Mob Experience?

Has anyone been to the Mob Experience at the Tropicana? What did you think?
I will be in Vegas next week and was wondering if it was worth my time and money.

Saw it last week. It was during the "preview", so there were still some incomplete displays but they also didn't charge full price.
My take is that if you like Vegas history and mob-related stuff, it's worth the price (as was the case for me). If that's not your thing, take a pass. My favorite parts were the museum displays in the middle - where you can see Lucky Luciano's car, Tony Spilotro's brass knuckles, etc. The interactive bits were cute, but didn't do much for me.

I hope this thing fails. It's a cynical celebration of crime and criminals, a romanticization of murder, kidnapping, prostitution, and extortion.

Children of men and women murdered by organized crime in Las Vegas are still around. They know what The Mob was, and this just pours more salt in their lifelong wounds.

Anyone who thinks organized crime is worthy of a museum is in deep denial.

Chilcoot - You make a very good point. I think we tend to see "the Mob" through some Hollywood-ized vision and romanticize them not really thinking of the fact that these were real people who did despicable things and ruined countless lives. TV and movies have blurred the line in our minds somehow between fantasy and reality. Thank you for your post.

The fact remains that the Mob was part (and a large part) of Vegas history.
You cannot change that fact.
Now, if anyone has actually visited the exhibit, I would love to hear from you.

Chilcoot's point is well-made. Certainly, anyone who goes to either this museum or the mayor's new one needs to keep in mind that innocent people were killed by the mob and I really wish that the proceeds of either of these museums would go to a trust for the families of those people.

One of my favorite TV shows is "Mobsters" and these shows almost make you like the mobsters. I always find myself having to back up and remember that the almost charming man being featured either killed people or sold heroin or extorted union workers, and that they are not sympathetic characters.

That having been said, I think museums like this have value. I live close to Washington DC, where there is a Holocaust museum. I've been there. I've been to the old Checkpoint Charlie museum in Berlin when the Wall was there rather than behind the urinals at Main Street Station.

I will probably go to see the exhibit at the Trop and I will definitely go to the downtown museum. Hopefully, I'll see exhibits glorifying the law enforcement and prosecutors who put them away, and I'll see tributes to the innocent people.

But thanks to Chilcoot for the important reminder to anyone who attends. And hey, if it weren't for the Mafia, Las Vegas would have a different mayor...

I saw the exhibit last week and enjoyed it. I liked the mix of live actors, hologram-type images and museum exhibits. It was fun.