Just when you thought Fremont Street Experience had blown its entertainment budget on the Downtown Rocks concert series, another freebie has been announced.

On June 11, 2022, Fremont Street Experience will host the first Luau Wow Festival. The luau-themed event will start at noon, and the first 3,000 guests will get a lei.

Nothing screams “luau” like a free concert by Shaggy! The reggae performer will hit the stage for a free show at 9:00 p.m.

Here’s a little reminder of Shaggy’s lyrical poetry.

The Luau Wow Festival is described as “the authentic luau experience.” We grew up in Hawaii, so we’re fairly confident Fremont Street Experience is using the word “authentic” very loosely.

That said, the luau will include live entertainment throughout the day, food, art and “more Hawaiian fun.”

Hawaiian-themed entertainment will include performances by two local acts, HaleAmanO and The BC project.

Luau Wow will also feature an island-themed show, “Blue Hawaii,” with singers, hula dancers, drum troops, acrobatics, comedy and an Elvis impersonator.

Related: Some boneheads recently told Las Vegas wedding chapels they were clamping down on ceremonies using Elvis impersonators. The kerfuffle was quickly squashed when the boneheads (sorry, “guardians of the Elvis Presley legacy”) walked back their boneheadery.

The fun continues at the Luau Wow Festival: Guests will also see haka and belly dancers, fire walkers and fire eaters and a sandcastle artist who will build a monument to the transitory nature of the universe.

There will also be face painters, traditional Hawaiian tattoo artists, photo ops and a pig roast.

From our experiences in Hawaii, we can confirm luaus don’t end well for pigs.

The luau will also include a re-enactment of Captain James Cook “discovering” Hawaii and giving everyone gonorrhoea and syphilis. Not really, but that would be hilarious.

It’s a popular myth Hawaiians ate Captain Cook. Untrue, but many still celebrate “Happy Death of Captain Cook” Day every year on February 14.

Captain Cook’s final words? “It wasn’t me!” See how it all ties together?

To make downtown’s Luau Wow event additionally interactive, guests are encouraged to wear Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts, coconut bras or other island-themed accoutrement.

It’s hard to beat free, and we’re always up for some okole-shaking on Fremont Street.

The post Fremont Street Experience Hosts Free Shaggy Concert and Luau appeared first on Vital Vegas.

Staffing challenges have nixed another beloved fixture on Fremont Street: The free slot pulls at Binion’s and Four Queens.

The free slot pulls, at strategic entrances to Binion’s and Four Queens (both owned by Terry Caudill’s TLC Casino Enterprises), were throwback marketing techniques to get bodies off of Fremont Street and into these iconic downtown casinos.

Guests got a shot at $2,500. And, yes, people actually won occasionally.

Guests who didn’t get the big prize would get a sheet of coupons for venues inside the casino.

Something about these free slot pulls just encapsulated the spirit of Fremont Street, and although we knew their purpose, even we gave them a spin from time to time and magically found ourselves inside playing our favorite slot machines for real money.

Casino officials say the free spin machines were, well, pulled due to ongoing staffing challenges.

Staffing is also to blame for the removal of the million dollar photo op at Binion’s, another tried-and-true way to attract visitors from Fremont Street and keep them in the casino as they waited for their free photo to be printed.

It’s unknown if the photo op or free slot pulls will be back.

And, yes, in case you wondered, the million dollar display actually had a million dollars in cash (exactly), according to Tim Lager, Senior Director of Operations at Binion’s and Four Queens.

The staffing problem doesn’t end there, unfortunately.

It’s also cited as the reason the Top of Binion’s Steakhouse has yet to reopen (it closed in March 2020 during the townwide shutdown), same with Wana Taco at Four Queens.

Staffing is also the reason Binion’s, the original home of the World Series of Poker, doesn’t have a poker room.

Four Queens recently closed its keno lounge and we trust staffing was a factor in that decision as well.

The hope, of course, is some of these offerings will return.

If we don’t have a Wana Taco hot dog soon, something is going to burst.

Big thanks to Patrick M. of the Vegas Downtown Report Facebook group for tipping us off to the removal of the free slot pulls at Binion’s and Four Queens.

If you love Vegas, you really didn’t need a free slot pull to get you into Binion’s or Four Queens. They’re old-school casinos with unique atmospheres and some of the most friendly and colorful staffers around. Some have worked at Binion’s and Four Queens since the days when Benny Binion was ruling the roost from his “office” in the casino’s downstairs cafe.

If you want to read more about Benny Binion, we highly recommend “Blood Aces” by Doug J. Swanson. Let’s get that movie made, already.

Oh, and one word of warning: If you see a free slot pull on Fremont Street, head in the other direction. Those aren’t hosted by highly-regulated casinos, they’re lures used by timeshare tricksters.

The post Free Slot Pulls Are Done at Binion’s and Four Queens appeared first on Vital Vegas.

The Stardust was a beloved Las Vegas casino, and fans looking for a fix can now download a free social app named after the iconic resort, Stardust Social Casino.

The Stardust app is free to play and available on iOS and Android mobile platforms.

A casino app serves a number of purposes for a casino company. It gives casinos a platform to market to their customers, of course, but in the case of a social app, the hope is also to already be on player smartphones when social casinos can serve as real online casinos, with actual money involved.

Online casinos are already legal in a few states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. Actually, it’s not “including.” That’s it.

Online casinos aren’t yet legal in Nevada. Thanks, Uncle Sheldon. (The casino mogul has lobbied relentlessly against legalizing any form of Internet gambling.)

Boyd Gaming has a number of brick-and-mortar casinos in Pennsylvania and other states, so the opportunity to make the Stardust app a new source of gambling revenue is not too far down the road.

The Stardust app takes care to note: “The games do not offer real money gambling or an opportunity to win real money or prizes. Practice or success at social casino gaming does not imply future success at real money gambling.”

For now, anyway.

The resurfacing of the Stardust name is bittersweet, of course.

The Stardust opened on July 2, 1958 and was purchased by Boyd Gaming in 1985.

Stardust closed on November 1, 2006. It was imploded on March 13, 2007, to make way for a new Boyd Gaming project, Echelon Place.

Echelon Place was abandoned in 2008 due to the economic downturn, and is now the site of Resort World.

In hindsight, Stardust was closed and demolished for no good reason, but Vegas was built on short memories, so let’s put all that behind us and Stardust again.

The Stardust Social Casino is touted as being a way for loyalty club members to get rewards and benefits at Boyd Gaming casinos across the country, along with the enjoyment of the games themselves.

While social games are free, they offer players ways to purchase credits. Those purchases will earn points and Tier Credits within the B Connected loyalty club program.

The app has a fair number of game options, many immediately recognizable to slot fans.

B Connected loyalty club members will want to log in with their member number right up front in case any of those promised perks come to pass. There’s also the option to play as a “Guest.”

Prior to entering the social casino proper, there’s a spin to get credits, a clever incentive for players to use the app daily.

The gameplay is fairly straightforward, but here’s a quick tutorial: 1) Push “Spin.” 2) Repeat.

Please feel free to review our tutorial prior to downloading the app.

Each game has the option to see more information about paytables and game rules. From what we could see, the games are pretty true to the real world versions of the slots.

“Free social casino” may not precisely describe the Stardust app, or any social app, really. First, “social” games aren’t social. It’s you and your phone. Second, slots are just one part of a casino. Third, the games are only free if you play until you’re out of credits and stop.

Social casino games make a surprisingly large amount of money from people buying virtual credits, despite the fact there’s no monetary benefit of doing so. You can only get a virtual jackpot with virtual credits.

On the bright side, you don’t have to pay taxes on a virtual handpay.

No, not everyone purchases virtual credits. They don’t need to. If just one percent of customers purchase credits, it can generate a hefty amount of revenue. We’ve always said gambling is about the fun, not the winning and losing, and virtual credits keeps the fun flowing.

While the Stardust app is being touted as “new,” there was actually another attempt to relaunch the Stardust brand online in the form of a Facebook app in 2013. (See photo, below.)

The Stardust Facebook app was available in the U.K., Canada and Australia, but a U.S. version failed to materialize, as far as we know.

Check out Boyd Gaming’s new Stardust Social Casino app and let us know what you think.

Social casino apps are a way to stay connected to Vegas and your favorite games, even when you can’t be in Vegas.

The post Boyd Gaming Launches Stardust Social Casino App appeared first on Vital Vegas.

The Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas boasts some new bling. And, yes, we’re fully cognizant of the fact people haven’t used the word “bling” since 2008. You get the idea.

The Strip resort spent about $1.7 million installing lights on its Eiffel Tower replica in honor of the casino’s 20th anniversary.

The light show was unveiled with the requisite hoopla on Feb. 27, 2019, despite the fact the resort’s anniversary isn’t until Sep. 1. Paris opened on that date in 1999. Never let facts get in the way of a perfectly good hoopla!

The new light show runs every 30 minutes, from sunset to midnight.

The lighting system features “300 color washing Traxon ProPoint Wall Washer luminaires and more than 800 Traxon ProPoint Pixel luminaires.” In human words, that’s 300 colored lights and 800 strobes.

The lights are programmable and come in four colors (red, green, blue and white).

Check out our spectacularly slapped-together video of the new Eiffel Tower light show at Paris Las Vegas.

While the music in our video syncs with the light show, we aren’t entirely sure music accompanies the show at Paris. The best view of the light show is across the street at Bellagio, and they have their own music going to accompany the dancing fountains show.

And while we’re on the subject, it’s fairly obvious the Paris light show is meant to pull tourist eyeballs back across the street from Bellagio.

We’ve often talked about how surprising it is Bellagio’s Conservatory is still free, given trends toward casino cost-cutting, so it’s refreshing to see Paris creating a new free “attraction” for Las Vegas visitors.

The Eiffel Tower light show may not have the “wow” factor of the fountains (nothing does, really), but it’s a fun diversion and makes the most of a distinctive Las Vegas landmark.

The post Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas Gets Light Show appeared first on Vital Vegas.

It’s time to celebrate some things we love about Las Vegas!

There’s a lot to love about Sin City, including all its various forms of sin, but these are a few that leapt to mind immediately. Note: We were going to say “leaped,” but “leapt” just sounds fancier.

Share what you love about Las Vegas in the comments.

1. Bellagio Fountains

Leave this off any top 10 list of things to love and you have to forfeit your Las Vegas card. These traffic-stopping dancing fountains, set to iconic music, have enthralled visitors for years, and we hope the dancing never stops.

2. Sexiest Shopping Mall, Ever

Yes, the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace is a shopping mall, but man alive, what a mall it is.

3. Strip Clubs

Hey, we waited until number three before getting to some actual sin! Dancers travel from around the world to perform in Las Vegas strip clubs, providing a quantity and quality of entertainment unparalleled in the known universe. Make sure to brush up on your strip club slang.

4. Bigass Slot Machine Jackpots

Las Vegas remains the undisputed king of life-changing slot jackpots, and the hits just keep on coming. A player recently won $1.4 million at Cosmopolitan on Wheel of Fortune. We’re pretty sure it was one of the machines we were playing a week earlier. Not bitter at all. Another lucky bastard won $1.3 million at the Cosmo a month earlier. In June, a woman won $1.4 million at Golden Gate.

5. OMG the Food, Though

There are so many award-winning restaurants in Las Vegas, they need to invent more awards. There’s something to suit just about any craving, and even if you visited a Las Vegas restaurant every day, it would take a decade to visit them all. Oh, and don’t even get us started about the desserts.

6. Highest Concentration of Cirque Shows Anywhere

Cirque du Soleil has been in Las Vegas so long, it’s easy to take for granted the sheer variety and quality of these outsized theatrical spectacles. Have trouble keeping all the Las Vegas Cirque shows straight? We’ve got this with our One-Minute Guide to All the Cirque Shows in Las Vegas.

7. Venetian Eye Candy

So many Las Vegas resorts feature stunning architecture, it’s difficult to single one out, but we will, anyway. A stroll through the Venetian provides so much eye candy you’re likely to leave with diabetes. In a good way.

8. Fremont Street Experience Light Shows

It’s easy to take the free nightly light shows at Fremont Street Experience for granted, but they are a must-do. The hourly shows are free and feature bands like The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Green Day and others. The canopy will soon get a $32 million upgrade, so expect a whole new level of “What the hell did I just see?” Fun fact: The canopy’s LED brightness will go from 700 nits to 5,000 nits, whatever those might actually be.

9. The Hooch

Do you know this blog at all? Of course the hooch is on our list! Las Vegas is known for its destination drinking, and there’s no place on Earth with the sheer variety or quantity of alcoholic beverages on tap. Literally. Make sure to check out all our completely consensual panty-dropper cocktails.

10. Neon You Want to Dry Hump

Our love affair with neon will never fade, and while lots of casinos are opted for LEDs, there’s still plenty of gorgeous neon in Las Vegas. If you’re pining for even more neon, here’s a bonus thing to love about Las Vegas: “Brilliant” at the Neon Museum, where classic signs spring back to life with the assistance of projection mapping technology.

11. Vegas People

There’s a lot to love about Las Vegas, but ultimately it’s all about the people. It’s about the incredible people who work here and make our vacations possible. It’s about the strangers who become lifelong friends. It’s about the seemingly inexhaustible supply of colorful characters. Las Vegas is the magnet and we’re all wearing iron thongs. Or something.

So, let’s hear more about the things you love about Las Vegas.

The post 11 Amazing Things to Love About Las Vegas appeared first on Vital Vegas.

Few saw it coming, but Wynn Resorts has bucked a trend by announcing it will give free parking to its hotel guests, as well as a way for us commoners to get free parking, too.

Your first question, of course: Las Vegas hotels make their own guests pay for parking?

Well, yes. Where have you been?

Currently, Wynn and Encore charge guests for self-park and valet, a trend that’s become the norm in Las Vegas, just as it is in other cities.

Self-park rates run $7 for the first 1-2 hours, $12 for 2-4 hours and $15 up to 24 hours. Valet charges currently run from $18 (up to two hours), to $27 for 24 hours.

Starting July 1, 2018, that all changes.

Guests of Wynn and Encore will be able to self-park or valet for free. Remember when free parking was a thing in Las Vegas?

Free parking for hotel guests will be included in their $39 resort fee. Wynn Resorts assures customers the resort fee won’t be increased to accommodate the new policy.

Don’t get us started about resort fees. That’s a fight for another day.

But wait, there’s more.

Non-hotel guests will also be able to park free, albeit with validation. Guests will be validated upon receipt of a $50 spend at Wynn or Encore.

That minimum can be spent at all the retail stores, restaurants, shows, nightclubs and lounges at either of the resorts.

Players will be pleased to hear even money spent gambling counts toward the $50 minimum spend to get free parking. The company hasn’t release details about how that will work, but we trust they’ll figure it out.

This change in paid parking policy is a pretty big deal in Las Vegas. Paid parking is an ongoing source of frustration for visitors, and many believe is has caused a shift in public perception of Las Vegas as a value destination.

We are one of those people.

So, what’s the motivation behind Wynn Resorts’ move?

Well, there’s the official answer, referred to as “horseshit” in public relations parlance.

Maurice Wooden, President of Wynn Las Vegas, said, “We have come to believe that charging additional parking fees is counter to the personalized service we provide. This new policy directly reflects the way we know our guests want and deserve to be treated.”

So, it suddenly dawned on them guests don’t like having to pay for parking? Right.

Wynn Resorts has at least three reasons to change its paid parking policies.

First, its restaurants, shows and retail stores have taken a hit since paid parking was instituted. And it’s not just happening at Wynn and Encore, but at casinos all across Las Vegas.

Restaurants don’t receive the financial benefits of paid parking, at all, so they’re being hurt with nothing to show for it.

Increasingly, restaurants, shows and retail stores are letting their casino overlords know they’re suffering, and it appears Wynn Resorts is listening.

Second, it’s Wynn Resorts, so there’s an undeniable public image component.

Generously setting aside parking fees can’t hurt during a time when Wynn Resorts is trying to restore its tarnished reputation following the Steve Wynn sexual misconduct scandal.

Wynn Resorts is throwing everyone a bone. Which, come to think of it, is what got Steve Wynn in all that trouble in the first place.

We’ll wait.

Third, follow the money.

Wynn’s neighbors, Venetian and Palazzo, still offer free parking. That means many customers park at these competing casinos and walk to Wynn and Encore.

One of the cardinal rules of Las Vegas casinos: Don’t send customers to a competitor. Guests may intend to pass through Palazzo to gamble and dine at Wynn, but there are lots of distractions along the way.

So, the bottom line is Venetian and Palazzo deserve props for holding strong on free parking. If they’d rolled out paid parking, it’s unlikely Wynn Resorts would be changing its policies.

Along those same lines, let’s not forget another neighbor with free parking: Fashion Show Mall. You can bet there’s a collective sigh of relief at retail outlets inside Wynn and Encore right about now.

We can only hope the new parking program at Wynn and Encore is an acknowledgment by casinos that paid parking is an unnecessary annoyance to customers.

Paid parking is a short-sighted revenue play that hurts brands and, ultimately, Las Vegas.

Let’s hope the other big casino companies in Las Vegas, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts (which started this whole paid parking mess), see the light, too.

The post Wynn Resorts Rights a Wrong, Rolls Back Paid Parking appeared first on Vital Vegas.

Everyone needs a friend like Gabe Sinna.

Sinna recently celebrated a birthday, and decided to invite some friends to join him in Las Vegas for the festivities.

Lots of people have done that. But Gabe Sinna isn’t everybody.

After months of planning, Sinna created an ingenious game for his friends to play, inspired by the hit travel competition on CBS, “The Amazing Race.” And his game has raised the bar for Las Vegas scavenger hunts forever.

See, just about everyone has a friend who’s a planner. But Gabe Sinna is more than that. He’s a savant. He’s a genius. He’s a freak.

And we’re not just saying that because Sinna dove deeply into the recesses of this very Las Vegas blog for nuggets to inform his “Amazing Gabe” race.

While Sinna orchestrated an entire Las Vegas trip for his friends, we tagged along on the part that featured downtown. Not only do we work downtown (in marketing at Fremont Street Experience), the area is home to some of our favorite places in Las Vegas.

Sinna did extensive research about downtown before creating his race, then built his “race” using elements of “The Amazing Race,” including “Detours” and “Roadblocks.” He even used artwork inspired by the show. Told you he’s a freak.

At the beginning of each leg of the race, Sinna distributed clues (“Route Info.”) and his friends, all couples, got to explore downtown in a fun, unique way.

It should be noted Sinna’s friends are also sort of freaks, as they made matching T-shirts with Sinna’s face on them for each team.

The “Amazing Gabe” race included a carefully-curated list of things to do downtown:

• Take a photo with the gold nugget replica at Golden Nugget
• Get a pic with a million bucks at Binion’s
• Try a scorpion shot at Nacho Daddy
• Visit Banger Brewing
• Ride the SlotZilla zipline
• Visit Golden Gate
• Rub Buddha’s belly at The Cal
• See the Berlin Wall at Main Street Station
• Ride the Downtown Loop to the Gold & Silver Pawn shop
• Take in the Neon Museum
• Grab a dog at American Coney Island at The D

The downtown race culminated at Pizza Rock, of course. Did we not mention Sinna reads this blog?

Gabe Sinna’s friends are apparently fellow Las Vegas aficionados, because they navigated his clues with relative ease. (It was determined later the Internet may have made some of the clues too easy to solve. Thanks a lot, blogs!)

Ultimately, the red team won.

As mentioned, the downtown “race” was just part of the fun. Sinna created a nearly 20-page, spiral-bound booklet for his friends.

The booklet included, among other things, his friend’s favorite drinks.

There were also agendas for other days of their trip, shuttle schedules, maps of The Strip and downtown and a page for his friends to note which Vegas casinos they’d visited.

One of our favorite parts of his booklet was devoted to a photo hunt. Sinna created an extensive list of Las Vegas-themed photo ideas, including images of:

• Bachelorette with a sash
• Slot win of more than $50
• Any celebrity (yes, a photo with this blog qualified)
• A doppelganger
• Guy with a mullet
• Bike cop
• Tasteful side boob
• Pink flamingo
• Vegas sunset
• Neon sign
• Party pit dancer
• In line at White Castle
• Any Elvis
• Showgirl with feathers
• Guy named Don (I.D. required)
• David statue at Caesars Palace
• Pay phone
• Night club line
• Kissing at the Bellagio fountains

Now, that’s a Las Vegas photo hunt right there.

Sinna’s booklet also included another scavenger hunt list with items like “business card from a pit boss,” “slot ticket worth .01 (exactly),” “show ticket stub,” “deck of casino cards” and “trifecta of porn cards (brunette, blonde and redhead).”

While we love Las Vegas a lot, we bow before the love Gabe Sinna clearly has for this town. Seriously. His name even has “sin” in it.

Thanks to Gabe for letting us tag along on several legs of the “Amazing Gabe” race! We were truly impressed with his knowledge of Vegas, as well as his organizational ability, as it’s well-known we are personally bereft of the planning gene.

If you’ve done anything even remotely as creative as Gabe for a Las Vegas visit, we’d love to hear about it. We won’t hold our breath.

Amazing Gabe

The post Guy Creates Las Vegas Race for Friends and It’s Amazing appeared first on Vital Vegas.

Bellagio, the Las Vegas resort inspired by a town in Italy, has tapped into its Italian roots again with a new Conservatory & Botanical Gardens display transporting guests to the island of Capri.

Bellagio’s Conservatory rarely disappoints, but it’s great to see an all-new display.

As always, Bellagio’s Conservatory is a free attraction and remains one of the best free things to do in all of Las Vegas.

Bellagio’s new Italian display, which runs through Sep. 9, 2017, covers a lot of ground, with water features, colorful villas and a metric ass-ton of flowers, of course.
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Guests enter the vibrant new exhibit through a 26-foot archway. Inside, there’s an eight-foot fountain.

Nearby is a 22-foot moss-covered fountain that pays tribute to the Fontana dell’Ovato located in Villa d’Este, a 16th century residence in Tivoli.

In case there was any doubt, we knew all that off the top of our head and definitely did not copy and paste it from a news release.

The eight-foot plate, showing an Italian village, is made of lentils, something we never would have known was a thing except for our enduring love of a 1980’s British sitcom, “The Young Ones.” You bet it’s random.

In the north section of the Conservatory, there’s water streaming from lion and monkey sculptures, as well as four lemon topiaries, whatever those might be.

The lemon topiaries are made of about 1,400 flowers.

The centerpiece of this seasonal display is a miniature village with 50 villas, each with a terrace.

There’s a bell tower, unbrellas, boats and other flourishes like a 50-foot lemon tree and “Lover’s Rock.”

Overhead, there’s a sun and moon, each 16 feet tall.

The entire Italian display uses an incredible 57,000 flowers and 560 shrubs. Shrubs never get any of the glory at Bellagio’s Conservatory. While they play a supporting role, without shrubs, the Conservatory would be like “Goodfellas” without Joe Pesci or “Jaws” with Robert Shaw.

Shrubs should really look into getting a better P.R. agency.

Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens are a must-do in Las Vegas, and the first-time Italian display makes it a must-do all over again.

Bellagio Conservatory Taste of Italy 2017

The post Bellagio Conservatory Embraces Italian Roots With First-Time Capri-Inspired Display appeared first on Vital Vegas.

Way back in Jan. 2016, we caught wind of a new bar coming to El Cortez, the classic hotel on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.

At last, the hotel’s current casino bar has been closed and Imbibe bar is in the works.

The hotel has made no official announcement about the bar, it’s closure, any expansion
or even the bar’s name. Just go with it, anyway.

Naturally, we had to peek behind the drapes to see what’s up inside.

Presumably, the new Imbibe bar will try to appeal to a younger crowd. From what we hear, there’s already a strong millennial presence on Fridays and Saturdays. El Cortez benefits from all the surrounding restaurants and bars (think Gold Spike and Commonwealth) in the Fremont East District.

We did a walk-through of Fremont East so you can get your bearings.

Staffers say not only is the bar being renovated, but it’s expanding beyond the current casino bar’s footprint, and could potentially swallow the area where the keno parlor resides. (The keno desk would then be relocated to the hotel’s sports book area.)

We’ll keep an eye on the new bar at El Cortez, of course, but in the meantime, you’ll want to take advantage of a new promotion at the historic casino.

Here’s a thingy because we’re too drunk to relay the details.

So, that’s cool, right? You’re making a withdrawal from the ATM, anyway, so why not get some free slot play?

Once you make your ATM withdrawal, head to the casino cage. There, you’ll be given a certificate for free play. Take the certificate to the loyalty club desk, and the free play is put on your club card.

Now, win something and stick it to The Man. Winning with free play is even sweeter than the regular kind of winning, promise.

The post Security Breach: El Cortez Begins Creation of Imbibe Bar appeared first on Vital Vegas.

You know how Las Vegas attractions too-often describe themselves as being “immersive”?

Well, in the case of the Bellagio Conservatory’s summer display, “Under the Sea,” it’s
true. Because it’s under the sea. Please, try and keep up.

“Under the Sea” is far-and-away our favorite Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden display of the year (sorry, pandering Chinese New Year display), so let’s dive headlong into this free, family-friendly Las Vegas attraction.

While many of the elements of “Under the Sea” will be familiar to frequent Las Vegas
visitors, the centerpiece of the display is new.

“Under the Sea” features a walk-through fish tank designed by the team behind a Las
Vegas-based reality show, Animal Planet’s “Tanked.”

Guests walk down a tunnel flanked by two 20-foot aquariums. Tip: As you’re strolling
through the aquarium structure, don’t forget to look down. The floor is illuminated and
animated.

The fish in the aquarium are on loan from Mandalay Bay and include five flame angelfish, six sailfin tang (Dory is a regal blue tang, but close enough), six Spanish hogfish and three lunar wrasses. Any of which would make a damned fine band name, by the way.

Once again, the Bellagio Conservatory has created an impressive display, including tens of
thousands of plants.

The “Under the Sea” exhibit boasts 80,000 blooming plants. No, we did not count them. We
have a life. The blooming plants include New Guinea impatiens, calandiva, hydrangea,
sunflower, salvia, pineapply lily, asalea, chrysanthemum, miniature rose and calla lily.
The exhibit gets 6,000 tulips each week, and it has about 2,000 ivy plants.

Shout-out the exhibit’s 600 shrubs, too. We were not entirely aware begonias and hibiscus
were shrubs, but who are we to argue with horticulturalists? Or people who write news
releases about their work, for that matter.

“Under the Sea” also has seahorses, dolphins, a clam and pearl, a sea turtle, starfish, scuba divers, a seal and a whale. There’s also a mermaid looking a little like she’s on her third night in Las Vegas, if you get our drift.

Let’s not get bogged down trying to figure out why there are flowers growing “Under the Sea.” This is whimsy, not a Jacques Cousteau documentary. (That sound you hear is Millennials collectively shrugging.)

There are also massive jellyfish. These gelatinous creatures are some of the most distinctive in our planet’s oceans. Jellyfish use their “bells” for locomotion and their stings provide us with an excuse to urinate on our friends.

Happily, the Bellagio Conservatory’s seasonal exhibits remain free. Which is definitely
going to jinx it, sorry. Think we’re kidding? Attractions like this aren’t cheap. Bellagio
has 120 people on its horticulture staff.

For a long time, Las Vegas casinos used free attractions to draw customers to gamble. But Las Vegas visitors are gambling less, and we’d wager just a tiny fraction of people who
visit Bellagio to see the Conservatory end up at the slot machines or tables.

“Show in the Sky” at Rio went away, “Sirens of TI” had its plugged pulled at Treasure Island and the volcano at Mirage cut back on its number of shows. Not to be a buzzkill, but enjoy the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden while you can!

Find out more about the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden.

Interestingly, the photo of the “Under the Sea” display on Bellagio’s Web site isn’t
actually the display. It depicts a previous incarnation. Don’t be so OCD, bro.

Enjoy a metric ass-ton of photos from Bellagio Conservatory’s “Under the Sea” display, a reminder to appreciate and preserve sealife, especially the adorable kind. Because let’s face it, nobody’s making a blob fish out of carnations anytime soon.

Bellagio Conservatory Summer 2016

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