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I still think the best roller coaster ride ever in Vegas was Speed at Nascar Cafe. I'm still a little bummed that the ride closed and I think it's still wasting away in some abandoned lot.

 

Agreed, Speed was such a fun little coaster. And if I remember correctly, they ran two cycles for each ride purchased. It's a shame that another casino or park didn't buy it from the Sahara. I would've loved to see it wedged into the Adventuredome somehow.

Edited by VegasBaby
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That Romulan Ale does things to you... I found out the next day!

 

I don't know about you, but I sure ended up praying to the porcelain god for a while.

 

I didn't want to get graphic, but for me, I did my business as usual the next morning and stood up to find the water had turned blue. Otherwise I felt totally fine.

 

On another note, Speed — The Ride is still the best coaster we've ever had here. A group of us made sure to get our last rides right before it closed.

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New member here! I remember the boat ride at Luxor. Never did get to go on it, but I wanted to. Also loved Speed the Ride. And anyone remember the High Roller that used to be atop Stratosphere (that many people still mistakenly think is still there)?

 

Of current attractions, while it's more of a tour, I did love Zac Braff's Haunted Museum. Even if not a believer (I'm personally not), the collection of artifacts are amazing!

 

And while I obviously had low expectations, Fear: The Walking Dead attraction downtown was actually better than I thought. Too much time is spent "scanning", and the maze portion is woefully short, but the shooting portion is pretty fun. Imagine Iron Reef with desert zombies, and you get the idea. Again, go in with low expectations (and try to find a discount... it wouldn't be worth full price).

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  • 2 weeks later...

was looking through some old photos and found a bunch of Desperado. back when it was smooth. or, at least i thought it was. looking back over 20 years, was i just able to take it, or was it smooth? anyway, here's some pics, probably from the first or second year of operation. the second hotel tower wasn't built yet at Buffalo Bills. oh, i also came across a few onride photos as well. too funny, i used to take an SLR camera on ride and no one cared. how times have changed, and for good reason.

 

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yVHk0e1zStWkrlRbuMaJxA.thumb.jpg.e7d64a3c59df3339df8786d9d8ca009d.jpg

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^It was never *smooth*, but in the early years it didn't make you pee blood like in the later years!

 

I mean, just look at this transition from your picture...there was no smooth there!

 

LOL, this description will have me giggling well into next week. I've heard plenty of nostalgic remarks that rough Arrows "didn't use to have track like that/they changed it somehow," when said coasters were always awkward -- smooth or not.

 

For example, Steel Phantom had a few deplorable transitions, but people at first overlooked them because the drops and speed were so impressive, and also because comfort standards were just lower. Gift shop merch would have a lot of "I survived" messages. I even remember finding a "Can You Tolerate It?" shirt from Six Flags that showed generic Arrow loops and wonky transitions. I'd like to see Desperado hang in there, but it's been dated for some time.

 

Hooray for better engineering!

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OMG John! You have photos of a butchered train where they used parts of other trains to make one complete, look at the back car! It's a different color!

 

that's so weird i didn't even remember that until i found those photos. those were from i think the first year. they had 3 trains for it too. i know i went to an event in 1995 where they ran at least two trains. but yeah, i don't know what's up with that mish mash of parts. lol

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So a neat little fact. Yes the High Roller at the Stratosphere is gone, but you can go and see the train, its sitting on top of the Hammargren Home.

 

The home actually consists of 3 homes at the intersection of Sandhill and Flamingo, about 5 miles East of the Las Vegas Strip.

 

The home is owned by Dr. Lonnie Hammargren, Lieutenant Governor of Nevada from 1995-1999.

 

More information about the home at a later date, but it has a ton of memorabilia from Las Vegas' past.

 

But the house is normally only open to visit on Nevada Day (End of October).

 

If it's open this year, I will be sure to visit and take photos!

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The actual train from The High Roller

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There was MGM's stab at a theme park, too. I remember riding a mild woodie. But I can't remember the names. Too lazy to look it up as well.

 

Never had a wooden coaster in Vegas (except the faux one at The Boardwalk), it was Lightning Bolt at MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park, an Intamin Jr. Coaster that was first built as an indoor coaster then moved outside when they closed half of the park to build the MGM Grand Conference Center and new pool complex.

 

I have some cool stuff from MGM Grand Adventures that I will post in the future!

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it could have been on Hoarders?

 

YES! It was on an episode of Hoarders

 

I though Hoarders was supposed to highlight disgusting houses full of trash and poop, not awesome houses full of cool stuff. Guess they wanted to branch out, haha.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Been going through some photos lately, and found my photos from the final day of the High Roller's operation at The Stratosphere.

 

This is from 12/30/2005 and the immediate dismantling that started on 1/2/2006.

 

Enjoy the photos!

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High Roller's Control Panel

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Final day of operations

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Head Chopper!

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That skyline sure has changed in the last 13 years!

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Just after the final ride and the ride was powered down for the very last time.

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On 1/2/2006 , restraints were already removed.

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Parts in the lobby of 112

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The front car sat in the lobby of 112 for a few weeks before being brought down.

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This ad always cracked me up, it was still in use when the ride closed, the original train's colors, no OTSR's and the train is traveling in the wrong direction!

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Rest in pieces.

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The entrance to the ride on the 112th floor

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The entrance to the ride on the 112th floor

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Want an even more rare photo? This is the main stairwell of the Stratosphere Tower.

This is the core, three solid legs and the middle is hallow, housing all facilities items, and the elevator shafts are behind the concrete walls.

 

This is looking up from the 4th floor up about a third of the tower. There are two large platforms on the way up for rest and mechanical rooms, but note how the stairwell just hugs one side of the core.

 

Once a year for charity they run the Scale the Strat Marathon for the American Lung Association.

 

Scale the Strat will occur on 2/24/19 at 7AM

 

You can register Here!

 

Stratosphere has 1.644 stairs from the ground up to the Big Shot's loading platform.

Scale the Strat is 1,455 stairs.

Stairwell.JPG.2363474f28f4093467f2e3ce50e0e2e3.JPG

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Climbing that many stairs sounds terrible, but you know, it's not the stupidest decision you could make in Las Vegas.

 

I am sure the stairs are there for people to escape the tower in the event of an emergency that knocks out the elevators. The fire dept may have to climb them but most people would be running down them if they were ever put to use.

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