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March 8, 2009: Las Vegas Trip Day 4 |
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March 6, 2009: Las Vegas Trip Day 2 |
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Return to the Index for Our Las Vegas Trip |
Today, we did a fair amount of walking, this time along the Strip south of Tropicana Avenue. First, we'll take a look at our own hotel, and then go have breakfast. From there, we'll walk along Tropicana Avenue past Hooters Hotel and Casino and the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. We'll cross Las Vegas Blvd. and go through the Excalibur (which we'll look at on another album page) and from there through an enclosed skywalk/mall that will take us right through the lobby of the Luxor Hotel and then into the lobby of the Mandalay Bay. At Mandalay Bay, we'll visit the Shark Reef Aquarium. This evening, we'll all go to a Striesand/Sinatra tribute show.
Hotel #9: The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino
Aerial View and Location
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In the aerial view at left, you can pick out some of the features of the hotel complex that you will see frequently in the pictures that we took of it. Also, to help orient you, I took a picture from street level in front of the Lion (at the corner) looking north up Las Vegas Blvd. You can see the escalator leading up to the skybridge that crosses over the boulevard to New York, New York. To see this picture, click here.
Description
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History
On February 23, 1993, MGM celebrated a "topping off" ceremony with the placement of the last panel of emerald green glass hoisted onto one of the 30‑story hotel towers. A total of 5,005 green balloons were released, each containing a gift certificate valid for one complimentary stay in one of the rooms.
When the latest MGM Grand opened on December 18, 1993, it was owned by MGM Grand Inc. At that time it had an extensive Wizard of Oz theme, including the green "Emerald City" color of the building and the decorative use of Wizard of Oz memorabilia. After entering the casino's main entrance, you would find yourself in the Oz Casino and facing the "Emerald City". Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion were seen in front of the city. The "Emerald City" attraction featured an elaborate yellow brick road walk through. Complete with a cornfield, an apple orchard, the haunted forest as well as audio-animatronic figures of the Scarecrow, Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. It would end at the door of the city, leading inside for a performance of "The Wizard's Secrets". The Oz Casino also featured the "Emerald City Gift Shop" and the "Oz Buffet". This was how we remembered the hotel from our visit here in 1999.
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Originally, the main entrance on the Strip was inside the mouth of a giant cartoon-like version of MGM's mascot, Leo the Lion, but this entrance feature was changed to a more traditional entrance; many Chinese gamblers avoided the casino or entered through the back entrance, due to the feng shui belief that entering the mouth of the lion was "bad luck." In 1998, a large bronze statue of Leo was added above the entrance to keep with the MGM Lion theme, while not scaring away their more superstitious guests. The statue weighs 50 tons, and at 45 feet tall, on a 25-foot pedestal, is the largest bronze statue in the U.S.
When the MGM Grand opened, the intention was to create the first true destination hotel in the Las Vegas area by including the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park behind the casino. The plan was to make the Las Vegas Strip more family friendly by providing activities for children who were too young to be allowed to linger inside the casino. The theme park performed poorly, and did not reopen for the 2001 season. On December 5, 2002, MGM Mirage announced that the former theme park would be developed as a luxury condominium and hotel complex called The Signature.
A monorail was built to connect the MGM Grand to Bally's in 1995. The coming out party for the monorail on behalf of Bally's consisted of showgirls and guys from Jubilee helping the groups to the monorail. Characters from the Wizard of Oz greeted the groups on the MGM side. The track was later updated to became the southernmost section of the Las Vegas Monorail. The station was refurbished, the trains were replaced with Bombardier M-VI's, and the track was extended beyond the southern station to provide for track switching for the trains as well as a starting point for a potential future southern extension to the monorail line.
In 2000, in an attempt to appeal to a more "mature" clientèle, the hotel underwent a major renovation and almost all traces of the "Oz" theme were removed. The theme is now more of the Art Deco era of classic Hollywood and the hotel started billing itself as The City of Entertainment. More recently, the resort has used the phrase, "Maximum Vegas" referring to the vast amount of activities MGM Grand offers its guest. On April 26, 2000, MGM opened a new satellite registration/hotel check-in center at the McCarran International Airport. This is the first of its kind opened by a hotel company at any United States airport. And in 2005, MGM opened the "West Wing," a renovation of the original Marina Hotel rooms.
Picture Gallery
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A Walk to Breakfast
Hotel #10: Hooters Hotel and Casino
Aerial View and Location
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In the aerial view at left, you can see where Hooters is relative to the MGM (and to the place where we've had breakfast two days in a row). When we went by Hooters, we were walking from Coco's towards the Tropicana.
Description
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History
On August 17, 2004 Hooters, Inc. announced that they were taking in a one-third parther and purchasing the hotel from the hotel company that was operating it at the time. The new ownership announced plans to develop and operate a Hooters brand casino and hotel on the site of the Hôtel San Rémo. On April 18, 2005 Hooters announced a $190 million upgrade of the property. The upgrade included increasing the casino to 35,000 square feet and rebranding the property as a Hooters . All of the hotel rooms would be remodeled, the pool would be tripled in size, and the number of restaurants would be increased from 4 to 8 and include the second largest Hooters restaurant in the world. The renovations would reduce the number of rooms to 696 by converting rooms into larger suites.
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Under the Hooters Hotel brand, cash flow has been falling at the property. On March 4, 2008, an investment group purchased the Hooters Casino Hotel for $225 million, announced that it would spend an additional $130 million to redevelop the property and remove and replace the Hooters theme with a "lifestyle, entertainment-driven boutique hotel". However, the deal fell through in June 2008 when the group failed to make a required payment, and so, for now, the property remains a part of the Hooters franchise.
Hotel #11: The Tropicana Hotel and Casino
Aerial View and Location
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I've marked these hotels in the aerial view at left, and you can also see the elevated pedestrian crossings here at this corner along the Strip.
Description
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History
In May 2006, Tropicana Entertainment acquired the Tropicana Resort & Casino Las Vegas from then publicly-traded Aztar Corporation for approximately $2.1 billion in cash. The acquisition was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission on November 17, 2006 and was completed in December of that year. "Bodies: The Exhibition," a presentation of 21 human bodies that have been dissected and preserved for the collection and "Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibition," were featured from 2005 to 2008. Both shows are now at the Luxor.
On November 2, 2006, Tropicana Entertainment publicly announced a $2 billion renovation of the Tropicana to be completed in 2010, making it the largest resort casino in the world. Unlike previous Las Vegas projects however, there will be no demolition of the entire resort. The existing Paradise and Island towers will receive both interior and exterior renovations and 4 new towers will be built on the property (the last will be branded as a separate hotel). The plans included a 100,000-square-foot casino, five hotel towers totaling 10,000 rooms and a sprawling 200,000-square-foot retail promenade. Other amenities will include spas and fitness centers; more than 20 restaurants and lounges; a 1,500-seat entertainment venue for big-name headliners; and a water–ride attraction. Unfortunately, however, all improvements to the property are on hold since the recession began in 2008.
The Folies Bergere Show was the quintessential Las Vegas attraction. The Tropicana Showgirls offered covered and topless shows nightly in the Tiffany Theatre. The show's run began on Christmas Eve, 1959. The show had its final performance on March 28th, 2009. The Folies was the longest running stage production in the United States. No future plans for the Tiffany Theater have currently been announced.
Picture Gallery
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Hotel #12: The Luxor Hotel and Casino
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But before we look at the Luxor, I should say something about how we got from one to the other. These three hotel/casino complexes are connected to each other. There are other pairs of casino/hotels that are so connected so that you don't have to go outside to get between them, notably the Mirage and Treasure Island and Paris/Bally's. These hotels are not only connected with pedestrian walkways, but also by a three-hotel tram system, although it wasn't running today.
We began by entering the Excalibur casino and following the signs south through the cavernous room to the walkway to the Luxor. For most of its length, the walkway is actually a narrow shopping mall- lined by shops and stores. Only where it crosses the street to the Luxor property does it narrow down- to a wide hall with people‑mover belts. You can see the theme change from Medieval to Egyptian as you make the ride through the hallway, and then you are dumped out into the middle of the Luxor's casino.
We spent some time in the Luxor and went outside to view the Sphinx at the front. Once outside, we went ahead and walked along the curving driveway south towards the Mandalay Bay, crossing the street and going up its driveway to enter. We could have taken the pedestrian mall/walkway that links the Luxor and Mandalay Bay, and when we returned later in the afternoon, we did exactly that.
Aerial View and Location
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I've marked these hotels in the aerial view at left, and you can also see the tramway route that connects the three hotels as well as the location of the Sphinx that sits at the front of the Luxor's glass pyramid.
Description
History
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The resort has been home to some popular entertainment attractions in the Las Vegas area. The main level featured the nightclub, RA, which closed indefinitely on July 22, 2006. From 2000 to 2005, the Luxor Theatre was the home of the enormously popular performance-art show Blue Man Group, which has since moved to The Venetian. On February 15, 2006, the main theater became the home of the musical Hairspray which ran until 2006.
In 2006, MGM-Mirage began renovating Luxor. Rooms in the East and West Towers have been refurnished. Two upscale restaurants, Isis and Sacred Sea Room, closed. This space became CatHouse. The RA nightclub, which had previously been one of the most successful in the city but had been seeing reduced attendance in recent years, was shuttered. Replacing it is the Las Vegas branch of LAX, a Los Angeles nightclub, which opened on August 31, 2007, in an event hosted by Britney Spears. The Luxor Steakhouse was renovated and reopened as Tender Steak & Seafood. The former arcade space is now used to host a human bodies exhibition, and the IMAX theater is being renovated to host an exhibition on the RMS Titanic.
Design
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The pyramid is clad in very dark bronze glass, which appears black on clear days and a dark, golden-bronze on overcast days. There are 30 guest-room floors, six higher service floors (including the SkyBeam lamp room) and a large sublevel (originally site of the King Tut museum). Many of the original aesthetics of the external property have been eliminated. The original front water and laser show was the first to succumb. The laser show was stopped due to complaints of stray beams illuminating aircraft on approach to the very nearby international airport. The fountains themselves were removed and replaced by a parking lot and the new tram station. The tram station and tracks hinder the views of the pyramid tower from the strip. The pyramid tower is also rather lost to view as it has been surrounded by the large East/West Towers, the two Mandelay Bay towers and the large auditorium on the southwest side. The pyramid tower has also been transformed into a four‑sided billboard (with three sides in use as of 3-09) for advertisements. Additionally, the Starlight Lighting System - a nightly remote-controlled show of lights along the pyramids corners powered by thousands of circuit boards and computer chips - was scaled back tremendously as it was plagued by faulty equipment and power shutdowns.
The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly upward – it is the brightest beam in the world, and is visible from anywhere in the Las Vegas valley at night, and can be seen at flight level from above Los Angeles, California, over 275 miles (440 km) away. At ground level, on clear nights, the beam could also be seen as far south as Laughlin and even as far north as Mesquite or Beatty. It is directly straight ahead on US-93 in Arizona, north of Kingman, before reaching the Hoover Dam. In the spring, the bright light attracts huge numbers of moths into the light beam, creating a phenomenon that has been likened to snow. Light is generated using 39 Xenon lamps of 7 kilowatts each. The hourly cost, including lamps, electricity, and repairs, is $51 — roughly a weeks' worth of electricity for the average American household. The total light output is rated at 41.5 gigacandela, or 30.2 billion lumens. Hotel engineers, as well as the hotel's own website also claim that the light can be observed from space.
The guest rooms are situated on the outer walls of the pyramid and are reached by riding in so-called "inclinators" (shown in a picture with some of the virtual-reality ride structures that occupy a corner of the upstairs main lobby) that travel along the inner surface of the pyramid at a 39-degree angle. Open hallways leading to the rooms overlook the atrium, which is the largest in the world at 29 million cubic feet.
An IMAX theater (the third such theater in Las Vegas) was closed in 2008; but there is also an IMAX motion simulator ride hosting a variety of rides, including "In Search of the Obelisk," which takes participants into a virtual archeological dig and ReBoot, based on the animated series. The newest attraction on the Atrium level is "Bodies: The Exhibition," which opened on August 2, 2008. The "Atrium Showroom" is home to multiple shows: "Fantasy" (a topless revue), comedian Carrot Top, and the movie/attraction "Pirates 4D". The attractions level also featured the "King Tut Museum", an authentic replica of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The reproduction was based directly on the descriptions of the tomb recorded by Howard Carter, who discovered it in 1922.
Picture Gallery
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The atrium lobby of the Luxor has two levels- with most of the attractions being on the upper level. As we were descending the escalators from the upper level down to the reception lobby, I made a movie so you could see what it was like. |
Hotel #13: The Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino
Aerial View and Location
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I've marked the Luxor on the aerial view at left, and I've also shown you the location of Shark Reef (see below) as well as our general path down to and returning from the hotel today.
Description
History
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The gold coloring of the hotel is a result of gold leaf used on the windows. The resort opened on March 2, 1999, with actors Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, and John Goodman headlining a parade of Harley-Davidson motorcycles through Mandalay Bay's front doors to celebrate the grand opening. The convention center was added in January 2003. When it opened, it was ranked as the fifth largest in the United States. It also offered the largest unobstructed ballroom in the country, at 100,000 sq.ft.
In 2004 a new 43-story tower was opened with 1,120 suites, called THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. The hotel contains 1,117 one-bedroom suites, each at least 750 square feet. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that a condo-hotel called THEplace is planned on land across from the hotel belonging to the Luxor.
Mamma Mia! was the long-term stage production at Mandalay Bay which closed in early January 2009. In its place, a brand new, permanent production of Disney's The Lion King (musical) will open on 15 May 2009. Mandalay Bay features the 11 acres Mandalay Beach with three heated pools, a wave pool with connecting pool for small children, a European-style pool and a lazy river that features a small waterfall. The wave pool features 1.6 million gallons of water and waves in 90-second intervals with heights ranging anywhere from two to four feet. Because of this, it has a strict 48" height requirement. The European-style pool called Moorea, features its own private bar as well as the allowance of female guests to bathe topless. Because of this, Moorea is separated from the rest of the pool by smoked glass windows and has an over-21 requirement. There are also two restaurants at the Beach. The pool area is considered among the best in Greater Las Vegas, winning the 2006 Las Vegas Review Journal's Reader's "Best Pool of Las Vegas" award for the 7th year in a row. One pool remains open throughout the winter months.
In keeping with the resort's tropical theme, it features a saltwater aquarium, the Shark Reef Aquarium, which contains the third largest tank in North America. Shark Reef Aquarium contains numerous other exhibits, including two tunnel-shaped, walk-through aquariums. Another popular attraction is the House of Blues, a venue for live music and a restaurant, with a capacity of approximately 1,800. On the top floor of the hotel is the House of Blues Foundation Room, featuring a dining room, private dining rooms, and a balcony looking down the Las Vegas Strip.
There are 24 restaurants and cafés at the resort. Michael Mina, Charlie Palmer, Hubert Keller, Wolfgang Puck and Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (Too Hot Tamales) are all associated with restaurants on the property.
Picture Gallery
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The Shark Reef Aquarium (inside the Mandalay Bay)
Conceived in the mid 1990's, Mandalay Bay was destined to be different from the moment the concept was born. Included in the initial discussions and designs was something totally different from a Las Vegas perspective - an aquarium - a full size aquarium with cutting edge technology which would prove to be an excellent platform for research, conservation and education. This addition to the property would be recognized as something quite different in the middle of Nevada's high desert. Completed at a cost of nearly $60 million, the fully themed facility was designed with the idea of immersing the visitor into this underwater world in the desert. Since opening on June 20, 2000, Shark Reef Aquarium has hosted over 8 million visitors, and over 100,000 of the Las Vegas Valley's school children have had the opportunity to visit Shark Reef under the school group program. In March 2003, Shark Reef Aquarium became the first animal care facility in the State of Nevada to be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Shark Reef Aquarium is an exciting journey through a slowly sinking temple overcome by some of the most dangerous predators in the world. View a diverse cross-section of magnificent aquatic creatures, including 100 sharks, (15 species in all) along with exotic fish, reptiles and sea turtles. Featuring more that 2,000 animals, Shark Reef Aquarium is comprised of nearly 1.6 million gallons of water in 14 exhibits, including rare Golden Crocodiles, Piranha, a Touch Pool Experience and over 30 sharks in an underwater world.
We had to stand in line for tickets for about ten minutes, and we took the opportunity to take a couple of pictures of our group outside the exhibit, and you can see those pictures here and here.
We took quite a few pictures inside the Shark Reef Aquarium, although because of the low lighting levels and the confined spaces, not all of them turned out well. The movies did better, though. I can't remember where each picture or movie was taken, so I am going to borrow the exhibit descriptions from the Shark Reef Web site to try to organize them. Below you'll find a list of these exhibits, and where I can assign a picture or a movie to that exhibit, I will do so. As usual, you can click on an image thumbnail to view a full-size picture, or use the movie player to watch a film.
A1/GOLDEN CROCODILE
Explore this 12,000-gallon freshwater exhibit and come face to face with the highly unusual Golden Crocodile.
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A3/CICHLIDS
A 700-gallon freshwater exhibit is kept at a tropical 78-82 degrees Fahrenheit to house the beautiful and colorful cichlids from one of Earth's most interesting lakes, Lake Tanganyika.
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A4/ASIAN WATER MONITOR
While they resemble the Komodo, the Asian Water Monitor is the 2nd largest lizard in the world and resides in this 960-gallon freshwater exhibit.
A5/AMAZON PREDATORS
Straight from the Amazon River, this 30,000-gallon freshwater exhibit is home to the giant arapaima, arrowana, pacu, and freshwater stingrays.
A6/CARIBBEAN REEF
An underwater paradise awaits in this 44,000-gallon saltwater exhibit featuring parrotfish, pufferfish and other beautiful tropical fish. You can also look at a picture that Fred took of a starfish if you click
here.
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A7/INDOPACIFIC FISHES
A large exhibit for some of our larger residents. In this 144,000-gallon saltwater exhibit you'll be surrounded by sharks, lookdowns and various butterflyfish, angelfish and tangs. If you will use the player at left, you can watch the movie I made of the fish in this exhibit.
A8/TOUCHPOOL
Get up close and personal with stingrays and horseshoe crabs in this 2,500-gallon saltwater interactive touch exhibit.
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A9/VENOMOUS FISHES
This 2,500-gallon saltwater tank is home to our most dangerous fish. Lionfish have beautiful feathery fins and can sting you with their toxic touch. Click on the thumbnail images below to see some pictures:
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A10/MOON JELLIES
Be entranced by the graceful, slow movements of the moon jellyfish in this 2,500-gallon saltwater exhibit. Using the player at left, you can watch Fred's movie of the jellyfish, and you can look at the picture I took if you click
here.
A11/ELASMOBRANCHS
View a variety of species of sharks and rays in this 30,000-gallon saltwater exhibit, and click on the thumbnail images below to see a couple of examples:
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A13/SHIPWRECK
Swimming above you, below you, and all around you are several species of sharks, endangered sea turtles, stingrays, sawfish, and many other fish in this immense 1.3 million-gallon saltwater exhibit. (See the picture at right.)
A14/PIRANHAS
This 2,000-gallon fresh water exhibit is home to the piranha, whose razor sharp teeth are actually sharper than shark teeth.
We took some additional pictures in and around the Shark Reef Aquarium, and you can click on the thumbnail images below to have a look at them:
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In addition to the movies that we took inside the Shark Reef Aquarium, you should see this very interesting one that we took at a display just down the hall from the Aquarium entrance:
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At Shark Reef Aquarium |
"The Barbra and Frank Show" at the Rivera Hotel and Casino
Hotel #14: The Riviera Hotel and Casino
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The Riviera, opened in 1955, is one of the oldest hotels on the Strip- and the oldest outside of the actual downtown area of Las Vegas.
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The Riviera was built by a group of investors from Miami. The resort has gone through many ownership changes over the years, including a period of control by owners linked to the Mafia (as was the case for many Vegas resorts in the 1960s and 1970s). Harpo Marx and Gummo Marx held minority interests at the opening, and Dean Martin once held a minority ownership stake while he was a headliner in the showroom.
Liberace was the featured headliner at the resort's opening, and for many years afterward. In 2006, Splash, a traditional Las Vegas revue, ended an extended run at the Riviera. In 2009, An Evening at La Cage, featuring female impersonators which include Frank Marino and his impersonation of Joan Rivers, ended one of the longest runs in strip history. The Riviera is often chosen as a shooting location for films due to its lack of any discernible "theme".
The Barbra and Frank Show
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This made us (or at least me) wonder what the show would be like- would it be second-rate and half-hearted? Although the theatre was small and not nearly so modern as some we'd been in, and although the Riviera personnel seemed to be going through the motions, we were pleasantly surprised at Barbra and Frank themselves.
It is unlikely that the two powerhouse voices of the century would have ever shared the same stage; the show would have simply been too much of an event to put on. So, the two performers never worked together, exactly, except when they taped a duet in separate recording sessions, but it’s tantalizing to think what it would have been like to have Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra teamed up for a concert tour. Just imagine the possibilities. Would one have outshone the other? Would their onstage banter have been friendly or a bit snippy? "The Concert that Never Was" gives a good indication of what the answers to these questions might have been.
The show began even before Barbra and Frank took the stage. There was a preshow of video trivia pertaining to the two stars- their careers, achievements and how their lives intertwined. The screen slowly rose as a silhouette of Frank Sinatra (Sebastian Anzaldo) sang “I’ve Got A Crush On You”, the very duet which Barbra and Frank recorded in 1993. Barbra Striesand (Sharon Owens) entered the stage singing along with Frank but she wasted no time bringing up the fact how he would not record “live” with her in the same studio.
The rapport of these two 20th century icons became immediately apparent. One local magazine I'd read beforehand said that “As good as the music is, the banter between the stars is equally memorable.” Barbra sang some of the power ballads of her career- “People”, “Evergreen” and “Woman In Love” to name just a few. I must say that Sharon Owens was a dead ringer for Barbra- both in appearance and voice; although Sebastian Anzaldo looked a good deal like Frank Sinatra, he sounded more like him. When he came to see the show, Jerry Greenburg, president of Atlantic Records, said: “Sharon has the look, the voice, EVERYTHING! Even the nose!” She closed her segment with a special dedication to her real father, “Papa Can You Hear Me”.
Out from that heart tugging moment, Frank entered singing “I’ve Got The World On A String”. The same magazine said that “Sebastian Anzaldo resembles and sounds like a young, handsome Frank. He is confident, cocky and well, one word describes the man...Swingin’!” Frank also sang “Come Fly With Me”, “Fly Me To The Moon” and “Summer Wind.” After a moving rendition of his signature “My Way”, he brought the audience to its feet with “That’s Life”.
A highlight of the show was a delicate blending of two of their signature songs as Sinatra crooned verses from “It Was A Very Good Year” intertwined with Streisand singing “The Way We Were”. From this point in the show, the two stars remained on stage together at the piano. There was a lot of good natured teasing back and forth. Occasionally, Streisand bristled at Sinatra’s chauvinistic remarks and Sinatra shook his head at Streisand’s persistent whine. Near the end of the show, the tuxedoed Sinatra turned to Streisand, who was attired in a stunning black and white gown, and said dismissively, “Why don’t you go backstage, take a little rest, and I’ll close the show.” After a moment of silence, Streisand said, in her trademark Brooklyn accent, “Excuse me?”
We were pleased with the show. Both singers did our favorites, and their looks and mannerisms were so good that oftentimes one could forget that one was only watching impersonators.
The showroom was dark, so pictures weren't possible. But I did take one movie:
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The Concert That Never Was This movie captures the two performers and almost the entire duet performance of "Somewhere." |
We enjoyed the show immensely and after driving back to the MGM Grand, Fred and I once again went out onto the Strip to observe the nightlife and take some pictures- pictures that appear elsewhere in this album.
You can use the links below to continue to another album page.
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March 8, 2009: Las Vegas Trip Day 4 |
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March 6, 2009: Las Vegas Trip Day 2 |
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Return to the Index for Our Las Vegas Trip |
