Question of the Day - 19 May 2017

[Editor's Note: This answer, and yesterday's is written by David McKee.]

Ilove commenting on this. You [the submitter of yesterday's question] obviously have a long memory, being one of the relatively few people who recalls the MGM theme park, one of the last relics of “family-friendly” Vegas. Changes to the Las Vegas cityscape, whether obvious — like the removal of the Merlin statue from Excalibur’s spire — or subtle are attempts to keep pace with the ever-changing visitor demographics. Now, Millennial customers (age3 13-31) are the be-all and end-all of coveted customer demographics. Thus, you can expect to see more nightclubs, music festivals, and wired attractions, fewer camels and dragons.

Many of the scenic elements to which you refer are emblematic of the downfall of the themed-resort concept. It had a good run, from 1989 with the opening of The Mirage to 1999’s debut of Paris-Las Vegas. But the Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood Resort) quickly ran aground and themed resorts also lost their cachet, partly because they “dated” with a vengeance. Steve Wynn probably walked the tightrope best. His last themed resort, Bellagio, is so discreet in its Italian inspirations that it continues to be in demand, regularly bringing in the highest room rates of any of MGM Resorts International’s Strip properties.

Unfortunately for MGM, they can’t put the genie back in the bottle at Luxor. Original owner Circus Circus Enterprises had the bizarre idea of designing a casino in the shape of a giant tomb, which put some customers off the casino-hotel entirely. (With the addition of exhibitions devoted to Titanic artifacts and decaying corpses — the controversial Bodies — Luxor become the most death-obsessed casino in the world.) Circus Circus Enterprises even had to build a second hotel tower to mollify players who didn’t want to stay in a pharaoh’s coffin, big as it might be. While MGM has tried to de-theme the property, it looks like they’ll be stuck with the mini-sphinx out front,

Excalibur is, along with Circus Circus itself, destined — or doomed — to be a case study of the themed-casino craze until it is eventually imploded, maybe longer. However, both of those properties perform so well that their date with dynamite is a very long way off … unlike the Sahara. There’s an example of a casino so out of date and uncompetitive that it had to be partially demolished and wholly reinvented, even if that reinvention is a financial failure. That’s an entirely different story.

Perhaps Mr. Anderson was referring to unfinished Fontainebleau and semi-built Resorts World Las Vegas. We’re as eager as he for those to be completed. However, Carl Icahn isn’t going to spend the billions necessary to finished F-bleau and Genting Group has had difficulty financing Resorts World. (The company's focus is also on other loactions, chasing after casino opportunities in Florida and Japan while Resorts World Vegas gathers rust.)

Finally, as to all those water features that literally dried up, southern Nevada is contending with a prolonged drought that has seen Lake Mead fall to record levels. In September 2015, the Southern Nevada Water Authority uncapped a ‘third straw’ in the depths of Lake Mead. As The Associated Press reported, it “won’t draw more water from the lake than before, or make the surface level drop any faster. But it will keep taps flowing in Las Vegas homes and casinos even if drought-stricken Lake Mead drops to its lowest levels, officials said.”

So if you see a fountain that’s gone dry, know it’s because the water is badly needed elsewhere.