TR - First time to Vegas

Returned yesterday from my first trip to Vegas, with my 18 year old daughter and her 21 year old boyfriend. Will post TR as reply.

TR - First time to Vegas

I would actually first like to start with the end of my trip – what a horror show.

After waiting at Hartford in Atlanta for 4.5 hours, we finally board the plane only to sit and wait for another 30 minutes because someone’s child had gone into the bathroom and tampered with something. Maintenance had to come on board and fix whatever it was.

Then we get an announcement that the pilot has an issue with the weight and balance on the plane…!! So we sit and wait and wait….. people are asking the attendants and they are trying to explain, unsuccessfully. Finally the pilot comes on and explains that for every flight, they need to make sure that they have enough gas to take them to an alternate location. Since we are flying to Bermuda – out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – he needed to make sure he has enough fuel to take him to Virginia. Then he explains that he has to take the weight of the gas, the passengers and the luggage and enter it into the machine. Apparently this has been done, but the plane is too heavy… are you kidding me!!! So we sit and wait. They then call the name of 7 passengers, asking them to collect all their personal belongings and exit the plane. We are eventually told that these were the last 7 passengers to board so because their luggage is on top, they are asked to leave. One of these individuals is already plugged into their ipod. So the attendant has to actually go up to that person (using seat number) and personally ask them to exit. Now that this is over and everyone is cussing like sailors…. we are finally ready to go. Passengers were explainable anxious, but I felt confident that the pilot would not take off unless he himself felt confident that everything was fine!!

So we take off, and what happens… as we are ascending the plane starts to shake – naturally everyone is terrified because of the drama we have just been through. We eventually become airborne and all seems to be going fine. My daughter’s boyfriend has the ignorance to remind us that this is how the singer Aleyah died, from an overweight plane with too much luggage – thanks for that!!!

About 1 hour into the flight we have the worst turbulence I have experienced in my many, many years of flying!!! I thought for sure we were going down – it lasted for a full minute. I grabbed my daughters hand and prayed like never before. It finally ended, the attendants continued serving drinks like nothing had happened – very annoying!!

We finally made it back. I am glad this happened on the way back and not on the way out. I most definitely would have had to take a cruise ship back to the island.

So… I live to write my first LV trip report!!

TR - First time to Vegas

Thank God you made it back safe.

I would have been so pissed to be led off the plane, how rude. There has to be a better system than that. The turbulence on take off would have freaked me out too.

I just hope you had a great time in Vegas.

That sounds like an awful trip home.

Now, where%26#39;s the fun stuff? We want to hear about shows, gambling, food, etc.!!

Now that we%26#39;ve heard the bad, please let us know the good parts from your time in Vegas.

As mentioned, I travelled with my teenage daughter so there wasn’t much drinking and gambling involved.

Arrived at McCarran. Car rented from Alamo - $138 for the week. Took the Strip to Westgate Flamingo Bay Resort which was on West Flamingo Road. We got our first view of the Strip at night but were too tired to appreciate anything. After one wrong turn, we were successful in finding the resort. Checked in at about 12:15 am so no timeshare agents around to hassle us. We were tired and hungry so after dropping off luggage we went to a grocery store across the street and bough a frozen pizza, which we cooked, ate and went to bed.

Sunday – tired from travelling the day before so didn’t wake until after 11 am. Breakfast at IHOP; off to the strip. Parked at Bally’s and got our first view of the Vegas hotels – absolutely beautiful. Went to Paris, Flamingo (wildlife exhibit – not much there), Harrah’s and over to Mirage. I had told my daughter how I had read on this forum how children are politely escorted through the casinos so she was a bit anxious and walked really fast when we got to the casino. She is about 6 inches taller than me so I struggled to keep up. Of course with a teenage daughter, all she is interested in is shopping so we went to Forum Shops and Fashion Show Mall just to look around. It’s amazing how time flies when walking through the hotels. May sound pretty boring, but that took up our whole day.

Monday – Treasure Island; Mirage to see the tiger/dolphin exhibit. Daughter is a budding photographer so we spent more time that I wanted taking pictures of the tigers, lions, llamas, dolphins – I think there was a leopard there too..?? She spent 20 mins to half hour at each cage, trying to get the right shot!! Then went over to Wynn and Palazzo. Then off to the shopping outlet downtown. Wasn’t her cup of tea she we just walked around and then left before it got dark - didn’t want to get lost down there. Plus, boyfriend was arriving tonight so she had to go back to the resort to make herself look pretty. Picked him up at about 9pm. Returned to resort for him to freshen up and then headed back to the Strip for him to get his first view. He is 21 so of course he was interested in the casinos. After being there for 2 days, my daughter has become more comfortable walking through the casinos as she was not given a 2nd glance when we were walking through. So when he wants to stop, she is okay with this. She watched as he played – after about 45 minutes without being harassed, she decided to press a button or 2. Were only playing with about $50 but they were going up and down – no win, $50 loss; left at about 2:15 am.

Tuesday – Slept in late again. Shopping day for daughter. We went to Las Vegas Outlets. My daughter was in heaven. We shopped, ate lunch, and shopped some more. Mac King Comedy Show in the afternoon. When we went to Harrah’s to purchase tickets, we were given a coupon – 2 free entrees for the price of one drink. So ended up paying about $36 for 3 people. Think the regular price was $27 per person. Really enjoyed this show – good, clean, family comedy and magic show. After this, went over to TI to purchase tickets to Mystere for the next night. Of course, only tickets left are the most expensive ones. Bit the bullet and purchase the 3 tickets. Walk through TI – as we leave Siren show is about to begin so we wait and watch (no worth standing there in the cold – we were not prepared to stay out so had no jackets). Too many people crammed in one spot for me!! Paris has now become their favorite place, so we go back there for them to play slot machines. I am not a gambler so I just watch – then decide to go outside as the smoke is unbearable. I go out and watch the Bellagio Fountains for a while, until they are ready to leave.

That flight was a nightmare! Which airlines? And, I hope that your Visit to Vegas was a fantastic one, You certainly deserved a fun time after all of that!

It was Delta Airlines. Thankfully this nightmare was on our way back.

Wednesday – Daughter has some homework to do so we stay in for the morning for her to complete. Then back to Las Vegas Outlet to exchange a few items and spend more money. Back to resort to take a nap and then get ready for Mystere. We arrived at about 8:45 for the 9:30 show. Line had already formed. We get in line and wait for about 20 mins for doors to open. Show was great. Would definitely recommend it, but is not a show I would rush to see again. Had heard how the ushers treat people who take pictures in here – no exaggeration… if a flash when off, about 2 or 3 ushers headed in your direction and took cameras away – they are not kidding!! Then…. back to Paris for some more slot machines.

Thursday – Another morning which I can’t remember, and I can’t blame it on a hangover because I wasn’t drinking!!!! Took the kids to Adventure Dome at Circus Circus – much smaller than we expected. But they got to go on the rides; laser tag room about 4 times. Played a few arcade games. Not that many people there so there were no lines. A few of the rides were closed but I think they got their money’s worth. Went to wax museum – spent about 1.5 hours there. Daughter and BF got in fight so he walked off. We spent about an hour walking around looking for him. He finally called and we met up – by now everyone is mad so we go back to resort. They fight some more and they each them shut themselves in different rooms… so that’s the end of this day.

Friday – our last day. Kids make up, as I knew they would. Last trip to do some final shopping. Off to Walmart to buy a new suitcase and some toiletries – it’s cheaper to buy in the US and carry back, due to the prices here in Bermuda. We pack our bags and go to dinner at Applebee. Back to the resort to collect our luggage and off to the airport. We decide to take the Strip back to get our final look. Arrive at the airport to find our flight has been delayed about half hour. So we sit and wait and wait and wait and finally we are off for our 4 hour flight to Atlanta. Where we then have a 3.5 hour wait…. And then we take the flight from hell, back to Bermuda.

I apologize if this was a boring TR as there was not drinking and gambling involved.

We never made it to NYNY, Stratosphere, Bellagio, or any of the hotels at the southern end of the Strip so we MUST RETURN!! Told my daughter I would take her and her friends back for her 21st birthday - without the boyfriend!! She had a good time as well and may not want to wait that long.

I remember flying with my Dad to Hawaii for my 19th birthday. After having many beers in the first few hours of that flight we experienced crazy turbulence. Because I was a teenager (death was not in my vocab) and feeling no pain (brews) I kept egging my Dad, telling him I thought we were going into the Pacific. After a few minutes, my dad got up and moved to another seat. Now that I am a dad, death is in my vocab and I am not as comfortable when in a similar situation- that trip to Hawaii was the worst turbulence I have ever experienced. Anyhow, that part of your tr triggered this memory.

Nice TR :-)