Trip Report Dec 7-11

This was our 2nd trip to Vegas (a first) this year. The wife and I really enjoy the December atmosphere and low overall costs. This trip would be slightly different than the last five, for we were to visit many ”off the beatin path” places that we have not been to.

Flights:

SW Airlines out of Midway/Chicago. Plane had a late start on a cold Dec 7th morning. The water lines to the toilets on the plane were frozen. This 20 minute delay was made up in the air. The flight to Vegas was only about half full. We have never seen a SW plane this empty before. Oddly enough their prices on the Web were out of ';cheap'; tickets and only premium priced tickets were available. Flight back to Chicago/Midway Dec 11th only had 39 people on it. With that being said they (SW) decided to board everybody at once on the plane. So much for my ';A '; tickets 20-21. Somehow we still managed to get our favorite exit row seating. Other than the boarding bs the flight was non-eventful and arrived on time.

Rental Car:

I usually start out a few months in advance to get good prices. I settled on 118.00 Ttl (Thirfty) for a compact. My sister then sent me a link to a website I have never seen before. On this website I managed to get a mid-sized car from Enterprise for $75.50 grand ttl for the week. I have never seen a price like this before and had to call and confirm. With all the problems we have had with domestic rental cars we picked out a Mitsubishi four door ';something';. This was a nice car, other than the fact that the pedals seemed to be higher than the average car. This can wear out one’s ankle until you can get used to it. The sales people at Enterprise are nice, polite, %26amp; well dressed however Enterprise get commission for everything extra they can tack on to your bill. Be aware that they will always try to politely sell you something, unlike most others.

Orleans Hotel: This is our favorite hotel to stay at. We were on the 19th floor with a strip view. No real issues the four nights we spent here other than the amount of cowboy hats that filled the place. Yes the rodeo people love the Orleans too. To give them credit, if it wasn’t for them, this place (and others) would be a ghost town. So a big YEEeeHaaaw to the rodeo cowboys!! The new food court is filling up fast. Rut’row… I just thought of a negative of the Orleans,,,the Valet service. They have been consistently very slow the past three trips. We valet park everywhere and the Orleans has went from being one of the faster to one of the slower valet services. The rooms (minus the free meal money %26amp; free slot money, both that would of came out of our pocket) came to $5 a night (no extra charges).

Food Reviews (all based on cleanliness, service, quality, and atmosphere,,,, and I try never to say something bad without finding something good)………………………

Silverton Buffet: Arrived Sunday and was looking forward to a good Vegas meal. After a quick a pit stop at the South Point we headed to Silverton for their Champagne brunch. With a players card you buy one and get one free. I think it cost around 13 bucks. The food was excellent and so was the champagne. The Silverton Buffet has reached the category of being much, much better than average. This place was also our last meal before our flight home on Thursday. I highly recommend this place. We saw Santa Claus swimming with the fishes in their aquarium.

Score: 4.3 out of 5.

Gold Coast Buffet: We ate here about a year ago and it was horrible. To be fair it was also later at night near closing time. When I say horrible I mean cold food, empty bins, and poor service. This trip was a major improvement. The standout dish was the General’s Chicken, never had it so good at any buffet before. I knew there had to be a reason that this place didn’t deserve such a poor rating on our last trip.

Score: 3.4 out of 5

Fremont Buffet: We got our 2 for 1 coupon via above Walgreens and decided to try the buffet that is usually described as the 2nd best (or best) buffet downtown. This place had a great atmosphere to it. We really liked the seating and the low light. As for the food,,,,not very good. Apparently it was steak night. I got two steaks and they were actually below the grade of a Ponderosa steak. Sad to say that wasn’t a joke. The shrimp were not peeled (to much work for me for the price paid). As for the other food, there was not a whole lot of selections as compared to other buffets. I don’t think we would go back, Main St Station offers much more. Once again the dining room was really cool.

Score: 2.7 out of 5

Plaza Buffet: The only reason we ate here was because of the poor reviews I have read. It seems like some reviews of things, places, etc have been a bit exaggerated. I was on a quest to see if this place was as described…………and it was!! Before I begin to belittle the food let me say the staff was nice and the place was as clean as it could possibly be. I could not find anything to eat. This was first for me. I managed to find some mashed potatoes (instant) and some veggies. Nothing looked good at all. Think high school cafeteria %26amp; picture me running back across the street to get more shrimp at Golden Gate.

Score: 2.1 out of 5

Prime Rib Loft (Orleans): We have stayed at the Orleans many times and always wanted to try this fair priced, overall good reviews place. We spent the whole day in Death Valley so we were really hungry when we got back to the Orleans at 7:30 for our reservations. We first ordered two apitizers,,grilled artichokes with lemon aioli dipping sauce and prime rib dipping bites.w/chedder beer sauce. Both of these were simply outstanding. For the main coarse I had the Bourbon Street Chicken and the wife had the prime rib (Orleans cut). The chicken was just ok,, it was smothered with so much bbq sauce I could not tell if it was chicken or pork. I was not expecting a bone in it being a chicken breast. As for the prime rib,, that raised a lot of questions on why people order this particular dish in the first place. We have never had good prime rib. It dosn’t matter how you order it, its still going to be raw. It’s still going to be full of fat. It’s still going to leave you hungry. With that being said, we simply can’t judge the quality of the prime rib at the Prime Rib Loft. Someone care to reply as to why the love of this cut of meat over any other cut? Anyways the service was fair, and the atmosphere was ok. We would go back, but order something else. Prime Rib= yuck!!

Score: 3.4 out of 5

Ellis Island: Another first for us. The casino was smaller than expected,,and the workers overall not very friendly (more on this later). The steak special was very good for the price. The service was good as well. A lot of reviews stated that you usually have to wait 45 minutes to get in. We had no problem walking right in. If you have a rental car it’s really worth the trip. Parking is easy and the price is great. This was the best steak we had on this trip, a pleasant surprise.

Score: 3.6 out of 5

Shrimp / Golden Gate: Expecting me to say something bad about this place?? Let’s just say they better never close up. This place has the low priced food and the right vibes. Limit two 99 cent shrimp cocktails with player’s card per purchase. No big deal, just get back in line and have two more!!! I double, double dare someone to say a bad thing about this place.

Score: 4.6 out of 5

Places, Sites, and Sounds…………………….

Atomic Museum: A very nice museum which was larger than we thought. It had a lot of interesting items to see. There were also a few hands on items to touch. You could even watch a movie at their small theater of things blowing up. This place was better than expected. Be aware that no camera are allowed. One of the more interesting exhibits was seeing how nuclear fallout on a human being could make one (if they live) crave food that has chicken in it.

Peppermill: We ran in to see what it looked like. We did not eat here because we were not hungry at the time. We would certainly try the food someday, but the fire pit and being a “must see” cool place could be argued. The Peppermill is a lot smaller than we expected (bar side).

Pinball Hall of Fame: Talk about memories of my childhood! A great place to waste a few hours playing old vintage pinball machines. We just walked in and had really no intention to play any until we reached the door out. Then we saw the ”Family Guy” pinball machine. Not exactly a vintage machine, but totally cool. We played it and took video of it. If you’re a fan of Family Guy, then you would want this in your living room.

Driving Around Town: Easy as always. I really see no reason how anyone can get lost driving Vegas. There are just too many landmarks. Traffic was light this trip. I only had one close call this trip due to the getting used to an unfamiliar rental car blind spot.

Luxor: Been in it many times, stayed there once. Only difference this trip was that it turned grey. I always thought it was black, but this time grey. Someone out there care to explain this to me? We observed this from I-15 and also from our hotel room at the Orleans. I just looked at my 2007 pictures and it was black, now I see a 2008 pic and it is grey. Whats going on??

Sahara (First visit ever): Dodged the time share nazis, waited 20 minutes in line to get a players card (gave up), tried to play several machines but would not accept our $20 bills, complained to floor manager and walked out. What a waste of our time. The Sahara had a nice vintage vibe to it. It’s too bad they never gave us a chance to enjoy this place.

The New Mirage Volcano: We were working our way up the strip working to see the inaugural opening night of the new Volcano. We were late, but got to see a lot of fireworks from a block away at the end of the new show. We waited an hour for the next show and overall it was pretty lame, not much different than the old show. But as it turns out they had technical issues so the full show was not what we saw. We waited another hour (walked thru the Mirage) came out and saw the real show. This is really a much improved show. It is worth the time to watch it. I can go into details, but I am sure the search engine or Youtube would be a better reference.

Death Valley: This place was our pick for “the day to get out of town” I plan on posting this as a separate trip report in the Death Valley Forum. Just a fast review….We left at 6:30 am and drove highway 95 (passing (OJ’s new home ) and stopped at Ryolite Ghost Town prior to entering DV. This town was very interesting. Then we drove into the park to Stovepipe Wells (skipping the Drive up North to Scottys Castle, from what I heard it isn’t much anyways). Then we drove South to Furnace Creek, then to the Badlands , backtracked to Artist Drive, took a hike in Golden Canyon, and then made it to Zanbriskis Point for sunset. The sunset was at 4:30 and we made it there by 3:15 after exploring all mainstream parts of DV (I did not list them all). After the sunset we headed back via Pahrump. The drive from Pahrump to Vegas seemed to be all downhill. This “full circle” drive through Ryolite, DV, and exiting via Pahrump is well worth a full day of your time. We got back to Vegas around 7pm. Overall DV is an interesting place, oddly most people think of it as a sandy desert,,which it is everything but. Other day trips from past trips included Oatman, Zion, Red Rocks, %26amp; Valley of Fire. Death Valley may not of been as good as those day trips, but that does not mean it’s below the description of great and a must do..

Southpoint Casino (first visit ever): This was our first stop after getting off the plane. We wanted to check it out. Um,,not only is this a fair distance from the strip, it’s also a exact clone of the Orleans (only a decade newer). It has the same colors, and décor. I realize that Boyd once owned it, but I’d rather stay at the Orleans for convenience. To be fair maybe there is something we missed on our walk around. Sorry to say we just didn’t see the rave of this place.

Canery (first visit ever): I forgot what brought us to this place. This place was ok,, nothing good nor bad. I do remember a few perks for signing up for the players card.. I do remember waiting 10 minutes to verify that my travelers check was good. It looks like travelers checks are beginning to be a hassle in Vegas (and $20 bills).

Ellis Island (first visit ever): Well you heard above the steak special was very good. Now for the casino…..simply put, small, aged, and not very friendly. Not only was my travelers check a hassle, my $20 bill had to be checked over by the pit boss at the blackjack table. Ok, travelers checks and $20 bills in Vegas are now a hassle. This does not explain why most employees at Ellis Island act like they hate their job. The casino is an armpit. I would never want to stay here, but Iwould go back for the steak special and maybe spend a few bucks on VP.

Terribles (first trip ever): Ok place. Seemed busy here compared to other off strip casino. This, like most other casinos listed we just spent under an hour at.

Magical Forest Christmas Display: This was at a college about 10 minutes north of the Orleans. If you ever have the chance around Christmas time to go here do it! It consists of many, many outdoor displays with train rides throughout the park. We even saw a blimp over the strip advertising this place. We been twice to the Cactus Gardens at Ethel’s Chocolate factory during Christmas. NOT taking anything away from Ethel, but this place is 10x better. Although it cost $8 to get in, it’s well worth the cost. Basically you walk thru the park and see displays from various businesses/entities’ around vegas. Every display is different and impressive. There is also a carousol and slide as well as food.

Downtown Vegas: We have turned into downtown people. We always devote our first night downtown, and always come back another night during our vacation. First up there was an ice skating show going on stage across from the Golden Nugget. We decided to watch/film this from the Golden Nugget bar overhang above the casino floor. We asked the bartender if he shut off the loud bar music when the show began, and he said yes. The show has it’s own music and when the show started the bartender only turned his music down a token. We could not really hear the show, just the loud bar tunes. We thought that was pretty rude, being that the bar was practically empty and the show was of limited time. There was to be another show in an hour so we went on our way. It turns out that filming at the stage for the next show gave me a great opportunity to piece together great footage from different angles. The 9pm showing on the canopy was our d/t favorite American Pie, followed by a 10pm showing of Queen’s Rock you. There was a mechanical bull d/t that only seemed to attract the under 16 crowd to ride it.

Nice Person Award: To a gentleman who was at the Fremont casino. I hope you read these forums because you sure did make our day. My wife collects stuffed toy penguins. They live downstairs in boxes until the first snow of the year hits. Then they infiltrate (by the hundreds so it seems) up the stairs throughout the home. At the Fremont Casino we decided to sign up for a players card. Behind the counter they were giving away small stuffed penguins and polar bears when you hit so many points on the players cards. It would of took us hours to get all those points, hours we didn’t have. The wife stepped over to a slot machine while I acquired my players card. I was going to get this penguin for the wife for Christmas since it is one she does not have. Well tried as I might, I just could not talk the counter person into giving me one. I turned around and there was a man who just got one. I told him the quickly the story and offered him $10 for the penguin. He looked puzzled and I then saw my wife look at us wondering what was going on. Well then I had to drop the whole idea. We then started to walk away and this guy caught up to us on the other end of the casino and then gave us the penguin! He didn’t even want to accept money. Well the Christmas present surprise was lost, but the wife got her special penguin from the very special person who had Christmas spirit. This certainly was one of them so called “Hallmark Moments”. This special lil’ penguin has been named “Fremont” and the story behind him will always be a special Christmas memory. I have this feeling that “Fremont” will not be heading downstairs this Spring with all the others.

Conclusion: Great trip overall. We added to the thousand of pictures we have taken over the past few years as well as the countless hours of video. We met so many nice people on this particular trip. We visited so many “new” places that have been on the back burner. I am now in the beginning stages of planning our first cruise. I have been told that once we get a taste of cruises Vegas may take a permanent back seat. I hope not, but stay tuned.

Regards,

joncor

Trip Report Dec 7-11

Really enjoyed your trip report. Easy to follow with it broken down like that, and I loved the penguin story. ;)

Trip Report Dec 7-11

nice report-love the migrating penguins and your wife got fremont

I also like the format. For some it works better.

If you don%26#39;t like Prime Rib, the Loft doesn%26#39;t really have that much to offer. There are plenty of good options at Orleans.

I stayed at both Orleans %26amp; South Point last year, and if you like Orleans you would really like SP. The rooms are larger and nicer, and not just because they are newer. The gambling is better (very important to some). And the coffee shop is much better than the one at Orleans, and very reasonably priced. If you don%26#39;t mind being a little further away, you might want to give it a try.

Thanks for the report.

Loved your TR and the format!

When you said the food court was filling up fast at The Orleans I don%26#39;t know what you meant. Are there some new eateries there now? Did you visit the Eastside Cannery on Boulder or was it the original Cannery?

You managed to see quite a bit on this trip.

Nice trip report! It sounds like you had a great time......

I totally agree with your comments about the Plaza buffet....it is just awful :( On our December trip my husband and I were playing craps there and we asked for 2 free buffets before taking off to the airport to leave (it was conveinent at the time)......what a mistake.....we couldn%26#39;t find anything that was good.....even the desserts were awful.....oh well we tried it out and never again!!

**It%26#39;s funny but I wanted to try the Plaza buffet out to see how awful it was (from the reviews I had read) also....LOL

Lea :)

Great report, loved the layout.

Golden Gate rules!

Nice report. Lots of detail. Thanks for posting

Thanks for the great TR.. I will be staying at the Orleans in April...can you give me a rough estimate on how far the walk from there to the strip would be? I know they have a shuttle but if it isn%26#39;t to far I don%26#39;t mind walking..

Loved your trip report and the format! I%26#39;m a downtown gal, so I really enjoyed reading about ';Fremont';. We went to Death Valley last February so I took special interest in that segment also. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Great TR very detailed and i like the way you rated each item that was excellent.