The Mirage:
Now the Mirage was home to Sigfried and Roy from 1990 through to 2003 and was regarded as the most visited show in Las Vegas. Since their retirement the resort has basically made itself a tribute to the German entertainers and is now known for it's Tigers and Dolphins that it keeps on site. Outside the hotel every hour at night is a volcano that erupts, inside is a wall which is an aquarium and through the lobby is the gigantic rainforest. But the real attraction in this hotel is the mini zoo outside. The dolphins are very cool, water is a beautiful blue and the dolphins look so peaceful and happy. You can get up very close to them and you can just sit here and watch them all day or while your enjoying lunch. The trainers do not do shows like Sea world or anything like that but they will do factual demonstrations that educate you about dolphins and the marine conservation.
Paris:
Is exactly as its title suggests. Basically a little taste of Paris all underneath a half scale replica of the Eiffel Tower as well as a one third scale Arc de Triomphe. It is situated exactly opposite the Bellagio and Mel and I would often stop for a drink at the little bar/cafe under the Eiffel Tower to sit in the sun and watch the fountains across the road. Another amusing thing to do as we sat there was watch all of the strange people that would walk past. From people dressed up as Elvis and others carrying strange and exotic animals, to spring break college kids partying in big limo hummers (pictured below). Inside the hotel and casino was decked out very similar to the Venetian with the roof painted like a sky and all of the shopfronts exactly like the facade you would see in France. There were beautiful chandeliers in the hotel lobby and we also found the biggest one armed bandit slot machine in the casino (it looked like a crazy game from the price is right). We had a fantastic night listening to a covers band that was playing on les cabaret stage in the middle of the casino late one night. A few drinks and a couple of songs in, we were up dancing.
New York, New York
You thought replicating the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe was impressive, how in the world where they are able to create the New York City skyline, compete with Manhattan ridge, as a hotel and casino??? this was amazing. As you can see from the photos there is a rollercoaster called the Manhattan express that is looped all around the outside of the hotel in and around the city skyline. Mel was very excited to give it a go and after weaving our way through the myriad of slot machines and roulette tables we finally found the lineup to ride it but unfortunately it was a mile long and we didn't really want to wait, so like many other things we left it till next time. It's also much more fun to do it with someone and unfortunately I am not tall enough to go on such rides, so I'm just going to throw it out of there that someone may need to come with us next time!
MGM Grand
We didn't get to spend much time in this hotel, but what we saw we loved and can't wait to go back again to experience some of the features it had to offer. First on our list would be to go and party in the famous Studio 54 nightclub. We had a quick look through the windows and it looks very cool inside. There was an amazing Lion habitat right in the middle of of the casino that had a tunnel that you could walk through and the two big cats were actually lying on top of the glass roof, so we were actually standing underneath them. It was incredible how close you felt. The enclosure is worth $9 million and apparently is one of the most animal conscious exhibits in the world. It is completely soundproof and the temperature is constantly modified to suit the lions needs. The lions themselves are rotated three times a day from a property about 15 minutes away from the Vegas strip. They only visit the enclosure twice a week and spend a couple of hours before heading back to their home. The funny thing about seeing these kind of animals is that you often complain about how they always seem so sleepy and boring. Then you read in a little information pamphlet that they give you that lions actually sleep anywhere between 18 to 20 hours a day and are only active for four, usually during the night, so the chances of catching them playing around or fighting in the closure next to none. However you can see an interesting moment where a trainer was attacked only a year ago in this very enclosure on YouTube. Anyway, here are some nice pictures of the big cats sleeping away peacefully. If only they knew what was going on outside of their soundproof glass windows. Winner, winner, lions dinner me thinks.
