Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Coasterbill's Alcohol, Coaster and Culture Trip Reports Land


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 893
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

The on-ride photo taken in the station and a coaster train themed to a taxi, complete with non-working turn signals is pretty fantastic, I have to say! I did not ride it when I was there in March even though my brother tried to get me to. I was only there a very short period of time and wanted to not have a headache but the next time I visit he won't let me off that easy. I really, really wanted to get to Circus Circus to ride El Loco but the hotel is basically nowhere near the main part of the strip so didn't make it there either. Damn, what did I do?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great report, Bill. Glen Canyon looks awesome. Emily and I went kayaking years ago where we put in at the base of the Hoover dam. We had to get security clearance a couple months in advance by filling out some permits, a couple months in advance. I knew the canyons were huge at the time, but after reading your report I probably didn't realize just how tall they were.

 

I'm glad you guys had a good time, despite Manhattan Express trying to kill you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I have to say that I've never found Manhattan Express to be that bad. It's definitely not a noteworthy coaster by any means, but I've been on plenty of stuff that's just as rough / headbangy. It's a weird design more than anything — like a wannabe hyper that dumps you into compact traveling-style coaster 1/3 of the way through. Speed: The Ride was always my favorite on the strip, and I think it's sitting in pieces in some parking lot now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember Speed being a pretty fun ride. The original premier LIM launches shuttle coasters have always held a special place in my heart since my first ride on Mr. Freeze at SFSTL. The technology seemed state of the art back then. RIP Chiller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
hEY! That BTMRR pic would have fooled me if the train wasn't in it. Nice curveball

 

Thanks!

 

The on-ride photo taken in the station and a coaster train themed to a taxi, complete with non-working turn signals is pretty fantastic, I have to say! I did not ride it when I was there in March even though my brother tried to get me to. I was only there a very short period of time and wanted to not have a headache but the next time I visit he won't let me off that easy. I really, really wanted to get to Circus Circus to ride El Loco but the hotel is basically nowhere near the main part of the strip so didn't make it there either. Damn, what did I do?!

 

Believe me, I understand completely in both instances. Manhattan Express is better than I expected, but still awful and yeah... Adventuredome is in the middle of nowhere.

 

Great report, Bill. Glen Canyon looks awesome. Emily and I went kayaking years ago where we put in at the base of the Hoover dam. We had to get security clearance a couple months in advance by filling out some permits, a couple months in advance. I knew the canyons were huge at the time, but after reading your report I probably didn't realize just how tall they were.

 

I'm glad you guys had a good time, despite Manhattan Express trying to kill you.

 

Thanks! That kayak trip sounds awesome!

 

Speed: The Ride was always my favorite on the strip, and I think it's sitting in pieces in some parking lot now.

 

Yeah, I hate that I never got to ride it. It was there when we visited Vegas as a kid but we never made it over there

 

Alright, on to the next installment...

 

=======================================

 

We excitedly walked through the front doors of Circus Circus intending to make a b-line for the Adventuredome. Unfortunately for us, in the 15 or so years since I stepped foot in this place I had totally forgotten that you can't make a b-line for anything at Circus Circus since the place is (by design) a massive clusterf*ck that's designed to suck you into the casino and get you lost so you can't possibly leave or find anything.

 

Circus Circus is one of the older casinos on the strip. It's almost 50 years old, and it sort of looks it. It's an MGM resort, but it's the cheapest hotel on the strip by room rate... so cheap that the (admittedly high) resort fee of 20 bucks or so effectively doubles the price.

 

We sort of expected a massive sh*thole, but it really wasn't the case. Don't get me wrong, nobody was mistaking it for Mandalay Bay or the Bellagio, but it's old school casino vibe and corny circus acts actually gave it quite a bit of charm and that old school Vegas vibe that is noticeably lacking at some of the new luxury mega resorts like the Wynn and the Aria. I'd be quick to recommend one of those places over Circus Circus if you were getting a hotel room, but if you're just looking for a casino / corny place to check out for a few hours then you can do much worse than Circus Circus. It's lined with clowns, old school casino carpeting, tacky sh*t everywhere and midway games but it's a lot of fun. It's kind of a dive, but it has a soul. That's not something I could say for the f*cking Aria.

 

live.thumb.jpg.172268f3ab74e908f6b22556185c31b1.jpg

Just a maze of slot machines and lights with live circus acts in the air for no apparent reason. Now THIS was Vegas!

That said, while it was a nice bonus we weren't here for the old school Vegas vibe, the tacky casinos or the circus acts. That's not what caused us to drop $40 round trip on cab fare (yeah... I know, the monorail, the bus, we didn't have a lot of time... we didn't care).

 

After successfully navigating the maze of a casino (despite backtracking a few times), we finally reached the unmistakable pink glow of the Adventuredome. We made our way through the doors, and took note of the cheesy rockwork and impressive mess of coaster track overhead. It had been years since I had ridden Canyon Blaster but I remembered it being quite good for an old Arrow looper and I was excited to try it again. As excited as we were though, that wasn't why we were here.

 

We kept walking through the crowded dome, eventually coming across the awesome mess of Twisted Track that was "El Loco". El Loco looked insane, and totally unlike anything I had ever seen before. It's banking was super weird, it's dives were insane, it's elements were completely f*cked and it was honestly a spectacle to look at. We watched a few trains go by, really excited to finally try that thing out. While I had ridden Canyon Blaster, El Loco was brand new for me and just from looking at it I was convinced that it was worth taking a cab up and down the strip for.

 

... but that wasn't why we took a cab all the way down to Circus Circus.

 

There were a lot of ways we could have spent our short time in Vegas. We debated seeing a show, we debated going to the Stratosphere (do you have ANY IDEA how hard it is for me not to spell it "StartosFEAR"? ) but I knew I had to come to Circus Circus. I knew there was an insanely high chance that if we didn't go ASAP, we'd never get this opportunity again.

 

mess.thumb.jpg.101c7d86cea491bf468504fa759e535d.jpg

The Adventuredome is basically a mess of tangled sh*t, but I can't help but love it.

We made our way around El Loco, half expecting at any moment to see an empty ride pad or a ride undergoing extensive maintenance due to it's ridiculously unreliable nature. After being disappointed in Keansburg, I tried to keep my excitement at bay but as we rounded one more curve around another pile of cheap ass rocks... we saw it rise up above the elevated platform. Holy sh*t. Is this really happening? A Chance F*cking Chaos.

 

Alright... let me clarify a few things so people aren't either questioning my sanity (well... you should be doing that anyway I guess) or booking a flight to Vegas immediately to ride the sheer brilliance that is "Chaos". Chance Chaos rides are sort of just okay. The restraints are comfortable which is more than I can say for that other Chance ride across the park that (unlike Chaos), I'm thrilled to see on it's death bed. Chaos isn't really that chaotic (well... except that one time in Michigan). Basically, it just rocks around a lot, getting really close to flipping but almost never actually doing it. It's basically an elevated Tilt A Whirl. It gets super close to being awesome, and 99% of the time that's as far as it gets.

 

This was about nostalgia. Nothing more, nothing less. I grew up riding the one in Rehoboth Beach and I thought it would be super cool to ride one again. I prepped Brit going in so she didn't have inflated expectations. I sort of expected her to hate it since she hates pretty much every single inverting flat ride.

 

Once we knew Chaos was open, we went back to the ticket booths to buy our wristbands. You only come out ahead on the wristbands if you ride both coasters and two of their better flat rides (or re-ride the coasters), so if Chaos was closed we decided we would just buy individual credits. Since it was open, we figured it was close enough in price with the 3 rides that we would just grab a wristband so maybe we could get a re-ride or two in.

 

Needless to say, as soon as we got that wristband we headed straight for Chaos. After seeing it in person, Brit seemed less than enthusiastic but I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. A stupid kid who was hyped up about a gift he put on his Christmas list that all of his friends thought was asinine and had his parents questioning whether or not they should have him tested for some type of mental illness, but a kid on Christmas morning nonetheless.

 

A few minutes later the gates opened and we made our way over to our car. Brit immediately started panicking that her restraint wasn't locking (she HATES inverting flat rides... HATES them), but I quickly remembered that it wasn't locked because the giant thing that came down over the restraints wasn't closed yet. I reached out and pulled it down, noting that the operator usually does that but I'm a regular f*cking Chance Chaos veteran. At that point, I'm sure Brit was seriously questioning whether or not sh should really be marrying my dork a**, but I think she was too terrified of the ride to spend too much time dwelling on it.

 

It felt totally surreal as the ride started moving and I realized I was ACTUALLY about to ride an honest-to-god Chance Chaos in 2017. Our car reached skyward, spinning as fast as possible and finally (much to Brit's terror) the ride made the familiar click and violent shuffle that meant our cars were now unlocked. Yeah... I probably should have warned her about that. It really does feel like the ride is about to collapse.

 

The ride started tilting, and somehow we started flipping. Not "rocking in a totally stupid and pointless fashion" per usual, actually f*cking flipping... on a Chance Chaos! Is this some kind of parallel universe?

 

I have no doubt that I had a massive sh*t eating grin on my face for the duration of the ride and I have no doubt that Brit hated the entire thing but I was having way too much fun to notice. As the ride came to a stop (violently... since you can't ride a Chaos and NOT swing the crap out of the cars until the ride forces you to stop swinging by bouncing violently up and down), I was ecstatic. I was on a complete Chaos high. Brit wasn't as big of a fan, but she did seem to hate it less than a lot of inverting flat rides so I guess that's a plus.

 

After riding the old hotness, we directed our attention to the new hotness, El Loco. I was pretty excited for this thing just because of how completely weird it looked and I had heard overwhelmingly positive reviews since the day it opened. The ride had a pretty decent wait, but they moved the cars through faster than I expected them to so we were on in about 20 minutes.

 

IMG_7782.thumb.JPG.821717a13b9b56000e2b45de9e659f34.JPG

Somehow this was my only picture of the ride.

The first thing I noticed as we boarded the train was that (just like Manhattan Express), the "On Ride Photo" was some dude snapping pictures of the car in the station. What the hell, Vegas? The second thing I noticed was that the trains were super cool looking, modern and comfortable. We smiled for the camera, rolled out of the station and made our way up the speedy lift hill, not really knowing what to expect from this weird a** thing.

 

We reached the top of the lift and were met with a blast of heat. Damn, it's hot up near that roof. We rounded a curve, dicked around a little more up near the roof and finally plummeted down a drop that was seriously impressive for a tiny little 4 passenger coaster inside a casino.

 

The rest of the ride is a bit of a blur, but all of it was super weird. This is a wacky little ride. It's basically a Euro-Fighter (and it rides like a Euro Fighter) but with a bunch of screwy Ron Toomer style coathanger transitions and RMC style outward crazy, WTF banked turns all over the place. It's a blast. It's definately a bit unrefined but I think that adds to it's charm.

 

Up next was Canyon Blaster, the park's classic Arrow looper. Back in "the day" (Sh*t did I just say that? F*ck I'm old), this coaster was widely regarded as one of the best Arrow loopers out there. When I visited Las Vegas as a kid, I remember riding it and enjoying it a lot. That was almost 20 years ago though, and since then I've seen a lot of less favorable reviews for the ride so this time I didn't really know what to expect going in. Was the ride getting rougher? Were the negative reviews just a product of the fact that people are spoiled now to the point where they complain about roughness in the corkscrews on B&M floorless coasters? I didn't know but as we hopped into the front row of the back car I was really hopeful that Canyon Blaster still rode like it did when I last rode it in 2001.

 

IMG_7785.thumb.JPG.5dba679d15e5370736035f0d74bbbc16.JPG

Please don't hurt us.

Unlike El Loco, Canyon Blaster was a complete walk-on. That probably didn't bode well, but we told ourselves that it was probably a capacity issue and not due to the fact that we were about to take a massive beating (well, spoiler alert... we WERE about to take a massive beating at Circus Circus, but we were hoping it wasn't going to handed out by Canyon Blaster).

 

We rolled out of the station, rounded the curve and began our trek up the mountain. I love the Canyon Blaster mountain. It's just nice enough to look respectable-ish, but just sh*tty enough to remind you that you're in a giant tourist trap that's so quintessentially "Vegas" that it's almost charming. After crossing over the old Rim Runner track, we made a quick left hand turn and descended down the drop hoping for the best but preparing for the worst...

 

... okay. I have to say, even after all these years this thing is an absolute (get your groans ready) blast. The loops are awesome and incredibly forceful, the coat hanger turn into the corkscrews isn't THAT bad, the corkscrews are great and the Papier-mâché mountain helix finale is really cool and surprisingly intense. It's a little jarring, but it's not rough. It's basically just Kumba's double corkscrew and helix finale but on meth.

 

I'm split on Arrow loopers. I love some and I hate some. I was worried going in, but I really like Canyon Blaster. It's short, but it's intense and relatively smooth. It's not Tennessee Tornado smooth or Loch Ness Monster smooth, but for an old school Arrow that's loaded with high speed turns, it's really good! I know most people give this designation to El Loco by default, but I actually think Canyon Blaster is the best coaster in Vegas. I like El Loco though, and for a $20 a night sh*thole Casino this place has a great 1-2 coaster punch.

 

If we had more time we could have stayed at the Adventuredome for hours but we didn't really want to spend our whole day in Vegas at an amusement park so we decided to ride one last ride and then head out. I love Canyon Blaster and El Loco was super cool but there was honestly no chance in hell of me making either of those our final ride of the day. Brit probably would have lobbied for Canyon Blaster under normal circumstances, but she puts up with my bullsh*t and instinctively followed me over to my beloved Chance disaster ride that caused me to drop 40 bucks in cab fare in the first place.

 

I'll admit, it was sort of sad knowing I was probably hopping onto a Chance Chaos for the last time. I practically grew up on this thing. Every year since the year I was born we go on a week long family vacation to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. I was riding the Paratrooper at Funland in mom's arms before I was old enough to talk (those were the days, am I right?). As I got older, I remembered graduating to their bigger and scarier rides. It took me years of staring at their Chance SeaDragon before I finally worked up the nerve to ride it. Conquering that was a big deal, but there was one more ride I needed to conquer.

 

For years, I remembered watching the "Wagon Wheeler" ride while riding the nearby kiddy rides or standing in line for the Paratrooper. It was sort of like a more modern version of the Knoebels Loooper, only you didn't control it yourself. I wanted to ride it for years, but always chickened out at the thought of riding a ride that went upside-down. That seemed absolutely crazy to me.

 

the-wagon-wheeler--rip_5755629500_o.thumb.jpg.71f450f81bc442f86d6dbedf8764b834.jpg

Funland's old "Wagon Wheeler". Image pulled from FunlandRehoboth.com.

 

Finally, after years and years I worked up the nerve. I was probably about 10 years old, and I could barely wait to go down to Funland and ride it. As soon as we got to the beach after our 5+ hour trek down, I waited about as patiently as you would expect a ten year old to wait as mom and dad unloaded the car. After packing up that poor Pontiac with 2 kids and a weeks worth of crap, driving 5 hours in traffic with kids in tow and then unloading everything the car, I'm sure my parents wanted nothing more than to have a drink, sit on the porch and look at the ocean but too f*cking bad. I was annoying little sh*t and I wanted to go to Funland.

 

As we made our way down the boardwalk, my anticipation grew. I was scared sh*tless, but I was going to do it. We reached the park, walked through the arcade, walked up to Wagon wheeler and...

 

It was gone. Not only was it gone, but it was replaced by a much larger and more terrifying contraption known simply as "Chaos".

 

Oh sh*t...

 

I was ready for Wagon Wheeler but this thing looked terrifying. I was definitely close to wimping out but after as much of an "internal struggle" as my 10 year old mind was capable of at the time, I reluctantly decided to do it. We bought our tickets, made our way over and hopped on. I was terrified as we reached skyward, heard the "you're f*cked click" and started to tilt but by the end of the ride I was hooked. Forget Wagon Wheeler...I conquered Chaos! I went upside down and it wasn't scary! It was fun!

 

Fast forward to the present (well... a couple months ago), I was thrilled to be able to ride a Chaos again but I knew I was most likely doing it for the last time. I pulled down the weird locking thing, the ride operator checked the ride and we were on our way. It was awesome, nostalgic and a little sad all at the same time. This time, the ride gave a much more typical Chaos ride. It did a lot of rocking, but very little flipping. It was basically like taking a disappointing tilt a whirl ride and flipping it on it's side but I was okay with that... that was Chaos. Our first ride was the Chance Chaos they probably advertised in their sales material that was basically a bunch of bullsh*t, our second ride was a real Chaos ride. Fun but frustrating, in no way "Chaotic" but still an absolute laugh fest.

 

As we touched back down to earth, I was loving life. It was almost surreal riding one of these things again and as sh*tty as they are, I love them. We tried to get off, but it locked us in and the operator had to release us manually. We couldn't help but laugh. This ride is such a piece of sh*t but whatever. As pathetic as it is, that sh*tty little ride in an equally sh*tty casino was one of the highlights of a trip already loaded with highlights. Thanks Adventuredome for keeping this abortion of a ride running for some inexplicable reason.

 

6PFSl3e.gif

Goodbye you wonderful sh*tty thing.

 

===============================================

 

Up next: The Finale of our Vegas Trip, featuring the world's tallest Ferris wheel and another type of wheel that we really should have stayed away from. lol

Edited by coasterbill
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My parents used to take me and my sister to CC when we were younger and give us a roll of quarters where we would spend hours playing video games while they gambled. Yeah, no cell phones or any other way to communicate other than Mom saying, "Meet me at the giant staircase in one hour". Then we'd meet, get another roll of quarters and off we'd go for another hour to play video games. If she was buzzed and winning, sometimes we'd get two rolls each.

 

I loved the vibe and (even then) the overall cheesiness of it. There was no Adventuredome, but they had Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man (remember the little pinball machine?) and even Super f%cking Pac-Man in their arcades...and that was all that meant anything to me back then (although, yeah...an indoor amusement park would have been the icing on the cake).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great report! Glad you enjoyed El Loco. The one at Indiana Beach was really weird, but enjoyable...until it got stuck on the brake run and shut down for the day. Was this one braked to the point that it didn't provide air? It was still wild on Steel Hawg, but it's the first beyond vertical drop I can think of that didn't launch me towards the clouds.

 

I know I'll make it out to Vegas someday and I really hope Chaos is still running, but I'm not holding my breath. Since you seem to be a Chaos expert, are the ones at Adventuredome and Keansburg the only ones remaining? I feel like I should get to Keansburg for that reason, but I really haven't heard anything positive about that place.

 

Also that Wagon Wheel ride looks awesome and totally messed up. It's a shame it disappeared.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's some great writing. You had me hooked on your Chaos story; very well done.

 

That said, F*ck Chaos. I've never been on one, and I'm never going on one. Just, absolutely, no.

 

Really glad you enjoyed El Loco, though. I rode the hell out of Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach a couple of years ago. That ride is so good. Not surprised with how much you love Mystery Mine, as the El Locos (Los Locos?) do the same sort of bank right but turn left stuff.

 

I think if I ever go to Vegas, Circus Circus would be a must visit. Seems like my sort of place. I love places that exist in the grey area between sh*tty and awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

 

As having operated a Chaos at (Martin's) Fantasy Island, you are right in stating that the ride is a piece of shit that can fall apart any second. Once I managed to get a tub stuck upside-down when the ride stopped... normally you use the little black button next to each carriage to electronically release the tilting mechanism (meaning they would be stuck for a tiny bit before you run over to them)... but alas the breaker blew on the mechanism so I had someone stuck upside-down for about 15 minutes while maintenance came to do their thing. At least the guest thought it was funny and didn't call 911 as I tried to calm then down, lol.

 

I did love loading and balancing the ride though as much of a pain in the ass it was. The creeky sounds and clunking always added to the excitement, too :-P

 

Good times.

Edited by anonymouscactus
Link to comment
Share on other sites

really glad you got to ride Chaos!

 

I loved the one they had at SFFT, and hated when that went away (same thing with their Enterprise, which they had gotten from SFoT where it used to be called Spinnaker).

 

hopefully when we next get back to Vegas, I'll get a spin on a still operating Chaos! (we have to go back, so I can ride El Loco, they were building it last time we were there). . . and it's a guarantee we'll be back at Circus Circus! as the steakhouse there is one of my top 3 place to eat in Vegas (the other two being Peppermill, and the WickedFork at Cosmopolitan).

 

seriously, the steakhouse at CircusCircus rocks, and you'd never expect a place that high quality, with that high quality food buried off the most tacky area of the casino (across from the main tower elevators). If you ever go back, give it a shot.

 

https://www.circuscircus.com/en/restaurants/the-steak-house.html

 

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQAXNTN45IGr5J4j-5eFFlR7ll0gGVuVAhDDFr2A2Etu3WZCaR22Q

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first and only Chaos was in 2006, during the TPR UK Tour ~ at Southport Pleasureland.

Which was pretty run down at the time we were there. Their wood Mad Mouse was still

running. And their big wood coaster was running good, too. This Chaos was just "there,"

on the grounds.

 

And I wanted to ride it. So I did. No big deal I remember. But never ridden it, since.

 

Back to your great trip, Bill.

chaos.jpg.6bf709a2933e55d18aab9615e9506f6a.jpg

The old Chaos at Southport. Photo from the net. And it's a much newer photo, with SLC in back (now at Blackpool as Infusion).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember Valleyfair's old Chaos. Being scared to death of the thing just watching it, before finally riding it and nearly giving my pre-pubescent self whiplash. And then I was upset when it was unceremoniously removed for...grass. Nothing but grass for a few years. And then finally a new ride was announced for that spot and it was: Larson Flying Scooters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DUDE! My first Chaos was the one at Rehoboth Beach, too! My mom and her friend scrounged together enough money for our collective families to rent a house down in Rehoboth for two weeks back in the late 90s (1998?), and on our first night there, we were exploring the boardwalk and came across it. Never seeing one before, I was both eager and nervous to give it a try. I think I ended up spending at least a third of the two weeks parked on that thing. I was super excited to see one installed at SFGAdv the next year.

 

Glad to hear you got a nice hit of nostalgia!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Well surprise surprise, somebody's been slacking. I guess I should try to get up-to-date before the season starts again, so on to the next installment of my Las Vegas report. EDIT: I started writing this before the season started again... so much for that. LOL

We left the Adventuredome and began to make our way back through the endless maze of the Circus Circus casino. I've never been a casino guy. Brit and I went to a casino in Pennsylvania a few years ago where they gave you a free $20 card upon entry since we were in the area and it was about -2 degrees outside and we had nothing better to do. We sat at some super complicated slot machines, lost all of the money within minutes at games we didn't even understand and bailed without spending a dime of our own money. It was sh*t.

 

That said, we came across a Roulette table and felt like we should probably play just because we were in Vegas and it was the thing to do. There wasn't a dealer, but there was an actual wheel under glass and a ball that launched out of a tube and onto the wheel. I don't really love the idea of video roulette, but with a real ball and a real wheel I was all in. I actually looked at the lack of a dealer as a plus since we know nothing about casinos, casino etiquette or the game we were about to blow money on.

 

We put a 20 in the machine, and attempted to make a bet. The first few attempts went terribly, but eventually we found a helpful compulsive gambler who was sitting there looking defeated with his head in his hands who had most likely pissed his life away at this game. Thankfully he was nice enough to show us what to do so that we could start making some horrible life decisions of our own and a few minutes later, we successfully placed a bet and promptly lost 3 bucks.

 

We quickly figured out that the only way to really have any fun with this game was to bet evens and odds or reds and blacks so you had **ALMOST** a 50% chance of actually winning so you won a lot and got a lot of false hope in the process. After playing for a few minutes and getting a drink or two I was finally forced to admit to myself that I was sort of loving it. Sh*t. I really, really hated that I was loving it because I know me.

 

One nice thing was that the machines took actual, physical money (and not a game card) so you couldn't be too much of an a**hole and lose track of what you were doing. We each decided to drop 40 bucks in and that's it. I was up for awhile, but I eventually ended up blowing it. Brit on the other hand was quite the high roller. I don't want to brag but she pretty much took Vegas by storm.

 

IMG_7788.thumb.JPG.77b6adbb5a097901a570518ae2a674e2.JPG

High Roller in the house!!!! Brit **won** SIX DOLLARS!!!!

After having an absolute blast drinking in the casino, we finally decided to head out for our own good. It took us awhile to find the exit (which is by design), but we eventually did and hopped in a cab over to the High Roller.

 

IMG_7789.thumb.JPG.cc4f015fc87ce50a1d5052c9e078405e.JPG

It's high alright...

I'm one of those weird "morning people" you hear so much about but never actually meet in real life so I was up early that morning looking at things to do in Vegas and came across the High Roller. There are tons of cool things to do along the strip, but this one seemed pretty cool and unique and there was an awesome promo code online so I snatched it up and bought us two day tickets.

 

Big time High Roller tip: they sell day and night tickets with night tickets being way more expensive but pay close attention to what constitutes "day" and what constitutes "night". Since it was November, the sun set very early so it turned out that you could use the cheap day ticket to hop on the wheel at sunset which (in my mind) is the ideal time to ride and should really demand a premium. Their night time rate didn't actually kick in until an hour or so after it got dark so you could easily save like 20-30 bucks per person on night rides depending on what type of experience you buy.

 

There are two types of cars on the High Roller, one is a standard car and one is an open bar car. I'm about to disappoint all of you, but we actually went with the former since I had to return the rental car soon after. The good news was that there's a full bar in the boarding area so you could grab a drink and bring it with you on the standard cars if you'd like to drink on the wheel but not get totally blitzed.

 

As weird as it is, I didn't really know much about the High Roller going in but apparently it's the world's tallest Ferris wheel at 550 feet which is pretty damn cool. It's also one of those ultra modern ones that loads as it's moving and moves at a snail's pace (taking 30 minutes to make one rotation). The line moved quickly and we stepped into our pod with 20 or so other people, excited to finally check out one of these new modern ferris wheels.

 

IMG_7791.thumb.JPG.c83e4a7ef3a8ac9fdba0db0aac90f691.JPG

Going up!

The experience is actually really cool. There's a 30 minute recording that tells you a bit about Las Vegas and the surrounding area that's coordinated with the ride. In addition, the wheel moves so slowly that this is really an experience suitable for pretty much anyone. The entire experience reminded me more of a trip to the top of the Empire State building than a standard ferris wheel ride. Even if you hate ferris wheels, you'll probably enjoy High Roller.

 

IMG_7807.thumb.JPG.76e1bc845861a1746e1e8a97764c63a5.JPG

Look at that view...

IMG_7802.thumb.JPG.e49516d74a0da90abac066976040509d.JPG

This thing is super cool...

IMG_7811.thumb.JPG.420b0da8b02045a01b06e4b23f9dd2a5.JPG

Our resident "high roller" on the High Roller.

Once the sun had set and we touched back down to earth we began clock watching a little. It was a shame we had to rush since The LINQ (where the wheel is located) is actually pretty awesome, but we had a flight to catch and we had one last stop to make on the way. Still... we ducked in a few shops and grabbed a few pictures of The LINQ promenade area.

 

IMG_7821.thumb.JPG.fdf3ec4c2d74a054cee8d29a42256e0f.JPG

This place is great!

Unfortunately it was just about the top of the hour, so after a minute or two of wandering around we hustled out of there and across the street to our last stop; the Bellagio. In-case you've been living under a rock, the Bellagio is famous for it's amazing fountain shows which happen every half hour from mid afternoon to late at night. The shows are obviously free, and due to the convenient location and minimal timeinvestment required combined with the spectacular show I would never dream of going to Vegas without watching it at least once. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid and Brit had never seen it period so we were pretty excited to check it out and with about 2 minutes to spare we managed to find an open spot along the railing.

 

IMG_7828.thumb.JPG.869f63f1143ccd68c9c77f6b33fdc446.JPG

After grabbing a passable photo I decided to just put the phone down and enjoy the show. It may not be the greatest photo of the show ever taken, but I think I made the right call.

The show was awesome and probably even better than I remembered. The coordinated fountains are really cool, and watching them blast water over 450 feet in the air is insane. They sound like Fireworks when they go off which really gives the show a cool "wow factor". Part of me wishes I got some better pictures or shot a video, but honestly there are tons of pictures and videos out there already that will never do it justice so about 30 seconds in I decided to just put the phone down and really take it all in. In the end I'm glad I did, it was amazing.

 

Unfortunately once the show ended it was time to head back to the car. We hated to leave, but a the same time we couldn't really think of a much better way to end our trip with a bang than with a sunset ride on the world's tallest ferris wheel and a Bellagio fountain show. We could have taken a cab, but instead decided to make the mile or so walk on the strip and take in the cool nighttime atmosphere. The strip as a whole has a great vibe. It basically feels like a cleaner and less annoying Times Square with better alcohol laws and less Elmos facing sexual harassment lawsuits.

 

IMG_7832.thumb.JPG.49afc850384a4bd5e29ad44f2dbe219c.JPG

The strip at night is a sight to behold.

While it was a mile walk, it felt like it went by in no time since the entire strip is pretty much full sensory overload and before we knew it we were in the car and on our way to the airport (or rather on our way to the rental car return place that's nowhere near the f*cking airport). We dropped the car and grabbed a shuttle without issue this time and before we knew it we were back in one of the nicer airports in America reminiscing about what a great trip we just had. Our trip was already amazing and we were more than satisfied, but there was one last surprise waiting for us.

 

Ever since Brit had first heard about Frontier Airlines naming planes after animals she was super hyped at the prospect of flying on one of their planes in particular. Right before we were about to board she ducked into a gift shop so I made my way over to the windows near our gate just to take a peek. With so many planes in their fleet the chances were almost nonexistant but... wait... is that seriously? It can't be. Let me get a little closer. Holy sh*t.

 

I didn't say a word and made my way back to the gift shop wondering how long it would take her to notice. As we approached the gate, she pretty much lost her sh*t.

 

IMG_7834.thumb.JPG.0c9b1393dac473073ac4af3d5f5c5c1c.JPG

Welcome aboard Air Shamu!

PS: Look at this coaster dork

 

While I'm not a fan of red eye flights, there was something pretty entertaining about waking up every 20 minutes or so (you try sleeping in a middle seat on Frontier Airlines), looking out the window and seeing a giant flashing Shamu on the winglet. Our plane actually landed super early too as Shamu is apparently quite the overachiever. It was so early that they didn't even have anyone to park us yet and we got to watch the guy run across the tarmac full speed. That'll teach you to underestimate Air Shamu. Orcas are stupid fast, if they had went to SeaWorld they would have known that.

 

When we got to our car it was about 4am and I had already been awake for about 18 hours (aside from a few cat naps on the plane). We hadn't booked a hotel yet since I assumed I would just see how I felt when we landed, but I felt pretty good and the thought of an empty beltway seemed too surreal and too amazing to pass up. I got in the car and figured I'd drive the 45 minutes to Maryland and get a hotel. We blew through DC for the first time ever (since it was 4am) and I was feeling good so I just decided to keep pushing. "Well, we might as well get through Baltimore", "Well, we might as well get through the construction in Delaware", "Well, now the sun's up and we're already in New Jersey so we might as well just go home". In the back of my mind I always sort of assumed that would happen.

 

By the time we got home after being awake for over 24 hours straight, a 6 hour drive and a 5 hour plane ride we were exhausted but it was also absolutely worth it. Between Vegas and the Canyons it's a trip neither of will soon forget and I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

 

...Just don't take roulette advice from either of us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonderful report! I'll be going to Vegas for my first time when I fly out to Cali this July. Most definitely I'm going to Adventuredome, and I really enjoyed the pictures from the High Roller Ferris Wheel. I'll be sure to add that as well!

 

if you've never been? for sure stop to watch the Mirage Volcano (as well as the Belagio fountains).. . . and go down to Freemont to watch the Freemont Street Experience over the covered street -- if you time the evening correctly (and like seafood) you can even do the Golden Nugget's fantastic Seafood buffet they only offer once a week.. used to be on Fridays, but not sure).

 

and great trip report Bill! glad to see you finish it up. Next time you go, try the Wheel of Fortune slot machines. .those are brilliantly addictive too! (we pull the handle to spin every time, which makes it last longer). . LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great report! The High Roller is one of the best attraction names out there and looks like a great way to take in the skyline. I'll definitely take your advice on boarding around sunset to save some money.

 

As for the casinos, I know I'll be tempted to play if I ever go to Vegas, but I remember just how addicting that old Colorama arcade game was. That thing ate up a ton of my tokens so I'm sort of horrified what a full on roulette wheel would do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vegas is weird to me. You would think that as a person who previously had a REALLY bad gambling problem (no, really) that I would love it, but now there are casinos everywhere you go. If you want to gamble, why spend money on a flight and all that jazz. That being said, there are other great things about Vegas, one of my favorite meals I've ever had was in Vegas, and the theming is interesting... well, maybe once or twice. I don't know, I guess I don't really get it anymore. Then again I've been "sober" for a few years now. (and can now go on coaster trips all the time!)

 

The other fun memory Vegas, outside of earning free rooms and meals, was this awesome place:

 

http://www.pinballmuseum.org

 

Seriously, it's awesome.

 

Anyway, great report as always! Glad Brit finally got to ride Shamu, lol. Not even the trainers can do that anymore; :-P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/