Field Trip: Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas! I spent some time there during my vacation and decided to share the things I did while visiting so you can get a peek at what a trip to Vegas can be like.

I have been to Vegas a lot during my entire life because I have family there. So I actually know quite a bit about Vegas as a tourist, and especially as a sober tourist. And my favorite thing to do really anywhere is exploring, so let’s start this journey.

Circus Circus and the Adventuredome

For this visit, we stayed at the Circus Circus which I haven’t been to in a very long time. It’s a decent place and definitely embraces the circus-ness through live circus acts and midway. They are also known for their indoor theme park, the Adventuredome.

The first thing we did when I got there was play mini golf in the Adventuredome. You pay for it separately from the wristbands and ride passes which is nice if that is all you want to do at the time. And mini golf is pretty straightforward, and it was not the most exciting course. But it was a fun thing to do that is different compared to other hotels offerings.

We also spent time watching the circus acts in the Midway and also playing the various arcade games there. The circus acts varied in our eyes of what was great and what was less impressive (we being my brother and me who have both done extensive performing arts, so we have strong opinions). They were all fun and enjoyable, just some more than others. The Umbrella routine (photo above) was our favorite.

The midway has the classic fair-type games, like throwing darts at balloons for prizes. And there were arcade games as well, like air hockey, Pacman games, and skeeball. Everything runs on a card system, and you add money to the card for credits. It definitely beats carrying coins around and is easy to refill. It also works for the games in Adventuredome which is great.

Lastly, we spent some time in the Adventuredome to ride the rides. As kids, my brother and I would run around this place for hours, so it was a very nostalgic experience. As an adult, this is not an amazing theme park in terms of its options. One of our favorite rides of the past no longer exists and is currently being replaced by a new coaster that isn’t done yet, so options were limited. And, if you read my recap of my visit to Silver Dollar City, you know I don’t love super spinny rides, so that cut options down too. So we rode what we could and wanted to, but doing that didn’t fill the whole day of entertainment for us. There were many things we did not do though that could be of interest, like the laser mazes and 4D attractions.

We did get wristbands, which I still say are worth it if you want to ride certain rides multiple times. For example, we rode Canyon Blaster, the current coaster, three times. Those three rides alone would be $36 per person with just the pass system ($12 per ride for that level of ride). The wristband, which covers all rides unlimited, is $33.95 per person. So the wristband is definitely worth it if you, or your kids, can ride everything and will want to ride things multiple times. Since there are some height restrictions on rides, if your child is younger the passes may work out better since ride choice is limited.

The Strip

Since we couldn’t spend a full day in the Adventuredome personally, we decided to go visit other nearby hotels and explore. Since we only had a few hours, we mainly visited one section of The Strip, which included Treasure Island, The Venetian, The Palazzo, Wynn, and Encore.

The Strip is always interesting to explore since the hotels always have unique themes and displays and things to see. We first went to Treasure Island, mainly to get food. So we went to Gilley’s, a country bar and BBQ restaurant. On the strip, food isn’t super affordable and Gilley’s was no exception, but it was delicious. Between the two of us, the final bill was approximately $50, to give you an idea. And I would say it was worth that much.

From there, we explored the canals in The Venetian and the displays in the Wynn. Wynn was a surprise at how whimsical it was inside, with a carousel and hot air balloon made of flowers to giant lanterns that moved. Half the fun of exploring The Strip is finding these hidden gems.

This really sums up my trip as a tourist to Las Vegas. The overall reason we were in Vegas was to work an event, so the other day we were there was spent doing that. Plus a trip to Barnes and Noble, where I explored all the board games and got some new ones I’ll write about later.

Do you have any trips coming up soon? Let me know with a comment.