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27 Jan 20, 03:01 PM |
#1
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Apprentice Imagineer
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Lallan's Last Min Family Vegas Vacay July 2019 Day 5 - Hoover Dam & V! The Ultimate Variety Show
Our half day excursion to the Hoover Dam was included in our city passes. All I had to pay on top was a $7 per person booking fee which I paid with my Monzo card online yesterday when my booking was confirmed. This included coach transport, Visitor's Centre Admission and Mike O'Callaghan/Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and unlimited ice cold bottled water...which was very much needed! We were picked up at 8am at the North door of Bally's. We were the first pick up so it was then up to Excalibur (where no one showed and we waited agesss!) then down to Circus Circus and lastly down to The Golden Nugget. I didn't mind waiting on the other pick ups as it gave me a chance to nosey! We watched a video on the coach of the story on how the Hoover Dam came about and the awful accidents and deaths and horrendous living conditions the poor workers endured. Passed though Boulder City and before we knew it we were crossing the border into Arizona! The coach pulled in and a state border control official came onboard the coach, searching in all the overhead lockers and under all the seats...very thorough! We were good to go and they let us pass the border. We drove all the way around passed the visitors Centre and up high to an overview area. Our driver was so knowledgeable and gave us lots of information and had many stories to tell. He was so passionate about his job and seemed to know everything there is to know about the Hoover Dam! We were literally in the middle of the Arizona desert at this point looking down onto the dam. It was unbelievably hot so we got some ice creams from the little pit stop store. That's pretty much all they sold...ice creams, drinks and post cards. A 15 minute break to stretch our legs and some photo ops then it was back on the coach to drive us down to the visitors Centre. It was 10am when the coach parked up. The driver issued all our passes for entrance to the visitors Centre and said to be back at the coach for 12pm sharp. We had only had a few snacks for breakfast before setting off this morning so decided to get food first. With a few (huuuuge!) Dam Dogs and cups of delicious homemade chili our bellies were suitably full so it was onto the visitors Centre. It was very interesting in here, so much history. The boys all enjoyed the interactive stations seeing how the power was made. We came back up out over to the water tower viewing Centre. We had a walk around taking in the views over Lake Mead. It seemed like the hottest day ever! We were back on the coach for midday and our guide drove us up to the Mike O'Callaghan/Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. He supplied us with bottles of water and gave us time to walk across the bridge if we wanted to. We walked half way across...that's all we could manage in the heat! Back on board the coach, with legs feeling a little like jelly after walking that bridge! It was a nice drive back to Vegas. The driver said we'd be back to Bally's for around 2.30pm. We debated wether to get off the coach at Freemont Street and go to the Mob Museum and then up to the Stratosphere as these were included in our pass. But if we done that then we wouldn't get any show tickets for tonight! Decided against it and that we'd get an Uber to freemont St after the outlets on our last day. And instead of the top of the Stratosphere we'd use the pass to go up the Eiffel Tower instead. On the way back into town we watched the Terry Fator dvd and it was hilarious! Our guide had been fantastic and he was such a lovely man. Cannot remember his name tho ☹️! We thanked him and gave him a big tip and said goodbye. It was 2.30pm and we had to hot foot it over to the V Theatre box office to see if there was any tickets left for tonight's variety show. We were in luck and got great seats at tonight's 7pm show. It was now off to Paris to go up the tower. All the way up our escort came out with loads of facts about all the Vegas hotels. He spoke sooooo fast to fit as much in as he could. He asked us where we were staying and he ruled off about a million facts on Bally's. This really made us all laugh but he knew some really interesting things and I don't know how he remembers it all! Up the top of the tower the views were unreal. Looking over at the Bellagio was amazing as the fountains came on! After Paris we headed over to Caesar's. We decided to have dinner in Planet Hollywood restaurant as our city passes gave us a $15 per person meal credit. It was 5pm and restaurant was completely empty! We literally had the entire restaurant to ourselves! Ordered wings to share... DH and I had Philly Cheesesteaks, DS1&2 shared a pizza and DS3 had chicken tenders and fries... This was actually another real bargain of a meal as with our credit from our passes all we had to pay on top was $22.33! Love a bargain! After this we went to a few shops in the Forum Mall and bought some souvenirs. I just love this mall, it's so pretty! We decided to go back to our room and put the bags in before tonight's show. As we were walking through the Grand Bazaar we noticed The Magic shop was finally opened. It had been closed every other time we'd passed and the boys were all desperate to get in for a look. We got chatting to Dennis who worked there. Turns out he is the best sales man EVER as we ended up spending a small fortune in here 🙈! He was fantastic though and the boys were amazed by him. His tricks were out of this world! We had spent so much time (and money!) in here we never had any time to go back to the room. DH had to just nip up and throw the bags in before we headed over to the V Theatre in Planet Hollywood for the show. I actually thought we were going to be late. It is hard to walk fast in Vegas! But we just made it in the nick of time. Phew! The show was fantastic and had us all laughing the whole way through! Highly recommend if you're looking for a family show in Vegas! The host Wally Eastwood was hilarious! The boys loved him and thought he was sooo funny! So we met him at the meet & greet at the end of the show and bought his dvd for $10. It was 9.30pm and we had just had what seemed like the longest day ever so we went back for an early night. DH ventured down to the casino for an hour or so and the boys and I jumped straight into bed to watch a movie. 💤
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ORLANDO:1997,98,99,2000,01,02,03,04,06,09,10,12,15,16,17( x2) 18,19(x2)22,23(x2)
PARIS: 1995,96,2003,2024 |
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27 Jan 20, 06:04 PM |
#2
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DIBB App Manager
Join Date: May 18
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New Photo Added by lallan - 27 Jan 20 5:04 PM.
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2 Feb 20, 09:56 PM |
#3
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Serious Dibber
Join Date: May 18
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Thanks for posting. Do you know I have been to Vegas quite a few times pre-kids and would never have considered going with them until I read your report. It has really changed my view of Vegas as a destination. Thanks! 🙂
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5 Feb 20, 01:33 PM |
#4
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Thread Starter
Apprentice Imagineer
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I’m so glad you’ve said that. We actually felt kinda ‘‘judged’ by some people for taking the kids to Vegas and I just feel they people must be narrow minded because we all had a great family holiday in a wonderful place and feel we are lucky to be able to give our boys experiences that they’ll remember forever. Anywhere you go it’s more about who you’re with and what you make of it if you ask me lol x
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ORLANDO:1997,98,99,2000,01,02,03,04,06,09,10,12,15,16,17( x2) 18,19(x2)22,23(x2)
PARIS: 1995,96,2003,2024 |
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20 Feb 20, 06:44 PM |
#5
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VIP Dibber
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A great day with loads packed in. I would never have thought of it as a suitable destination for children either. Just goes to show with a bit of homework & planning!
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26 Feb 20, 04:38 PM |
#6
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VIP Dibber
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So enjoying reading this. We've done Vegas as a couple but would now consider it with the kids seeing how much there is to do. My two would love it. I'm also loving the bargains your passes are getting you. Excellent value!
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Helen xx Here's a link to all my previous trip reports since 2015 trip report list by year |
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30 Jun 20, 07:08 AM |
#7
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Imagineer
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you got so much with your tickets - i don't think it does shows now or maybe they are just not on it due to covid restrictions
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my pre trip report here - take a look MY PRE TRIP COUNTDOWN DOZY DOES DISNEY dozy does de west... vegas baby http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=886432 |
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30 Jun 20, 07:09 AM |
#8
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Imagineer
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we are hoping for LA next year and i would love to persuade dh to do vegas for a few days after with the boys (one will be 13 years old, other an adult)
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my pre trip report here - take a look MY PRE TRIP COUNTDOWN DOZY DOES DISNEY dozy does de west... vegas baby http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=886432 |
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