Random Vegas

Downtown Las Vegas has 6 of the world’s largest.  (Vegasexperience.com)

• World’s largest slot machine in Slotzillla (also the busiest and most successful urban zipline in the world)

• World’s largest keno board at 100 feet long outside of the D,

• World’s largest pint glass at Hennessey’s Tavern at 85 feet tall

• World’s largest working fire hydrant at 15 foot tall on Fremont East, across from the Western

• World’s largest fire-breathing praying mantis at Container Park

• World’s largest mechanical neon sign is Vegas Vic at 40 feet tall, although his mechanical parts haven’t worked since 1991

TwitPic of the week

The year is 1964 and the Dunes is rocking in all her glory in the arial photo shared by@summacorp. Aside from the Diamond of the Dunes hotel tower and the turret marquee the thing that really gets my attention here are all the cars parked right up front. Something that used to be common on the strip when the properties primarily catered to automobile visitors. There are still remnants of this time in Vegas today just repurposed. I’m thinking specifically about Horseshoe and Caesars Palace. It’s a time in Vegas we are fond of because it inspired all the classic super pylon marquees we know and love.

News

• 360 Vegas Book Update

• El Cortez’s $20 million refresh

• FTC Bans “Junk Fees”

Random Vegas 

Las Vegas is the number 1 wedding destination in the US and the 2nd in the world behind Istanbul. 

TwitPic of the week 

It’s a time whose lamentation has been well documented on this show. The evolution of Fremont St into the Fremont St Experience, shown here, in development by @Summacorp. Say what you will about the results, progress is sexy. Here we see the roads tore up as they are redeveloped into pedestrian walkways. Like getting a room with a view of the AC units, I appreciate these behind the scenes glimpses of progress in motion. Evolution is what made this city the place it is today and development captures that journey. 

News

• 360 Book Update

• F1 in Vegas

• Murrenization Returns

• Stratosphere Projection Mapping

Random Vegas

It cost the Harris/Walz campaign $900,000 to advertise on the sphere for a week (@_GrandPaD)

TwitPic of the week

Black and white photography is simply beautiful and inspires thought. This week’s winner by @Vegas_Visual shows off the Dunes in all her glory including the turret marquee, the Diamond of the Dunes hotel tower and the Dome of the Sea restaurant in stunning black and white. While a simple google search would reveal what the place looked like in color it’s more fun to imagine it. Truth is color takes some of the romance out of it, not like the elegance of black and white.

News

• 360 Vegas Book Update

• Senor Frogs Closing

• Dirtiest Casinos

• Excalibur Wrongful Death

Random Vegas

There is a scene in the 1979 movie Melvin & Howard that shows someone driving down the strip, past Flamingo and headed south. If you look close, when they get to the MGM marquee, Universal Pictures, the production company behind the film, covered up their rival MGM’s name from their unremarkable marquee. (@summacorp)

TwitPic of the week

She isn’t the newest or the prettiest but is Circus Circus really that bad? The answer is yes, she’s always been that way even when she first opened back in 1968. But when you’re a well-run property that prints cash why would you listen to the noise. This week@ATXVegasFanshared a picture of the property that for some reason I’m drawn to because it's still a Vegas property and it has a history. That’s apparently all you need for me to show you some love, even if your ownership doesn’t do it.

News

• 360VV15 update

Random Vegas

The original monorail was only a joint venture between MGM Grand and Bally’s.  It opened in June of 1995.  In the early 2000 it expanded to become the Las Vegas Monorail (vintagelasvegas.com)

TwitPic of the week

It isn’t anything historic except that it was the first incarnation of the Caesars Palace sign, shared by @summacorp.  You can tell because it only uses 3 of the 4 pillars on the sign. Future versions added more sign boards and eventually grew to encompass 6 pillars of signage. It was never the tallest or the grandest, it’s just a great POV of a magnificent sign that captured my imagination.

News

• 360VV15 Update

• Virgin Strike

• Tallest hotel proposed

Random Vegas

This week in 1974 the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast specials began airing on NBC.  All (except the 1st) were taped in the Ziegfred Room at the original MGM Grand.  It went on hiatus from 80-83 after the hotel fire. The last was taped in late 1984 (@_GrandpaD)

TwitPic of the week

It’s beyond sad to see the Dunes turret marquee in pieces, as shared by @Vegas_visual. A marquee among marquees. A game changer. Its destruction was a giant wake-up call to all who loved the city, it will continue to grow and evolve at any and all expense. Nothing will stop this city from evolving into whatever it needs to be to continue to be one of the most popular tourist destination in the world. So we have to be grateful for what we have and enjoy it while we have it, or risk getting your heart broken.

News

• 360 Book Update

• When We Were Young 2025

• A’s Stadium

• Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace

• Caesars Sales

Random Vegas

For a time, Las Vegas had the three tallest neon signs in the world as the Dunes sign rose to 180 feet, the Frontier’s sign rose to 184 and Stardust’s most iconic sign rose to 188 feet to be the tallest sign in the world for the decade to follow (Spectacular – A History of Las Vegas Neon)

TwitPic of the week

Oh come on Harrah’s, how is that riverboat casino not like a 1,000 x better than the homogenized casino you have now.  In this week’s picture by @las_when, we not only get to enjoy the riverboat again but its neighbor Imperial Palace.  Then just for fun take a look to the right at all that undeveloped real estate in between Excalibur and Caesars. You can tell this picture is from the mid 90s because they are working on the land that will become the Fountains of Bellagio. The savvy viewer will spot Aladdin across the street from all that land.  This POV is from Treasure Island, the same view that helped us fall in love with the city for the first time in 2006.

News

• 360 Book Update

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/360vegas/360-vegas-presents-vegas?ref=project_build

We wrote a book and now we need your help to get it published. Contribute to our kickstarter and receive various rewards for doing so. A link can be found on the blog and via social media. If you can’t find it, just let us know and we’ll get it for you. Thanks for your support. 

Random Vegas 

The largest free standing LED sign in the world is Aria’s marquee at 260 feet high and 65 feet wide 

TwitPic of the week 

Only in Vegas can a building grow. For example, look no further than Caesars Palace. This is a property that opened as a 700-room resort and today has almost 4,000. More than that, its multiple expansions took over an entire city block.  Say what you will about the interior layout this property is sexy as hell, especially shared via @maverickheli's unique POV. I’m not sure which I prefer, the original with the Sarno blocks and teal backlighting or the more authentic Greco roman esthetic. Either way, she’s a looker. 

News

• 360 Kickstarter

• Bed Bug Scars

• Sick New World 2025

• LIV Las Vegas Closing

• Bally’s Tropicana Plans

September 2024