Vegas bound. Any ideas?

CKY,

I'll echo those who say get the hell out of Circus Circus. I'm a big Monte Carlo fan and have stayed there the last 3 or 4 times I've been to Vegas. Having said that, if money's tight you'd be fine at the Luxor for $105 less. Good place. Not an optimal location but there's a lot of good stuff within walking distance (and honestly, anything on the Strip is within walking distance, particularly once you figure out where the trams and monorails are). The Monte Carlo has by far the best pool complex of those options, if that's a consideration.

If it were me, I'd be hesitant to burn a whole day with a bus trip to the Grand Canyon. It's impressive, but remember that scene in "Vacation" when Chevy Chase stops at the canyon, looks out, kind of bobs his head and then walks away 5 seconds later? That's largely my reaction to the canyon. There are things that wouldn't kill a whole day that I'd rather do, like the Hoover Dam tour or Red Rocks. (Your mileage may vary; there are people who love the Grand Canyon, obviously, but it would barely make my top 5 of cool places to see in Arizona, and that just seems like a hell of a bus ride to me.)

Unless you definitely plan on leaving the strip a lot, you don't need the rental car. The airport is next to the Strip so it's a cheap cab ride. My wife and I happily burned 4 days there on our last trip without a car and without leaving the Strip, and we didn't gamble.

 

One excursion my wife and I did was this:

We went online and signed up for all of the gambling coupons. Since we had a rental car, we drove to about 30 casinos through the area, playing a ton of "match play coupons". Just seeing each place, the atmosphere of each one, was awesome.

The money even better as we won just over 50% of the blackjack and roulette hands. Usually a $10 bet would pay $30 if you win. Hard Rock had $25 coupons (win a $25 and get paid $50) plus the Frontier gave us TEN coupons.

We were up about $300 from all the coupons and spent that money to see Tom Jones. Awesome.

 

If you plan to have kids in the future, don't stay at CircusCircus. You won't want kids. Excalibur is barely an upgrade over CC. Luxor or Monte Carlo are much better and Monte Carlo is the better of the two.
The Eiffel Tower is a great, but mega-expensive restaurant at Paris. You get a great view of the Bellagio water show from the Eiffel Tower while dining.
Concur on getting player cards wherever you go. Get into their system and the deals will flood your inbox.
If you gamble, make sure you buy in for at least $100 each time. You don't have to gamble that much if you don't want to, but buy in for that amount. That gets the attention of the pit boss and starts building your credits. If you don't want to gamble that much, bet low and walk away if you start to lose.
I visited Hoover Dam last year with my daughter. It was a very worthwhile trip, probably less than 45-minute drive from the Strip. We didn't take the tour but that probably would have been a good thing to do. There was a lot to see without the tour. And that effing bridge, holy christ, it's WAAY up there. Scares me just thinking about it.

 

I'm getting out of CC. Called Southwest.com's Jackpot Deals today and confirmed I can easily upgrade to Luxor or Excalibur or Monte Carlo easy. And I have plenty of time to think about it and save money.

The CC package (with non-stop both flights and car) was cheap enough for me to afford to not max out the credit card limit.

HOWEVER,

Grand Canyon south is a MUST. No exceptions. Fiance/Wife has asked for two things -- Canyon South and possibly Brad Garrett (we only have one shot to see him). So I'll be spending a day at the canyon, whether I drive myself (I do have the rental car) or take the bus (more expensive and less hours at canyon plus you gotta get up early, but you can sleep on the way too/back and you don't have to worry about getting lost). Kinda hard to sleep if you're the driver for all 10 hours (5 to, 5 back).

 

I have family in Vegas so I get out there quite a bit. Because I have family there I rarely stay at any of the hotels, but the advice you're getting on that is pretty accurate to my knowledge. I don't really do the shows very often, but it sounds like you've got that covered anyway. If you want to use that rental car, here are some suggestions of places that you may enjoy visiting in the area:

Lake Mead - if you go to the dam, you may enjoy hanging out at the lake. There are places you can rent a boat for the day, etc.
Valley of Fire State Park
Red Rock Canyon
Mt. Charleston
Death Valley (this would be a day trip)
Ghost Towns
China Ranch Date Farm
Zion National Park (SW Utah, about 2.5 hrs)
Pinball Hall of Fame (on E Tropicana; you can play the machines for a quarter)
Mob Museum (downtown; I thought a bit overpriced but interesting)
Zip Line (downtown - under the Fremont St canopy)
(Downtown is really starting to come back, by the way. I did stay down there this summer & was pleasantly surprised with some of the changes.)
If you golf, there are a lot of great courses there & the prices generally drop around 6/1. Though I'm guessing that won't be a honeymoon activity unless the bride also plays.

There are plenty of things to do there besides gambling, shows, drinking & eating. Of course, there's nothing wrong with doing any of that either.

 

This relationship is off to a great start. You'll enjoy the Grand Canyon. The "wow" factor is enormous.

 

In that case, I'd stick with the bus. That's a long-ass (and boring) drive to go both ways in a day, particularly if you're going a day after flying in. I'd want to sleep on the bus on the way back to Vegas, and be somewhat rested to do something that night.

 

No golf. I don't play and neither does she.

No gambling. Or at least not much. I've never been to a on-land casino. Neither has she.

Won't be much drinking. I haven't had a sip of alcohol since I turned 21 more than 10 years ago. I've never seen her drink. In our four out-of-state trips and two overnight trips, the heaviest I've seen her drink is diet Pepsi. She mostly drinks water.

We were honeymooning in the Smokies at a cabin (did a condo last time downtown near the aquarium) in the hills/mountains before we realized Vegas was a financially doable option. And once we realized we could see the sights of Vegas and do the Canyon, she was in.

So this is more of a personal/sightseeing trip before it becomes a drinking/gambling trip.

 

You've ruled out most of the vices that draw a couple to Vegas.

If you're not gambling or drinking, you should spice the trip up and swing. Swingers love newlyweds.

 

If you can, see a Cirque du Soleil show. Unbelievable. There are some cool malls on the Strip for shopping, etc.

 

turski7,

I suggested Cirque. She was like, "What's that?"

I was shocked. I was thinking the Beatles-themed "Love" show or "O" if we see Cirque.

And what is this MyVegas I keep hearing about?

 

'O' is incredible -- i would definitely see it if i were you. since the drinking/gambling is out, maybe one crazy dining experience would be memorable; vegas has more to choose from up and down the scale than most anywhere -- be it the new bacchanal buffet at caesars or any one of dozens of high-end places.

'MyVegas' is from the MGM properties -- it's a marketing tool accessed thru Facebook. apparently you can win stuff for use at the MGM resorts, which Circus, Luxor and Monte Carlo are among.