DAY 1-June 22, 2007
DAY 1-June 22, 2007
We got there around 1:00pm Pacific Time and then had to menuver through the McCarran airport, get our baggage and set up our shuttle to our hotel. By the time we left on our shuttle it was around 2:00pm and about 108° outside! Then all the sudden on one of the busiest streets I've ever been on, our shuttle bus breaks down!! (see photos) Our poor driver had to rush us and our luggage across the street (in 100+ degrees remember!) and we had to wait for another bus to pick us up...it made for an interesting way to start our vacation!
Then we finally got to our hotel, the Stratosphere, we checked in and made it up to the 23rd floor! Our view was amazing and we had a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, of course we forgot to take pics of the room, but it was awesome! We were pretty much starving so we wandered around the hotel looking for restaurants and finally found them!! We ate at Roxy's Diner, which was a 50's style themed restaurant that had the coolest food choices and they actually got up and sang oldies and stuff.
We then decided to venture out into the heat and we caught the Deuce CAT bus all the way down the strip...cheap but it took us soooooooo long to get down there, we were kinda frustrated! We walked by the Luxor hotel and went to Mandalay Bay where we ventured inside to the Shark Reef. This was an awesome way to kick off our weekend, they had tons of fish, sharks, sting rays, jellyfish (by far the coolest!), eels, and so much more! (photos) It was the best $15 I may have spent! We had a blast in this place.
Then we wandered back down past the Luxor to Excalibur hotel where the Tournament of Kings is held. We had tickets to the 8:30pm show (it was a surprise for Derrick) so we explored and relaxed until then. The Excalibur is pretty cool, the downstairs, where the arena is, is like a whole carnival atmosphere with carnival games and stuff. The Tournament of Kings is a show that includes a dinner you eat with your fingers (photos) comedy, jousting show, horses and the whole shebang!! It was so so so much fun, you cheer and yell and get rowdy and it was a blast! The show was about 1 1/2 hours long.
When that was over we were dead tired from the whole day and the heat so we decided to start to venture back to the hotel. We walked a little but got frustrated with crosswalks and people and then we caught the stupid Deuce bus again...it took us forever to get back to the hotel, we were pretty grouchy!! When we did get back though I took the most amazing bath in our jacuzzi and we crashed for the night...hey we're old people, give us a break! Plus we were still running on Central Time, a 2 hour difference!
We ate at three of the restaurants in the hotel, Roxy's Diner which is a 50's style themed restaurant, Naga Chinese Express which is a Chinese restaurant and sushi bar, and then at the Top of the World restaurant which is the revolving restaurant at the top of the tower. Roxy's and Naga were very reasonably priced with great atmosphere and very friendly staff. Top of the World is expensive but so worth it for the view and the food. The wait staff there was also very pleasant.
Our room was on the 23rd floor out of 24 floors and they have an outdoor pool area that is fantastic! It is surprisingly a very large and kind of confusing hotel at first but we ended up just walking around and exploring, we became very comfortable getting around after the first day.
The check in and check out went very smoothly with no complications.
We also got into the nightclub located inside for free with our room key, it was an awesome nightclub and would definately go back to it!1
Next time we go to Vegas I would stay here again, but probably won't as there is so much more to see!!
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You can walk through these amazing glass tunnels where the fish and sharks are swimming all around you and you could just sit in there forever watching them.
The only bad thing was since the lighting was so low in there and with all the glass tanks it was hard to get a good picture of the animals, but cameras were allowed which is a plus!
I would definately love to go back to this, and for $15.95 per person we can afford to go back!!
We ordered sliders (mini burgers) and a triple decker grilled cheese, both were excellent. They also have a huge shake called a Strato-shake (shaped like the stratosphere tower) but we didn't end up getting that. They also provide take out.
The staff also sings periodically along with music to oldies and they are really good!! It was a blast!
If we were in the stratosphere again we would probably eat there again, but we probably wouldn't go out of our way to eat there!
It is a show where everyone sits in different sections labeled with a country and then there is a king for each country. There is also a section for the bad guy, which is the section we were in, Dragon. There is jokes and festivities and dinner, then there is jousting, horse riding and sword fights.
Each section is highly encouraged to cheer for their king, shouting, pounding on the tables and booing are all highly encouraged. You also eat your entire supper without silverware to place you more into the time period.
I think this show is more geared towards children but we are two people in our 20's and we had so much fun!! It was priced around $50 per person but remember this is for a 1 1/2 hour long show and dinner.
We had a blast and will probably do this again!
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