Saturday, December 17, 2005 – Day Five

I’m up at Luxor and out by 8:00. I have $30 dining credit that came with my booking and have only used $14. I don’t want the buffet here ever again so I try the Pyramid Cafe. It was okay, nothing special. Oh wait, I lied. They left me a pot of coffee for myself. THAT was special!

I hit my Twin Win slot machine on the way to breakfast. I put in $75, take out $140. I have had a nice win every day so far and I am beginning to wonder when my luck will finally run out. It is really nice to start the day out with extra cash to play with!

On my way back from breakfast, I lose $50 in various slot machines. But hey – I’m still up!

I head back to the room to get my stuff and my sister calls to tell me her flight has arrived early. I tell her to call me when she is all checked into the Imperial Palace.

I grab my stuff and it is time to move to The Hotel, which was what Delano was before it was named Delano. I am going to take a cab from the Luxor because quite frankly, I don’t want to walk my luggage over there. The bellman asks where I’m going and I tell him just to The Hotel and that I expect to anger a cab driver. He tells me “don’t worry about it” and brings me over to a cab who is dropping off someone (as opposed to a cab in the cab waiting line) and asks “Can you please do me a favor and bring her next door to The Hotel?”. The way the bellman handled that, the cab driver had NO problem bringing me. He seemed to have the impression that Luxor was sending me next door, not that I was voluntarily moving.

I don’t know if the cab driver expected me to pay him at all, since he was taking me as a “favor” to the bellman. I tipped him $5.

I check into The Hotel and get room 5905. I walk in and I’m shocked. I have seen room photos and read trip reports, and yet somehow managed to not realize that these rooms come with a bedroom and completely separate living room. I think I pictured them looking like the Venetian – all open. The bathrooms are NICE and have a soaking tub, shower and double sinks. I love the plasma televisions.

Then as I’m walking around my room, I see a door in the foyer. I’m confused because I have no clue where it goes to. I open it and discover a second bathroom. How nice!

I rarely fall in love with hotel rooms, and when I do, they are not in fancy hotels. But this is the exception and I am in love with this room. I want to spend a week in this room. And as I’ve read, everything is labeled “The Something”. THE hotel, THE pen, THE doodle pad, THE this, THE that. I laughed when I saw that the toilet paper was folded up with a tag on it that said, “THE TP”.

By now my sister has called and I’m off to the Imperial Palace to meet her for lunch. I take the bus and it takes me seventeen hours, give or take an hour or so. She is waiting for me when I finally get there. The buffet is her treat via the free coupons she got at check in. I know, the Imperial Palace buffet is gross, yawn. We eat it every year. We have survived. However this time, it is actually lunch and not brunch (this is new, they have always had brunch 7 days a week) and I don’t like lunch buffets. My sister doesn’t either I guess. Her dream of the Imperial Palace buffet is now dead!

We play a bit at Imperial Palace. I lose a bit and then win $99 on a Megabucks slot machine! Of course I don’t immediately cash out and go down to $60 before stopping.

I can’t deal with the bus again, so I cab back to the hotel and nap.

I’m up and ready to go at 6:30. My sister comes to meet me so we can go to Mix. Well we screwed this one up. I see the signs to take the guest room elevators so we do. I thought it was a glass elevator? So I assume I’m confusing it with Rum Jungle and let it go. We go up to Mix and take pictures of the view and then leave to go to Rum Jungle. Well that’s closed for renovations. Dammit. Then of course, I discover the next day that Mix IS the one with the glass elevator and we just didn’t take the glass elevator because we’re idiots. So my Mandalay Bay plans are all going to be re-featured on my next itinerary.

The view from Mix (now called Skyfall Lounge)

We end up at the Burger Bar. I have a 10% off coupon from check in and a $30 food credit. It is great as always.

We play a bit at Mandalay Bay. I win and my sister loses. We head outside and tonight I have brought a jacket! However tonight starts the climb to warmer weather. In a few days we will hit a record high and it will be 53 degrees at 2:00 am. Now THIS is what I’ve been hoping for this entire time!

We take the bus back to Imperial Palace so my sister can change her shoes (she had gotten dressed up for what was supposed to be our nice dinner) before hitting O’Sheas to lose some money. Next up at Mirage, I lose. Next is Treasure Island and I get the Fort Knox slot machine progressive again! For $8.27! Oh yeah.

Either I have not been inside Treasure Island since they opened Tangerine night club, or I haven’t been there at night. That place is loud and annoying. I didn’t want to play there anymore because I couldn’t stand the music coming from behind the walls. So we attempt to leave via exit where the Pirate Show would be (if it were running, it is typically closed in December) and we find the sidewalk is closed off. So back inside we go to exit towards the Fashion Show Mall pedestrian bridge.

We head to Wynn so my sister can get a card and 50 points for free buffets, but they aren’t doing that any longer. We play for a bit here and lose. I find a penny Monopoly slot machine and get up to $20. I decide to cash out and use it for a cab back to my/THE Hotel.

Wynn:

 

I’m in bed at 3:00 am.

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