TR: Nov 17-23/07 Grand Vacations,Venetian, Phantom, Dolphins

Recently came back from a dream vacation to Vegas and for those interested, here is the report.

Disclaimer: This report will be very VERY long. Therefore I will not be held responsible for anyone being left in a comatose state as a result of trying to read this. Heh heh

TR: Nov 17-23/07 Grand Vacations,Venetian, Phantom, Dolphins

This trip was the result of around 15 years of dreams. My cousin and I grew up together as rabid Phantom of the Opera fans. We were constantly acting it out with our toys, or singing it ourselves. I was usually the lead, Christine and my cousin played Meg so I’ll refer to her as M in this report. Yes, we are insane. Certifiable.

Unfortunately family circumstances saw M move to the opposite side of the country with her Mom and Canada is a pretty large country to be spread out across. The Internet has basically much been our only contact since then. Our lives took us down very different paths through the years but we kept that interest in Phantom and shared a dream of someday having a reunion and seeing the show together.

I’ve seen the show in New York, London and Toronto but M’s circumstances never allowed for her to make large trips. I saw the show in Vegas last year and was very impressed. I knew this HAD to be the location for us to see the show in and 2007would be that year. So I’ve saved everything extra off of each pay cheque for a year to do this.

The Report:

Nov. 17- Argh! It should be illegal to have to get up at 4am. 6:20am flight from my home to Newark. Loooong lines at security and then I’m off on my next flight or so I thought. While waiting to board they announce that the flight is overbooked and they need to bump two people. I’m about ready to have a panic attack. I CAN’T get bumped. It figures! I never ever book shows for the night of arrival just incase something happens. This one time I decide to book two shows and now this happens. Oh horror of horrors!!! Oh wait! What’s this? Two people have volunteered for the later flight!! Woo Hoo! Vegas here I come!

Arrive in Vegas at 1:25pm and I’m like a racehorse at the gate, just chomping at the bit as I wait anxiously to deplane. Is the line ever going to move? Eventually the crowd moves and I’m off! Wow! Terminal 1 is big in comparison to teeny Terminal 2 which I’ve always flown into. I weave my way through the crowds and stumble onto the MGM check-in. I’m not staying there but use it to pick up my KA and O tickets for tonight to save me having to rush to the hotels to get them before their 1hr before show deadlines.

I get to one section of the airport and theres a HUGE Phantom banner on the right hand wall. I am so here!!

Once I have tickets, my luggage and a welcome from the Phantom I’m off to find the shuttles. I’m staying at the Hilton Grand Vacations at the Las Vegas Hilton and don’t like the thought of a shuttle going from hotel to hotel along the strip. Neither do I feel like bothering with cabbies right now and the tunnel. I have a plan… I board a shuttle that’s ready to go to MGM and I’m on my way in a matter of minutes.

Arriving at MGM shortly, I get in the lobby and smile. This was where I stayed on my first ever Vegas trip in 1994 back when Michael Crawford was doing the EFX show. Except that when I got there, he’d been injured as was replaced by David Cassidy. Groan. After reminiscing for a moment, I round the corner to Starlane to get the monorail…only to find that there is no elevator and I’m not lugging a huge suitcase on the escalator. I turn around and make way to the other monorail entrance near the Signature towers. Soon I’m on the monorail and on my way to the Hilton, enjoying the sights along the way and glad not to be in the crazy Vegas traffic.

Once off the monorail, I notice an open gate that allows a short cut to the Grand Vacations without going through the Hilton. Yay! A four minute walk from the monorail to the Grand Vacations and that’s with pulling a large suitcase behind me. Great! I look at my watch and I’ve made it here in less than an hour since my flight landed! Awesome.

The downside, I’m two hours early for check-in and I suddenly have a migraine starting. Remember that getting up at 4am thing? I enter the lobby and although it’s small, it’s nice and a clerk at the Elite counter motions for me to leave the regular line and come forward. A few minutes later, I have keys to a strip view 1 bedroom unit. A quick stop at the welcome centre where I receive a number of coupons and learn that I don’t have to sign up for a timeshare event. If I did though I’d have received $150 cash.

Moment of truth….I get to the room and am instantly pleased with what I see. Huge room with full kitchen and laundry. Large living room with flat screen TV and DVD player. Nice furnishing throughout and for one who is germ-phobic, it looks clean. Still, I know I’ll give it a going over with Lysol and such later. Lol Right now I have to attend to the migraine.

A few hours later, some headache meds, supper and a soak in the jetted tub in my bedroom, I’m off to MGM for KA. M is only coming tomorrow night so I’m on my own until then. Migraine is still there but at least I’m at a functioning level now.

Now if anyone has actually read this far and wants me to continue... I%26#39;ll keep posting the rest.

TR: Nov 17-23/07 Grand Vacations,Venetian, Phantom, Dolphins

Great TR so far keep it coming !!!

Thanks. Here%26#39;s the rest of DAY ONE:

I’m sitting on the monorail heading to MGM and remembering that I need to pick up Phantom tickets before M arrives tomorrow as some of the tickets are surprises for her. I’m now at the Harrahs stop and wondering if I can make it to the Venetian and back to MGM in 45min. The monorail stops and I bound out and soon am making my way along the Strip. I get to the corner of Casino Royale and am greeted by the lovely sight of the Venetian at night and I pause for a moment to take in the view. As I keep going, I distracted by the Sephora store but resist the urge to go inside. I’m on a mission!

The clerk at the Phantom desk is slightly amused by the mass of tickets I’m picking up but hey it’s my vacation and I can do as I please. We both had a laugh and then I was back out at full tilt to get back on track to MGM.

Tickets for KA say to arrive for the show no later than 15 prior to show time. Before arriving, I had no idea how strict they were about that. I’m now at MGM and have 6 minutes to make their deadline….ah no problem. Deadline or not, I need to visit the little girls room first.

I remember the KA theatre as the former EFX theatre and was really curious to see what the changes were like. Upon entering the lobby it’s like you’ve come into a whole different world. The ushers are all dressed as characters from the ‘Land of KA’ and play their roles well. I enter the theatre auditorium and am greeted by a flash of flames coming up from the stage. I nearly jumped as high as the flames. Wow! The theatre is totally unrecognizable to the EFX theatre. The set for KA extends along the sides of the theatre with all sorts of interesting looking catwalks that had me wondering what would take place on them.

As with other Cirque shows, there’s a pre-show. Some freaky looking alien creatures come slithering through the audience, climbing over seats and quite honestly gave me the creeps. That’s good though. Shows that they were really playing their parts well! Loads of other characters appear on the side pieces of the sets and climb all over it, some leaping off and into the audience but before landing their bungy type harnesses pull them back up onto the walls/catwalks.

Fire continues to shoot up from the pit of the stage periodically. I kept musing to myself that the big dragon from EFX must still live under the stage. That thing used to shoot some big flames. I remember learning that during the EFX show the dragon’s fire actually was hot enough to raise the temperature of the entire theatre.

They have a most interesting way of reminding people to turn their phones off and not to use cameras. They never use a word but it’s very clear. It ends with an “audience member” ’s phone and camera getting thrown into that fiery pit. The “audience” guy though suddenly gets swept away into the shadows of the theatre and we never see him again.

I knew the music of KA and loved it but knew nothing of what to expect from the show itself. Reviews always seem quite mixed. What I saw though was wonderful. I work in music/theatre so I’m always fascinated by seeing different shows. It’s a certainly a very dramatic show and the hydraulic stage was really interesting the way it worked. The sets and costumes were brilliant and I thought the story was easy to follow. The music is very full sounding and the speakers in the headrest of each seat was great. The downside is the seatbacks are quite high so I find that if you’re short, the seat in front of you is blocking your view even if there’s no one sitting in it. I’d say the location of any seat in the theatre would afford you a good view of the stage (aside from the seat height thing). I’m usually a ‘front row junkie’ for shows but tonight was in the second last seat in the balcony and although I’d rather have seen the actors faces better, it didn’t spoil the show. It’s very different from what people expect when they think Cirque du Soleil. It’s not so much a show with various stereotypical Cirque type of acts strung together. It felt almost like seeing an actual play or some sort of a modern dance piece by the way it was so well choreographed with scenes like the fights. I’m not explaining right but not quite sure how to describe it. I really thought it was a wonderful, beautiful show and I would certainly return. It brought a smile to my face many times and at other times had me on the edge of my seat.

As soon as I left the world of KA, I headed to the world of Ballys(not much to see here) and from there onto the Bellagio. I had some time to kill before seeing ‘O’ at 10:30pm and so I went to see the fountains, checked out the conservatory. The conservatory was set to a gorgeous fall theme with a ‘waterfall’ of fresh apples, lots of crystalline leaf decorations, an old-fashioned mill complete with working water wheel. I play fiddle so a treat for me was the music in the conservatory, a really neat arrangement energetic arrangement of fiddle music. Not quite celtic, not quite old-timey but with a modern edge and fun. After walking around with a goofy smile on my face and the song ended, I head to the Café Gelato for a snack. How is one supposed to pick just one flavor when they see all the awesome kinds available? Their special of the day is the Bananas Foster Sundae. Hmm, sounds good so I order and am overwhelmed by what I receive. Three huge scoops a café au lait type flavor gelato, a huge chopped banana, a mountain of whipped cream and healthy handful of chopped pecans. Oh my word! I just ordered a dessert for three! Well I won’t need to eat again after the show. I do what damage I can to the dessert and my waistline and then roam around the hotel, stopping to buy a KA CD in the gift shop since the store at MGM was too packed.

My seats for O were restricted view ones. However, I’d say less than 2% of my view was blocked by anything. I was in section 203 right in the middle of the theatre and right where some action happens at the beginning of the show. There was no down side to the seats I had. I anxiously waited for the show to begin as I’ve wanted to see it for years. Unfortunately I ended up not liking the show. Wasn’t crazy on the music. Loved the costume and thought the performers and musicians were really talented. They did some amazing things with their dives. But I just could not get into the show. There is a story to the show but I found it too hard to follow. The whole thing was sort of abstract to me(what’s with the burning man reading the newspaper?). I won’t be back but I am glad that I went the once so I could see what it was like. I certainly liked the technical aspect of it.

Next is to find the taxi line to get back to the HGVC. I don’t really like taking cabs but it was after midnight and didn’t feel like roaming around alone back to the hotel. By this point I’ve been up for 24hours so I’m beat and my headache is returning. That taxi line is HUGE but within 20min I am on my way and have a really nice driver. Soon enough I’m in my room and off to dream land.

great trip report so far cant wait to hear the rest.

Annie

Great to read about Ka in detail - and looking forward to Phantom!

Ka was the first Vegas show I ever saw and I was pretty impressed - but I have alot more shows to see yet!

In a previous %26#39;younger%26#39; life ( many moons ago) I was a theatre stage manager - so always interested in show reviews . Great TR, keep it up coming !

PS - Great to read about O as well!

Was doing a quick check of Trip Advisor before I headed out Christmas shopping,after the storm last weekend I%26#39;m behind schedule (any other posters from Canada will understand) and there top of the list is NB_Fiddler%26#39;s report.

';To read'; or ';not to read';, I%26#39;ve been patiently waiting for it LOL

Suffice to say I%26#39;m a little more behind schedule, excellent details keep it coming.

I expect more when I get back from shopping in town so get busy posting you have about 4 hours

M

fiddler...liked your review and I%26#39;m anticipating the rest. I did not especially think O was so great, myself. Your description of KA makes me want to see it. It%26#39;s got to be better than O. For a water show, I loved Le Reve at the Wynn. Re: migrane...great anxiety, little sleep and stress = migrane.

Lantana: Thanks very much. I have to say I enjoyed your trip report immensely. You%26#39;re an awesome writer!!

Roadtrip4fun: Sorry for the delay in writing this. Better late than never. I%26#39;m writing the next post so it%26#39;ll be up soon. How long do I have left until you%26#39;re done shopping now? lol

Chachachio: Glad to know I%26#39;m not alone in my thoughts about %26#39;O%26#39;. I%26#39;d really like to see Le Reve next time. There%26#39;s going to be a new song added to it soon by Andrew Lloyd Webber so I%26#39;m curious what that will be like.

Long but a very good TR glad you had fun in Sin City.