit. Good jugglers though. Adam still managed to find a few showgirls. Where are the showboys that's what I'd like to know!
Today we went to the Aladdin and did a moterbike DVD, while it was quiet and not many people were watching us!
Our Motorbike Movie (This is a 13MB QuickTime .mov file and will take a few minutes to download before it starts playing.)
Then we got the free shuttle bus from Hurrah's to Rio for the Carnival World Buffet, which is still the best buffet in the entire universe, especially when we got a $5 off coupon. Don't you just love coupons! We saw the free Carnival in the Sky Show before heading off to the Gold Coast and the Palms then back to the Gold Coast for the free shuttle to Barbary Coast for milkshakes and to listen to Dean Martin. He was standing in for fat Elvis who was off sick.
We then went to security check-in at Caesar's Palace to see Celine Dion's "A New Day" which was absolutely fantastic (but $175 plus tax for tickets, $25 for a programme, $5 for a bottle of water, I ask you!).
Today we met Sally (Adam's Sister) and Ralph (Brother in Law) who had come to Vegas for a short holiday from Canada. We tried the new Monorail and went to the Hilton where Sally had her first ever go on a slot machine. Adam went on a DDR USA machine before we headed off to the Star Trek Experience which included the Klingon Experience and the new Borg Invasion. I found the Borg Invasion very scarey but one of the Star Trek Officers liked my Weebl (Lions in Kenya) T Shirt so it made it all alright. Sally bought a tribble and then we headed for Quarks Bar. We had coupons for a free mini warp core drink with an appetizer so it was four appetizers and four mini warp cores all round, which turned out not to be so mini and some of us felt fairly giggly afterwards (well there were 5 types of rum in it!).
We then took the Monorail to the Sahara and walked to the Stratosphere Tower. At the top of the tower there is practically a full theme park. On our last visit there were two rides but now there is four. We just had to try the two new ones along with the old ones again. We went on the High Roller (rollercoaster) with Sally who is terrified of heights!, Insanity which spins you round 930 feet up in the air over the edge of the tower, Big Shot (Adam only) and X-Scream (a tilting one that threatens to drop you off the edge of the tower. It still has the best view of Vegas from the top.
We met up with Sally and Ralph and used our free $5 slot coupon at the Flamingo on our way to Madame Tussauds at the Venetian. It included the "Monsters Alive" exhibit which was scarey but great fun. We spotted a few celebrities while we were there...
We then went to the Rio on the free shuttle bus again for a Saturday Champagne Brunch Buffet which was wonderful. We saw another Carnival in the Sky before going to the Gold Coast for free cocktails. We had a quick rest at the hotel and then went off on our own again for a hotdog meal at the Boardwalk which was excellent value and enough for two! We then went to Caesars Palace collecting free caps and drinks on the way, and bought a Celine Dion frog who we called Cherry. Hey where are my sunglasses!
We had a break from bagels and had breakfast at Johnny's Deli which was wonderful. Then we set off towards the Riviera, stopping off for another free showgirl photo in Hurrah's (with me on for a change!). We had a free slot pull at the Riviera and got two mugs and Adam won a Crazy Girls T Shirt. Then it was back up to the Venetian and out the other side for an ice cream sundae (Cable Car sundae) from Chirardelli. We then went back to Bally's to meet Sally and Ralph for the We Will Rock You concert at Paris. The show was absolutely fantastic and we loved it.
After the show we went for Happy Hour Magaritas plus nachos with chilli and cheese in one of the hotel bars. After a quick rest we did a spot of shopping and got our free playing cards from Tropicana.
Sally and Ralph hired a car so we went with them to Hoover Dam. We drove over it and back before parking as they are building a bridge across the river and we thought it would be our last chance. It was very hot even though it was still morning it was 54 degrees centigrade (130 fahrenheit). At one point Adam and I were in two different states - Arizona and Nevada.
On the way back we stopped off at the Hacienda Casino for a drink, then Railroad Pass, Jokers Wild, Arby's for lunch and then Ethel M's Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden which is a bit disappointing. The factory was very small and took only a few minutes to look round. The free chocolate samples were good though.
After a quick break at the hotel we set off for Freemont Street. We went along the Street collecting beads and saw the "Hand of Faith" gold nugget in the Golden Nugget Casino. We then went to Main Street Station after seeing one of the street/roof light shows which are amazing. They brew their own beer in the Mainstreet Station and it tasted fantastic. Ralph had a sampler which included all 5 beers, I just had the two! After a fantastic and really good priced meal we went back down Freemont Street and watched another light show.
Met up with Sally and Ralph and went to watch the penguins being fed at the Flamingo. We then split up and we went to the Riviera for some more free playing cards and then off to Circus Circus. I won a teddy on the ball rolling game and Adam won a monkey by throwing a ping pong ball into a glass bowl. We then met up with Sally and Ralph again to watch the clown act which was terrible before saying our goodbyes as they headed back to Canada.
Adam then went on the Disney Rave DDR, we had lunch at the Fashion Show Mall and back to Hurrah's to see the Mac King Comedy Show. This show is free provided you buy a $7.99 drink. The show was very funny and we really enjoyed it. We then went back to Ceasar's Palace to visit FAO Schwarz and the Puppies for one last time and we bought a slice of fabulous Chocolate Mousse Cake from the Cheesecake Factory. We then did some shopping and got our free playing cards from Tropicana and scrummy chilli cheese fries from the Boardwalk.
We walked over to Terrible's Casino and joined their members club which had great freebies. We got a free T Shirt, cap, buffet breakfast for two and I got a free mug just by buying a cup of coffee. It was a great place and we spent a few hours gambling. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick break before going to the Bellagio via Aladdin where Adam met yet another showgirl.
After seeing the chocolate fountain again and the Bellagio conservatory we went to TI's (formerly Treasure Island) to see the Pirate/Sirens Show as we missed it last time we were in Vegas. We didn't get to see it again as it was called off due to inclement weather (there was a slight breeze!). Set off back up the Strip to the Boardwalk for our last chilli cheese fries and shrimp cocktail which was mega for $1.99. On our way back to the hotel we went to Paris and went up the Eiffel Tower. It was very hot up there despite being late at night but the views of the Bellagio Fountain from there were breathtaking.
Last Day! We packed (and squashed in all our free stuff!) and then had a go on the big slot machine at Bally's and a bit of a gamble at the Barbary Coast. Then it was off to the airport and a slightly delayed flight home.
Home | Who's Who? | Short Walkies - Out and About| Meet Family and Friends | Wedding Bells in Florida | Special Events | Very Long Walkies - Holidays | Puppy Pawtraits | How to Contact Us