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Trip Report DELETE
- Thread starter BuddyThomas
- Start date
kong1802
Well-Known Member
This line had me rolling this morning!
Loving this report.
I had never heard of that TWA airport (no surprise as WDW has gotten most of our vacation attention for a while) and went from really excited about it to really bummed given the $50 pool charge and other deficiencies.
kong1802
Well-Known Member
BaconPancakes
Well-Known Member
Nice room! Never tried the sandwich method, but might try it next year when we go back.
Rista1313
Well-Known Member
This is why I bought 10 year detectors this year!You might find it a coincidence that our smoke detector started to chirp early this mornig as well, the time was just after 2:00 am…
Rista1313
Well-Known Member
Chapter Three - The Palazzo, a sandwich trick, and a sideways room tour
Once we were at the airport, I instantly got a text that our driver was waiting for us at baggage claim. I had heard reports that you definitely should do a car service (if you're not renting) rather than take a taxi, because the taxis in Vegas are notorious for taking you on a roundabout tour of Nevada before you finally arrive at your hotel.
The airport was packed - another indication that my theory of "everyone will already be where they are going by Sunday of Memorial Day weekend" was pretty flawed.
Sure enough, our driver was right there at the baggage claim with a big sign that read Snow White....em....I mean Thomas.
When the baggage started coming out on the conveyor belt, ours were the first two bags out - the first time that this had ever happened to me. Usually we are waiting 20 minutes or so. I later was told that this is another perk of booking JetBlue's Mint-class. Allegedly, they somehow load the bags so Mint is out first. I don't know for 100% if this is true, but I was told this by someone who travels Mint quite a bit.
Anyway, let's get out of this airport already!
And as soon as we were outside, the heat just blanketed over us. It was sweltering. Our first day there was 100 degrees and it only got hotter after that. I know everyone says that Vegas is a dry heat and so it isn't so bad. Well, maybe not as bad as a Brazilian rain forest, but it was bad.
At least the driver had the air in the car pumped up to Total Freeze. He seemed like a nice enough guy, although he talked politics all the way to the Palazzo, and they weren't exactly my politics either, so I just slouched in the backseat while Philmonster laughed it up with him in the front. I was running on a very shaky three hours of sleep in which I had woken up nearly every half hour, so no need to get into an international incident on our first ten minutes.
And then, we arrived! (I didn't take any pics when we first got there, so these are just some stock pics off the web to show you what it looked like:
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Now, you just have to use all the tricks you learned in Journey to Imagination, and just imagine that last picture of the front desk area filled with about 450 million people, and that will give you an idea on how busy it was at check-in.
That's just great, because now, I had a nice, endless line to stand in with Philmonster, and listen to him talk about the sandwich trick that he was getting ready to pull. Ughhhhhh.
Phil had been watching all these Vegas videos on YouTube, and he had come across a bunch of them talking about this so-called "sandwich trick" thing, which is basically bribing the front desk for a free room upgrade. Apparently, you take a twenty-dollar bill and sandwich it in-between your credit card and your ID, and you hand it to the front desk person, and then you ask if they have any complimentary upgrades. There are pages and pages of videos about this, but if you want more information, this guy is pretty entertaining:
Now obviously, this type of thing would never fly at Disney World, but Phil was determined to do it, and so I had just resigned myself to die in embarrassment.
Finally, and I really do mean finally, because this wait was unreal, we were at the front desk, and Phil had his little twenty-dollar sandwich in his hot little hand, ready to be served.
She asked where we were coming from, and how our flight was, and Phil made happy small talk with her while I sulked by the suitcases. And then.........he served her the sandwich! Placed it on the counter in front of her and said, "Let me ask you.....do you possibly have any upgrades available?"
Complimentary!! He left out the word 'complimentary'!!! Now we were going to be offered the Presidential Suite for an additional 50 Grand a night!!
But no. She said "Let me see what I can do" and started tapping away at the keyboard. And tapping. And tapping. And tap-tap-tap-tap-tapping. Apparently, she was re-writing WAR & PEACE.
And all of a sudden, she said "I can get you into a room on the 21st Floor with a great strip view if you want to check in now (it was 10:30 AM)"....and then she tapped some more and said "But if you can wait until the 4:00 check in time, I can get you an even better room."
Before Philmonster could sentence us to five and a half hours of wandering around aimlessly without a room, Mr. Three Hours of Sleep then chimed in "We'll take the one we can check into now!"
That got me a glare, but I needed to get refreshed in air-conditioned comfort before we started this adventure, so he just had to deal with it.
So, the moral of this story is that the $20.00 sandwich trick actually works. There were all sorts of "pay for" upgrades on the Venetian/Palazzo website, and one of those was an early check-in for $75.00 (!!!) So we saved $75.00 (minus the $20.00 tip) and got upgraded to a high room strip view, although Phil won't stop badgering me about the "better" room we could have had if we just waited until 4PM.
But anyway, so I did a little room tour video, but it filmed sideways for some reason, and I cannot switch the orientation of this thing no matter what I do. I even downloaded two apps where their sole purpose is to flip the orientation of a video, and neither one worked.
So, you have two choices - you can watch this quick little video with its sideways orientation (hmmm, come to think of it, I think I also have a "sideways orientation"), or you can refer to the photos posted below.
Here goes!
Yeah, I know, that was bad. So anywway, here is the sleeping area:
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Living room area:
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View of the strip:
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View of the pool:
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View of the Phil:
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And that's about it for this section. Next up, we try with very little success to find a place to eat lunch, and we learn what a yard of frozen beverage looks like.
The Venetian rooms are the same. In lieu of the $20 trick, I usually just ask if they have an complimentary upgrades, and if they come through, then I hand them the $20 I conveniently have in my hand. I did this in February on the Venetian side =D
MinnieM123
Premium Member
You two are so funny!!Don't judge. We'd already been rejected by at least 5 restaurants, and we needed liquid comfort. Mine was just a plain old frozen margarita which had an unexpectedly strong kick, and I have no idea what Phil was ordering, but by the end of the meal, the table looked a little something like this:
Well, they were two for one, believe it or not, so how could we say no????
My goodness, that was quite the ordeal, jumping through hoops to find a place that didn't have extended waiting queues. Glad you finally had an enjoyable time. Can't wait to read more of your TR!
Rista1313
Well-Known Member
Chapter Four - The Day of 100 Degree Annoyance
So you have to remember that Sleeping Beauty, I mean Philmonster snoozed his way all the way from New York to Vegas, missed his meal service, and was wide awake and famished when we got there.
I, on the other hand, ate my entire meal service, including a nearly vomit inducing ricotta cheese filled crepe, and I spent my time watching movies, including the incredibly stupid but very entertaining Barb & Starr Go to Vista Del Mar.
I also watched Bambi, because, ya know, it was available, and apparently I have become Queen of the Suburban Forest. Oh look, here's another raccoon!
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Okay, okay, I'll get on with it.
So we ventured out into the resort, looking for a place to eat lunch, which should not have been too difficult, considering that this resort had about a bazillion restaurants in it. Unfortunately, it also had two hundred bazillion tourists in it, which we were not anticipating at all. We went to three places - Yard Bird (Southern), Grand Lux Cafe (fancy diner) and Sugar Cane (I still can't figure out what their theme or cuisine was - it was all over the place). But it didn't matter. All three were booked up with no available lunch tables.
As a Disney person, I should have anticipated this on a Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, so I have no excuse to complain.
We finally decided to leave the resort and take our chances on the strip.
Only two problems:
1) It was now well over 100 Degrees
2) We had forgotten to bring sunscreen
Not good, because, as you know from all my pics, I am basically Casper the Friendly Ghost in skin tone. Philmonster can take it a little longer in the sun than I can, but I will immediately roast like a lobster in five minutes.
When we got outside, we looked around, but there was nothing nearby to the right of us except more of our own sprawling resort that turned into the Venetian at some point and then sprawled some more, and on the left side was the Wynn, which we really didn't feel like patronizing for a number of reasons I shouldn't mention here.
However, directly across the street was the famous Western bar and restaurant, Gilley's, so I told Phil we should go there before my skin turned the color of Satan's butt.
The only problem was that there was no direct way across the street. Oh, plus it was mobbed everywhere with people. So two problems, I guess.
So, we had to take an escalator up to a bridge to cross the street, and then another escalator down to street level to take another escalator up to cross another bridge and then down another escalator, and then we were at Gilley's. Got all that? There are no photos of this since I had gone into Drop Dead Mode, but these things are all over the Vegas strip and they look just like this:
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Are we having fun yet??????
Well, we're here.
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But wait, but wait. There was a line out the door to get in. And even though the line moved fast, when we got to the front desk area, we were told that the wait for a party of two would be at least an hour.
AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Okay, looking around, looking around - we spotted a Senor Frogs right next door. Phil and I looked at each other and said "Let's go!"
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Senor Frogs was a 40 minute wait for tables, but at least this place would send you a text when your table was ready so you didn't have to stand there at the doorway. So, we put our name on the list.
But! Then Phil said we should go to the Fashion Show Mall and see if we could get into the Sugar Factory instead while we were waiting.
Fashion what??? Sugar WHAT????
He said it was right next door.......so, okay, why not.
But right next door in this scenario meant another walk up an escalator, a walk across a another bridge, and a walk down another escalator. Remember, I'm on three hours of restless sleep in the broiling Las Vegas sun, so I was starting to get a little prickly.
Especially when we got to this mysterious Sugar Factory, only to find that there were absolutely no reservations or availability for walk ins for the rest of the day.
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ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
So, I was sure I was going to get a text from Senor Frog at any moment and we were going to be bridges and escalators away and would miss our reservation, so I told Phil to hurry the hell up and let's get back to Froggy's place. And sure enough, as soon as I said that, I got a text that our table was ready.
SO.....back up the escalator and back over the bridge and back down the escalator to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, I mean Senor Frog's. At least no one broke their neck getting there.
Before we were seated, the hostess informed us that they were only serving drinks and appetizers at this time. No entrees or sandwiches or anything like that.
Huhhhhhh???
As it turns out, they were having a staffing shortage to begin with, but it was even worse today due to the crowds, and due to the fact that one of their cooks had called in sick, and so had two of their wait staff.
Well, this was shaping up to be a good time, and it got even better when the hostess lead us right through the nice cool restaurant and onto a hundred degree outdoor deck!
"Oh, wait.....", I said, "Can we sit inside?"
My reply was - "Sorry, we're all full in there. You can wait, but it will probably be another 20 minutes."
Phil said - "It's in the shade - let's just sit out here."
FINE.
The good thing is that our waitress was extremely friendly and she came by almost immediately, probably because her outdoor section was full of just a very, very few suckers like us who refused to wait for air conditioned comfort. So I guess she had time on her hands.
It will not surprise you to know that in addition to trying to build a meal out of appetizers (I think we had a chicken quesadilla, an order of guacamole, and some cauliflower buffalo "wings" (BLECH!)), we also ordered the biggest and most obnoxious drinks we could find, and that would be this one:
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Don't judge. We'd already been rejected by at least 5 restaurants, and we needed liquid comfort. Mine was just a plain old frozen margarita which had an unexpectedly strong kick, and I have no idea what Phil was ordering, but by the end of the meal, the table looked a little something like this:
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Well, they were two for one, believe it or not, so how could we say no????
Oh! One other thing. Our waitress got very friendly with us and was talking about everything, so we asked her if it was always this crowded. She said, "Today's the last day of this. These are all California people out for Memorial Day weekend, and they are all going to be headed back either tonight or tomorrow. By tomorrow night, it should be nice and calm here."
Well! That was good news.
However, it was now around 3:30 or 4, and we were planning on dinner at Grimaldi's Pizza around 8 or 9, so we wanted to head back to the room for a quick nap - or let me rephrase that - I demanded that we head back to the room for a quick nap.
Don't worry. Phil never listens to any of my demands. He went to our casino and played slots while I took a quick snooze and when he came back and shook me awake a few hours later, there was almost the Vegas homicide of a Philmonster.
Well, we showered up, freshened up, and then it was time for our first night out in Vegas - to Grimaldi's Pizza and then to wherever the night would take us - probably a casino floor. But I'll get to all that in the next section.
Other than me going broke, it all gets better from here on out.
Doh! I feel bad for not warning you that it's best to make reservations there these days, I already have a few reservations for September.... but... a good place you guys might have gone to in the venetian is Lobster me, they have good Lobster Rolls and no reservation needed.
cgersic
Well-Known Member
Oh the good old days of waiting with a million people at each crosswalk in Vegas!! And the hell of being in a cab waiting at those intersections trying to get somewhere! You did say they were escalators, right? So at least you weren't climbing those stairs like you have to at Disney Springs. I am so grateful that I'm working alone in the office today because I keep busting out laughing really hard. You are SUCH a great storyteller!
BaconPancakes
Well-Known Member
Wow kudos to you both for downing two of those! I would have been three sheets to the wind. 
Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
Hmm, there's a lot of stock photos in this trip report? Did you actually go to Vegas?
The choice between Senor Frogs and Sugar Factory amuses me in that I can't think of any place that would top either in terms of being a "tourist trap". Maybe the robot bartender place.
I had a bubblegum martini at Sugar Factory Vegas, which definitely screamed "I am a tourist on vacation".
PacNWTigger
Well-Known Member
I'm good with stock pics OR raccoons...enjoy wine country, and have an extra glass for me since I will be attending multiple high school graduation open houses this weekend. I didn't realize how many of my friends all had kids at the same time until now.
Have a good time ! My brother and wife up North are going to a region called Finger Lakes in upstate NY for relaxation and checking out wine country. It is supposed to have a number of wineries.Yep, I put stock photos in all my trip reports to fill in the gaps when I was too hot or frustrated or busy to take a picture.
It's either that or pictures of raccoons.
PS to everyone - I think we're going to wine country this weekend, so I don't think I'll get to the next section of this until next week.
DisneyGigi
Well-Known Member
I love the squirrel table and raccoon pics! I feed every bit of wildlife that comes here too. Right now we are overrun with several cats. Apparently someone is catching and fixing feral cats and letting them loose in our neighborhood. You know by the “tipped” ear. I have 4 now I am feeding on top of the wildlife. B is thrilled. 
Have fun this weekend whilst we patiently await the next installment.
Have fun this weekend whilst we patiently await the next installment.
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BaconPancakes
Well-Known Member
Ok now I’m hungry again… 
Rista1313
Well-Known Member
Can't wait to hear about Golden Steer.. I've been contemplating visiting that one for awhile. Yesterday I made September reservations for one of the buffet's that opened this month.Chapter 5 - Pizza Time!
Hey there. Sorry for the delay.
Okay, so we are pretty big pizza fanatics, and we have a place near where we live called Salvatore's Coal Oven Pizza, which we are convinced makes the best thin crust pizza in the United States. Here are a few shots.
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Sorry, Via Napoli, with your not enough sauce, and partially raw crust, and your toppings hurled all over the place, with some slices getting almost no toppings, and other slices getting too much:
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Yah.....no.......we'll stick to Salvatore's. Except for the fact that we didn't get our usual Saturday night Salvatore's fix because we were too busy getting bad service and bad food at the Paris Cafe in the TWA Hotel.
Which is how we ended up here on Sunday night!
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That's right, that's right. We flew all the way across the country from New York to go to a New York pizzeria! Not to mention other chain restaurants like Senor Frogs, and, well, it get's worse with the chains from here. You'll see. Wait 'til we discover the Fat Tuesday.
But Grimaldi's has pretty consistently excellent thin crust pizza, so we figured we couldn't go wrong, especially since it was right inside our resort.
Of course, there was another 40 minute wait, and while we were wandering around waiting, we came across this:
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Hey wait, I thought shows were not open yet in Vegas, but it turns out that some are! I went up to the box office and I asked about ticket availability for later in the week. I was told that they could get me in to the 9:00 PM show on Wednesday at a stage-side booth, for the bargain price of $149.00 per ticket!
$149.00???? What is this, Broadway?
Still, this has been quite a year, and we haven't been in a theatre in a really long time, so I looked at Phil and said, "Should we do it?"
He just shrugged. Ummmmm, okay.
I turned back to the box office person and said "Sold!", and the next thing you know, we had three hundred dollars worth of tickets to the Atomic Saloon!
More on that later, because they just texted me that our table at Grimaldi's was ready. Hurray!
Let's start off with a little bit of wine!
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Yuck! Bad lighting. I look like a chipmunk. Maybe the pizza will arrive soon.
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Phil, stop playing with your food!
I mean, it was fine, I guess, but I got jalapeño and onion on my half, and as you can see, they practically tried to jalapeño me to death. Between that and the wine, I guess I'll be visiting Heartburn City tonight!
Phil got sausage and mushroom, and he liked it just fine.
Well, pretty soon, our exciting pizza dinner was over and it was time to go put a hundred dollar bill into a slot machine.
A Mad Max: Fury Road slot machine? Yes please! And on the first spin - BONUS!!
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Unfortunately, it was all a big fake-out and after initially winning about thirty-five bucks, I magically turned one hundred dollars into fifteen cents! Grrrrrrr.
Phil had installed himself at a blackjack table and was having a grand old time, but I was finished for the night, so I told him I was going to bed and to try not to reenact one of the Hangover movies. He told me to try to not get locked out of the hotel room naked, but there was no chance of that because after three hours of sleep the night before, the second I plopped down on the bed, I was gone, and a good thing too, because tomorrow, we had all sorts of plans, which was mostly gambling, drinking, more gambling, more drinking, and a dinner reservation at a famous, old, off-strip Vegas steakhouse called the Golden Steer, where we ended up getting seated at Frank Sinatra's table.
Back to you on that tomorrow.
MinnieM123
Premium Member
Good grief! I can see that things have definitely gone up in price since (years ago) when I was there. Remember when Vegas used to be a cheap place to vist?! (That is, aside of any money spent gambling in the casinos.)
Rista1313
Well-Known Member
You can still get free drinks while gambling, but yes... Vegas has become like DW, everything is $$$
ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
$30 for the drink! Yikes, I hope he didn't miss a drop of it. Loving your adventures and glad you got a discount at Fat Tuesday with your refill.
BaconPancakes
Well-Known Member
Fat Tuesdays is my guilty pleasure! Love them in Vegas and city walk at universal. Wish Disney Springs had them!
MinnieM123
Premium Member
I'd go there in a heartbeat.
Retro, historical spots like that are so much fun -- and wow, you even were seated in Frank Sinatra's favorite booth! 
Really, that's not an experience most people will ever have.(Sorry to hear about Phil's tumble while walking. That's not supposed to happen on vacation!) Glad you two eventually found cab back to your hotel.