Consider buying tickets (up to 3 days in advance) at the “Tix 4 Tonight” booths and legit save 50% off Cirque, Copperfield, etc.
The book I mentioned ranks every show and buffet and everything else with detailed descriptions. I read half a dozen guides, the Unofficial Guide will save you time and pay for itself the first day, much more so if you have not booked your hotel.
For example, you might want a kitchen or kitchenette in a nice room. Could you find such a place for under $100 a night in busy season on the strip? Yes, easily. Many of the hotels sell rooms to investors who rent them out, and you still get to use all the hotel amenities.
Oh yeah, I wouldn’t recommend him, either. Smarmy isn’t the right word, but there’s something “off” about his style that I found unpleasant. He’s full of himself. And yeah, he cheats. (Which is a funny thing to say about a magician, because cheating is sort of the point. But there are rules they usually follow, and he doesn’t. Like using video effects.)
Mac King’s show has a sort of plot, and development, which is very satisfying. And it’s definitely a good show to bring your kids to.
We’ll be there next week, so I’m reading this thread with great interest.
I love the shout-out for the Unofficial Guides; we used them extensively since they started coming out for Walt Disney World. They used to have a lot of “hidden” treasures and spots, which because of the popularity of the guides are no longer are so hidden. The same thing happened with Rick Steve’s Europe Through the Back Door guides.
We’re staying at the Flamingo, which is where Piff does his show. Our flight arrives at 6:00 PM, and his show is at 8:00, so we’re not sure that’s enough time to get to the show - any ideas? (We’ll be taking one of the airport shuttles.)
Also, what’s the best way to get from the Flamingo to the Neon Museum? We won’t have a car. And what’s the best way to see the Neon Museum? They have a guided tour, a light show, and some other options, so it’s kind of confusing.
Two hours should be plenty of time, unless you want to have dinner first - then that’s pushing it.
As for getting from the Flamingo to the Neon Museum, unless you want to go the taxi/Uber/Lyft route, the only way there is to take the Deuce or SDX bus to the Bonneville Transit Center downtown, then transfer to a northbound 113 bus - and reverse the process to get back. A 24-hour bus pass is $8 per person. You’re probably better off with Uber/Lyft, as I can’t say for certain that a taxi will be available at the Neon Museum when you want to leave (and I’m pretty sure there’s a law in Vegas that says that a taxi can’t just pick someone up “from off the street”), and this way, you don’t have to worry about (a) looking for the bus stop, (b) waiting for the next bus once you find it, (c) figuring out where your bus is at the transfer point, or (d) walking between the stop and the Neon Museum.
It still is. New location, though. The roof collapsed on the old site a while back. Now they are on Flamingo.
JohnGalt - 2 hours should be plenty. The Flaming-O is easy to get to from the airport, and check-in at that hour shouldn’t take all that long. You’ll have time for a drink before the show, and it’s a good one.
I don’t know about that. Are you including time to disembark the plane, walk to baggage claim, wait for your luggage, stand in line for public transportation from the airport to the Flamingo, stand in the hotel check-in line, get checked in, walk all the way to your room and drop your things, and then walk back to the theater? Two hours seems awfully tight to me. I’ve spent over an hour just waiting in the taxi line, and rarely spent less than 30 minutes in the check-in line, although I’ve never stayed at the Flamingo.
Not to quibble much, but there’s a great app for the transit system there. Real time updates, accurate maps of where the buses are and all that fun stuff.
I haven’t taken too many taxis from McCarran Airport, but I don’t remember there being an hour wait. Then again, it may depend on when you arrive; I have never tried to arrive on, say, Friday afternoon/evening.
For an interesting eating experience you could try Eataly in the Park MGM. It’s an indoor market of various Italian cafés. We went in to look around but ended up eating elsewhere as it was too expensive for our budget.
Stupid decision to take the airport shuttle. We waited 20 minutes for it to get full, and then got a tour of the other hotels! Fortunately we stayed at the Flamingo, which was the third stop. We used Lyft to return to the airport - much nicer.
Our flight landed at 6:00 PM and we had plenty of time to check in before the 8:00 PM Piff show (they were lined up in the casino waiting to get seated). Unfortunately, the show was sold out. Fortunately, Penn & Teller had tickets for their 9:00 PM show, so we went to that instead (I had seen them before, but the wife hadn’t.) We walked from the Flamingo to the Rio - 20 minutes or so, most of which was getting past Caesar’s. The P&T theater is a bit too big I think, but it was full. Got to see them both in the lobby afterward.
We also saw Mac King in the afternoon before our flight left. Much smaller stage and smaller audience, but very VERY personable. I really enjoyed his show; he was great with the kids in the audience. We were able to talk with him afterward. I told him that his Penn & Teller appearance was the first time I saw his act.
We also saw Tape Face using Tix4Tonight. Very small room (seats 200 but very tight). It was a great show but later I learned
there is a Tape Face double when he tours. Not sure exactly what we saw, but I liked it regardless.
Loved the Cirque du Soleil Love (Beatles) show. It was probably the highlight of our short trip. We also took Lyft to the Neon Museum during the day, which had self-walking tours but with plenty of staff around to answer questions.
…and then I got up at 5 this morning to hop on a tour bus to the Grand Canyon. On the trip out of Vegas this morning we passed 14 police of various departments pulling over a large group of bikers.
