2012jarrett Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) So my awesome cousin and her awesome husband invited me to fly out to Las Vegas to visit them for a week this summer. While Las Vegas wouldn't normally be my first choice of place to spend frequent flyer miles, there I would have a place to stay and transportation (not old enough to rent a car) and somebody else to go with, so I decided to book it and hit up the city of lights! We also decided to make the 4-hour drive to LA to hit up Six Flags Magic Mountain while we were out there, so I was totally up for it! Me about to brave my fear of flying in the Dayton Airport listening to the 80's music in the terminals...that conveniently includes the Top Gun soundtrack. Dayton Airport's old and new control towers. You can imagine the look on my face when I looked out the window and saw that I would be flying to my connection in Cleveland in this city bus-sized plane! I'm claustrophobic, no thanks! ...my window WOULD be near the wing and the propeller! Flying over the Ohio landscape to the sound of the awful drone of the propeller...this trip wasn't off to a fun start! Landed in Cleveland-Hopkins and I got an urge to photograph the second I saw this... Me being artsy. Gah, don't build nice installations like this around me! Got my Great Lakes Brewing Company cred waiting for the next flight! I was looking at the menu (and ended up ordering a Mountain Dew and a sandwich for the plane) but this caught my eye. Yes, a BLT Bloody Mary with bacon in it. -_- Bacon in a drink...WHY??? Time to go! Taking off I got this beautiful shot of the sun setting over Lake Erie. The grilled chicken sandwich from Great Lakes was the bomb! Good flavoring on the chicken and chips, and the spiced mayo wasn't half bad either. Definitely something I recommend for this airport. Just another nice shot. Flew over the snowy peaks of the Rockies, so that was kind of cool. Wanna go skiing? We flew for a few more hours and then all of a sudden there's this giant field of light on the horizon...and I knew it couldn't possibly be anything else! Hours upon hours of flying and I was finally here! Got lost in the airport but I found my cousin! After getting picked up we went to Longhorn Casino, one of the local casinos on the outskirts, for dinner. Couldn't gamble but I have to admit, seeing all of those slot machines in one room was a tad overwhelming. Steak & Lobster dinner for $9.99, viva Las Vegas! After that we went to my cousin Brittany's sister Haley's place to see if she wanted to go to The Linq with us to ride High Roller. She declined...but I got to see Prince, her kitten! And from there we hit the strip! Now HERE'S where it gets fun! Finally at The Linq! Yes...a cupcake ATM. I was pleased to see the fountain lights synced to the lights on High Roller. High Roller looks small from afar, but as you get closer, you realize just how absolutely massive it is. Cute mural in the ticket building. I have my ticket! World's tallest observation wheel, here we come! Into the queue we go! The final cattlepen was really cool. They had cool designs flashing on the TV screens and rave music playing. Brittany and I pretty much had to book it through the cattlepen because there was a group of very loud drunk people discussing some pretty crazy things they planned to do that cabin...the same cabin in which we did NOT want to be trapped for 30 minutes. Our chariot awaits! Brittany and I's first time on High Roller! Let's do this! It goes really slowly so it's more like a Space Needle that you can't get off of than an actual ride. So massive! Ride to the top is a tad boring, but once you crest the first quarter of the wheel it becomes breathtaking. Pretty nice view of part of the strip. Just hangin' out 400 feet in the air...and I'm somewhat nervous. I'm really proud of this shot! There's The Mirage! Having watched The Hangover on the way over and seeing Caesar's Palace around town was awesome. Flamingo and Caesar's This is the fifth Eiffel Tower I've seen...with Flamingo off to the side. This is The Cromwell, a new casino opening downtown where my cousin was hired. Flamingo and Bellagio! I have conquered High Roller! I really love the LED system. I thought it was just to enhance the view of the wheel from outside but it adds a dimension to the ride itself. Even nearing the station it's still really high. Returning to The Linq! We are now officially High Roller veterans! Just a nice shot I got on the exit ramp... What a fun ride! Definitely do this when you're in Vegas, I loved it! Beautiful view of the strip, it goes so high up and provides such a nice view! Seeing that sea of lights span over the horizon on one side and the lights of the strip on the other side really make this a must-do in the city of lights! TOMORROW: Circus Circus Adventuredome for El Loco and Canyon Blaster and New York New York for The Roller Coaster Edited May 6, 2014 by 2012jarrett
bert425 Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 cool to see the pics, and the wheel in action. so the "Cromwell" appears to be what used to be "Bill's Gamblin Hall" I guess it's still owned by Harrah's/Ceasar's entertainment? hehe . although the "editor" in me, simply MUST point out that the Strip is not "Downtown" So the Cromwell is actually a new Casino on the Strip. Downtown is Freemont Street -- hope you got to go there to check it out, the lightshow is amazing.
2012jarrett Posted May 6, 2014 Author Posted May 6, 2014 cool to see the pics, and the wheel in action. so the "Cromwell" appears to be what used to be "Bill's Gamblin Hall" I guess it's still owned by Harrah's/Ceasar's entertainment? hehe . although the "editor" in me, simply MUST point out that the Strip is not "Downtown" So the Cromwell is actually a new Casino on the Strip. Downtown is Freemont Street -- hope you got to go there to check it out, the lightshow is amazing. *Thanks! *My cousin says it's brand new, but it is owned by Caesar's. *The strip IS actually in Paradise, but it's still a busy urban district, so that's why I called it that. *We were on Fremont street during the day. No lights on...VERY weird! -x- Day 2 Sorry this wasn't up yesterday. We had internet issues. First, I thought I'd share with you the fabulous High Roller shirt I got yesterday. Started the day at Fremont Street, in the REAL Las Vegas city limits. The TV screens overhead weren't on because it was daytime but it was still cool to see...and I saw the Bearded Bride I had heard about! Just an artsy shot I got of it. You can zipline off of the world's tallest slot machine! I didn't but seeing people zipping over you was kind of cool. Slenderman! It makes for some good artsy shots...but Fremont Street as a whole was so weird! After this we went to Sam's Town outside of the strip for Cinco de Mayo. My grandpa on my cousin's side (who passed away from lung cancer in 2006) loved going to the Sam's Town in Tunica, Mississippi. The Mexican place there was inside of a natural lit food court designed to look like an outdoor forest. I love this shot! Willie & Jose's was so good! Had a HUMONGOUS seafood enchilada! I got up waiting for our food to call my parents when I saw it was 11 pm Ohio time and I wanted to speak to them before they went to bed when I hear all this music and water start. I wrapped up our call and went over to the waterfall setup to see that they did a laser and water show on it...and I got some great long exposure shots! I'm sorry, but this one is absolutely gorgeous. It wrapped up after a while and we finished eating...off to the strip for my first +1 of the trip! Hello fake New York Cityyyyy!!! I actually freaked out a bit seeing a crappy Togo because while I knew it belonged in one of those medieval torture museums, it looked great up on that building like that. It was dark so I couldn't get a lot of good pictures of it. Here we go! Jarrett's first Togo, coming right up! You have to drive under it to park. The actual coaster doesn't have a big height difference, but the lift is enormous. I hate that they stopped calling it Manhattan Express but the new logo is kind of cool. The queue was somewhat nicely themed but the former theatre geek in me wished they played Broadway music in the cattlepen. NYC from Annie or Manhattan from My Favorite Year (which I was in my junior year) would fit perfectly, among many other Broadway showtunes written about New York. Let's go ride! But first...let me take a selfie! Me trying to smile for the camera through the shear pain. Ouch! Can somebody please tell me what the point of those little half-OTSRs is other than to have something with which to hit your head when you go through some of those elements? I watched the POV before we left and I was sitting there trying to make a mental note of which transitions looked bad, and I found all the bad ones, but they were WORSE in person! That first high turn out of the drop is gross, the dive loop is awful, and that turn into the helix felt like somebody hit fast forward on one of those no heartlining Arrow transitions. However, I have to say, I've ridden much worse. Ninja at SFOG makes this feel like Millennium Force, and riding it at night on the FREAKING VEGAS STRIP was sick! And that loop and helix! Not a top tenner for me but I had some degree of painful fun on it! Somebody get me this wall trim NOW!!!!! After a decent pummeling we headed down the strip for Bellagio Fountain. Paris and Planet Hollywood Welcome to the Bellagio! Hello, Bellagio Fountain! You're my cousin's favorite spot in Vegas! The show was not only spectacular but also easy to photograph. They did Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Billy Jean, and All That Jazz. Sinusoidal wave pattern...somewhat! YES!!! LOVE this shot! The cousin and I at The Bellagio! Neat shot from the Billy Jean show. While I am a good photographer and somewhat knew what I was doing when I took these, no picture can do this justice. This is something that has to be experienced in person. I love how a picture can capture the hidden instantanous effects in these shows that being there can't, though. Dancing jets! These things could FLY. Those water jets could shoot over ten stories up in the air and unfortunately, I can't say I ever saw them shoot it insanely high. It's somewhat underutilized technology in my opinion. Moved towards the center near Paris to watch the last show we were planning to see. A nice shot from "All That Jazz." I had photographing the jets down to a science by the time the night was over. The ones that lack height actually photograph really well. Got some good use of texture in this one. Yet another nice one. Goodnight, Bellagio! Walking back through New York New York to get to the car, I noticed that Manhattan Express's brake run and turn go right through the building. The best arcade ever! Goodnight, Manhattan Express! That's a prime spot for a coaster and it's a beautiful casino, but the coaster is just so vile! I wish they could maybe bulldoze Manhattan and put something else there. Maybe Gerstlauer could use their experience making traveling structures for Eurofighters like Iron Shark to get a Karacho/Smiler style infinity coaster up there? Day 3 Today was our last day of the trip in Vegas and Brittany and I made the best of it at Circus Circus Adventuredome...during a desert zombie apocalypse. El Loco was the ride I was most excited about and I FLIPPED when I saw this in the elevator! Can I get this mural on my wall? Seeing these signs together was awesome... The first thing I noticed upon getting in was the source of that rosy tint that all pictures of Circus Circus seem to have. I always thought that the windows were clear...they're actually pink! That being said, Canyon Blaster looks fabulous snaking around the rock like that upon getting in. I see you, El Loco! They were still testing El Loco when we got there so we rode Canyon Blaster first. As Hyde said, it's incredibly smooth and I experienced almost zero headbanging. The interaction with the rest of Adventuredome is incredible and feels like a roller coaster tour of the complex! We rode it in the front and it has officially surpassed Corkscrew as my favorite Arrow Looper. And the end after the corkscrews in the dark is incredibly aggressive. Definitely ride this one if you get the chance. Such a fun coaster! Onto El Loco! But first...let me take a selfie! They were still testing it long after the park opened so a small line (by that I mean <15 people) had formed. I did find it cool to watch them test it at least. Testing 1 2 3... Okay, El Loco is sick! The lift is nice and fast and gets you up to the top of the glass dome, the first turn is nice and snappy, and the drop was absolutely bonkers! I wasn't expecting just a small, straight drop to have that much power! I couldn't help but grab the bar. From the drop it's back up into the first MCBR through this nice twisty climb. After that is the outward banked turn which is absolutely nuts and feels like you're about to be dumped out simply because of how unnatural that feeling is. From there it's an inward banked turn into the world's screwiest dive loop. It hangs you upside down, turns to the side (no painful kink like pictures suggest though, somewhat of a pleasant surprise) and then you just get slammed into your seat. From there it's a turn, another climb, a pullout full of airtime, and a turn into the second MCBR. From there is the grand finale. It banks to the side, but I'll warn you, this isn't the playful twisty trick track you'd find on Big Thunder Mountain that wiggles the train a bit, this suspends you sideways slowly. From there you bank back around counterclockwise into the final dive loop roll...and your butt leaves the seat! I felt myself being dangled by just the restraint with nothing else in contact with my body, it was terrifying! This was my first and hopefully not last S&S El Loco and I'd definitely advise riding this one if you ever get the chance as well as Canyon Blaster! In my book, it's the best coaster in Vegas! And we rode it again, this time in the back. Not much of a difference to be honest and I like the front row better. Canyon Blaster in the back was next...and we were the only ones on it! Whoosh! Next up was Sling Shot, possibly the most vile tower ride ever. First off, Brittany and I got seated on opposite sides of the tower to balance the weight out so it seemed a tad sketchy that having all the weight on one side was a problem. And I have to admit, it was GROSS. I was cool riding it because it was a shorter tower ride but it was just such a painful launch! The view from the top was nice, though. :? And we went back to do El Loco again...and it was a walk-on! A new for 2014 ride was a walk on! The Adventuredome ride ops were really nice, and the El Loco team was even nice enough to get Brittany and I's picture having El Loco to ourselves! Meanwhile I DID get spited on Chaos. They had a dremmel out and were either sanding or cutting something, and sparks were flying. I had never seen them fix a ride where it required cutting. And then we left. Nobody at the park, but it was so small that we were able to do everything we wanted in an hour. Spot the El Loco car! As dated as it is, Adventuredome is a really nice park. You can't look at this and deny that it looks fabulous. I wanted a Circus Circus souvenir so we walked through the casino...they were advertising El Loco EVERYWHERE. This is opposite the escalator to the bottom level. My grandmother on my dad's side (same side where my cousin and the grandpa mentioned in the Sam's Town portion of yesterday's TR) passed away a few weeks ago last year. This was her favorite slot machine. You can gamble EVERYWHERE in Vegas. I'm making Korean Barbecue for dinner tonight and we went to get the stuff...they have virtual poker at the grocery store! Been there done that! Me chilling out back at my cousin's apartment complex...on fake grass because there isn't grass in Las Vegas. Well, Vegas, it's been real. Can't wait to do SFMM and KBF in the coming days!
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