What Happens in Vegas...
... gets reported about in my blog.
Today is Day 2 of our Vegas vacation. So far we're having a good time (aside from the fact that Matt has spent all of today in a work conference, and I spent the majority of the day finishing homework for the class I missed tonight).
We arrived early yesterday. After a LONG LONG LONG wait for a cab at the airport (apparently there's some huge conference going on this week and everyone flew in for it yesterday at the same time we got here), we arrived at our hotel. The MGM Grand. It's pretty nice. Lots of casino space and restaurants. We had a small mishap with our room but that just resulted in the hotel bumping us up to a room on the 18th floor, so now we have a nice view of Caesar's Palace and the Bellagio on the strip.
I expected Vegas to be over the top before I got here, so I wasn't really too surprised with all the excess, but I was surprised with all the parallels between Vegas and Disney. And since I've visited both of them this year I thought I do a little comparison.
1. Expensive. Everything at both places is crazy expensive. I think we paid like $3 for a bottle of water yesterday. But again, that's kind of expected at places like these.
2. Lines. There are lines for everything! I mean, Matt and I must have waited like 45 mins for a cab, then this morning I waited about 20 minutes in line for the breakfast buffet (to get seated, not to get food). The only thing I dont see lines for are the casino games, but I think that's because there are just so many of them.
3. Entertainment. Lots going on, lots to do. Free stuff, and expensive stuff. Last night we saw David Copperfield. The tickets were more than most concert tickets (at ticketmast prices, not ebay-Hannah Montana prices), but it was a small venue and a really good show, so I think the value was there. We also have tickets for Penn and Teller and the cirque d soleil show O over at the Bellagio, and possible one more if we can squeeze it in. But there are also free things to do. There's a lion habitat in the hotel that we can see for free, and I've heard that there are mini shows and attractions throughout the strip (we just haven't gotten out too much yet so we haven't seen them). But there's no shortage of stuff to do. Oh, and did I mention the gambling, that's always available of course. So far I've just been playing the slots, and usually just the penny slots, because that's right in my price range. (I actually won $8 on one play earlier today, but overall I've lost about $15... not too bad though) I'm hoping that we'll wake up early one morning and find a $5 table though because otherwise it's just too expensive to play.
4. Themes. Everything has a theme. There's a lion theme in the MGM, which makes me feel like it's really a Lion King theme. Next to this hotel is the Excalibur, which looks like a castle, on the other side is New York New York (the theme is obvious). But it all reminds me of all the themes at Disney: Epcot, movies, characters. I think Vegas is like Disney for grown-ups. Which brings me to the biggest DIFFERENCE between the two... Disney= millions of kids ALL over the place, Vegas= very few kids anywhere.
So those are my thoughts and our experiences so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week, especially now that I've finished my homework :)
Today is Day 2 of our Vegas vacation. So far we're having a good time (aside from the fact that Matt has spent all of today in a work conference, and I spent the majority of the day finishing homework for the class I missed tonight).
We arrived early yesterday. After a LONG LONG LONG wait for a cab at the airport (apparently there's some huge conference going on this week and everyone flew in for it yesterday at the same time we got here), we arrived at our hotel. The MGM Grand. It's pretty nice. Lots of casino space and restaurants. We had a small mishap with our room but that just resulted in the hotel bumping us up to a room on the 18th floor, so now we have a nice view of Caesar's Palace and the Bellagio on the strip.
I expected Vegas to be over the top before I got here, so I wasn't really too surprised with all the excess, but I was surprised with all the parallels between Vegas and Disney. And since I've visited both of them this year I thought I do a little comparison.
1. Expensive. Everything at both places is crazy expensive. I think we paid like $3 for a bottle of water yesterday. But again, that's kind of expected at places like these.
2. Lines. There are lines for everything! I mean, Matt and I must have waited like 45 mins for a cab, then this morning I waited about 20 minutes in line for the breakfast buffet (to get seated, not to get food). The only thing I dont see lines for are the casino games, but I think that's because there are just so many of them.
3. Entertainment. Lots going on, lots to do. Free stuff, and expensive stuff. Last night we saw David Copperfield. The tickets were more than most concert tickets (at ticketmast prices, not ebay-Hannah Montana prices), but it was a small venue and a really good show, so I think the value was there. We also have tickets for Penn and Teller and the cirque d soleil show O over at the Bellagio, and possible one more if we can squeeze it in. But there are also free things to do. There's a lion habitat in the hotel that we can see for free, and I've heard that there are mini shows and attractions throughout the strip (we just haven't gotten out too much yet so we haven't seen them). But there's no shortage of stuff to do. Oh, and did I mention the gambling, that's always available of course. So far I've just been playing the slots, and usually just the penny slots, because that's right in my price range. (I actually won $8 on one play earlier today, but overall I've lost about $15... not too bad though) I'm hoping that we'll wake up early one morning and find a $5 table though because otherwise it's just too expensive to play.
4. Themes. Everything has a theme. There's a lion theme in the MGM, which makes me feel like it's really a Lion King theme. Next to this hotel is the Excalibur, which looks like a castle, on the other side is New York New York (the theme is obvious). But it all reminds me of all the themes at Disney: Epcot, movies, characters. I think Vegas is like Disney for grown-ups. Which brings me to the biggest DIFFERENCE between the two... Disney= millions of kids ALL over the place, Vegas= very few kids anywhere.
So those are my thoughts and our experiences so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week, especially now that I've finished my homework :)
Comments