L.A.S Vegas four times - Travel Day!
 

Helloooooo!:wavey:

Pre trip report is here - https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1106463

Well the day was finally here - travel day :thumbs-up

Early start alarm set for 5.30 with a vegas alarm for 5.50 (viva las vegas on Alexa obviously!). Up, showered and ready with minimal stress and a goodbye cuddle with the cats. Hardest part of going away is leaving my boys. Easy trip to airport with no getting lost for once and actually going to departures rather than arrivals! Dad usually tries to go to arrivals as we are arriving at the airport! :pgig:

Check in queue was quite long and got chatting to a group from Idaho who had a disappointing trip with a hospital visit and then in queue their flight got cancelled! Felt so bad for them! Quite busy queue as looks like an Orlando flight goes very similar time and a few cheerleading groups! Security was a doddle but I got my obligatory frisking. Very thorough full body pat down this time! I truth joked with the woman that its because I'm fat which she of course laughed and denied! :d:

Quick mooch through duty free and a free gooseberry gin tester and we were through to the bar where we met Neil and Liv. Morning wine poured and a beer for the others and the chatter of excitement begins! :beer2:



2nd small wine (house this time which was a bit gross but considerably cheaper) and ordered a bacon butty as bellies were now hungry! Slight issue as we ordered to table 108 instead of 708 - whoops! All rectified and food finally arrived and devoured.

I'm a nervous flyer and like to be at the gate with plenty of time... the 3 I'm travelling with are all smokers and decided to have a last minute fag... :rolleyes: at this point I began to get stressed out and we then had to fast stomp to the gate where the staff weren't overly happy as they were waiting for all us late comers. Fortunately we weren't last on and loads of room for overhead bags! Typically we were at the furthest gate possible away. :rolleyes:

So onto the flight! I really wished I'd paid the obscene £80 each extra leg room the very moment I sat down. My legs well and truly in the seat in front. Oh well... only nearly 11 hours! (≈≈≈! :()



Watched a film called Instant family which was a nice watch. Easy going and quite funny. Pretzels and drinks served followed by lunch which I had the pesto pasta which was nice enough. The salad it came with wasn't great (really dry) but nevermind. Crackers and boursin with a lovely gu chocolate pot also.





Next settled down with Mary Poppins Returns and even only 3 hours into the flight I am extremely bored! Wifi is incredibly patchy on the plane this time sadly but its nice to have anything. Last time we flew virgin I think we ended up spoilt with 3 seats between 2 by accident and we'd got extra leg room. Today however felt very different. It was the single decker rather than bigger plane and it felt a bit easyjet in terms of space. Easyjet is fine for short haul but long haul is quite different! I bought the plane wifi which this time didn't really work for much of the flight sadly.

Had a mini fab lolly and a peppered steak pasty (not at the same time obvs) followed by an afternoon tea before landing - they certainly keep you well fed on virgin! The afternoon tea was a really nice mozzarella, rocket and pesto small bap with a scone which I cant comment on as didn't eat the scone.



Very bumpy landing with lots of little (horrific to me) air pockets felt a bit sick on landing however luckily the airport was kind to us and we breezed through immigration and baggage reclaim.



A short taxi to Ballys and we were here! We chose to taxi rather than uber because we had so many bags so needed a big car and we just wanted to get there. It ended up about the same price. Liv remarked that it reminded her of Blackpool from the cab! Pfft!

Check in was super fast which was quite the change to our usual long wait at the flamingo. Tried for a complimentary upgrade but no joy as here for the week. We did however get the view we wanted pretty much so happy enough and the rooms are huge! Turned out we had 2 fridges and we had an in room sink a.k.a foot bath according to Tom (sorry to anyone staying in that room in future haha!).









Neil and Livs room wasnt ready yet so we popped to CVS for some water and diet cokes (priorities! ) and then waited for them to grab their key. Our first walk out to the strip was so hot and I think a little overwhelming for our tired bodies. Vegas is a complete feast for the senses! Quick visit to both rooms and we were then ready for a nap. It was so hard to get to sleep but we eventually managed.

Woke up feeling refreshed and popped a couple of pro plus to power us through. Quick shower and change and now we were off for our first night in Vegas!





We went down to meet Neil and Liv and had a wander round Ballys casino. Tom and Neil instantly saw a machine they wanted to try so me and Liv wandered and sat on the goldfish machine I'd enjoyed last trip. Liv was quite lucky on this but me not so much.



We had a wander and a free drink each before wandering down to the Flamingo as Tom and I couldn't not visit "our hotel". We had a stroll down the Linq promenade and had intented to go on the high roller but the queue looked long. Turned out it wasn't as there was 2 queues - one for with tickets and one for without but nevermind!

So on we walked to Harrahs where the Piano twins were playing so we each got a drink and sat down to enjoy. The atmosphere in here is fantastic and they really can play well. One twin was clearly suffering with a cold and I saw her accidentally sneeze on her piano and discretely try and clean it up with hand sanitiser whilst still playing which was quite the skill! Toms old work friend was in Vegas for their last night so they popped in to say a quick hello too which was nice. We would probably have stayed for longer but it was the twins break time as we finished our drinks so we decided to move on.

We had a walk down the strip to the mirage to help Neil and Liv get their bearings and get some fresh air. We had a quick look round the mirage (love the smell of the mirage!) and were sad to see our favourite iron man slot was no longer there. After this we wandered down the strip up to the Bellagio fountains where we stood and watched a couple of fountain shows. Due to the wind they werent going as high as normal which was a bit disappointing but since it was their first viewing they didn't realise how low they were!







Next stop was our favourite hotel (and our kittens name inspiration) the Cosmopolitan! Food was on our mind now and there was only one thing for it - secret pizza! We decided we were really hungry so would order 2 slices each which was definitely a case of eyes bigger than belly! We both ordered a slice of the amazing white pizza and a meaty looking one each. I gave Tom most of my meaty one as it was all about the white pizza for me! I absolutely love the pizza here - its so crispy based but soft dough and the cheese is amazing stringy gooey loveliness and the white pizza has quite a bit of garlic taste to it. All incredible and a must have when in Vegas.





Tummies full we went down into the casino for a flutter. My favourite machine is the link up sex and the city machine as it gives so many fun bonuses for the show fans. Things like the night on the town where all the girls and Mr big choose their spots to visit and one where you pick out parts of an outfit.

After a while tiredness kicked in so it was time to wander back. Due to the positioning of the Grand Bazar shops (where bizzare would be more apt a name with the weirdos we've seen hanging there before! ) we decided to walk back through Paris. Within seconds of being in there Liv decided she didnt like Paris because of the ceiling lol! Talk about a snap decision.

Back to Ballys where Tom and I settled at the electric craps machine for a quick play before bed. I love this - "push the button! ". Free drink had here and a chat to the man next to us who was pulling an all nighter unknown to his wife before flying home with her the next day! :pgig:

We went up to bed even though not feeling very tired as the casinos sure know how to keep you awake! Eventually nodded off with an alarm set for 10 - if only I needed that! Spoiler alert I still woke up stupidly early! :zzz:

Looking forward to reading the rest of your report. We are staying at Cosmopolitan for part of our stay and want to try the Secret Pizza, can you tell me what the white pizza is? Also we have never played on machines before, can you recommend any easy to play machines for beginners, hoping to get around most of the main hotels on our travels. Did you get free drinks because you were playing on the machines?
Your room looks lovely by the way 🤗

Helloooo! Thanks for reading so far :-) you are super lucky staying at cosmopolitan! Its an amazin hotel and great location.
The white pizza is pizza base with no normal pizza sauce, instead its got almost like a garlicy bechamel style sauce on it? Its then got cheese and ricotta on it. It is honestly amazing and so cheap at around $6 a huge slice. Please try the white pizza even if you share a slice.
Yes free drinks when gambling except at the bar machines pretty much which I know sounds weird. They want to keep you gambling and not have you walk away for drinks etc so you just tip the cocktail waitresses a dollar a drink. If you are going to be in the same place a while sometimes worth a big first tip as they will keep coming. We found Rio to be the best for free drinks this trip - she would bring another drink before we'd even had half a drink lol.
The machines are easy just make sure you check the amount you are wagering as it may be 20c a credit for example but 1 button may be 10x bed i.e 2 dollars a spin which is expensive! My tip would be to look out for machines you like - theres loads of tv show ones or music ones etc. My particular favourites are sex and the city, wonderwoman, willy wonks, batman, titanic and Michael jackson. All the machines are similar premise i.e get 3 of the bonus symbols to trigger a bonus feature where maybe youll pick things on screen or it'll be free spins. There are loads of you tube videos of people playing to give you an idea. Tom likes the godfather and goonies machines for example.
Any questions at all let me know. I love talking about vegas more than I should and love giving tips - it was the best thing about taking 2 first timers with us!
When do you go?x

Thanks so much for your reply, the white pizza sounds amazing and definitely something I want to try, don't think I shall be sharing my slice! :pgig::pgig: We are going to do Scoot City Tours ones morning so I have pencilled in a trip to Secret Pizza when we get back, can you take it to your room do you think? I was thinking maybe the one in the box might be better to take, wonder if they will do half and half?

Will definitely have a look at youtube videos, hadn't thought of that for slot machines, think I have watched them for most other things.

Have you done any buffets? DH isn't keen, but I want to do one, so am thinking the Wicked Spoon as we are staying there.

We go at the beginning of June and have 3 nights at Venetian, then 2 at GC before back to Cosmo for 4. Then onto SF and Monterey. Have to say I am most excited about the Vegas part of the trip.

:wave:

Definitely try the white pizza. We ended up having it 3 times while there for the week lol. Its that good! Always have at least twice per trip. Word of warning even the slices are huuuuuge. Way bigger and more filling than they look. We've only managed 4 slices between us once and that was a struggle... the whole pizzas are huuuuuge! You could definitely take away they will puy slices between paper plates with greaseproof paper and when staying there you wouldn't have far to go as always piping hot too. I'm drooling thinking of it lol.

We have done the buffet at flamingo a couple of times - it used to be bettet but not as good this last trip. I would go for wicked spoon or bacchanal at caesars from what I've read online. We also did the stratosphere buffet with a show one night which was ok. Bacchanal looks and gets rated best by far. Go hungry! Check out "all you can vegas" on you tube - Derek eats everywhere and has done most of the buffets.
Your trip sounds absolutely amazing! It woll be super hot. Our first trip was June and it was so hard to walk distance outside. Plenty of water - do a cvs trip when you get there as you'll get 12 bottles for what you'll pay for 1 in the casinos. A few food recommendations are hexx - affordable but feels luxury and a great view of the fountains and people watching on the strip. Wolfgang puck at mgm grand is the best burger I've ever eaten and we also loved hells kitchen x

Thank you for the tips, going to stock up on drinks both water and something a bit stronger for the rooms and also to take to GC for the 2 nights we have in between.

Funny you mentioned Hexx, that is on my list to go to, I fancy it for the brunch with bottomless mimosas.

Pizza is one of my favourite foods so can't wait to try it. Looking forward to reading the rest :D

Just a tip on hexx if going for brunch - the fountains don't start until 3 on week days so worth building into your planning if wanting to watch the fountains from there. I think its 12 on a saturday and 11 on a sunday for the start times. x

Loving your trippy, we too are staying at Ballys so love that you posted on this, and white pizza, never heard of it but going to investigate!

Looking forward to what's next 😃

Have you stayed at Ballys before? We couldn't fault it. Clean large rooms with a great view (our friends had view of the other side so high roller and Caesars etc) and easy strip access. So central! Easy to get an uber from etc. Really enjoyed it.

Glad you've enjoyed as wasnt sure anyone was reading lol. Day 1 is up. Day 2 will follow soon x

Yes loving it, had to re-read your pre-trip report too :thumbs-up

Have only visited once before and we stayed at the New York New York which was lovely but wanted to be more central this time so pleased it looks like Ballys is a good choice. Only there for 3 days this time as it's at the end of our road trip and we fly back home from LV :(

But so excited at going back, love Harrah's piano bar and there's a wheel of fortune machine in Harrah's that I love, not that I can get my head around the machines - will check out those YouTube videos!