Originally Posted By Railhead My girlfriend's father is an engineer at the Excalibur. He has many funny stories about that stupid robotic dragon. "One time, the dragon hit its head on the doors, and it's head fell off..."
Originally Posted By Sapphire crapshoot wrote:<Both Steve and Kenny Wynn were made honarary Imagineers back in the early 1990's. But then of course, they get it! > You know it! The general loveliness of the Strip now, compared to olden days, is largely due to the effect his hotels had on Vegas. It is a bit of a shame he sold his original set of them (Mirage, Treasure Island, and Bellagio) to the MGM group, but these things do happen (he'd had a huge flop with a similar casino venture in Mississippi). Vegas in 1993 did seem to be a very family-centric place. Besides Treasure Island, the Luxor was practically a mini-theme park (the whole second floor was attractions and a food court, plus a boat ride on the ground floor for the first few years), and MGM Grand opened with a real theme park in the back of the property and a general "Wizard of Oz" theme throughout the hotel. Sadly, that theme park was a disaster and really curbed enthusiasm for similar endeavors. It became clear that families really weren't the ideal group to market Vegas to, especially when so many of them would come from Southern California, a hub of top-notch family entertainment, and be underwhelmed by most of the stuff offered in Vegas, the pirate battle and the excellent "Star Trek" attractions at the Hilton being the key exceptions. And other tourists really didn't enjoy kids running around. So over the past few years most of the family stuff was phased out. Of the first-class hotels, only the Luxor and Hilton still have theme rides and the like. The Excalibur and Circus-Circus hotels still target families and do well that way, but they aren't worth checking out if you don't have kids. I stayed at the MGM Grand this past May. It has matured (literally) into a rather lovely adult-themed establishment. Though the theming and theme park are no more, it still isn't a bad hotel to take kids to. Actually, the more heavily-themed hotels such as Luxor and Paris-Las Vegas are quite wonderful to take a stroll through - they just aim for a more adult mindset than a theme park. I think it's a shame Treasure Island got de-themed, not that I ever saw it in the old days. I've visited it recently and it's a nice place that goes well enough with the Mirage next door (I'm particularly fond of the Breeze Bar), but a theme does make a difference sometimes. And yes, the new outdoor show is terribly lame. It's an insult to the bee-yoo-ti-ful "Mystere" (which I have seen twice - so far) that it must share a hotel with such a flop. Such ignomy! Ironically, of all the family-oriented efforts of the mid-90s in Vegas, it was "Mystere" that had by far the biggest impact, causing a move towards truly spectacular-yet-heartfelt shows in Vegas, because adults, even those without kids, loved it so much. Steve Wynn knew what he was doing when he greenlighted that one! And of course, its success wasn't lost on Disney... ;o)
Originally Posted By Sapphire Thanks for the complement, wonderingalice! I'm flattered. I've become rather fond of Vegas on the basis of my visits this year - I was looking for a change of pace from Disney World, to be honest, as I'm waiting until all the new stuff (Soarin', Expedition Everest) is in there for my next visit. But I was amazed by the wonderful shows and lovely hotels Vegas has to offer, though the best of the best usually don't come cheap, rather like at WDW. Actually many of the top-tier hotels in Vegas are cheaper than the comparable ones at WDW, and airfare can be a steal, which at least frees up money for whatever activities you have in mind. I learned a lot about the family-oriented years of Vegas, which I discussed in my post, by way of the excellent "Unoffical Guide to Las Vegas", which is by virtually the same team that does the red-and-white Unoffical Guides to Disney parks. Where they rate rides and such in the Disney guides, for Vegas they apply their 5-star scale to in-depth descriptions of the long-running shows. (For the curious, only one of the nearly 50 shows discussed in the 2005 edition gets 5 stars, and that is "Mystere".) They did discuss the MGM Grand theme park when it was up and running in the 90s and were deeply disappointed by it. Part of the park's problem was that it was too ambitious for 33 acres, only 1/3 of the Magic Kingdom's size - too small for the themed areas (France, Asia, etc.) to work. Moreover, the rides were either terribly generic - carousels or ferris wheels - or poor ripoffs of Disney rides (imitations of Space Mountain and Superstar Television, among others). Even their live entertainment was unusually weak; one was more or less a poor imitation of the Treasure Island stunt show up the street! It's no wonder the establishment tanked.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice My pleasure, Sapphire! I enjoy reading other folks' positive outlooks of my hometown. The Lightning Bolt roller coaster was much improved (but still very tame) once they moved it outdoors and reworked it. But it was SOOOOOO awful when it was indoors. The queue was a very weak Disney rip-off of Space Mountain... Just the same blue paint, basically. The most hilarious thing was the "action" photo they took of riders. It was on the same level as those that were taken on Superstar Limo, according to the posts I've read here at LP (SL closed down before I was able to make my first visit to DCA)... Basically, it was the "what the heck was that?" look on everyone's faces, including mine, the one time I rode it. There was nothing at all 'thrilling' about the coaster when it was in the dark, unless you were a three-year-old child. That's exactly how it felt... Like a kiddie coaster in the dark. It was the only ride there that I felt embarrassed about for the MGM. Being an eternal optimist, I really wanted the Grand Adventures Park to be a success. (The hotel itself is probably my absolute favorite it town. They have SO much to offer there.) I believe the first ride to close down was a Jungle Cruise rip-off that took riders 'behind-the-scenes' on make-believe movie sets. My most vivid memory of that was the VERY long line to board, and then the "is that it?" factor. Sad, eh? Now they're building luxury high-rise condos on the site. I imagine these will be very successful.
Originally Posted By Sapphire wonderingalice wrote about the MGM Grand: <<(The hotel itself is probably my absolute favorite it town. They have SO much to offer there.)>> As I wrote, I found it quite lovely - big and busy, but lovely. The Rainforest Cafe there was even prettier than either of the Disney World ones, IMO. The pool area was also great, and for the price, the standard rooms are beautiful. The only thing it really lacked when I went was a production show (besides the arena events and celebrity showroom), but that was being rectified in a big way - the new Cirque du Soleil show is set to open there in November. I've heard that most of the upcoming condos have already been sold! Interestingly, MGM-Mirage has partnered with Visa for a credit card that works similarly to the Disney Visa card, the difference being that rewards earned go towards stuff at the MGM-Mirage resorts. Unlike Disney's card, it doubles reward points whenever you use the card to reserve rooms, show tickets, etc. at the resorts. Given how expensive those can be, I imagine this could add up rather quickly.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice That's cool news on the Visa, Sapphire... Hadn't heard about it. With so many MGM-Mirage properties in town, it could mean big benefits to cardholders. I'm looking forward to seeing the new Cirque production... Dang, it looks like we're going to have one of those on every street corner soon! *L*
Originally Posted By crapshoot <<I'm looking forward to seeing the new Cirque production... Dang, it looks like we're going to have one of those on every street corner soon! *L*>> Hey Gang! Hold on to your hats, but Steve Wynn is planning two new Cirque shows for Wynn Las Vegas to open next Spring. Although, I think one of the shows opens in a phase 2 construction plan. But phase 1 has a new Cirque show where the theater is physically inside of a huge sphere with waterfalls and streams running throughout the seating areas. And where the worst seat in the theater is a mere 25' away from the stage. Anyway, it looks to be spectacular. Crapshoot out.
Originally Posted By Sapphire Hey crapshoot - Actually, the Wynn Las Vegas show isn't an official Cirque show, but it is in much the same style - no surprise as it's from the director of "Mystere" and "O", Franco Dragone. (Dragone left Cirque to pursue his own projects and was already responsible for Celine Dion's supershow at Caesars Palace.) MGM-Mirage has pretty much an exclusive agreement with Cirque so Wynn Las Vegas, which isn't part of the group, can't get an official Cirque show - a sad irony for Wynn given that he was responsible for getting Cirque into Vegas in the first place. (If the Beau Rivage resort in Mississippi hadn't been such a disappointment, he probably would still own the Mirage, Treasure Island, and Bellagio.) Still, Cirque's plenty busy, as they may well take over the old Siegfried and Roy showroom at the Mirage by 2006 with a fifth show (reportedly it will be an adaptation of the animated movie "Yellow Submarine", of all things).
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Hee hee hee... Being a Beatley Disney freak, I'm really looking forward to see what they're going to do with Yellow Submarine! Wynn's place is coming along very nicely... Can't wait to see what he's done this time. The outside style is wonderfully chic from what we can see outside the construction walls.
