What to do in Las Vegas when you’ve been 4 times before

I make no secret about the fact that I love Las Vegas. It’s Disneyland for adults. (That’s why they say what happens in Disneyland stays in Disneyland). Being relatively close to America’s gateway — LAX — means that whenever I’ve visited the US in the last decade, Las Vegas has made the cut. (Unfortunately, this usually means that LA has also made the cut).

I won’t say I’ve done it all, but I might come close. The first time I went I was pretty green, my buddies and I pretty well stuck to the well-beaten, well-lit path.

The second time was a stopover on the way to the Grand Canyon from LA, same trip.

The third time I really started to knock over some of the things to do in Las Vegas outside of the casinos and I made a bit of a Las Vegas bucket list.

The list became so long that I didn’t have a hope in completing it. I knocked over a few more on my fourth visit. So, by my fifth visit, what was left? What do you do in Vegas when you’ve been a handful of times. Well, this is what I did.

Get a cabana at the MGM Grand Pool Complex

I couldn’t believe I’d never done this before. 4 times in Vegas and not once had I stepped foot in a pool. Any pool. Not even a quick dip at my hotel pool to cool off. A couple of times it was out of season. Another couple my time in Vegas was too short to spend a full day drinking cocktails in the sun (a phrase that probably shouldn’t exist). And the one time I did actually have time, we simply spent it elsewhere.

When I proposed our family of 15 spend a day in a poolside cabana, I did not get much pushback. It was one of the quickest decisions we made as a family. I did some looking around and settled on a cabana at the MGM Grand Pool Complex.

First, some maths. There is an entrance fee to get into the MGM Grand Pool. Depending on the day of the week, the time of the season, and any events going on, the price for entry and a deck chair starts at $20 and you get this as food and beverage credit. This was a key reason for me choosing the MGM in the first place.

Cabanas start at $150/day but again, fluctuates wildly. So if it’s just one or two of you, a deck chair, pod, or day bed would be great, but if there’s a group, a cabana can be a lot of fun for not much more per person.

Adventuredome

I’m going to be honest, there’s a reason it took me 5 visits to Vegas to finally get to the Adventuredome. It’s located at Circus Circus, which is already feeling a little tired and not central on the Strip. While the rides were quite good at this indoor theme park, I did leave a little underwhelmed.

They’ve done very well to cram so many attractions into such a small space (as far as theme parks go) — the way the roller coaster weaves in between everything else is a lot of fun. It’s not really somewhere you would spend an entire day though. If you’re in the neighbourhood (and you never are) and need an adrenaline fix, they’ve get you covered. But there’s plenty of other cool stuff in vegas to do.

Drinks at the 107 SkyLounge at the Stratosphere

This was one thing I wish I’d done before and will do again. The Stratosphere is right at the end of the Strip so you really have to get an Uber there. But the view is phenomenal. Not only is the tower high, but you are a little removed from the action so you get a great perspective. Happy hour is 4-7pm and this should cover you for sunset as well. We went after dinner so we could see the dazzling LEDs of the Strip in all their glory.

See a Show

Ok so you should do this every time you are in Vegas, but I just wanted to write about the one I saw this time. David Spade and Ray Romano performed a set at the Mirage and I was stoked to go see them. I’ve watched a lot of their sitcoms but have not seen much of their comedy. Both are incredibly funny and I will jump at any chance to watch their stand up again.

Previously I’ve seen a couple of Cirque du Soleil shows and David Copperfield and honestly, with any of these it’s hard to go wrong. Either book online early or find a ticket booth along the strip to see what specials are on for the night.

Play cards at Hooters

The time I went to Vegas in 2016, there was a rare moment one night, at about midnight, when my buddies had left to go to bed but I was still playing but deciding whether to call it a night. I was doing some Googling and I learnt there was a Hooters Casino just off-strip. Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not a perve (if I was, I don’t think I’d be heading to Hooters if I was in Vegas) it’s just that Hooters as an institution is a bit of a novelty for us Aussies. And the fact that they have the cheapest table games in Vegas was a major contributor too.

I opted to just head back to the hotel and I regretted it ever since. Not because of what I missed out on exactly, but because I took the safe option and didn’t, ya know, “live a little”.

So this time around, in 2019, after a late night of playing roulette with the gang at the Mirage, we were heading upstairs to our respective rooms at the Casino Royale. I swiped my card to get in and I had an idea. What if, rather than going to bed at 3am, I got a Lyft over to Hooters to keep playing?” 

Let me tell you, I was not going to let it happen again.

The atmosphere was completely different from all the other places I played. There was only one section of tables open. Blackjack is usually my game and the $1 table was chockers. The floor was somewhat quieter than the Linq, but I was stoked to have “lived a little” this time. I played for an hour or so and at 4:30 am I got into a Lyft — $47 richer — back to my hotel where my wife and 2 kids had been sound asleep for the past 6-8 hours.

What’s left now?

There are still a few attractions left unchecked on my Vegas “to-do” list. Hard to imagine I know, but you have to also remember to allow plenty of time to drink and gamble (responsibly of course). It’s the Vegas way. I still want to go through the Shark Slide at the Golden Nugget pool. I want to play Topgolf, but I know these are everywhere in the US. And I want to visit the Pinball Museum.

There are also a ton more bars that sound really cool that I’m not going to list off. I’d like to spend more time in Downtown LV (though I have been, it’s fun and I wasn’t there long enough).

I also want to see Criss Angel’s show. I really wanted to this time but no one else was keen so we saw the Romano/Spade show instead.

Lastly, I’d love to get out to the State Parks a bit more. I’ve done the day trip to Red Rock Canyon which was incredible. I’d love to cycle around Lake Mead and also see Valley of Fire.

So even though I could fill out another week in Vegas, I have said we won’t be back this decade having done 4 trips there in the last one. There’s plenty more of the world to see and I intend to see it.

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