It's been a while since my trip so I'm kind of fuzzy on some of the details but I think I can pull together a few facts that others might find helpful. My trip was with two teenage girls one mine and one not. We were there for a dance convention/competition but I planned to squeeze in some Vegas fun too. We stayed at The Mirage. I paid about 100 per night plus tax and the resort fee which was reduced to $5 as part of the group rate. We got a room that overlooked the strip and the volcano show. I have to say, The Mirage is my new favorite Vegas hotel. The rooms were nice with plenty of drawers for clothes as well as drawers in the bathroom for toiletry items. I like to unpack and I hate having all my stuff out on the bathroom counter. We had plenty of room for all three of us to unpack and those girls were insanely over packed. They also had good TV channels including Nickelodeon my favorite channel to sleep to.
The girls had to be at rehearsals and classes around 7am most days so I would wait for them to leave and then have the room to myself to shower and get dressed. Then I'd go downstairs to hit the slots for a bit. I didn't have a lot of luck on the slots most days. Last year I had a lot of luck on The Walking Dead slots at MGM so I lost a lot of money there trying to repeat my win. I had some MyVegas points so I redeemed them for $50 in free slotplay. It was really easy to redeem. Once I had my voucher I stuck it into one of my old favorites Kitty Glitter. Each time I spun the reels I would get the money I won plus a "bonus" which was the amount of the bet. Once I figured that out, I went with max bets until all of the free play had cycled through. I didn't have any big wins but I cashed out at $85. For the most part the afternoons were pretty boring. I'd wander around nearby casinos playing here and there and I also went to the mall a few times to pick up things we forgot to bring. In the evenings I would take the girls out for dinner and to wander around the strip to see the sights. Some of the places I ate were California Pizza Kitchen (good as usual), Carnegie Deli (ok-a little pricey), Blizz (gross but convenient) Kahunaville (food quality not as great as before but they let me use my groupon on a holiday so all was forgiven), Serendipity 3 (totally overrated but the girls like it), Dicks Last Resort (food is never good there but it's entertaining) and BLT (good burgers but kind of spendy). There is one restaurant that I cant remember the name of and I don't think I've ever heard it mentioned here but it's a 50's style diner in The Stratosphere. I got a really great french dip with fries and a shake for about $15. The staff has to wander around and sing karaoke to 50's music so it gets a little awkward but I will definitely go back.
After we ate dinner in the Stratosphere, the girls went up to the top to ride the rides. They have a sign that says they have to be accompanied by an adult if they are under 16. In years past, there was always another adult from the dance team willing to go up with the kids but since we were alone this trip that was not the case. My daughter is 16 but the other girl isn't. I told her to lie if they asked but they didn't even ask. While they were up top, I planned on blowing some cash in The Walking Dead machine but I couldn't find it anywhere. I know for fact they had it the year before but it was nowhere to be found this trip. So, I just wandered around losing a little here and a little there. Then I found The Can-Can machine. I started playing that one and hit a bonus for $116. Normally, I would cash out right away but I was killing time and I enjoyed this machine so I kept playing and in only another minute or so hit another bonus for $60. Right about then, they closed the rides because of wind or lightning and the girls came back down and we went back to our hotel.
I forgot to mention that one of the other girls traveling with our team (there were 3 girls competing) made a love connection with a brother of a girl in their dance class. So, each night after dinner the girls would ditch me to go hang out with him and his friends. They did have an older sibling who I trust completely with them who is 21 and went along to supervise. So, don't give me any crap for letting my kid run wild on the strip.
On the last night of our trip the girls had to attend a gala for awards. I didn't want to go because it was formal and I'm just not that fancy. So, I walked over to Fashion Show mall and got a ticket to see Jersey Boys at Tix4tonite. All in, it was $61 for a decent seat. Right before the curtain went up, I got up and moved to a more empty area because they had us all crammed in one row. About 10 minutes into the show, I decided that I hated it and was seriously considering walking out. But, the cheapskate in me decided to stay and I'm really glad I did because it ended up being a really good show. As part of their convention package, the girls got to see Showstopper at the Wynn. They said it was pretty good but I think they were more excited to see people they know and have worked with in the show. I would have liked to go too but that extra teen I had with me decided she wasn't going to the show her group had tickets for (Love) and I didn't feel right about letting her wander around Vegas alone. Anyway, back to that last night...after Jersey Boys, I wasn't quite ready for bed so I decided to play a bit in the casino. I went looking for my Walking Dead machine and all four of them had been removed from the floor. I asked an attendant but he only knew they had been removed but not why. Since it was our last night, I never had a chance to go to a different casino to see if they were still there. So, I burned through my budget pretty quick. Still not ready for bed, I started playing the cheap slots by the buffet for about 25 cents a spin. There were some girls at a Quick Hit machine nearby playing max bet and they kept having some nice little wins in the $50-100 range. When they got up and left, I took over one of their machines. I put in 10 bucks, had it played down to $3.88 when I hit 8 Quick Hit symbols. My 20 cent bet payed out $200 which is awesome but I really was kicking myself for not playing max bet. That would have paid out $2325 and would have been my first ever W2-G. Oh well. Maybe next time.
The next morning we had a 7am flight. We left the room at 4:15 which was just enough time to gas up the rental car and check in at the airport. I forgot to mention my rental car earlier. It was a piece of crap. It was a Chevy Spark which is a glorified golf cart. It barely made it up the ramps in the parking garage. But, it got us around and it was pretty cheap. I would not recommend them for freeway driving as they take forever to hit freeway speeds.
So,that's about it for Vegas. I thought for sure it would be a terrible trip being alone most of the time but it was really restful and I still had fun. But, I returned home to our one and only bathroom gutted to the studs. My husband bit off more than he could chew and was struggling to get everything back together. With my help, we got a lot of it done in the next three days. We were in a time crunch because we were leaving for a family trip to Disneyland and needed to have the bathroom for our house sitter. So, we worked almost around the clock and got it done enough minutes before we left for the airport. We still have to finish up but it worked. The Disneyland trip was fun as you would expect for Disneyland in July but we made the most of it. We also had a dance competition to attend there and we got our asses kicked by that new team featured on Dance Moms MDP.
We got home late on the 20th. After talking with my friend in Missouri who was moving back here to the Seattle area, I decided on a whim to hop in a plane to St. Louis and help her drive her stuff home. Missouri was quite an experience. The humidity was the worst I have ever experienced. I was there in time to watch my friend sell her real estate and most of her worldly possessions at an auction. It was really fun and interesting. The people I met there were some of the nicest I've ever met and I enjoyed getting to see the place she had been living for the past few years. You're probably wondering why I chose to include this in my report but there's a reason. After we left Missouri, we stopped at Ameristar Casino somewhere in Iowa. And guess who I ran into there...........my old zombie friends. So, I guess for whatever reason they were pulled from the floor must have been cleared up because they were back and they took all my money. When we were leaving the casino, I noticed that we were on a river boat. I had no idea when we entered. I also had the chance to see Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, Wall drug, and a few other cool things on my very quick cross country trip. I also added 5 states to the list of states I've visited. It was a fun time.
Thanks for reading my report. I hope you find something useful in it.
The girls had to be at rehearsals and classes around 7am most days so I would wait for them to leave and then have the room to myself to shower and get dressed. Then I'd go downstairs to hit the slots for a bit. I didn't have a lot of luck on the slots most days. Last year I had a lot of luck on The Walking Dead slots at MGM so I lost a lot of money there trying to repeat my win. I had some MyVegas points so I redeemed them for $50 in free slotplay. It was really easy to redeem. Once I had my voucher I stuck it into one of my old favorites Kitty Glitter. Each time I spun the reels I would get the money I won plus a "bonus" which was the amount of the bet. Once I figured that out, I went with max bets until all of the free play had cycled through. I didn't have any big wins but I cashed out at $85. For the most part the afternoons were pretty boring. I'd wander around nearby casinos playing here and there and I also went to the mall a few times to pick up things we forgot to bring. In the evenings I would take the girls out for dinner and to wander around the strip to see the sights. Some of the places I ate were California Pizza Kitchen (good as usual), Carnegie Deli (ok-a little pricey), Blizz (gross but convenient) Kahunaville (food quality not as great as before but they let me use my groupon on a holiday so all was forgiven), Serendipity 3 (totally overrated but the girls like it), Dicks Last Resort (food is never good there but it's entertaining) and BLT (good burgers but kind of spendy). There is one restaurant that I cant remember the name of and I don't think I've ever heard it mentioned here but it's a 50's style diner in The Stratosphere. I got a really great french dip with fries and a shake for about $15. The staff has to wander around and sing karaoke to 50's music so it gets a little awkward but I will definitely go back.
After we ate dinner in the Stratosphere, the girls went up to the top to ride the rides. They have a sign that says they have to be accompanied by an adult if they are under 16. In years past, there was always another adult from the dance team willing to go up with the kids but since we were alone this trip that was not the case. My daughter is 16 but the other girl isn't. I told her to lie if they asked but they didn't even ask. While they were up top, I planned on blowing some cash in The Walking Dead machine but I couldn't find it anywhere. I know for fact they had it the year before but it was nowhere to be found this trip. So, I just wandered around losing a little here and a little there. Then I found The Can-Can machine. I started playing that one and hit a bonus for $116. Normally, I would cash out right away but I was killing time and I enjoyed this machine so I kept playing and in only another minute or so hit another bonus for $60. Right about then, they closed the rides because of wind or lightning and the girls came back down and we went back to our hotel.
I forgot to mention that one of the other girls traveling with our team (there were 3 girls competing) made a love connection with a brother of a girl in their dance class. So, each night after dinner the girls would ditch me to go hang out with him and his friends. They did have an older sibling who I trust completely with them who is 21 and went along to supervise. So, don't give me any crap for letting my kid run wild on the strip.
On the last night of our trip the girls had to attend a gala for awards. I didn't want to go because it was formal and I'm just not that fancy. So, I walked over to Fashion Show mall and got a ticket to see Jersey Boys at Tix4tonite. All in, it was $61 for a decent seat. Right before the curtain went up, I got up and moved to a more empty area because they had us all crammed in one row. About 10 minutes into the show, I decided that I hated it and was seriously considering walking out. But, the cheapskate in me decided to stay and I'm really glad I did because it ended up being a really good show. As part of their convention package, the girls got to see Showstopper at the Wynn. They said it was pretty good but I think they were more excited to see people they know and have worked with in the show. I would have liked to go too but that extra teen I had with me decided she wasn't going to the show her group had tickets for (Love) and I didn't feel right about letting her wander around Vegas alone. Anyway, back to that last night...after Jersey Boys, I wasn't quite ready for bed so I decided to play a bit in the casino. I went looking for my Walking Dead machine and all four of them had been removed from the floor. I asked an attendant but he only knew they had been removed but not why. Since it was our last night, I never had a chance to go to a different casino to see if they were still there. So, I burned through my budget pretty quick. Still not ready for bed, I started playing the cheap slots by the buffet for about 25 cents a spin. There were some girls at a Quick Hit machine nearby playing max bet and they kept having some nice little wins in the $50-100 range. When they got up and left, I took over one of their machines. I put in 10 bucks, had it played down to $3.88 when I hit 8 Quick Hit symbols. My 20 cent bet payed out $200 which is awesome but I really was kicking myself for not playing max bet. That would have paid out $2325 and would have been my first ever W2-G. Oh well. Maybe next time.
The next morning we had a 7am flight. We left the room at 4:15 which was just enough time to gas up the rental car and check in at the airport. I forgot to mention my rental car earlier. It was a piece of crap. It was a Chevy Spark which is a glorified golf cart. It barely made it up the ramps in the parking garage. But, it got us around and it was pretty cheap. I would not recommend them for freeway driving as they take forever to hit freeway speeds.
So,that's about it for Vegas. I thought for sure it would be a terrible trip being alone most of the time but it was really restful and I still had fun. But, I returned home to our one and only bathroom gutted to the studs. My husband bit off more than he could chew and was struggling to get everything back together. With my help, we got a lot of it done in the next three days. We were in a time crunch because we were leaving for a family trip to Disneyland and needed to have the bathroom for our house sitter. So, we worked almost around the clock and got it done enough minutes before we left for the airport. We still have to finish up but it worked. The Disneyland trip was fun as you would expect for Disneyland in July but we made the most of it. We also had a dance competition to attend there and we got our asses kicked by that new team featured on Dance Moms MDP.
We got home late on the 20th. After talking with my friend in Missouri who was moving back here to the Seattle area, I decided on a whim to hop in a plane to St. Louis and help her drive her stuff home. Missouri was quite an experience. The humidity was the worst I have ever experienced. I was there in time to watch my friend sell her real estate and most of her worldly possessions at an auction. It was really fun and interesting. The people I met there were some of the nicest I've ever met and I enjoyed getting to see the place she had been living for the past few years. You're probably wondering why I chose to include this in my report but there's a reason. After we left Missouri, we stopped at Ameristar Casino somewhere in Iowa. And guess who I ran into there...........my old zombie friends. So, I guess for whatever reason they were pulled from the floor must have been cleared up because they were back and they took all my money. When we were leaving the casino, I noticed that we were on a river boat. I had no idea when we entered. I also had the chance to see Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, Wall drug, and a few other cool things on my very quick cross country trip. I also added 5 states to the list of states I've visited. It was a fun time.
Thanks for reading my report. I hope you find something useful in it.
