Hey everybody, 

Want to share a bit of fun from our Las Vegas trip this past weekend! Our main reason for going to Vegas for the first time since 2022 was to see the Beatles: Love Cirque Du Soleil show which is closing in just a few weeks. If you haven't seen it we HIGHLY recommend it. 

On our trip we also made a quick stop at Buffalo Bills (not to ride the coaster and log ride), so we have some pics from there. Sadly, it's not good news. 

New to us and new to Vegas is the new Spongebob Squarepants attraction at Circus Circus, so we of course have some pics and video from that all new family attraction at a resort that has definitely seen better days. 

We also did a few other things we've wanted to do for awhile including the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay and Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. 

And of course, with any Vegas trip, resort hopping is always fun. That will include a visit to the conservatory at Bellagio and a few other things. 

But unlike a typical "trip report" I also have some thoughts on if Vegas is actually "back" to it's pre-Covid status. On a weekend that included a fight at MGM Grand, a concert at The Sphere, the final weekends featuring Adele at Caesars and of course the normal events in Las Vegas, I'll be honest, it didn't seem to be very busy inside any of the hotels or casinos all weekend. 

But more on that later. Let's get to some fun stuff! 

As I mentioned, we made a pit stop in Primm, NV to, well, you know. But I also took some time to get some pics of the resort. And it's just sad what has become of Buffalo Bills. 

I remember the days of stopping here on a Friday on the way to Vegas, or on a Sunday on the way home from Vegas and not being able to find parking. Even a few times having to park at Whiskey Pete's and take the monorail over. 

That seems like another lifetime ago, as there were only maybe 30 cars in the parking lot. I wish I was exaggerating. 

We decided to stay at The Luxor for this trip. I had stayed here before and I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of the Pyramid rooms. They're weird shaped (obviously), but more than that, they're quite loud with all of the noise coming up from the casino/other events. 

So for this trip we upgraded to an Elite King room in the Tower, and it was fantastic. Would recommend.

Somehow we've never done Medieval Times, or any similar type dinner show. So we thought we'd go cheesy for our Friday night meal and check out Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. 

We enjoyed it immensely although K isn't really a fan of eating with her hands. She powered through though. 

On day two we had a lunch date with two dear friends at Caesar's Palace so we slowly made our way from the Luxor over to Caesars, which meant a stop at one of our favorite hotels NY/NY for some gaming and a drink at the chocolate bar.

​From there we made our way to The Bellagio to check out the always awesome Conservatory. 

As I mentioned, the main reason for our trip was to finally see the Beatles Love Cirque Du Soleil show. We've been wanting to see it for years and hadn't gotten around to it. 

It was absolutely fantastic. This also gave us a chance to say farewell to The Mirage. 

So as I mentioned at the top of this report I have some thoughts on the current state of Las Vegas, and if it's truly back to it's pre-Covid level. While of course the hotels and casino's would like you to believe it is, for me it's not quite there yet. 

We were there on a Friday - Sunday. We visited 10 different resorts (Buffalo Bills, Circus Circus, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, NY/NY, Park MGM, Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Mirage). 

The only time we ever felt any kind of crowd was when we exited the Beatles show, and that was because there was a second show waiting to come in. Other than that all of the casino's seemed very quiet, we never had to deal with any crowds, never had to wait to sit at a bar, or wait for a table to play at, etc. 

And this was a fight weekend. Dead and Company was at the Sphere. And all of the other normal Vegas'y things were going on. And it was (for us), pleasantly chill. 

Sure there seemed to be lots of people walking around the strip, there was a rather large crowd waiting for the Volcano show, but where Vegas actually makes it's money ... didn't seem to be very much going on at all. 

I'm not sure what needs to be done to fix this. There just isn't any excitement going on inside the Casino's any more. I'm not sure if this has to do with the lack of noise or coins no longer being in use at the slot machines. 

This "not quite back" Vegas works for us, we're very chill, we don't gamble all that much (although I'm a big fan of the Blackjack/Craps machines), we like to walk around, try different restaurants at various resorts, etc. But that is not what Vegas wants, and it will be interesting to see what happens if it stays like this for the extended future. 

Have you visited Vegas recently? Did you get the same impression as us? 

Hope you enjoyed this look at our weekend and commentary! 

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Last weekend we made our annual trek to Las Vegas for the Holidays and of course, lots of amazing fun, food, a show and drinking. 

The casinos were all decked out for the holidays and it was a rather calm weekend in Vegas, probably due to the proximity to Christmas. All around it was a very awesome trip. 

Snow on the mountains as we made our trip through the desert

View from our room at NY/NY

It was our first time staying here, and it won't be our last. We just love all the casinos in this area of the strip. 

We were quite prepared for our weekend 

Fun to look at, but no winners. :( 

This one however, the bonus game just kept going and going. It wasn't a very exciting bonus game, but hey, I'll take $125 in pennies!! 

Did you know Vegas has a Chocolate World too? 

A tradition, checking out the conservatory at The Bellagio

And the next morning too

Chocolate Fountain!!! 

Our Friday Night dinner was at Noodles, it was most excellent. 

We had leftovers. Lol

We followed up dinner with some Gelato

Saturday morning we headed to Flamingo for their champagne brunch 

There is Golden Knights stuff EVERYWHERE. EVERY-WHERE!!! 

It's awesome to see the town so enthusiastic about Hockey. 

However, it's going to be REALLY annoying when the Raiders come to town. 

We hadn't been inside the Forum Shops at Caesars in awhile

The best part was the spiral escalators 

Nice to see the fountains still there

We had to check out The Atlantis Show. Hasn't changed in, well, however long it's been there. 

We also of course had to check out the Bellagio Fountain show

After a quick nap it was time to head to Luxor for Blue Man Group. 

We couldn't find the sky-bridge for some reason, so we ended up on the back-side of Excalibur. Lol. 

An Egyptian Christmas

Still fascinated by this hotel 

My wife has been trying to shut me up for 23 years, Blue Man Group finally did it

The show was AMAZING. So much fun and definitely family friendly. So feel free to take the kids. 

Our last morning in Vegas we headed over to MGM

And on the way home stopped at Seven Magic Mountains

They were painted rocks. And that's pretty much all you need to know. =) 

We had an AMAZING time in Vegas, we'll be back in a few months for our sons 21st birthday (how is that even a thing) and we'll have more "theme parky" stuff that trip since he hasn't been to Vegas since he was about 5 and needs all the credits (other than Miner Mike). 

Last weekend we headed to Las Vegas to celebrate our 22nd Wedding Anniversary, we also were excited to check out one of the preview rooms for the upcoming MGM Life Hotel (new name for the Monte Carlo). 
​
We ate all the food, saw an amazing show and had a fantastic time. 

First, let's take a look at the fancy new MGM Life Rooms 

The rooms are great. They've definitely gone with a more "modern" feel. 

Fancy ... 

Spacious bathroom and shower 

If we had to be a bit nit-picky, this is the only "dresser" in the room. Which is fine for a weekend stay but if somebody is staying longer than that, they will still have to live out of their suitcase, which is weird. 

The only other very small thing we noticed was there was only 1 small trashcan in the room, and none in the bathroom. Could have just been an oversight in our room. 

But other than those VERY small things, we loved it. The bed was very comfortable, we couldn't hear our room neighbors AT ALL and it was all in all a very pleasant stay. We can't wait until the entire hotel finishes it's renovation!! 

​Oh, and the view wasn't bad either. 

After freshening up a bit after our drive we headed over to Aria to have a fantastic meal with our friends from Is It October Yet?. 

Seven Magic Mountains display!! We decided we'd stop at the actual one on our next trip. 

We ate at Javiers at Aria ,and it was simply fantastic. 

After lunch it was just a quick tram ride over to Bellagio to check out the glorious holiday decorations. 

Lots of bears for our bear fans 

They always do such an amazing job here 

We hadn't been to the Mirage in about 10 years so we figured we were overdue for a visit. 

Our original plan was to see Beatles Love for our anniversary but sadly it was dark last weekend. 

Because the Rodeo was in town, cowboy hats were everywhere. Even on the Dolphins. 

Penguins!!! 

The Venetian, always one of our favorites. 

We played some computerized (kind of) blackjack that had an actual dealer, everybody got the same card and then there were "community" cards. It was weird. If anybody knows how it works, let us know!!! 

Beautiful 

One thing I want to give Kudos to all the casinos we visited this weekend is the elimination of cigarette smoke. Not sure if it's less people smoking or if they've finally found a way to effectively recycle air, but as somebody with asthma, it was greatly appreciated!!! 

After sun went down we headed back to Bellagio to check out the fountain show 

Hi Paris, we didn't come visit you this time, sorry. 

After a quick rest in our hotel we headed over to NY/NY for dinner ... Zumanity has me. 

We ate at the Burger Bar ... and it was quite yummy

Like seriously yummy 

Next Morning was Anniversary Day that was kind of filled with our Vegas traditions. First up, the buffet at Flamingo since they are Kristi's Favorites. 

I promise I didn't do anything ... 

Since we got married at Circus Circus we had to go pay it a visit. 

This property is very #sad. It really needs to just be imploded at this point. 

After heading back to our hotel and playing some at NY/NY (where we've already decided we are staying next time) we headed over to Rio to see Penn and Teller. 

It was a totally amazing show, we recommend it highly!! 

Oh, and if you ever do see the show, stick around and you may just meet the stars!! 

After sleeping in a bit on Sunday we headed over to MGM Grand and had brunch at Avenue Cafe, highly recommended!! We will definitely be back. 

And that's that. Another amazing Vegas weekend in the books and we are already talking about our next trip. 

​Hope you enjoyed!!! 

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