I'm going to be in Las Vegas from August 17th to the 24th. I know that I'll be hitting up all the coasters on the strip and my family is going to see the Cirque de Solei(sp?) at Treasure Island. I was just wondering what other attractions are around this area and if there are any other coasters in this vicinity. Thanks all!

I was in Vegas just a couple months ago actually, so here's a run down for ya.

“Manhattan Express” at New York New York which was my least favourite of the three. You do get a cool, brief view of the strip, but it's pretty rough.

“Canyon Blaster” at Adventure Dome (Circus Circus) was by far my favourite coaster there. They've got a couple other rides and it's a decent enough park.

“Speed” at Nascar Cafe/Sahara Hotel was fun too. It's walking distance from Circus Circus. Interestingly, they have to let the breaks cool down between launches. I was the only one in the station at one point waiting to ride, but they wouldn't let me board until the proper time had passed.

Lastly, the rides at the top of the Stratosphere are extremely intense. They have a SS Tower ride, and two other “simple” rides that send you over the edge of the tower. It’s just crazy. I’m terrified of heights, and enjoyed kissing the ground when I got off the rides.

With the exception of "Manhattan Express", I got day passes for the other three casino's. All ran around $25(each) or so.

Vegas is huge. The pictures don't do it justice at all. Even the walk from the side walk to the front doors of a casino can be a bit of a hike. My friends were at The Imperial Palace, and I stayed at Circus Circus. On the map, they were two blocks away, however it was just over 30mins to walk it (and I’m in good shape) You can’t hail taxies on the street, but almost every casino has a Taxi Valet, and the lines (if any) move really quickly. They’re not overly pricey. There is also a $5 all day pass for “The Turbo” (…I think that’s what it’s called), which is their bus service.

Lastly, there are a lot of free things to see, and some with a nominal fee.

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/


A must see is the Bellagio Fountains. It’s absolutely amazing for a water show. It runs every 15min’s, and they do different songs each time. There was a really cool Martini Bar @ MGM called Centrifuge, that’s really low key….but…every 30 min’s the bartenders (male & female) get up on the bar and do one quick dance. Tres Cool. And the Hofbrauhaus was lots of fun too. It’s a German Beer hall where you sit at these benches, there’s a German Polka Band (playing some modern music), amazing food & of course, big German Beers. It’s a nice place and lots of fun. It’s a family atmosphere for sure (and can be a fun place for the guys too).

I saw Penn & Teller while I was there, one friend caught Zumanity, and another saw Matt King. We all thoroughly enjoyed our shows.

I had a blast while I was there. I don’t gamble, think I dropped a total of $23. We had a great afternoon just walking through some of the casinos down one side of the strip. We spent one evening Downtown, which sorta was neat, they’ve got a dome overhead that does a really cool light show.

Like I said, I had a blast, some of us are thinking about going back in December. Any other questions, go right ahead and ask. Look forward to hearing about your trip. I’ve got some pic’s on my Facebook if you’d like to see’em

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Just got back from Vegas, and basically what he said!

We saw Penn and Teller and they are great, and you can meet them afterwards which is nice. We also had a drive to Primm to ride Desperado which, although rough, is a good coaster.

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Thanks ^ and ^^. I've been looking at Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino and the attractions there; roughly how long of a drive would it take to get there?

^Depends on where you are staying. South strip is 45 minutes, North strip is an hour to Primm.


Get the X-Pass for Stratosphere so you can ride the rides multiple times. Ride Manhattan Express only once (in the front). Ride Speed in the front as well, you can buy an all day pass, but unless it is crowded they wait so long between launches it is ridiculous. I didn't get the chance to go to the Adventuredome, but I'd say one ride on Canyon Blaster is enough (just an old Arrow looper).


Hope that helped.


Is that what they told you? It's actually to save money, not because anything needs to warm up or cool down. It costs a lot of money to pay for power to run the LIMs, so instead of just running the train every time a single rider comes into the station, they space the launches out 10-15 minutes apart, unless the station is full. This saves them a lot of money, because instead of firing the LIMs 4 or 5 separate times for a train with 1 or 2 people in it, they fire the LIMs once with a train of 5-10 people in it.


That's really the only thing that makes it a bad ride to get an all-day pass, unless you have a ton of time. For example, if you get an all-day pass on Manhattan Express (not that you would), you could probably ride it 20+ times in two hours. With Speed, you could only ride it 6-8 times in two hours as a result of the launch spacing.


Great ride, but low crowds mean poor operations.

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Bellagio Fountains at night is the best part of Vegas. I have never been to Stratosphere, but I think I'll be there this weekend.

Matthattan Express is fun and rather underrated because how many coasters have you ridden that begin inside a hotel? How many coasters have you ridden that takes you above the Las Vegas strip? It's a fun ride and a unique experience. I've done it a couple of times.

Speed is a great ride as well. The fact that the launch shoots you out of a restaurant and down under the sidewalk outside is every reason to check this ride out. The second launch around the hotel is cool too.

I haven't been on any rides in Adventure Dome, but I have been inside adventure dome. Personally, I think Circus Circus is a cheese ball hotel, but that's part of the charm of Vegas.

I don't know how old you are, but the night club scene in Vegas is an experience in itself. I recommend Studio 54 for a shorter line, but Pure (Caesar's) and Tao (Venetian) seem to be the hot spots as well as Ghost Bar at the Palms. Just be ready to spend a ridiculous amount of money and stand in line for years just to get in. The scenery is great though.

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^^Thats pretty funny. How are the lines to these attractions when you all went?

Adventure dome was great.

Some of the other items I like to do in Vegas are:

The Aquarium at Mandalay Bay
The Lions at MGM.
If there still there, the Secret garden of Sigfied & Roy at The Mirage.
The volcano at the Mirage
The Pirates at Treasure Island
Car Museum at Imperial Palace.
The Hypnotist show at OSheas

All great stuff.

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Jim says; "The Potential energy of the system at the height of the lift hill is equal to the Kinetic energy at the bottom of the hill...."
Jim's friends say; "Just shut up and ride it would you."

My dad was thinking of buying this Viator Las Vegas Power Pass:
http://www.viator.com/tours/Las-Vega...ss/d684-3787PP
If anyone here has bought it, is it worth buying?

Canyon Blaster is one of the better Arrow's I've been on. I think it's 2nd place in town to Speed the Coaster. Speed is worth the all day pass. The wait between launches is annoying, yes. Manhattan Express is worth one ride only. Why did I do it twice? Only an amusement enthusiast would be as calm as I was on Insanity at Stratosphere. It finally struck me half way through the ride - "Wow, I'm hanging over a 1,000 ft. drop. Nice IHOP down below. It looks so small."

Desperado is worth the drive to see what desert and parts of wasteland Nevada is off the freeway.

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[quote=willski2002;727329Is that what they told you? It's actually to save money, not because anything needs to warm up or cool down. [/QUOTE]

You know...I thought it was a bit odd...

This, makes way more sense.

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Something Wicked This Way Comes

Awesome! Definately do this...

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^Yeah, we're probably going to go to that aquarium and definitely going to the Grand Canyon(Loooooong drive).

This response may not be timely enough for you but it is about 40 mins sw of Las Vegas on I-15. There is an Arrow hypercoaster called Desperado there. You have to pay by the ride - a few dollars each ride. It's an ok coaster. Something like 225 foot first drop. A bit creaky.