diberry
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2004
This is just going to be a fairly quick whip through week 1 as its totally non-Disney!! We left on 10th from Heathrow to L.A. for a mind-blowingly boring 10½ hour flight (I never can sleep on planes). As we left the airport building in L.A. we recognised that unmistakable hot smell that we always associate with America, though it was much less humid than Florida. Dave was persuaded that we couldnt possibly manage with the car wed booked so he upgraded (surprise!!!) to a 6 cylinder Chevrolet Impala just to get us safely through the desert to Las Vegas (though there are signs at the roadside telling you to switch off the air-conditioning in the desert anyway!!)
We went straight to Long Beach where wed booked a couple of nights on the Queen Mary - Ive never seen such an enormous ship its absolutely huge!!!
We got a stateroom with the most enormous bed in the world too 3 pillows side by side (though we decided against inviting a third person to share it with us!!!
) We had a drink in the Observation Lounge but we were shattered so went to bed - it was actually 8 a.m. in our body time!!!
The next day we spent just enjoying being there and had a good look round the ship and Long Beach. We woke up very early the next day (5.30!) and set off for Las Vegas. I was surprised how quickly we climbed our ears were popping as we drove up out of the San Bernardino Valley. I had expected it to be like on those films you see with us being the only car in sight on a long straight road through the Mojave desert in fact of course its a very busy highway between L.A. and Las Vegas!! It was absolutely amazing to be in the middle of the desert and suddenly see something that looked like WetnWild!!! Where do they get the water from??? As soon as we got to the state border with Nevada there was a huge casino and a rollercoaster and nothing else and then you were back in the middle of the desert again!!! Very weird!!
Well, for those whove been to Las Vegas youll understand what I mean when I say its totally beyond description!!! Ive never seen anywhere as completely over-the-top - big, brash, bright, gaudy, glitzy, tacky, seedy, loud, with neon everywhere, incredibly hot and extremely exciting!!!! It is definitely a monument to excess in all its forms and we only saw the clean side!!! Our hotel was extremely reasonably priced but was incredibly ornate and we would normally have considered it way out of our league but they spare no expense to get you there in order to part you from your money in the casinos!! Dave did play some slot machines while we were there and just about broke even but, even though he plays internet poker at home, he didnt dare try the tables as the minimum stake is $50 or $100!!
Right outside our hotel was the Fremont Street Experience which is a frame 90 feet above the street and 4 city blocks long which serves as a giant screen for shows with 2.1 million lights and 540,000 watts of sound
as I said, they dont do things by halves and this wasnt even on the Strip this was downtown otherwise known as Glitter Gulch!!!
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The next day I woke up at 5 oclock again and couldnt get back to sleep so I got up, and decided to go down and see what was happening. You would have thought it was early evening people were playing the slot machines and the tables, smoking and drinking beer probably been up all night!! It was incredible but also decidedly disgusting to be doing that so early in the morning when the sun was shining beautifully outside (this from someone who thinks its a sin to watch TV before 6 p.m!!!)
After breakfast we drove down to the South end of the Strip where we left the car in the Mandalay Bay hotel car park and started out on what turned out to be an exceedingly long walk!!! I really wished Id put my pedometer on!! As soon as you get into any of the hotels you are immediately bang in the middle of the casino. There are moving walkways to take you into the casino but no signs to help you leave! They are all absolutely massive and full to bursting with every kind of gambling machines and tables you could easily get lost in one of them and never see daylight again!! The décor of the hotels is absolutely amazing incredibly ornate in whichever theme the hotel has and no expense has been spared to make each one bigger and better and more lavish than its neighbours in order to attract your dollars!! As they say in Las Vegas: Too much is never enough!!!!!.
When we got as far as the Bellagio hotel we were lucky enough to catch the dancing fountains in the lake outside which was an amazing sight!! The lake is a quarter of a mile long with 1200 fountains which dance to music - in this case Elvis Presleys Viva Las Vegas - of course!! Caesars Palace is absolutely enormous
and extremely upmarket and we wandered around the Forum Shops there are over 150 open 24 hours a day - Versace, Armani etc etc!! We didnt buy anything except a couple of Cokes and a T shirt!!! We saw quite a few brides and their wedding parties in the casinos. Why anyone would want to hold their wedding in such tacky surroundings and have to walk through a casino to get to the wedding chapel is beyond me!!
We headed for the Venetian hotel which is really upmarket and for once the casino is not on the floor you enter on. We had an indoor gondola ride - this is all indoors with a painted ceiling!! - and the gondolier sang: O Sole Mio to us!!
This was definitely the nicest hotel we saw.
Next we took the monorail to the Hilton hotel where we went to the Star Trek Experience (Im a keen Trekker and Dave is very patient!!!) There is a huge array of costumes, weapons, special effects and props from the USS Enterprise plus live interaction with actors and motion simulator rides and I had my picture taken in the Borg regeneration chamber (how sad am I?????????)
The day we left we went to Red Rock Canyon which is about 15 miles west of Las Vegas and is extremely beautiful and an absolutely amazing sight. What a refreshing change after the tackiness and seediness of Las Vegas!!
Im glad we went to Las Vegas for the experience but I dont think well be going back!!
Our next stop was San Diego mainly because we love Seaworld in Orlando and we wanted to see Shamu again (or a relative of his/hers!!) We only had one day there and made the most of it by staying for 13 hours which we could never have done in the humidity of Orlando. We had a really great day. Im not a great fan of zoos etc but we really love Seaworld its very entertaining and you learn a lot about the animals too. They have great shows with dolphins and whales and good shops too!!!!
So that was my short report on week 1!!!
We went straight to Long Beach where wed booked a couple of nights on the Queen Mary - Ive never seen such an enormous ship its absolutely huge!!!
We got a stateroom with the most enormous bed in the world too 3 pillows side by side (though we decided against inviting a third person to share it with us!!!
) We had a drink in the Observation Lounge but we were shattered so went to bed - it was actually 8 a.m. in our body time!!! The next day we spent just enjoying being there and had a good look round the ship and Long Beach. We woke up very early the next day (5.30!) and set off for Las Vegas. I was surprised how quickly we climbed our ears were popping as we drove up out of the San Bernardino Valley. I had expected it to be like on those films you see with us being the only car in sight on a long straight road through the Mojave desert in fact of course its a very busy highway between L.A. and Las Vegas!! It was absolutely amazing to be in the middle of the desert and suddenly see something that looked like WetnWild!!! Where do they get the water from??? As soon as we got to the state border with Nevada there was a huge casino and a rollercoaster and nothing else and then you were back in the middle of the desert again!!! Very weird!!
Well, for those whove been to Las Vegas youll understand what I mean when I say its totally beyond description!!! Ive never seen anywhere as completely over-the-top - big, brash, bright, gaudy, glitzy, tacky, seedy, loud, with neon everywhere, incredibly hot and extremely exciting!!!! It is definitely a monument to excess in all its forms and we only saw the clean side!!! Our hotel was extremely reasonably priced but was incredibly ornate and we would normally have considered it way out of our league but they spare no expense to get you there in order to part you from your money in the casinos!! Dave did play some slot machines while we were there and just about broke even but, even though he plays internet poker at home, he didnt dare try the tables as the minimum stake is $50 or $100!!
Right outside our hotel was the Fremont Street Experience which is a frame 90 feet above the street and 4 city blocks long which serves as a giant screen for shows with 2.1 million lights and 540,000 watts of sound
as I said, they dont do things by halves and this wasnt even on the Strip this was downtown otherwise known as Glitter Gulch!!!
The next day I woke up at 5 oclock again and couldnt get back to sleep so I got up, and decided to go down and see what was happening. You would have thought it was early evening people were playing the slot machines and the tables, smoking and drinking beer probably been up all night!! It was incredible but also decidedly disgusting to be doing that so early in the morning when the sun was shining beautifully outside (this from someone who thinks its a sin to watch TV before 6 p.m!!!)
After breakfast we drove down to the South end of the Strip where we left the car in the Mandalay Bay hotel car park and started out on what turned out to be an exceedingly long walk!!! I really wished Id put my pedometer on!! As soon as you get into any of the hotels you are immediately bang in the middle of the casino. There are moving walkways to take you into the casino but no signs to help you leave! They are all absolutely massive and full to bursting with every kind of gambling machines and tables you could easily get lost in one of them and never see daylight again!! The décor of the hotels is absolutely amazing incredibly ornate in whichever theme the hotel has and no expense has been spared to make each one bigger and better and more lavish than its neighbours in order to attract your dollars!! As they say in Las Vegas: Too much is never enough!!!!!.
When we got as far as the Bellagio hotel we were lucky enough to catch the dancing fountains in the lake outside which was an amazing sight!! The lake is a quarter of a mile long with 1200 fountains which dance to music - in this case Elvis Presleys Viva Las Vegas - of course!! Caesars Palace is absolutely enormous
and extremely upmarket and we wandered around the Forum Shops there are over 150 open 24 hours a day - Versace, Armani etc etc!! We didnt buy anything except a couple of Cokes and a T shirt!!! We saw quite a few brides and their wedding parties in the casinos. Why anyone would want to hold their wedding in such tacky surroundings and have to walk through a casino to get to the wedding chapel is beyond me!!
We headed for the Venetian hotel which is really upmarket and for once the casino is not on the floor you enter on. We had an indoor gondola ride - this is all indoors with a painted ceiling!! - and the gondolier sang: O Sole Mio to us!!
This was definitely the nicest hotel we saw.
Next we took the monorail to the Hilton hotel where we went to the Star Trek Experience (Im a keen Trekker and Dave is very patient!!!) There is a huge array of costumes, weapons, special effects and props from the USS Enterprise plus live interaction with actors and motion simulator rides and I had my picture taken in the Borg regeneration chamber (how sad am I?????????)
The day we left we went to Red Rock Canyon which is about 15 miles west of Las Vegas and is extremely beautiful and an absolutely amazing sight. What a refreshing change after the tackiness and seediness of Las Vegas!!
Im glad we went to Las Vegas for the experience but I dont think well be going back!!
Our next stop was San Diego mainly because we love Seaworld in Orlando and we wanted to see Shamu again (or a relative of his/hers!!) We only had one day there and made the most of it by staying for 13 hours which we could never have done in the humidity of Orlando. We had a really great day. Im not a great fan of zoos etc but we really love Seaworld its very entertaining and you learn a lot about the animals too. They have great shows with dolphins and whales and good shops too!!!!
So that was my short report on week 1!!!
I would love to stay on the Queen Mary, and I have always wanted to visit Las Vegas, just to see it's excesses for myself!!! Thanks so much for doing a report, and for the wonderful photos! 
DH & I spent a week there 12 yrs. ago. I'm not into gambling, so we split up at times. It was hopeless trying to find him in the casino. I would just go back to the room & wait for him to show up. I would love to return to Vegas to hotel hop. 
It's really a great place to visit for the shows & dining, even if you don't gamble.
