Question of the Day - 15 January 2026

The year was 1996 and magic was major -- TV was awash with "Worlds Greatest Magic"-type specials and Lance Burton was commencing his 13-year gig in his custom-built 1,274-seat theater at the Monte Carlo (now Park MGM). Las Vegas was at the height of its family-friendly phase and theming was still in, so given the tenor of the times, Caesars Palace built a high-end attraction to capitalize on the public's seemingly unquenchable thirst for illusion.

The 66,000-square-foot Caesars Magical Empire cost around $70 million and took a year to open. Attention was paid to the smallest details and the creative team's efforts were rewarded when Magical received the prestigious Themed Entertainment Association's Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Imported Italian marble was used for the Celestial Court entrance way (adjacent to the race and sports book at the time), whence initiates entered the Chamber of Destiny" and experienced the illusion that they were being lowered into ancient catacombs. (In fact, the guests weren't moving, but the the walls were, raised by a giant electric winch, while the floor was shaken by pneumatic actuators.)

The centerpiece of the Magical Empire was the Sanctorum Secorum, a circular 70-foot-high domed rotunda, complete with a dramatic fire pit and a resident wizard. Guests were escorted by Roman centurions through the "underground" labyrinth of passages for a magical dining experience that featured more sorcery than sauce -- even the restrooms featured optical illusions. After dinner, multiple theaters to visit featured close-up performances by some talented magicians, all part of the package. With the city's typical disregard for both chronological and geographical consistency, these additional rooms carried names like the Secret Pagoda Theater and the Sultan's Palace, but at least the two Thai foo-dog statues, not to mention the reproductions of artifacts from ancient Egypt and Iran, were based on authentic relics, or so the PR department assured the media.

Ironically, that attention paid to detail, plus the crew of 200 that the attraction employed, proved to be the downfall of Caesars Magical Empire. The 66,000 square feet was a lot of space to fill, especially in a town that was still earning its bread and butter in terms of slot machines per square foot. Caesars' expectations of 2,400 guests per day at CME proved to be wildly optimistic, with tickets that were pricey for that time, starting at $70 for the dinner-and-show experience. From early 2000, rumors of closure were rampant, but CME limped on until the end of 2002. By that point, the family-friendly experiment was over, spelling the end of the road for one of Las Vegas' more ambitious and impressive themed attractions, which was closed that November and demolished to make way for the Colosseum and PURE nightclub.