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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Las Vegas June 2013 Trip Report Part 2 - Rest of our stay at the Aria

This is our Third Las Vegas Trip Report Blog
This June 2013 tour of our 14 day stay continues with 
Part 2 - rest of stay at the Aria

Continued from Part 1.......

Battle of Yavin Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
Do I manage to blow up the "Death Star" OR do I get shot down first - can you guess?

Wednesday 5th June -  Walk to the Wynn and wend our way back via Palazzo et al.

   As I usually do each day, I go down in the lift and get 4 large Latte's (at the Aria, it is the Jean Phillipe Patisserie I usually go to - with the occasional Muffin or cake/s) for everyone and deliver to them in bed. Then while the others are getting ready I go back down after getting myself all sorted out - on this occasion I am just trying out the latest Star Wars bank of slots, and after a few spins hit the "Battle of Yavin" Bonus.

 Ewok Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
Straight after the previous Battle Bonus almost straight into this Ewok Bonus...
 

 Li'l Red Bonus  - Aria Las Vegas
Colossal Reels WMS Li'l Red Bonus 8 Free Spins - Aria Las Vegas - nice bonus for only a 50c bet


 Red Hot Fusion slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas 
Free Spins, plus a re-trigger and extra Bonus Wheel pointers, Max bet win... 

All the others are now up and ready to set off by 9.30am. So we quickly decided to walk down the strip from the Aria to the Wynn as its early and not too hot and most folk are still in bed.
 
Quick pic outside the Mirage as we walk down the strip towards the Wynn / Encore
Interesting & Colorful Shrine outside Caesars Palace - as we venture further down the strip

Excellent replica of the Trevi Fountain - outside Caesars Palace

 It was a nice walk at this time of day and came across the Trevi Fountain, which we compared to the real version we saw when we went to in Rome earlier in April of this year. The original Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci. When I write up our Rome Blog I will provide a link....

Always seems to be something interesting going day or night on the strip. even at this time. One chap trying get some cash, was in one of the water features at Caesars picking up the coins that others I guess had tossed in and made a wish; we later saw him in another water fountain, further down the strip. 

This rock "Skull" feature was outside Treasure Island Casino & Hotel 
This TI set is for the Pirate Battle scenes in the free must see (at least once) spectacular evening shows

 When we reached the Wynn, Lesley headed off to the Fashion Show Mall, the rest of us went over to Encore. 

Fashion Show Mall
  Nothing much to report, cocktail service not good either, so walked over to the Wynn. It was not much better in there? This did not inspire us to plan our next stay here - and we have (also stayed on several occasions) had some really good times as well as normally excellent service, not really not sure what happened this time.

  Lesley appeared after her Mall visit. She had not bought anything. Well, a bag to put stuff in! Simon was feeling unwell, we think he got a touch of dehydration, as well as having a cold, (probably picked up on the plane),  so he bought a drink and water chaser, downed both.  He did pick up shortly after this, so we decided to head over to the Palazzo to the Grand Lux for food and water, especially as the Wynn was a bit dead in every respect - must be due to the recession cut backs?  

  Grand Lux is always a great pit stop, we had 2 x burger melts, 1x lunch Carbonara / salad and 1x18 inch pizza, lovely. The boys headed back, Simon to chill and Ollie to the pool. We decided to have a few spins here....

 Mystical Lamp Genie Bonus - Palazzo Las Vegas
 I had a bit of finger trouble on this camera - hitting the photo button instead of the video, hence missing most of the spins. This started as 5 free spins bonus and this turned into 17 free spins with various rubbing's of the mystical lamp creating re-triggers.



Reel Winners Instant Spin - Palazzo Las Vegas
Playing max bet we hit an instant wheel spin and hit relatively nicely.


Lesley and I went in together for $20 each, made it $60 quite quickly, per above. Then we came across the Deal or no Deal slot and decided to give it a go....

 Deal OR No Deal - Brief Case Bonus - Palazzo Las Vegas

  We knew the (Deal or No Deal) game, but had not played the slot version before. We hit the into the main bonus I think on the second spin. We said no deal to the first offer, what we thought was $25, then again at $22, next offer $35, we only had one big number left and a few smaller ones, so decided to deal at $35, imagine our shock (delight) when it actually was $350, what a win! We cashed out over $400, if we had known; we would probably have dealt at the first offer.
 "Jackpot Vegas Hits" Wheel Bonus - Palazzo Las Vegas
I think the payout was a bit mean on this one but I can't complain with the luck we have been having.

 Megabucks Red Hot 7's - Palazzo Las Vegas

 Still in the Palazzo................with a passing quick spin on the Megabucks and hit double Red Hot Sevens as a "wild" to complement 2 other random 7's for an OK quick win! You would think it should have paid more for this?
Onwards to the Venetian..... to continue our amble en-route back to our current base at the Aria.
 

 "Cheers" slot "Lucky Round" Bonus - Venetian Las Vegas
  Just arrived at the Venetian after walking through from the adjoining sister Casino, Palazzo and homed in on the relatively new "Cheers" slot. This used to be one our favourite USA TV program import's, in it's day, so was hoping it would give us some fun play. As luck would have it it decided to show us one of the many bonus rounds...including Sam's re-spin award... Cheer's!

Rapunzel Bonus Spins - Venetian Las Vegas
 We tried out the Rapunzel slot, after seeing "DianaEvoni" 's YouTube Vid before we arrived in Vegas - you must try out her channel + Twitter and blog too, we both love it to keep up with things in between our trips. As luck would have it, it decided to play the Bonus for us.....nice little win again to add to the pot. 
 $ "Wheel Of Fortune" wheel Spin - Venetian Las Vegas
After this near miss on the $ WOF i.e. just rolling past the $1000 we knew it was time to move on back to the Aria.

We slowly walked back to the Aria, had a Pina Colada, took it back to the room for a chill. (did not emerge again until the following day). Ollie also has the cold now.

Thursday 6th June  - Express to Downtown & Freemont Street Experience
Up early again, off to get coffee and a muffin for the troops, then up we all get, shower etc. I go down to the Casino for a few spins, as normal, until they are all ready.

 Cleopatra Multi-Play Bonus - Aria Las Vegas

  I thought I would give the Cleopatra a quick spin and hit a weak bonus but they all count and I know when my luck is low rolling so this is how it will be until the upswing returns....although strict officiando's of gambling don't go with this thinking it just works for me.

  Everyone arrives and we then head off to Fremont Street. This is old down town Vegas and well worth a trip down to see and renowned "Fremont Street Experience". The boys man flu seems to be improving. 


Just across the road from the Aria - pre-purchase Express Bus tickets (24hr pass)
   We got the express bus down to Fremont Street, this is much quicker than the deuce and you don't get severely ripped off by the taxi's which seems more prevalent now as well as a bit scary on our last trip, so we tend to avoid if possible now. 

Quick pic at the stop
NewYork NewYork across from the stop











     So, one to remember, same cost as the Deuce, but it stops at less places, you can get a 24 hour pass for $8, remember to get your ticket before boarding the bus. Anyway 30 minutes later we are at Fremont Street. We also like to take in the environment on the way so this is almost like a tour at a pace you can absorb and take everything in... as well as striking up conversation with other folk on the way.

 Lesley went off to check out – yes you guessed it the shops, us chaps headed over to the Plaza - which is at the opposite end of the street. The Cocktail service here is very good, but many slot machines were out of order. This meant that each time you cashed your TiTo coupon from a slot machine it would not seem to accept it in another. This could encourage you to just play all your cash through on each machine - which I get  a lot of folk do - but I aim to take early wins and keep up on the day each day, while enjoying all the fun. So not good and put me off my Mojo. 

   So I kept in low rolling mode and enjoyed the drinks until Lesley arrived. We otherwise love the Plaza - and hope when we visit next time they will have fixed this, as we are tempted to plan a stay as they recently  had a facelift with interior decorations courtesy of the "Fontainebleau", the stalled luxury property development with an estimated $3.5 billion price tag that was designed to compete against Las Vegas’ high end resorts on the strip.

Lesley arrived, Ollie a little worse the wear already, it’s around noon now! We did not hang around, but walked to the "Main Street Station", this is one of our most favourite places. One day we will stay here. The cocktail waitress even remembers us now, not sure if that is good or bad. 

OJ catches me with a "bunny ears" in the Main  Street Station
  They have a micro brewery and the beer is very, very good.  We like the "Royal Red" and Simon is partial to the "Black Chip", they have a special Mango beer too, lovely.  You can have these beers whilst gambling as long as you ask for it by name, so what more can you ask for in life! This place has heaps of character and very friendly.


Not a bad hit on the "Day of the Dead" Slot - getting warmed up!
   It’s now just after noon, our dilemma is can we stay here and still be standing by 4pm to make the steak and scampi buffet dinner, or will we need food beforehand and go to their triple 777 restaurant.
 Well hell yes we decide to hang on for the buffet, but meet up every hour to see if anyone is totally wasted.  [ I think we are a bad influence on our boys! Teaching them to drink and gamble! Maybe I can kid myself that we are teaching them a responsible disciplined way to do both?]
An example of some of the interesting Stained Glass windows at the Main Street
By 3pm, Ollie is wasted, so the rest of us are secretly drinking his drinks and encouraging him to slow it down. So we end up catching him up, fast, rolling on, having fun and no serious losses, this is unusual for Main Street, we usually leave a few dollars behind here, but this time it is all good. 


 Super Fusion 7's - Main Street Station Las Vegas

Ollie bumped into a chap in the same line of work as him, this bloke was a retired chap from Canadian Air Force, so they had a long chat, which did keep Ollie off the beer. So the buffet was now becoming a viable option especially at $13 per person all you can eat. So off we went, the food was endless the steaks were good (cooked to order), along with the fresh fried shrimp, but also a good selection of Asia food, pizza, pasta, salads, Mexican, the list is endless, not forgetting the desert station. Easily on a par with the best buffets on the strip - which reviews and awards testify to and as we have eaten at all of them we can certainly vouch for that.

Main Street Buffet - We are so full now....
All fat and full, thinking we need to get back to the Aria to lay down. So ambled out of Main Street. Last time - see our November 2012 trip report - as last time we visited there was lots of busy stuff going on outside, film crews, limo’s etc, as they were filming the Hangover part 3. We saw the film recently, it was good to see the bit being filmed, shame they didn't leave us in.... maybe next time...

 Hot Habanero free spins - Monte Carlo Las Vegas
 
Back at the Aria around 7pm, everyone except me, went off to bed for a chill, I went over to the Monte Carlo for a few spins. Not for long though, as my luck seemed a bit lacklustre I thought it best to head back to the Aria particularly after this not so "Hot Habanero".

 Wheel Of Fortune + Secret Spins - Aria Las Vegas
 Just arrived back at the Aria from the Monte and tried the WOF secret spins version and hit nicely on the multipliers - guess where the final wheel spin lands....?


Mummy Slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
I then went from the WOF over to the Mummy slots and hit this random wilds bonus out of the blue. Although it could have been kinder it still keeps me up on the day....

 Lucky Tiki Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
This lucky Tikki Bonus was a not so lucky but still keeps it all in the plus zone....

Gorilla Chief - Aria Las Vegas
   This bonus  on the Gorilla Chief had to be cut short as the attendant was not happy for me to take video so close to where some of the card table players were. Understandable as folk don't like the idea of being seen losing their shirts in a Casino.... which is why I stick mainly to the slots which I think are more fun. Having played most every kind of card game known to mankind using Monopoly money in my youth I know how easy it is to lose a shed load in a trice. So sorry about the end bit to this vid - I only hit $24 dollars on the bonus but again I am well in the up zone - so happy days and took this time to retire with everyone else now.....

Friday 7th June - The Outlet Mall Beckons today
 Up early'ish to go to the South Las Vegas Outlet Mall (web link if you are interested in seeing the gazillions of places your wife / partner can lose more money than in the casino's  - fhttp://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=61) for some shopping then look no further
 
Walking to the stop from the Aria via the Monte Carlo, past the NewYork NewYork 

  The stop for the South Mall is just outside Excalibur - Southbound away from the strip.

Bus arrived quickly, again on the express, which takes you to the Mall, we got there just before 10am, it opens at 10, we all went our separate ways, to enable us to spend as little time as possible there.


We all know are way around and we know what we want, 2 hours later we met up, boys had some nice T Shirts, Lesley had leggings, sandals and a shirt, so all good, back on the strip by 1pm, bumped shopping back to our room/s and headed down to the Lemongrass for lunch. 

Brothers in arms at the lemongrass after the Mall trip

We started with chicken satay to start, 2 between the 4 of us. Then Ollie had the red duck curry, which was a bit spicy for him, but nice, Lesley and Simon had a chow mein (beef and chicken), Nixy had a Seafood Chow Mein with crispy noodles - it was nice opposed to great as the Juice covered most of the noodles turning from Crispy to Soggy / soft noodles which I really was not happy about.

Lemongrass - Chicken Satay Starter
 Ollie and Lesley went off to the pool, easily got a sun bed, it was very hot, so in and out of the pool and hot tub. The Aria has a lovely pool area with several pools within a sunny area, with some hidey-hole’s for hot tubs. An added bonus is free chilled ice water readily available. 
Simon headed back to his room, for a chill with a box of doughnut holes, (krispy Kreme of course).
OJ enjoying the free tram ride connecting the Aria to the Bellagio across the city centre

 We got together around 6pm to go down to the Palazzo. Lesley and I had tickets for Tim Allen, at 10pm the boys were going to hit the casino. We took the Tram then exited via the Bellagio.


View of City Center looking back the way we came
Passing the Bellagio - Our short cuts avoid all the busy traffic








  
As you can see from the above, even given 6 lane each side it still gets jammed up quickly so avoid Taxi's if you can...or you just sit in it for ages.
 Super Times Pay - Palazzo Las Vegas

We had a quick few spins on the slots including some quick wins on this Super Times Pay machine.
 Wheel Of Fortune - Palazzo Las Vegas

While we went to see Tim Allen (for those who don't know the name is is a famous USA Comedian as well as being in a number of TV shows like "Home Improvement" [which I think we have seen all of the seasons of series at least once]  as well as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the "Toy Story" series of films and Santa in the series of The Santa Clause movies and many more), the boys found and settled on some 5c poker machines, that’s 5c a spin, pennies in other words, so spent hours on these, for just a dollar or two and had some great cocktail service. 

So still standing only just they headed over to meet us at around 11.30pm. Tim Allen was good, glad we went, some very funny bits. We were all getting a bit tired now, so headed back to base. Simon stayed in the casino, the rest of us off to bed it’s around 1am now.
Saturday 8th June - Champagne Brunch at the Paris....

 Up late for us 9am, so the jet lag is now wearing off....
En-route to the Paris Hotel & Casino for Champagne Brunch
We all had a few spins in the Aria, all up a few dollars, we headed off to the Paris for their champagne brunch buffet.


Seriously good food at the Paris - a given one to visit, always on our hit list.
Serious seafood - mussels, crab, shrimp, sushi etc.. now was this 5th or 6th course?
  All you can eat and drink, the Paris is always a good bet. the food is excellent, great salads, crab legs, sushi, eggs, Benedict,  all sorts or sausages, bacon, ham, steak, lamb, turkey, beef, different sorts or rice, potatoes, vegetables, pizza, pancakes. Not forgetting the exquisite dessert station......

OJ's 2nd plate of desserts - inc. Creme Brulee's
......great crème brulee’s, the list is endless many with an unmistakable French twist. The Champagne just kept flowing and always topped up before you finish each time....by the excellent and friendly waiting staff.


Maybe I can squeeze a bit of ice cream in the last remaining space...
Needless to say, we stayed for over 2 hours, well until we could not move. We had a wander around the shops in the Paris, then the boys went next door to the ABC store in the Miracle Mile for supplies, they were then going back to the room/pool, for a chill.

Nice little win on the Collossal reels... while enjoying our Chocolate Martini's
Lesley and I went over to the Cosmopolitan, to check out our rooms for next week, we wanted to ensure the boys had 2 queen beds in their room.  This went well, we hung around for a few spins and a few chocolate martinis. 
Arctic Fox - Monte Carlo Las Vegas

  Later we then popped over to the Monte Carlo for a few spins... to help work off the Brunch calories...helped by some draft "Blue Moon". I hit into this Arctic Fox Bonus with 5 free spins awarded initially, but clocked up many more....not sure what exactly happened at the end but was a tidy win and at least shows how this bonus feature works.....

  I think we had such great fun on this trip I was not so on the ball with keeping my blogging camera recharged fully so I missed quite a few video opportunities.

No losses today, plus continuing the great time had by all.

 
Ruffles Chips - Vegas backdrop
Donut "holes"

Reese's pieces


  For those those that enjoy the art of snacking - pictured Left - Spud & OJ both highly recommend the Ruffles Sour Cream crinkle cut crisps (or "Chips" in US Lingua Franco) closely followed by "Krispy Kreme" Donut "holes" topped with "Reese's pieces" peanut butter cups handily microwaved to perfection to a secret temperature setting which is just right... for their perfect end to the night.


Sunday 9th June  - Champagne Brunch at the famed "Bellagio"

Lay in again until 9am, a slow getting up process.....
 Kitty Glitter - Aria Las Vegas

   I had a little play while waiting for the others to surface on this day 8 of our 14 night stay in Fabulous Las Vegas and the fun continues..... on this Kitty Glitter bonus with 15 free spins bonus awarded.
This was our last day at the Aria - Next stop over = Cosmopolitan (Suite) overlooking Bellagio Fountains and strip...can't wait.
 

Aria Tram to Bellagio - for Champagne Sunday Brunch
We all met up down in the Aria casino area around 12 noon, then headed over to the Bellagio for a few spins then yes you guessed it a champagne brunch. 

Spud had a nice hit on this Cleopatra II Bonus
Gambling good, Ollie up $40 on the video poker, Lesley up $150 on Davinci Diamonds, Simon up $290 on Cleopatra and I am up $10, so brunch on the house!
 
We only thought about pics at this late stage afterwards....
  We used our MLife Gold card to skip the long line, what a bonus as this buffet is always busy, probably as the food is so good. Excellent food and champagne - well in the USA, they call fizzy wine, Champagne a lot. It’s probably the only place in the world that gets away with that, but never the less it was good. Food included, seafood, steak, eggs Benedict, oh the list is endless, along with the huge dessert station. After a couple of hours eating the boys headed back to the pool and a chill watching TV. 

  Lesley and I stayed for a few more spins, then headed back to the Aria for several episodes of Duck Dynasty, (which is now on TV in the UK) then went back down to the Aria casino after we had recovered from the buffet.
Free photo with our purchase of a Harley-Davidson Holdall bag for Ollie
   We decided to go and buy the Harley Davidson Bag Ollie liked in the specialist shop of the same name in the shops / walkway adjoining the Monte and the Aria.
 Platinum Quick Hits - Aria Las Vegas
second spin in and nabbed a 7 QuickHits Jackpot win....
Bacchus Gold - Aria Las Vegas

 Just had a free games hit on this Bacchus Gold for just over $20+ then, on the "spin out" spin, hit the free games.....again for even more...what more can you ask for with locking wilds, lots of free games and the excellent cocktails and service in the Aria!

 We will be back to the Aria to stay again next year...but not sure if we will match the nice $4000 hand pay to start proceedings with (see earlier Blog Part 1 - video day 2, in this run, also on the - Nixternet - You Tube Channel)....and the nice ongoing series of wins of which we only got to video a few...   


If they brought out a "Terminator" slot machine it would be one of those "hasta la vista" baby moments...

Lesley and I did really well up around $300 on the day. We pitched in together, so a nice profit of $150 each for the night, we had a good win of $180 on the quick hits, it’s now around 2am, so off to bed via the donut shop for some Donut "holes".

This is report Continues in Part3
of our Third Las Vegas Trip Report Blog
Monday 10th June 2013 - The Cosmopolitan 
& NewYork NewYork