Trip report (Very Long) 7-21 - 7-24

7-19

Departed St. Louis airport via AA for Las Vegas on time

Arrived in Las Vegas 20 minutes early

Gathered luggage and went to Showtime shuttle area.

Arrived at Stardust hotel at approx. 250 PM

Checked in, tried upgrade, didn’t work.

I had made arrangements for hotel with Southwest Vacations probably why I didn’t get an upgrade

I asked for a room on a high floor and was given room on 28 in west tour with a view towards Stratosphere.

I had previously asked for a refrigerator for insulin and it was delivered to room within an hour of arrival. No charge, was told that it was listed as a medical necessity and there would be no charge for it. We got drinks and sandwiches to put in it so we didn’t have to depend on getting ice all the time.

Room was great. Very clean, big bathroom, extra pillows

Check in was fast and easy, staff very accommodating and courteous

Temperature was 117

We decided to walk to the Stratosphere. Very HOT HOT HOT.

Went up in tower to ride the roller coaster and sling shot. Wife was so scared after the sling shot; she wouldn’t ride the roller coaster. Gave tickets to a family there.

I would not pay for the privilege of going up into the tower and riding the rides again. I did not feel it was worth the money for the short duration of the rides.

Decided to take taxi to Fremont St. Only cost $10 including tip. Gambled a little, wife won $30 on ELVIS slot.

Stayed to see light show. First one was just a big commercial and only lasted about a minute. Next two were pretty neat though. Got crowded around 830 or so. Left about 930 and took cab back to Stardust.

Ate dinner in the buffet at Stardust, not bad, not real good, but not too bad. They had a very large variety of sugar free desserts on the buffet.

7-20

Ate breakfast at buffet, not good at all. Eggs were not bad, of course they were scrambled and had a little juice in them that I didn’t know what it was so assumed it was butter. Had country gravy and biscuits. I don’t know what country it was, but certainly not ours. Even the fruit was not good.

Temp was 112

Walked to the Venetian. Took Gondola ride $15 a head. What a rip off. I guess it is a woman’s thing. 15 minute ride, $2 per minute, definitely not worth it. Went to the wax museum. RIP OFF. Not worth the price of admission. Most of the figures did not look like the real person. SUCKERS Walked to Mirage, went to secret garden. The secret is how do people keep paying $15 each to see this? Cats looked like they were suffering from heat exhaustion. Only ones that looked good were the dolphins because they were in the water and the elephant that stood in the shade.

Went to Caesars. Never got to the casino from the forum shops because of the crowd. Ate lunch at the New York Deli. Recommend this highly. Great sandwiches and potato pancakes. Bucket of pickles on the table, great deli mustard. Cost was $18. We split sandwich and pancakes due to the enormous size of sandwiches.

Took monorail back from Harrah’s. What a mistake. The route sign said to take it to the Convention center for the Stardust. We could have walked back from Harrah’s and gotten there sooner. The walk from the Convention center to Stardust was very long and hot. Wouldn’t make that mistake again. The monorail would be great if you were going between hotels on the South end of the strip, but that is all.

We were picked up for our Lake Meade dinner cruise at 430 pm. We had set this up through Showtime tours. Bus tour and cruise were great. Would highly recommend this as part of the agenda. Food was great. The tour bus driver was great, very personable and knowledgeable. Bus drivers name was Andrew. Arrived back at Stardust at approx. 11pm

7-21

Temp got to 110

Ate breakfast at McDonalds due to hotel restaurants being so crowded. Took trolley to NY NY to go to the M%26amp;M store. What a bad idea. Had to walk sideway through store due to enormous crowds there. How people can buy so much junk is beyond me. Wanted to take trolley to RIO for their buffet. Was told by driver when we got to Harrah’s that it would take probably two to three hours to go there, eat and get back. Didn’t have time to do that so we took trolley to fashion mall and walked back to Stardust. Ate lunch at Island Paradise café and was pleasantly surprised. Food was very good, I had Chinese Mongolian beef and wife had Philly sandwich. Service was slow but would recommend overall. Had booked air tour of Grand Canyon through Grand Canyon tours. Was picked up at 445 pm. Were supposed to leave N Las Vegas Airport, but plane had crashed on take off just as we got there and everything was delayed. Flight was supposed to leave at 6, didn’t leave until 730. Flight was nice. Grand Canyon is indeed one of the wonders of the world. Just amazing. Only problem was that before we flew half way over the canyon, it was getting very dark and couldn’t see much except the fires that the lightning started. Returned at approx 1030. Their bus driver on the way back made Taxi drivers look safe. What a maniac. Cost of trip was $250 for both. One time shot and would probably not do again.

7-22

Cooled off a few degrees.

Ate at Island Paradise Café again for breakfast. Was very good.

Picked up for tour through Showtime tours at 850am. This tour was through Laughlin to Oatman ghost town and the gold mine. Had buffet lunch at Riversedge casino buffet. One of the best buffets I have had in a long time. Bus was full for trip to Laughlin. Only 8 of us went to the ghost town. Now I know why. RIP OFF. I guess you could believe it was a ghost town and really old if it wasn’t for the fact that they are in the process of building new old buildings. Makes you wonder how many of the current old looking buildings are really old. They definitely need to clean up after the donkeys especially during the heat of the day. Gunfighters were constantly looking around to make sure they didn’t fall into a pile of donkey dung when they died. Very phony. I was told they had some good prices for the junk stores, I didn’t venture into them. Wife fed the donkeys carrots. Only cost $1 a bag. Spent one hour there. Left for the gold mine. This tour was good. The lady that gave the tour, Sharon, used to be a drill instructor at Ft. Gordon GA before joining here sister at the gold mine. Very knowledgeable and very good tour guide. It was very interesting. Spent about 1-1/2 hours there. Trip down to the ghost town and gold mine took longer to get there and back than the tours lasted. This also is a one time shot. Returned to hotel approx 930pm or so. Had sandwich in room to eat for dinner.

7-23

Ate at hotel café for breakfast again. Once again, very good. Attended my business meeting until noon then walked to Fashion show mall. We were going to go into Wynns, but the crowd was huge and I don’t like crowds that much. Ate lunch at the food court. Walked back to Stardust via different casinos to see what they looked like. Did the reunion banquet for dinner.

7-24

Breakfast at hotel again. Wandered around until 1130 when Showtime shuttle picked us up for the airport. Everyone needs to realize that the lines are very long through security, however, they are very efficient and kept it moving quite well. I have an artificial knee that sets off the metal detectors so I get the VIP treatment for the Security search. I gladly accept it because it makes me feel like someone is doing their job.

Plane departed on time, arrived in St. Louis 25 minutes early.

Overall, Stardust was a great place to stay. Too bad it wasn’t more centrally located, but was a great clean room, great staff were friendly and courteous. Two thumbs up to the Stardust. The buffet could have been better, but overall everything else was great.

If you choose to schedule tours, use Showtime. Great service and they exceeded my expectations.

Trip report (Very Long) 7-21 - 7-24

Thanks for the report! Sorry to hear about the Oatman Ghost Town. Looks like you were so busy that the casinos got no action.

What would you have done differently?

Trip report (Very Long) 7-21 - 7-24

I would have gone at a different time of year (when its not so hot). We don%26#39;t gamble much. This was for a military reunion and they had nothing planned, so we went on our own.

Thanks for the trip report. Just curious...what didn%26#39;t you like about the Gondola Ride? Too short? Too Cheezy? We were planning on doing this but not if it is boring or waste of money.

Good report cant wait till September which is when i next go to LV

Wife loved the Gondola ride, I thought it was hokey.

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;I thought it was hokey%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

This seems to be the general consensus. I don%26#39;t like the idea of paying $30 to be gawked at.

In my job with Ringling Brothers, folks have to PAY a nickel to gawk at me.

Ya, I don%26#39;t like to be a spectacle either so maybe I will just be an annoying spectator instead and save the $30 for the slots.

super trip report...

yeah, after reading your comments about the white tigers, gondola and stratosphere I%26#39;m really glad we passed on those attractions. Totally agree about the whole M %26amp; M world...wasted my 40 minutes in vegas in that building.

overall sounds like you had a great time and braved the heat

Enjoyed your trip report. Kinda got the idea you%26#39;re not a big crowds fan and didn%26#39;t really enjoy much of what you did. Maybe next time will be better.