I’m certainly up for trying to make this.
actually came back to this thread primarily to highlight I remember what I think is my all time favorite pinball machine, which is Bally’s take on Tommy aka Captain Fantastic. Not sure how it would stand the test of time. But I just checked the hall of fame for their machine listand they have one, so you know where I will be.
Heck, you don’t need to look at the machine list; you can walk around and look at the machines! The 21st century totally fucking rocks!
I hate gambling but love Vegas. I usually go about once a year. Here’s what I figured out about Vegas… It’s set up to entice people to come and stay. Cheap airfare and hotels, lots of great places to eat (many very reasonably priced), sone good shows and attractions, and lots of good (often cheap) booze around. They want you there so you get tempted to gamble, and then that’s how you really pay.
But you don’t have to gamble. You can have a good time cheap and enjoy yourself. Often I feel like the people around me gambling are indirectly subsidizing my trip, and bless them for it, but I won’t fall in the trap of blowing money on a slim chance of winning. To me, Vegas is much better if you don’t gamble. I hope you have a great time, I always do.
Always remember: we do not build these big, fancy, over-the-top casino resorts because people win.
Be warned; the photos are about six years old. Most of the games are still there, but it won’t show some of the newer ones.
On the Strip, they don’t even bother building them because people lose - they build them because people go to the pools in the daytime, the shows in the evening, and the clubs at night.
There’s also the The Who’s Tommy Pinball Wizard machine that features Roger wearing his now-customary Lennon specs and a seductively-posed Ann-Margaret by his side.
They have Bad Cats, Gilligan’s Island, and Pin-Bot. I don’t know what to play first.
If my hotel lets me have early check-in, I’ll be able to go over for a few hours on Sunday before my Penn & Teller Show. Or Maybe I’ll just do a museum on Sunday, and wait until Monday to go to the PHoF. I’m afraid I 1) won’t be able to tear myself away and will be late for the show and 2) that it will be crowded on Sunday, so I might as well wait until Monday anyway. I have all day to spend there (albeit, I have to be up around 3am Tuesday for my flight, so I can’t stay up late).
Almost every casino hotel will allow you to leave your bags at the hotel until the room is ready.
My Penn & Teller tickets came in the mail today. I’m so excited.
Have fun! 
This is the first time I’ve heard of an attraction I’d consider worth going to in Las Vegas.
Of the 3 pinball places I’ve been to in the past 10 years, the PHoF is the worst, but still worth going to once. Last time I was in Vegas I tried to go again but its opening hours didn’t coincide well with my flight.
Specifically, they didn’t have enough mid 60s through late 70s selections for my tastes: they had lots of examples from before and after, though. Lyons Pinball in Colorado has more of that era and also Baby Pac-man so it is my favorite. Asheville Pinball Museum in North Carolina also does not have a lot of that era of pinball machines but does have a large selection of old video games which are also fun.
It is missing the late 70s/early 80s “seven-segment scoring” games (Xenon and Firepower come to mind); the only one I remember seeing was Diner, and that wouldn’t have been “early '80s” as it has a Gorbachev caricature in it.
Well, those are all equally out-of-range for me-- it’s not like I can drive to any of them and back in a day, and the other two don’t have Penn & Teller playing down the street. Besides, the selection of machines looks pretty good to me. My personal collection includes IMO, the best mid-70s machine, Lost World, and I’m really more interested in playing a variety of machines, than focusing on one era-- plus playing a couple of favorites I haven’t seen in a while, which they have: Pin-Bot and Gilligan’s Island.
Still haven’t picked a museum, but I figure I’ll have time to look at brochures when I get there, and maybe learn about some more obscure ones that I haven’t found yet.
So here’s my trip:
Get into LV at noon
Get to hotel before 12:30, and get something to eat
Early check in, or figure out where to stow my bags
Be at the PHoF by 2pm, and stay till about 5:30, then go back to hotel
Eat, and get ready for show
Show is at 9pm
I’m an early riser, so I will probably be up the next day by 7am, in spite of getting to bed after midnight
Pick a museum, and eat breakfast
Check stuff on the computer until the museum opens
Go to museum
Go back to PHoF; it’ll be a non-holiday Monday, so maybe it won’t be too crowded
Get back to the hotel by 5pm, and eat
Early bed, because I have to be up at 3am for a 6am flight (maybe even earlier-- depends on how hard getting a cab will be and how far the ride is)
Thanks it. Pretty simple. But I’ll be by myself, which when you have a family is something to look forward to.
The fact that you say you need a cab to get to the airport implies that you won’t be renting a car - and when you say “Penn & Teller are down the street,” that sounds like you are at the Palms (or the Gold Coast, but that is “next door” to the Rio, where Penn & Teller perform).
Your main problem is going to be getting a cab from the PHOF back to your hotel. Unlike most cities, Vegas does not allow cabs to pick up people “on the street,” so you’re going to have to find a way to call one. Note that Vegas has a halfway decent bus system, but you have to have some idea where they run (and stop) in order not to get lost in the system.
I played that Gilligan’s Island machine today; I just got home from the PHoF.
There are several dozen machines that date from 1975-1986. They’re mostly in the aisle on the west side of the center of the building (#2 to me*).
*The building faces south. Behind the front face of the building is a row of machines broken only by the two entrances. Behind them, opposite facing machine 4 wide form the bumper ends of back-to-back machines so that there are 4 aisles of games. In my head I number them 1 thru 4 from west to east: Aisle 1 has the oldest games, including penny arcade games. Aisle 2 has 1960s-late 1970s machines, Aisle 3 has 1980s and up and Aisle 4 has mostly video games.
The front of the building is generally where the newer machines are kept, natch.
The place was hopping today! Parking lot was about half full, kids everywhere, a constant chatter of “ohmigodiLOVEthatmachine!” in the background.
I plunked $2 in Cue Ball and stood there for about 25 minutes; always nice to figure out a new machine, eh. I also reclaimed the top score on the old Tron arcade game, tyvm. Sadly, Robotron 2084 and Defender were both off the floor today. 
I did play Star Wars (still underwhelming, IMO) and Funhouse (still fun, natch) but Bad Cats was off the floor.
All-in-all, an excellent way to kill 2 hours for just 8 dollars.
I’d say that Las Vegas has a pretty good bus system, but you have to know where the buses go. It’s easy enough when you’re going from the PHOF to the Strip (the PHOF stop is about 50 yards west of the PHOF), but you have to make sure that the bus driver sees you.
I nearly got missed one day, on my way back to the Strip from the PHOF, because it was too damn hot to stand anywhere but under the shade provided by the bus shelter. The bus driver didn’t see me in the shelter, but did eventually, and stopped for me–a few feet beyond the stop, but he did stop for me.
RTC is great! Better than transit in my current city, that’s for sure.
I’ll have my cell phone with me, and I’m going to try an order a cab ahead of time to get to the airport, since i have to go there at 4am.
I might try and figure out the bus system. It depends on what kind of advice I can get from my hotel. I’m also planning on taking my laptop with me, because I can get better visualization of things like bus routes from there.
Our bus system is decent and it’s helped by the fact that we laid this valley out in a pretty strict grid. Most bus lines go up and down one street here, since they’re all straight shots from one side of the valley to the other. It makes the routes and passenger transfers really simple.
https://www.rtcsnv.com/transit/ is the main page; maps & schedules here.
Thanks!