Marc's Public Blog

2006/08/11 Vegas Trip

π 2006-08-11 23:26 by Merlin in Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

It had been 9 years since I last visited Las Vegas with my dad, and 7-8 years since the last worthwhile comdex I went to, so it made total sense to go meet my dad in Vegas when he came this year, and spend a few days with him, there.
I'm not a gambler, so my main goal was to see the new decors and shows, and that we did.
I flew in sunday afternoon, and we did:

Sunday: Penn & Teller at the Rio
Monday: Rick Thomas @ Stardust, Carrot Top @ Luxor, and Rève @ Wynn
Tuesday: Dirk Arthur @ Flamingo, Zumanity @ New York, and Lance Burton @ Monte Carlo
Wednesday: McKing @ Harrah's, Blue Man Group & Phantom of the Opéra @ Venetian
Thursday: day flight to Grand Canyon (no afternoon show), KA @ MGM, and Love @ Mirage
Daily Morning Buffet, Cab to North Las Vegas Airport, and flight back to Palo Alto

The Rève cast was nice enough to pose for pictures before the show started

Zumanity

Blue Man Group

The chandelier in Phantom

It was a lot to see in a short amount of time, and in a nutshell, among my favourites were:

KA, which was just a very well done spectacle, visually, and technically, even if you're better off not trying to understand/follow the storyline.
Rève was nicely done too. I didn't see it as a O knockoff, and much enjoyed it
Zumanity was somewhat amusing, but not great
BMG, I had seen in New York already, so it was nice to see in a bigger room, but the NY show was more complete
Phantom was well done, and had nice decors compared to the original version I saw eons ago in London
Love was well done, but I just didn't appreciate it as much, not being a Beatles fan
In the magic shows, Lance had the best traditional one, Penn & Teller had the fun and unconventional one, and Dirk Arthur is probably your best Siegfried and Roy replacement (his show has been going on for many years too)

You can look at pictures of different shows

Outside of shows, as a start, you can go to the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel. I didn't know that it is actually at 50% scale, and offers quite a nice view from the top.

For Vegas itself, what hasn't changed is the perpetual tearing down of stuff to build new hotels in place. There is still however a dead spot between the MGM and the Paris hotel, but I'm guessing they'll take care of that sooner or later :)

One big change was obviously the Monorail that was installed and goes down from the Sahara, up to the MGM (and there is a private one across, from the New York, to the Mandala Bay). On one side, it's nice, but it's a little bit out of the day, especially if you happen to be or go across the strip.

Also, as my dad remarked, because they removed the public Cat busses that used to go up and down the strip, the monorail has effectively killed everything north of the Sahara, including all of the old downtown.
However, what is left is indeed still very pretty to visit, be it the nice Parisian streets with French Pastry in the Paris, the cool atmosphere in the Venetian (and gondola rides if you so wish), and nice displays like the fountains from the Bellagio, or the inside roman fountains and show inside the Caesar's.

What was also nice were the hotels that had custom displays, like the still running and most complete ever Star Trek expo (and now two rides) at the Hilton

or classic and sports car shows at the Imperial Palace and the Caesar's

or Madame Tussaud's wax statues at the Venetian

Also, let's not forget the hotels that had entire animal habitats inside, which while wasteful energy and water-wise, were still nice to see (I guess it wasn't nearly as bad as the Casinos running air conditioning full tilt while the doors were all wide open, and spewing the cold air into outside 40 degree weather (>100F for you yankees))

and while you can look at all the pictures from Vegas , a few more are below

2010/11/25 Trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas

π 2010-11-25 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

Jennifer and I flew to the Grand Canyon via Las Vegas (which we overflew on the way there, and stayed at a few days on the way back). Below I have pictures and links to the flights we did, the backpacking, and pictures of Vegas.

Here's a quick overview:

Flight from Palo Alto to the Grand Canyon

Arrival at Grand Canyon South Rim, Sunset

South Rim Sunrise

Backpacking down and back up

Flight to Vegas

A few days in Las Vegas

Flight back to PAO

Georef Map

Flight from Palo Alto to the Grand Canyon

Trying to fly over thanksgiving was going to be the luck of the draw, but thankfully we got great weather for flying to the Grand Canyon. We got there in less than 4h, including some slower flying and scenic loops (otherwise it would have been about 3H). The best part outside of the view, was of course not having to deal with all the TSA shit and being able to fly with gas canisters (which are disallowed both as checking or carry on, on airlines).
Here is a link to the Flight to the Grand Canyon through Las Vegas.

Arrival at Grand Canyon South Rim, Sunset

Jennifer got us a room at the Bright Angel, and right after checking in, we took the bus to Hopi Point on the South Rim Ridge to see the sunset:

Plateau Point, with view on the river

and we went for a nice dinner after that :)

South Rim Sunrise

One good thing about going during the winter was that sunrise was at a very reasonable 07:12, so we went to see it (on en prend une du lever, une du coucher, et on se casse :) ).

Bright Angel Lodge

Bright Angle Trail going down

Backpacking down and back up

I have a different page you can read for Out Backpacking down the Grand Canyon and back up.

Flight to Vegas

Then, I have yet another page with pictures of our flight from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas.

A few days in Las Vegas

Once in Vegas, we spent 3 days there to see some shows, enjoy food, and we used the time left over to visit some hotels and see what's changed. Below are a few choice pictures:

A few night shots:

shot from the Effeil Tower

We also had a look at the Mandalay Bay Aquarium:

We also went to see one show every night (choice was limited due to sunday and monday being dark for most shows).
We first saw Criss Angel. The show wasn't bad, but it didn't feel grandiose either (and a bit expensive considering).

The next day, we went to see Le Rève. That was much better. I had seen it before, but Jennifer hadn't and we both quite enjoyed it.

And the last day, we went to see Penn and Teller. Their show was stilll really good and they get points for chancing their tricks over time, so that you don't see the same show every time.

Last, but not least, let's not forget about food. Jennifer tried to practise her buffet restraint skills. She's still working on it :)
We tried the Aria the first night, the Wynn buffet the second night (2 best buffets in Vegas), and we had the tasting menu at the Effeil Tower restaurant the 3rd night. All 3 were really great :)

Flight back to PAO

After 3 days in Vegas, it was time to fly home, a nice scenic flight past Bishop.

Georef Map

If you wish, here is a link to a big georeferenced map of Vegas/Grand Canyon Trip.

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2013/06/05 Offsite to Vegas, followed by short trip

π 2013-06-05 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

A few pictures of the offsite with my coworkers:

party

In Vegas, you have AC to cool the air outside :)

The next morning, a few coworkers and I went Rock Scrambling around Icebox Canyon

After the company event, Jennifer joined me, and we spent a bit of time walking around Vegas:

nice view from my room

I think it's lame to go to a swimming pool in Vegas, but some are nice:

gamble in the pool...

We missed the Mirage Secret Garden and Habitat last time, so we fixed that:

The Bellagio is always very nice and had birds in its conservatory:

The fountains are of course always nice

The Flamingo, had .. flamingoes ;)

I think the ducks are free to fly off, but they likely know they'd die quickly in the desert

Mob Attraction at Tropicana was well done:

People in heavy heat outside:

Random Vegas Pictures:

I had been earlier, but I used some of the time to see the Imperial Palace (now Quad)'s great auto collection again. Click on the link to get the all the pictures on another page.

And yes, Jennifer got buffets and food :)

Dinner at le Cirque:

Expensive breakfast buffet at Bally's. Lobster, crab, caviar, and much more:

Obviously, Vegas is also about shows, so we went to see some:

Zarkana felt rehashed and so-so

I got tickets for an advance performance of MJ One. That was actually good and novel:

Céline was back in Vegas, and I had never seen her there, so I figured why not (even the tickets are some of the most expensive ones). She did a good job still:

And just after, we went to see Absynthe also at Cesar's. It was different and funny:

Outside of Vegas itself, we also went out for a few things (click on each for a link to their own page):

Exotics Racing near Las Vegas Speedway. I got to drive expensive cars on a smallish track, which is difficult to do elsewhere. Worth the money? That's up for each person to decide.

Jennifer and I went to Sky Combat Ace for dogfighting, and that was a lot of fun, especially when she was able to shoot at me:

On our last day, Jennifer and I went to the Hoover Dam for the "Dam Tour" (a more thorough tour where you can see the inside of tunnels). That definitely was a nice visit, and among other things we learned that the Hoover Dam is actually only there to regulate water flow, while making electricity is just a byproduct which nicely pays for the bills.

this is how they filled up the hole to make the dam

The inside was nice:

After that, we walked to the bypass bridge that got built in the last years:

Last, but not least, we went quickly through the Atomic Museum which takes more time to visit than the measly 1h we had (and they were nice enough to let us in just before closing and keep us after closing):

And that was it, just enough time to go back to the airport after that.

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2015/06/19 Small Aviation Museum at Las Vegas Airport

π 2015-06-19 01:01 in Flying, Nflying, Vegas

Google maps nicely showed me there was an aviation museum, mostly displays, and it was worth 45mn to read them, especially to learn about the Las Vegas Hacienda cessna that broke the flight time record (over 50 days without touching down). They did refueling in flight by flying over a fuel truck and refilling from a hose, impressive...

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2015/06/20 3 Days in Vegas Around EDC

π 2015-06-20 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

So, I was really in Vegas for EDC 2015, which was all night. In turn, that means that my days were short since I slept more than half that time.

I started by going to the Atomic Energy Museum again. I got there a bit earlier than last time, but due to taxi shortages, still got there late, only 1h15 before it closed, so I didn't finish it.

It was pretty cool to learn that they researched atomic propulsion

Here are random pictures of Vegas. The 2nd day, I went to have lunch at the Paris Eiffel Tower restaurant. It was super disappointing, borderline bad. It had been great for dinner, but lunch was just a total disappointment. I did get a good view of the Bellagio fountains though :)

Nice art I stumbled on:

Next, I went to see the 16:00 Povich animal and cat show again, because it's fun:

And next, I went up the Eiffel tower and then the stratosphere for a few views:

While at the stratosphere, I went to see a Michael Jackson imitator performing at the stratosphere. He was quite good actually:

Here is an excerpt:

The 3rd day, I went to the Mandalay Bay to see the aquarium and the Michael Jackson show:

horseshoe crabs mating

After the last night of EDC, I took an early flight home, and got a few shots from the plane:

electricity generators using light concentrators on a boiler. Cool...

It was a short trip in Vegas considering, but still time well spent.

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2016/06/17 A Few Hours in Vegas with my Dad During my non EDC Awake Hours

π 2016-06-17 01:01 in Family, Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

A few pictures on the way to LAS:

The cool thing was that smack as I was going to Vegas to attend EDC, my dad was also in Vegas for the week to see shows. We went to the Caesar's Palace Buffet, which at 14:30 still had a 1H line, but thankfully they had the express line we were able to use:

balanced lunch :)

After a bit of time to plan the coming days, we went to see Spoofical, the Musical, which was properly terrible:

Later, I took a bit of a rest in my room at the Casino Royale (no stupid resort fees) before heading out to see Armin at Omnia and spend the rest of the night at EDC:

the next "morning", I barely got up at 14:30 to meet my dad at Harrah's and see Mac King (whom we had both seen before but was fun to see again):

Next, we went to Bellagio to visit a bit and have dinner before seeing O, which neither of us had seen in a long time:

Right after O, which was quite good, I head out and went directly to EDC for the 2nd night.
The 3rd day, I slept as long as I could before having to check out my room, and went to burn a bit of time at the Venetian next door:

Next, I had to to the MGM to drop off my luggage so that I could pick it up directly on the way back from EDC to the airport, and stopped by the New York - New York before going to the Rio to meet my dad there for the Fish Buffet and Father's Day:

The next morning, after EDC, stumbled my way back to the airport to catch a 07:25 flight back to SJC. It's cool to see the heat concentrators on that flight (lots of mirrors redirecting the sun towards molten salts to make electricity):

we flew past Mt Whitney on the way back

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2017/06/16 A Few Hours in Vegas around EDC

π 2017-06-16 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

A few pictures on the way to LAS:

Like last years, I went to attend EDC, and honestly I didn't have many waking hours that weren't spent there, but here are some pictures of the few of them:

I had a nice kobe beef burger with seared foie gras and black truffle on top. Pricey, but damn good :)

I went to the Luxor to see the Bodies and Titanic exhibitions. Both were good, but no pictures allowed:

Other random pictures:

gondola ride in 115F weather...

And on the way to/from EDC, we drove through the nearby air force base, a couple of pictures:

On the last day, I did the high roller 30mn loop around sunset:

And that was that for Vegas, nothing much more, due to sheer lack of time.

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2018/05/19 A few awake hours in Vegas during EDC

π 2018-05-19 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

This is probably the trip whwre I spent the least amount of time in Vegas. Between getting up around 14:00 and leaving for EDC around 18:00, that left for very little time.

I tried a new buffet:

Then time to go back to Bellagio to see their current displays:

Gordon Ramsay burger was a mistake, took 45mn+ to get the burger and it wasn't bad, but not that special either:

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2019/05/17 A little time in Vegas during EDC

π 2019-05-17 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips, Vegas

This was my 5th year going to EDC, which includes time in Vegas of course. This year, I really didn't spend that much time in Vegas given the crazy lineup EDC had. I left around 17:30 each day and came back in the wee hours of the morning and sleep until early afternoon.

Still, I made it a point to go see a few things one day I got up a bit earlier than planned.

had a buffet in Paris the first day

I tried the CSI experience the 2nd day. It was so-so, not sure how much longer they'll be there

Seared foie gras burger though, was worth repeating

Luxor had their rave market again

The Belagio conservatory is nice every time:

I then walked to the Ceasars to enjoy a few views before heading back to the EDC bus:

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2021/10/21 A bit of Vegas during EDC 2021

π 2021-10-21 01:01 in Ntrips, Vegas

With EDC Delayed 1.5 years due to Covid, this time EDC was in October. I got there a day early in case there were pre-parties or other cool things to do. I ended up meeting some of my friends for a pre-party, although I first had to go to EDC Will Call to pick up a spare ticket for a group member and then went to see Niko playing at pool party:

From there, I went to the nearby mob museum which was detailled and entertaining enough:

When I got out, I went to visit the fremont experience I had never seen all these years. Nice lighting:

Then it was time to go to area 15 and meet Alvin and go to Meow Wolf a very interesting art installation/game:

the game starts in a store wtih lots of funny fake products

But the game really starts in the back, Alvin and I finished it in a couple of hours. He did most of the work at the end as I was getting tired with jetlag having just come back from Holland 3 days before:

The rest of the week was mostly spent at EDC and recovering from it. Thankfully I had a room with a nice view of the strip, so that gave a few nice shots:

On EDC Day 1, we went to Bellagio for their buffet that now closed at 15:00. It was still good enough with unlimited mimossas. Of course, went to see the conservatory which is always a delight to visit:

Two days later, after failing to get into the Cesar Palace's buffet the previous day (reservations only and even by going early, they didn't take walk-ins), we got in the the last day. Still a very good buffet:

And that was it for Vegas, of course most of my time was spent at EDC 2021.

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2023/05/17 Another Short Time in Vegas around EDC

π 2023-05-17 01:01 in Ntrips, Vegas

This year I got a room at the Bally's, now Horseshoe. Half decent view of the strip. The pricing has gone way up though, not sure if it will be worth it next year:

Went to see Ka the first night, wonderful show:

Quick walk through Vegas at Night is a bit easier when it's not as warm:

The next day, went to fremont experience and did ziplining:

Could not be in Vegas without going to at least one buffet. Given that the Ceasar's was too hard to get to, Bellagio was also ok and good enough and had the conservatory: