A year or so ago, I told an old friend of mine that someday we would go to Vegas together. Mary had never been west of Chicago, in fact had never flown, outside of a flight from Columbus to Chicago with a niece. I might add that she also loves to gamble, and had only gone to the casinos around Ohio being Windsor, Detroit and the boats. When the invitation to an inexpensive slot tournament at the Las Vegas Hilton arrived and I had quite a few vacation days to use before the end of the year, I thought this was the perfect time to invite her to go, especially since Mary was going to turn 60 at the end of September. What better celebration than a trip to Vegas!!

I had a lot of fun planning this trip, as Mary was so excited about going. In fact she told me she thought she was more excited about the trip than she had been about the first time she got married!! Then it got to the point where I started to worry that maybe I wouldn

WOW Susan - you guys really had a great time - that was a trip for a vet and sounds like you cultivated a new vet out of a virgin. When is she going back?? Great TR - made me antsy for November - you make a great guide. Wendell

Hi Susan,

Thanks for the great report. It certainly can be fun showing someone around vegas for their first time.

I'm a little confused on your tournament play. You talked about winning $500. Were you playing for real money? Every tournament I've ever seem you just played for points.

Would you fly AirTran again?

Thanks for a great report, Susan!

I love sharing a great place with a newbie, its like seeing it all for the first time again.

By they way, Jeff, I have flown Airtran and was very impressed. A shorter trip than a Vegas flight, but the new planes were great,the crew actually seemed happy to have us on board, and when one of our flights was cancelled I have never seen a ticket agent hustle like ours did to re-book us. They are new in our market - hope it lasts!

Kes

Wendell:
My friend says her biggest worry right now is when and how she's going to get back to Vegas!!
Have I created a monster??


Senator:
The tournament play and the $500 win were two separate things. Tournament play was three sessions, all for points on red, white & blue slots. I came in 190th out of 411. Everyone won at least $50, and that's what I won. Top prize was $6,000.

The $500 win was on my own play, on a nickel Tabasco video machine.

Airtran was fine. From Dayton to Atlanta, we flew on one of their new planes....717 I think it was. From Atlanta to Las Vegas it was on an Airbus. From Atlanta to Vegas, LA & I think San Francisco they use Ryan Int'l. crews, but I was told by a telephone agent they use Airtran planes.
I have no idea why they use Ryan Int'l. crews. From what I got from Ryan's website, they are a charter company. We also flew Airtran Labor Day weekend from Dayton to Ft. Lauderdale. Again a change in Atlanta. On the new planes all legs of the flights. As Kestral said, I found the crews and gate agents to be friendly and happy acting. Yes, I would fly them again. I just don't like going thru Atlanta if I don't have to.


Kestral:
We've been going to Vegas for so long that it was great fun to see it through new eyes.

I liked Airtran also.

Susan,
Thanks for the great report. seeing vegas with a newbie is great. It's like, You get to see things again for the first time! The closest thing I can compare it to, is taking a child to Disney world/land for the first time. It's almost magicial.
I was hoping you'd finish a little higher in the tournament.
Vegas gets into your blood, and I think you might have just opened someones eyes, not created a monster!
One thing I never understand is, how someone can say, "Oh I wouldn't like Las Vegas, I don't gamble" It's not just about gambling. Your recent trip proves that point. You did a lot of sightseeing and gawlking. Isn't Vegas GREAT?
Thanks for typing this out for us. It was a big boost to my upcoming trip!

People who don't get it just don't get it :rolleyes:

Now it is posted in the right place!!!

Kat

The gambling sounds like you did well, but it also sounds like you made sure your Vegas virgin discovered how much more Las Vegas offers besides gambling. Thanks for the fix; I'm starting to count the days until my next visit!

Lee, Kat & Daisy:
Thanks for reading my report. I have people that give me weird looks and comments when I say something about going to Vegas. It's like they are thinking....why would she be going back to Vegas?? She just went a few months ago. They just don't get it. It's their loss though.

I'm also counting the days until I go back. Next time with my husband. I feel kind of guilty because the trips are so close together (end of November for the next one), but not all that guilty!! Won't get there in time for the meet, which I am regretting.

Susan,

Thanks so much for a real nice trip report. Just two days ago we received a surprise that our daughter and her family will be in LV during our next trip. This presents a challenge to us as we want to find appropriate activities for a 12 and 9 year old. Yes, they are first-timers and we want it to be a great trip. Our daughter and son-in-law need to get away for a few days and it's also a way to spend Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad. They are planning no, or very little gambling, on this trip and trying to make it special for the young ones.

One day will be a visit to Hoover Dam. We're looking for any suggestions on shows for children or places to visit.

Since your trip seemed to go so well with many surprises for a vegas virgin, I thought I'd call on you to plan another.

Once again, enjoyed your trip report. Sorry you didn't win big in the tournament, but $50 was better than nothing.

Beth

Hi Ms Beth,

We had the kids with us in Vegas last March. There was plenty for them to do and we never even got close to doing everything (we were there a week). Our group of kids ranged from 4 to 16 (family reunion, about 14 kids).

Some things I know the kids liked (I will have to ask them for more ideas when I get home from work tonight)

Gameworks - right by Coca-Cola showcase. Bought each of the kids a 1 hour pass and they went to town. I would even suggest do this twice during the stay. If you go to gameworks.com and sign up for their email you should get a buy one, get one free coupon for the hourly pass.

M&M store - nice to go in for a little bit and let them make their own m&m bag. 8.00/lbs for the candy but kids got a kick out of all the different colors. Watch out for the sugar buzz though!!

Hoover Dam - was ok but kids did not want to stay too long (can only look at concrete so long I guess). We did not do the tour so not sure how that would of been received. They do have a snack shop if you want to get a bite to eat. We did stop at the 50"s diner in town just before Hoover Dam(drawing a blank, Boulder City I think). Resturant is right on main street, you will go by it if you are following signs to Dam.

Red Rock Canyon -- Both kids and adults enjoyed this. When we started out that way, I thought we would only spend minimal time here, turned out kids loved it and we were there 3 or 4 hours. They scampered all over the rocks, etc. While we did not walk any trails, that would be fun too I think. For $5.00 per car load, was a great time and value. Be sure to bring water if you do this, no vending machines or cocktail waitress' to serve you,

Bowling -- kids like the alley at Orleans (where we stayed). They went bowling a couple of times, would of gone more had we let them.

Eiffel Tower -- took the gang up to top of Tower in the evening ($9.00/person). Went up there in the evening so we could see all the Strip lights and Bellagio water show. Nice thing to do but not high on everyones list.

Tournament of Kings - dinner in Excaliber. Jousting, drinking, eating.. Kids had fun eating without utensils, yelling for their knight, watching the show. $45.00 per ticket, not a cheap dinner but fun thing to look forward to for kids. Again, was about 50/50, some liked it, some did not.

Watching mom and dad gamble -- We let the kids sit at Katy's Ice Cream counter overlooking casino at Orleans.. mom and dad hit the slots, kids had ice cream and watched us play.
They also enjoyed when we walked through any casino and they were able to watch people play. As long as we kept moving did not get hassled anywhere.

A start, if I or kids think of anymore we will update you.

Beth:
Daniel has a lot of good ideas for you.

A couple others I could think of is Siegfried and Roy's Dolphin Habitat and Secret Animal Garden at the Mirage. I've seen the Dolphin thing, but not the Secret Garden. I enjoyed the Dolphin's. Afterwards, there was an outside pool area where they would swim so close to you that you could almost touch them, with no cover on the pool. As I remember, you could stay and watch them as long as you wanted.

The other thing I thought of was the roller coaster at NYNY....which I'm thinking of trying myself. Have never done that.

We took the Paddlewheeler on Lake Mead. It was a Saturday, and there were jet skis and skiers behind boats out. Don't know if they'd like doing that or not.

That's about it for me.

What a nice surprise that your daughter and family will be joining you.

Susan

Daniel & Susan,

Thanks! I'm printing out the posts to show our daughter.

Have never visited the dolphins so it was nice to know it is enjoyable. I've never seen the Rick Thomas show, but it sounds as though it is geared for children. At the same time, maybe they could take in the bird show at Tropicana.

Stumbled upon a trip report today on another site written by two children aged 10 and 12 who visited Las Vegas. Very timely. Also printed it out to show everyone.

Any other ideas will definitely be appreciated. As you all know, a large to-do-list is better than trying to decide on activities while in LV.

Since they will be staying at the Orleans, bowling definitely will be on the list.

Thanks again.

Beth

Hey Beth - Don't forget adventure dome at Circus Circus. Our friend's 11 year old loved everything about that place, from the rides to the games to the clown show. If you park in the parking garage that is to the left of the main building, you won't have to walk through as much of the place to get to the dome. And, since you're already there, the free circus act next to the casino is pretty good. There is also a McDonalds near the circus act area, in case the kids are fussy eaters, need some familiar fast food, or you just want to save some money/time.

Also - Daniel mentioned M & M world. When we went there in 2002, there was a fantastic, free 3-D movie, complete with an actor and special effects. It was as good as anything Ive seen at Disney - Im sure the kids would love it! (Hope its still there)

You might see what's happening at the Lied Children's Discovery Center (not sure - might be for younger kids)

Kes