April 2022 Trip Report Part 2 Fremont and The D

>>https://alantravels.com/fun-times-on-fremont-the-d-april-2022-trip-report-part-two >>

I had a much better time on this leg of the trip. I just hit publish so it probably has some typos. I might add some more images to it later but it already has a ton.  

Very nice and informative TR.  It is so darn disappointing when one goes with the hype on a meal and it doesn't turn out.  Sometimes the staff/chef has changed and things will never be the same.

How nice that you got to high-roller it through TSA.  Well worth the extra $ spent.  We pay the $85 TSA fee which sounds like a lot, but it is good for five years and however many trips through airport security.

Again, good job on the TR.  Like the photos a lot.

Candy

This (combined with your earlier report) seems to constitute a compelling argument for staying the hell off the Strip. Downtown, you got better service, prices were lower, you had multiple casino and food options within a few blocks--an easy walk to everywhere--and the gambling was better.

Downtown, with Circa and the new fancy-ass food and entertainment venues, has put on airs a bit and is no longer the fantastic bargain destination it used to be, but it's still the best option for visitors (the best values are at the outlying "locals'" properties (as always), but you can't visit those places without a car). So if you want to be able to visit multiple properties and have varied experiences, downtown is the ticket. Especially since this time of year, if you're in a given casino on the Strip and you think of visiting another casino, it's a surprisingly long walk, and you go outside, and the sun hits you like a hammer between the eyes.

Is the D still as %^&^%$% noisy as ever? That's been a deal-breaker for me; I can't stand to be inside the place for more than a minute. Also, Stadium Swim doesn't look attractive to me at all, and someone told me there's music and announcements blaring and videos playing all the time. Seems the exact opposite of relaxing to me.

I still like the Four Queens; its prime years were about fifty years ago, but hey, that's true of most of their customers. They still have good deals, decent gambling, and half of the rooms are bargains (half are horrible and would be overpriced if they were free, due to proximity to the FSE). Magnolia's still serves up classic Vegas coffee shop fare.

I have a brilliant workaround of my own for the TSA bottleneck: I don't fly. The last straw was a year or so ago, when I flew to avoid what would have been a 10-hour drive. Well, with all the inevitable slowdowns, having to get there early to fade the TSA lines, waiting to check/retrieve baggage, ground transportation, blah blah blah, my trip, door-to-door, took: 11 hours. And I still had to rent a car. No mas!

(Interesting that TSA charges extra to do the same job they should be doing for everybody.)

Anyway, thanks for the TRs and I'm glad you had fun!

Thanks Candy!

Kevin, I like the Four Queens a lot. I have stayed in both the North and South Towers this past year.  For some reason, the rates were about $40 a night higher than the D when I booked this trip.  

I didn't find the casino at the D loud. Then again I didn't spend a lot of time there. 

My pet peeve.  Somebody stays at a downtown property and complains afterward how they hated the casino and restaurants at that particular property and how it made them miserable the whole trip. I don't get it. If you are staying downtown and don't like the casino at the place you are staying take the 2-minute walk to the next casino over. 

Yes, I am more of a downtown person now but with my room comps, it is hard to get away from the strip. I was shocked as hell when I checked my MGM rewards account a week ago. My minuscule amount of play got me free nights at the Excalibur, the Luxor, MGM Grand, Park MGM and Mandalay Bay. Now I can stay at MGM properties on the strip for 4 to 5 consecutive nights if I combine those with the myVegas comps. That is hard to pass up. 

What games and what kind of action got you those offers?

I ran my $75 worth of my Konami free play through the machines and $80 of my own. I finished up $70 because of the free play. At best I played for two hours.  I turned in receipts for roughly $80 in dining but I only paid $60 because of a myVegas $20 credit.

But what's your play history with those Strip properties? What games do you usually play, and how much action do you give them? It can't be just the Konami and MyVegas stuff. Is it maybe connected with your credit card(s)?

Obviously, I'm trying to figure out if giving them some action might be worthwhile--especially since I've been avoiding CSR and MGM properties like they were leper colonies. I always have a use for free rooms, if not for me, for relatives.

The games were all penny slots at around the $2  a spin level. Any prior history was 10 plus years ago. 

No connection to my credit card.