Yes we're going to Vegas with the KIDS again ! Pre-trippie

[daytonababe]

Ok as promised i am going to do a trip report... so here goes...

How it came about...

As the title suggest we have been with the kids before when they were much younger and always intended to take them back again.

Last year DH and i decided to have a week in Vegas alone, with the intention of taking the kids away in the summer.. My parents agreed to have the kids and so everything was booked.. 2 weeks before going disaster struck and my dad was admitted to hospital and told he needed a triple heart bypass asap (he'd had 8 heart attacks and basically stents didnt work so it was the bypass or the next heart attack would be it)

Anyway (and in hindsight it makes sense) Dad insisted we go to Vegas and he was coming home for the week , the only surgeon that would attempt the OP was away anyway that week.. So we went had a good time but obviously things were stressful for me and we vowed to go again in 2012 but with the kids.

Fast forward June last yr dad had his OP (urgent then ! ) and sadly 20 mins after the OP had a massive heart attack and died 2 days later..The kids and i were / are heartbroken and its been a tough year and i couldnt face a summer holiday last yr.

Anyway dad left the kids a small amount of money with the instructions it wasnt to be saved it was to be spent on a holiday and them having fun. We asked the kids did they want to go to Orlando or Vegas... they choose Vegas.

Holiday prices with VH were really high , nearly 4200 for 2 weeks in the Luxor.. anyway last July i noticed they had a sale on .. 2 weeks from Gatwick at the Luxor 2840 so we booked it quick... thanks dad (well for half of it lol).

So holiday booked... 29th feb -14 March..

I think got a bad feeling about the Luxor i dont know why but we decided to change to the Tropicana cost us another 40 pounds but was the right choice definately.

Obviously we are NASCAR fans so we booked our race tickets direct with the speedway about $600 in total (more on that later).

Then we decided the Phoenix Nascar race was the 1st weekend we were there so we thought yep never been lets go...So i booked the Best Western in Goodyear 3 nights $375.

Found a bargain Premier Inn in Gatwick for 29 pound so thats the night before sorted.

I dont do planning ever so that was it till Christmas time...

Oneday i stumbled upon Las Vegas Motor Speedway's fb page and it had the offer kids free + free neon garage passes (worth $120 so $480 to us).. i was livid as this happened last year too.. So i emailed them and said look you've had my money since June and now this offer is one.. anyway they refunded the kids tickets and gave us free passes.. result !

I then thought i best book Phoenix race tickets... they do special kids prices so the whole weekend cost just $190 total..

(as a comparison i spent about $600 in total on the Vegas/ Phoenix tickets, Daytona costs us about $2400 big difference).

So that left car hire.. see 10 weeks to go and still no car lol.. A friend of ours was going to be in Vegas for the racing too and wanted to go to Phoenix but didnt want to drive.. So we offered to take him for a contribution to car hire.. He was very generous and we booked a people carrier with USrentacar/ Dollar for 410 pounds inc gold insurance.

As some of you probably realise we went in term time and the kids had 12 days off school.. both got their abscenes authorised without any issues..

I did buy a few Groupon vouchers for Cabo Wabo & Pinks Hot Dogs (both fab) and the CSI experiance (not so fab).

And that was it... no real plans other than race days.

Oh and the title of the trippie... so many people rolled their eyes when we told them where we were going (cant wait to tell them we're off back next yr lol).

[Guest]

Great start! Sorry to hear about your dad

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Manta

Great start! Sorry to hear about your dad

See more...

Thanks...he was a very sick man, more than we probably realised , we were told that although he was 62 he had the heart of a 90 yr old.

[NatOwls]

Great TR!
Sorry to hear about ur Dad! I'm sure he'll be in Vegas with u in spirit 😊
We're also going to be staying at the Trop, the reviews it is getting are fab so i think we made the right choice !
Have a wonderful time x

[florida girl]

Sounds like a great trip you have planned. Sorry to hear the sad news about your Dad.

[Pino_Spetzberg]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Oneday i stumbled upon Las Vegas Motor Speedway's fb page and it had the offer kids free + free neon garage passes (worth $120 so $480 to us).. i was livid as this happened last year too.. So i emailed them and said look you've had my money since June and now this offer is one.. anyway they refunded the kids tickets and gave us free passes.. result !

See more...

You have seen they are doing the Neon Garage passes straightaway this year on the renewal e-mail they sent us. Perhaps the kids free too - you are probably contacting them about it ?
Must say the Speedway are ever so nice.
The e-mail stated renewal of same seats, have contacted them and asked if it would be OK to move closer to start / finish line, no reply as yet, but expect it will be.
We were in Richard Petty Row 60 Section 111, which was great, but Section 112 would be even better.
Not sure about next year - thinking of Talladega.

Sorry to hear about your father.

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Pino_Spetzberg

You have seen they are doing the Neon Garage passes straightaway this year on the renewal e-mail they sent us. Perhaps the kids free too - you are probably contacting them about it ?
Must say the Speedway are ever so nice.
The e-mail stated renewal of same seats, have contacted them and asked if it would be OK to move closer to start / finish line, no reply as yet, but expect it will be.
We were in Richard Petty Row 60 Section 111, which was great, but Section 112 would be even better.
Not sure about next year - thinking of Talladega.

Sorry to hear about your father.

See more...

Yep and i have renewed my already.. Our seats are just to the left of the start/ finish Section 2 C row 17 (this yr where it said Kobalt 400 on the grass we were bang opposite the last 0)... Kids are half price next yr and we have the free neon passes for the Friday though you can upgrade to a full weekend pass for $50. Have also booked the Phoenix hotel for next year lol.

But we did move seats last yr from Earnhardt to those ones and i had to do it over the phone. My understanding is Ticketmaster handle the email / online side of things so arent so good at sorting out issues but if you ring up you speak to the speedway direct.

Never been to Talladega but my friends have a few times i think the only thing wrong with it is the fact its in the middle of nowhere and i'm not sure that there is much to do for the kids..

Phoenix was a really nice place though, we're having 2 extra days there next yr to do a few more things as we didnt really get to do anything other than racing

[Glee Fan]

Looking forward to reading.

[Mrs Pumpkin]

I'm sorry to read about your dad

I will look forward to reading your trip report as would love to go to Vegas, but with a (now teen) child always wondered if there would be enough to do whilst there.

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Mrs Pumpkin

I'm sorry to read about your dad

I will look forward to reading your trip report as would love to go to Vegas, but with a (now teen) child always wondered if there would be enough to do whilst there.

See more...

Thankyou :-)


We manage to find plenty to do and still there are some things we didnt do .. we're a bit odd i suppose in that we go in March when the pools arent open (a few are but not many).

If you were to go in pool season you could have some fab times in the pool and still find plenty of other things to do.