If you previously read my 21st Birthday in Las Vegas, Nevada post and made it to the end, you know that I wanted to go back to Sin City with friends. Well, I did just that after graduating from college in Spring 2019! I met up with one of my best friends to see Lady Gaga's show, Enigma, during her residency at MGM Park Theater (now named Dolby Live) and that was a graduation gift of sorts from my parents. My friend and I purchased our tickets almost a year in advance in the middle of the night while I was living in Toronto for a summer internship (I have a lot to catch up on in future blog posts about past travels), so I asked my parents to assist with booking my flights and hotel. As always, I will share details of my travel adventures along with helpful information that you may want to consider as you think about taking a similar trip.
Flights: I originally thought my parents would just book a flight and hotel for me, but they decided they also wanted to go take the trip to Vegas. To save money like last time, we flew to Nevada on Spirit Airlines. There was the typical lack of leg room, but there weren't any issues with inbound or outbound flights. Keep in mind that turbulence is common for any flight in the direction of the West Coast and it's helpful to know what makes you feel better when experiencing motion sickness. A small cup of ginger ale to sip on during my flight always does the trick for me, but remember to do what works best for you!
Hotel: My family stayed at Park MGM Las Vegas which my mom said she was able to book on a good deal since the resort was newly opened. In fact, it was so new that not everything in the resort was open yet! As a result, the food options were a little limited. However, the rooms were contemporary and looked exactly like the pictures in a good way! Gambling was also nice in the casino and my personal theory is that a new casino means you'll have a better chance at winning more money. There is nothing I'm aware that proves this to be factual, but I was satisfied with my earnings from a simple $20 at the penny machines. No matter what the food or gambling situation was, my family was going to stay at Park MGM because that's where the theater was for the Lady Gaga show and they preferred that I would be returning to a room in the same building as the venue since I would be going back alone late at night since they weren't going to the concert. I highly recommend staying as close to the venue(s) you plan to visit during your Vegas trip is you don't want to go to far just to get to your room. The Strip is walkable, but driving or rideshare is a much more efficient way to get around if you're trying to go from one end to the other. If you're taking Lyft, you may even get to ride in a self-driving car like my family did! You have to opt-in for this and it's a really cool experience if you decide to try it out. By the way, it's only self-driving on Las Vegas Blvd. and requires the driver to keep their hands on the wheel at all times. I never felt unsafe and the guys in the driver and passenger seats are from the self-driving car company and were happy to answer our questions about the technology as we made our way down the street.
Food: As I mentioned, food at Park MGM was limited when we stayed there. My family decided to go to the buffet at The Mirage and took a Lyft to get there quickly. We landed in the late morning and were hungry for lunch. We were lucky enough to get there just as they were in the middle of transitioning from breakfast to lunch and we got to try food from both serving hours. The food was okay, but not great. While I was at Enigma, my parents went to the nearby Air Force base and they brought back some tasty leftover fried rice that I got to eat after returning from the show! Since this was a quick 2 day/1 night trip, my mom and I got breakfast at the MGM Grand buffet with bottomless mimosas as we did during our previous trip. Our flight was in the evening, so we ate dinner while at the airport. Food wasn't central to the overall experience of this trip, but there's a plethora of options within each resort and across city for you to try
Activities: The entire purpose of this trip was for me to experience my first Lady Gaga concert and it was an amazing show! I really wanted to go to the residency because I figured it would make up for missing all of the tours and I think it was a great supplement. Before going to the show, my friend and I met up to tour the museum and gift shop featuring some of Lady Gaga's most iconic looks. Then, we went our separate ways before the show. I got in line early entry to general admission and everyone in line was excited when we saw Lady Gaga right at the window for some PR work related to her foundation. That brief appearance made standing outside in the heat worth my while! I got settled in a good spot once inside the venue and waited for my friend to join me from his pre-show meet & greet with Lady Gaga. He brought along a fellow Little Monster who was from California that he met during the meet & greet and we enjoyed the show. However, there was a lot of pushing and shoving (that almost became a fight) because some guy refused to move around to let people move forward or backward in the area. It nearly ruined the experience of the entire show for me because of how aggressive he and some of the other people were being. I know the experience would have been much different had I gone to the jazz show, but my friend really wanted to see Enigma and that's what we got our tickets for. The show was worth every penny though and I would definitely go again if it were possible –– preferably with a nicer audience.
We did a late checkout from the resort because my dad was tired and we had a lot of time between the original checkout time and when we needed to be at the airport. It was only $30 to extend the stay an additional 3 hours. It's a really good deal if you decide you need the extra time and it was easy to do since we could select the option from the television! While my dad rested, my mom and I walked around the actual park at the MGM resorts as we made our way to the MGM Grand buffet for breakfast and went to some shops and other resorts on The Strip before checking out. We still had a little bit of time before we had to leave for the airport, so we gambled for a little bit at the penny machines before we went to the airport and prepared to catch our flight. We managed to squeeze a lot into a very brief trip, a trip so short that I only took a standard size backpack with me. If you get the timing right, you can enjoy a lot in a single night trip to Las Vegas!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share your favorite 2 day/1 night experiences for any trips you've taken!
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