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Las Vegas Attractions News/Updates

Rideguy70

VIP Member
Feb 17, 2016
1,761
2,343
Los Angeles
Kinda surprised there isn't a Vegas thread here! To catch up a bit on recent "old" news:

  • Desperado and all attractions left at Buffalo Bills is SBNO, despite whatever the website says
  • Fear The Walking Dead: Survival attraction in downtown closed
  • Based on what I've heard on twitter, El Loco is still closed
  • Rumors have it all the Cirque shows are not doing well financially, are are in danger of being closed in the future (despite a new show, RUN, being developed)
And more recent news: Speed: The Ride at the Sahara is confirmed to NOT return by it's owners



On better news:
  • Eiffel Tower has a new light show (well, new since March)
  • Tim Burton will have an exhibit at the Neon Muesum from Oct 2019-Feb 2020
  • Zak Bagans's Haunted Museum is still great :grin:
Let's keep this up with any other Vegas developments! Especially if El Loco opens back up (or Desperado, but I feel that's never going to return)
 
KA is my favorite cirque show, it's interesting to hear that they aren't doing well

Most of the coasters in Vegas aren't worth too much
 
Not surprising. The Primm Valley resorts have been declining lately. The outlet mall foreclosed last year and almost every store there is closed.

Only 35 stores remain, which include the restaurants on the inside and outside. Went in about one year ago. Was a ghost town. Vegas has two outlets now. No reason to bus people to the state line for the same deals you can get in Vegas.

never liked the Desperado roller coaster. Rode it when it was new, but got rougher each time.

Speed the ride? That was closed a long time ago, but doesn't look like it will be rebuilt down the strip. Never got to ride it.
 
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LOVE is still an amazing show; and it's unfortunate to hear of their performance declining.

I went to Vegas last June for HRPC; and unfortunately I can understand a bit to the decline in Vegas entertainment.
 
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There was a time it was great... and I do think the layout is fun... but like it's cousin Magnum-XL, it's gotten a bit rough. And Cedar Point takes care of it's rides, while this one sat idle for years in the blazing desert sun. All I can say is avoid a wheel seat and hope for the best. But it'll likely be bad.

I am looking forward to the Tim Burton exhibit at the Neon Museum: The Neon Museum Las Vegas | The history of Las Vegas through neon - Lost Vegas: Tim Burton @ The Neon Museum

Aww, man. I’m just going to miss that. My wife would have loved it.
 
^How was the Burton exhibit?

It was okay. The layout of the experience involved several Burton vignettes laid around the boneyard and a theatrical dome with projections and some neat moving art exhibits. There were some new neon signs built for the experience, and honestly the coolest thing was some models in the lobby of the old Landmark tower and a famous now-gone strip motel that was overlaid with neat projection mapping effects. The one thing that disappointed me was that they did away with the guided tour and instead the docents were located around the museum to answer any questions. I'm glad I got to see the newly refurbished Hard Rock sign, which was awesome in person and really compliments the collection.

Brilliant was such a disappointment, though. The "Burton version" was really just a tag at the end that had clips from Mars Attacks and Beetlejuice essentially running over the signs with barely anything else. While I love a lot of Brilliant, the execution leaves a bit to be desired as you are simply just too close to the signs half of the time and people also constantly walk in front of the projectors ruining the effect for many. When it works, it's gorgeous, but that's sadly not all the time.
 
I just returned from a Vegas trip. I have quite a few pics on my twitter (same name as here), but a few things for here:

Personally, I loved the Tim Burton exhibit. We've been to the Neon Museum/Boneyard before, and I preferred no guided tour, because you could spend as long as you wanted on what you wanted. It was also our first time doing it at night, so that made a big difference to us. It did help knowing beforehand that the Tim Burton part is small, but there is some nice detail, and you really have to keep your eyes peeled. Some of the pieces were intentionally placed to blur into the regular exhibit. Our personal highlight, a life-sized recreation of the Betelgeuse sign, was semi-hidden, and we saw a lot of people just walk right past it without realizing it (even though it's on the exhibit map).

One big surprise that isn't listed: throughout the exhibit, they have viewfinders, and be sure to look into them! It was also enlightening to return to the first room of the sketches after viewing the rest of the exhibit... they way it's structured, it's the first thing you see, and they're design sketches for the rest of the exhibit, which doesn't make much sense at the time. So go back and view it at the end, and you'll appreciate it more. On the outside "bar scene" exhibit, makes sure you sing into the microphone for a visual surprise. Even if you're vocally shy... turns out the microphone is a decoy, so your actual voice isn't broadcast. We did skip Brilliant, although we haven't even seen the regular version, so we do need to do that one day.

It was also just announced the Tim Burton exhibit has been extended to April 12 (it was originally going to close in mid-Februrary).

Visited again to the Twilight Zone mini golf at Bally's. It's doing surprisingly well, it's been around for two years and the staff informed us that the management just came in to touch up all the artwork. It looks great, and the staff is really friendly. Be sure to take a look at the event room.

Also made a second visit to Zac Bagan's Haunted Museum. Even if you're a skeptic (the staff seems pretty earnest in their beliefs), the decor and atmosphere is pretty incredible. It's long and expensive (90 minute guided tour, about $45), but worth it. Not a haunted house, it's more of a tour/demented museum of alleged haunted objects and possessions of serial killers and celebrity deaths (though there is a very short scare/haunt section about 75% of the way through, but don't go just for that--you'd be disappointed, it's all of 2.5 hallways long), and the set design is out of this world.

Next day, did the Springs Preserve and State Museum, which is huge and I easily spent 4 hours there, could've done more. They have over 3 miles of hiking trails and gardens on site. Separately, went to the Mob Museum downtown, which is also surprisingly good--4 stories, and quite detailed. That was another good 2 hours of my day, so you could have a full museum day just between the two.

Big news for here is the state of Desperado/Buffalo Bill's. I visited on a Monday, so I expected Desperado to be closed, as I've heard it's only open Fri-Sun. It was, and the entire casino was virtually deserted, yet open... it was a bit creepy. Desperado was indeed closed, but I was able to snag a pic of its (and the log ride's) current operating schedule.



On a side note, Area 15, the new Meow Wolf installation, isn't open yet (it was supposed to be). Latest news says they'll be open for private events and previews in Jan/Feb, but not a public opening until May/June.
 
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The twitter Attractions360 is in Vegas now, and I asked him about how many are wearing masks. His reply:



I did hear inside of casinos is much better, and they are enforcing like crazy, but outside 50%, and the videos I've seen of Fremont street are appalling, in terms of mask wear. Like, nearly no one has them on, their excuse is they're drinking. Wish they could temporarly ban outside drinking there, but not likely to happen, so I'll be staying away for a while.
 
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