In the Bellagio there was a crowd of people taking photos of something, of course I was curious to see what it was. It was the World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain that was running through one of the shops (that was closed) but you could still see it through the glass. It was really cool!
After we checked out the fountain, we went inside the Bellagio to check out the conservatory that is always decked out depending on the season. Everything was ready for Fall with a cornucopia, ent, a talking tree, a windmill, scarecrow, etc. It was really beautifully done and a lot of fun to walk through and check out!
One night we decided to hit up the strip at dark and of course the place I wanted to see was the Bellagio Fountain. Every 15 minutes or so it performs to a song (man I’d love to program that!). When we were there it did its thing to Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. (When we walked by earlier it was “Hey Big Spender” and while we were eating dinner across the street we could see it but not hear what the other song choices were)
Television City is located in the MGM Grand Casino and you can get tickets to watch TV shows and let them know your opinion. We were told we would be watching a TV show and have to rate it and if we were one of the first 50 people we’d get $20. We were indeed one of the first 50 people. We were put in the 4pm group and watched a TV-14 TV Show. I’m not sure I can say much else about it, but the show has since aired on TV. While watching we had a dial that went from 0 to 100 and we were supposed to turn it as the show progressed if we liked things or didn’t like things. I am pretty sure mine broke because when I wanted to be at around 80 or 90 for some scenes I looked down and it said 46. Oops!
Afterwards we were given our $20 and also chosen for a focus group about the show that would be meeting the next day and we would be paid $50 to discuss the show we had just watched! Of course we agreed. Better to be making money than losing it at the casino!
We traded in our BOGO myVegas monorail coupon and got 3 day passes for the monorail. We took it from The Quad to MGM. While there we picked up television city passes and then went over to Luxor to take the tram to Mandalay Bay. From Mandalay Bay we walked to the “Welcome to Vegas” sign. FYI – if you are in a wheelchair or unable to run across a highway either stay across the highway on the sidewalk (this is what we did) or drive (take a taxi, bus, etc that can park in the parking lot) if you are looking to be right in front of the sign for photos. It’s roughly 1/2 a mile walking from Mandalay Bay down to the end of the strip. (Or beginning, I guess, if it is welcoming you?)
Our next myVegas trade in was the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Its an aquarium with tunnels so the sharks swim over you and in some spots the floor is open so they are above and below you! They have a ray / crab touch tank, jellyfish, a crock and a turtle which we couldn’t find among many other fish. Its regularly $18, again, not sure it’s worth it but a great activity if you are doing Vegas with kids. I just wish it was easier to photograph things through tanks!
Through Facebook and myVegas I was able to get us free tickets to the Secret Garden Dolphin and Tiger Habitat at the Mirage ($20 ea value) When you first enter there is the dolphin pools and I think they had 6 or 7 dolphins split up in them and they are trained every 15 minutes or so and you can watch. Then there is the tiger/lion area. Most of the big cats were asleep and you had to watch out for the awake ones incase they decided to pee on you! For free it was a fun time (though souvenir photos were $25 EACH) but I’m not sure if I would have paid to check it out. Or I would have and then been a bit disappointed. There is no time limit though so you can easily spend all day watching the dolphins and cats if you wanted!
I had really no idea what to expect with Rock Of Ages. We got discounted tickets on the street and I knew Kyle Lowder formerly of Days of Our Lives was in it and I wanted to see him. The show was great – really funny (the actors even interacted with the crowd during some scenes) and of course full of great rock music!
It was just over 2 hours long and I really enjoyed it. After the show I was waiting to buy a program and the guy who played Drew was out in the hall taking pictures. We waited a bit and I spotted Kyle chatting with someone. I called him over to take a pic and he said sure, but he couldn’t stay long because they were on their way to LA so we didn’t get to talk to him long.
Tickets also come with a free shot at the Bourbon Room in the Venetian!
Our plan was to get up whenever and go to the Mirage and do the dolphin habitat and see Boyz II Men. That didn’t happen. We got a super late start and after lunch/breakfast a the Harrah’s Café, we got in line for a Total Rewards card. As a new member I got a free scratch off ticket (virtual) and won $5 in slot play and a slip to spin the million dollar slot machine. At the slot machine I won a Harrah’s Shot Glass. Then we waited in another line to trade in my $5 coupon for a voucher I could put in one of the machines to play.
Then we took the shuttle to Rio to buy Chippendales merchandise only to find out that their boutique is only open a couple of hours before show time and we were too early. Nervous that if Jaymes and James weren’t around for the show on Thursday which we were planning on seeing, we decided to see Rock of Ages because I wanted to see Kyle Lowder and didn’t care if I had to cut out a Boyz II Men show in order to see Jaymes and James.
We went back to the strip to the Tickets for Tonight counter and got Rock Of Ages tickets – except my credit card company thought my card was stolen and taken to Vegas so they declined the purchase. Fortunately my other credit card didn’t seem to care (although that is kind of worrysome) and I was able to put the charge on that card and then let my primary company know that I was in Vegas and let me charge things. (I usually call before I go away out of the country, but didn’t think Vegas would be a problem – but this seems to be the go-to city when people steal cards!)
Then we headed up to the Venetian to trade in our voucher for Rock of Ages seats and check out the Venetian. We got players cards here and then I wanted to see the indoor gondola. The water was all DRAINED! What a bummer.
We ended up heading over to the Mirage to get an M Life card and I got a free popcorn at Sugar Factory thanks to myVegas Rewards on Facebook.
At Harrah’s I played my $5 and when he $5 was gone I had $1.60 left… played that and ended up with a $0.07 voucher for my scrapbook.
Then we got ready to go back to the Venetian for Rock of Ages. More on that in my next post 😉
We took the bus to Fremont Street and got to the venue about 30 minutes after the doors and were escorted to a side entrance. We went by the soundbooth and I could see even seated for most of the show, but had to stand for my current favorite song, Juliet. I even got a new song to add to my list performed that night – Happy Together! And zac’s solo was Broken Angel which is another one of my favorites and a nice surprise.
I also got to see my friends Natalie and Krystal that I don’t get to see that often, so that was great! During the show Zac mentioned Boyz II Men and said that they had their own show that night and they couldn’t make it to the Hanson show, but he had us record a Vine for Shawn saying that we missed him.
The show ended at 10 and we went back to Fremont Street to check things out. At 11 we saw the Fremont St Experience show which was on the ceiling to songs by The Doors.
Then we hopped the bus back to our hotel on the strip and crashed.
Fired Up
Ive Got Soul
Wheres The Love
Scream and Be Free
This Time Around
Minute Without You
In The City
On and On
Strong Enough To Break
Being Me (I solo)
Broken Angel (Z solo)
Save Me (T solo)
Juliet
Crazy Beautiful
Happy Together
Waiting For This
Watch Over Me
You Cant Stop Us
Tragic Symphony
Thinking Bout Somethin
MMMBop
Get The Girl Back
If Only
Something Going Round
Katie