Rides Get Crazier Atop Stratosphere
Wynn Plans Next Uptick In Luxury
UPDATED: 8:20 am MST March 21,
2005
When it comes to thrill rides, I'm a big wuss.You want to go on the New York-New York roller coaster or ride the X-Scream on top of the Stratosphere? That's fine. You go have fun. I'll be in the bar. I think you'd have to be crazy to want to ride one of those contraptions.But it takes a special kind of crazy to want to ride the newest thrill ride now open atop the Stratosphere Tower. In fact, the ride is so crazy it's called Insanity: The Ride.
Vegas4Visitors staffers got an up-close and personal look at the new monster at its grand opening last week. Lucky for many in the crowd, high winds kept the ride from actually operating that night, so there were lots of looks that said, "Wow, dodged a bullet with that one."You need to see it to believe it. Remember the "octopus" rides at your local carnival? Arms with cabs at the end go up and down as it twirls. This is the same basic concept, only with open seats instead of enclosed cabs -- and you're 900 feet in the air while spinning around at 40 mph.You can watch a video of the ride in action on the Web site for KVBC television in Las Vegas.Insanity: The Ride is open daily (weather permitting) from 10 a.m. until midnight (later on weekends) and will cost $8 to ride. Visit the official ride Web site for more information.
A little more than a month before the unveiling of his $2.7 billion namesake hotel, Steve Wynn is moving forward on plans for a second mega-resort right next door, to be named Encore.Originally discussed as an expansion of Wynn Las Vegas with 1,500 rooms and an expanded casino for about $900 million, the new blueprint for Encore creates a separate property (although the two will be connected) with 2,000 rooms, a much bigger casino than originally planned, restaurants, meeting space, nightclubs, a high-tech concert hall and much more, all for around $1.4 billion. The place will aim to out-luxury even Wynn Las Vegas, with all the rooms over 1,000 square feet and going for around $400 a night, minimum.This is the not the first time Wynn has changed what was meant to be an expansion into its own deal. After the Mirage opened in 1989, Wynn planned to add a second tower to the hotel just to the north and east of the existing building. Those plans morphed into what is now Treasure Island.Wynn Las Vegas is due to open April 28.
Speaking of counting chickens before they are hatched ...Station Casinos has announced it is accelerating the timetable for the expansion of Red Rock Station, a solid year before the hotel even opens. Phase two will double the available hotel rooms to about 850, plus add entertainment and dining opportunities. Construction on that part of the hotel will begin this fall, well before the 2006 opening of the first phase of the property.Red Rock is going up at the intersection of Charleston Avenue and the I-215 Beltway, about 11 miles west of the Strip.
It was a quiet transition, but that made it no less historic. Last week, after 54 years, Binion's Horseshoe became simply Binion's Gambling Hall.After closing its doors due to a money crunch, Harrah's and MTR Gaming came to the Glitter Gulch institution's rescue. Harrah's got a year of managing the joint and rights to the Horseshoe name.That year is up. MTR Gaming now runs the place exclusively, but without the famous lucky moniker. Harrah's plans to capitalize on the Horseshoe brand in future expansion across the country and perhaps even in Vegas.Harrah's also got the rights to the World Series of Poker, held every year at Binion's. Most of the tournament this year will happen at The Rio but to help the city celebrate its 100th anniversary, Harrah's agreed to host the final tables at Binion's to maintain the tradition.
Did anybody fly through McCarran airport last year and think it was busier than ever? If you did, you were right.Recently released figures show the Las Vegas airport has moved up a notch to become the sixth busiest airport in the nation. In 2004 there were 19.3 million people getting off domestic flights, up 14.5 percent from 2003. A total of 41.5 million boarded and arrived on domestic and international flights. That places McCarran just below Denver International, Los Angeles International, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Chicago O'Hare.In the first spot, with nearly double the amount of deplaning domestic passengers as Vegas, was Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport.
Politics aside, you have to wonder why anyone would think it's a good idea to build a nuclear waste dump on top of a volcano.That's the battle of possibilities going on right now in the government as elected officials argue over whether a report highlighting the chances of a volcanic eruption under the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility, about 90 miles from Las Vegas.What are those chances? No one is quite sure, but probably in the 1 in 10 million range.True, you get better odds placing chips on the hard eight on a craps table, but if there's any chance at all that the mountain could explode, shouldn't we be looking elsewhere? The oversight committee in charge of development of the facility doesn't think so. Although it's probably at least a decade away from reality, the Yucca Mountain repository is pretty much a done deal.There has been no comment from the folks at the Mirage about possible copyright infringement.
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A little more than a month before the unveiling of his $2.7 billion namesake hotel, Steve Wynn is moving forward on plans for a second mega-resort right next door, to be named Encore.Originally discussed as an expansion of Wynn Las Vegas with 1,500 rooms and an expanded casino for about $900 million, the new blueprint for Encore creates a separate property (although the two will be connected) with 2,000 rooms, a much bigger casino than originally planned, restaurants, meeting space, nightclubs, a high-tech concert hall and much more, all for around $1.4 billion. The place will aim to out-luxury even Wynn Las Vegas, with all the rooms over 1,000 square feet and going for around $400 a night, minimum.This is the not the first time Wynn has changed what was meant to be an expansion into its own deal. After the Mirage opened in 1989, Wynn planned to add a second tower to the hotel just to the north and east of the existing building. Those plans morphed into what is now Treasure Island.Wynn Las Vegas is due to open April 28.
Speaking of counting chickens before they are hatched ...Station Casinos has announced it is accelerating the timetable for the expansion of Red Rock Station, a solid year before the hotel even opens. Phase two will double the available hotel rooms to about 850, plus add entertainment and dining opportunities. Construction on that part of the hotel will begin this fall, well before the 2006 opening of the first phase of the property.Red Rock is going up at the intersection of Charleston Avenue and the I-215 Beltway, about 11 miles west of the Strip.
It was a quiet transition, but that made it no less historic. Last week, after 54 years, Binion's Horseshoe became simply Binion's Gambling Hall.After closing its doors due to a money crunch, Harrah's and MTR Gaming came to the Glitter Gulch institution's rescue. Harrah's got a year of managing the joint and rights to the Horseshoe name.That year is up. MTR Gaming now runs the place exclusively, but without the famous lucky moniker. Harrah's plans to capitalize on the Horseshoe brand in future expansion across the country and perhaps even in Vegas.Harrah's also got the rights to the World Series of Poker, held every year at Binion's. Most of the tournament this year will happen at The Rio but to help the city celebrate its 100th anniversary, Harrah's agreed to host the final tables at Binion's to maintain the tradition.
Did anybody fly through McCarran airport last year and think it was busier than ever? If you did, you were right.Recently released figures show the Las Vegas airport has moved up a notch to become the sixth busiest airport in the nation. In 2004 there were 19.3 million people getting off domestic flights, up 14.5 percent from 2003. A total of 41.5 million boarded and arrived on domestic and international flights. That places McCarran just below Denver International, Los Angeles International, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Chicago O'Hare.In the first spot, with nearly double the amount of deplaning domestic passengers as Vegas, was Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport.
Politics aside, you have to wonder why anyone would think it's a good idea to build a nuclear waste dump on top of a volcano.That's the battle of possibilities going on right now in the government as elected officials argue over whether a report highlighting the chances of a volcanic eruption under the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility, about 90 miles from Las Vegas.What are those chances? No one is quite sure, but probably in the 1 in 10 million range.True, you get better odds placing chips on the hard eight on a craps table, but if there's any chance at all that the mountain could explode, shouldn't we be looking elsewhere? The oversight committee in charge of development of the facility doesn't think so. Although it's probably at least a decade away from reality, the Yucca Mountain repository is pretty much a done deal.There has been no comment from the folks at the Mirage about possible copyright infringement.
The Full Story
- Rides Get Crazier Atop Stratosphere THEhotel: Silly Name, Great Concept Mirage Upgrades Buffet To Satisfy Cravings Vegas Q&338;A: Which Hotels Are About To Implode?
In Next Week's Column
Next week: The latest from Las Vegas.Plus, don't forget to send your questions about Las Vegas. I've got room for more, so send them in today!Click here to go to the main page of Vegas4Visitors.com and see all of the fantastic resources Vegas4Visitors has to offer you when planning your next trip to Las Vegas.Rick Garman is the head writer for Vegas4Visitors
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