Richard Bannister

I have decided to adopt a slightly different format for recounting my time in the Las Vegas area in the order in which I tried them. Rather than provide blow by blow accounts of each day, I'm just going to review the various thrill rides, shows, and attractions in the area. Those of you looking for opinions on natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon et al; yes, they're awesome too, but this is a low brow entertainment site, and there are many who can give far better accounts of natural wonders than I can.

 

The Stratosphere Tower is the tallest structure on the Las Vegas strip by a fair margin. At the time of writing, it had three thrill rides installed on the top floors of the tower, with a fourth on the way that I missed by about a fortnight. Individual rides are quite expensive, to the point that if you are going to ride more than once on anything it is cheaper to buy an all day unlimited wristband ($24.95). Visitors have to pass through a metal detector before travelling up the tower in a high speed elevator that takes thirty seven seconds to reach the top.

High Roller (#385) is the highest coaster in the world. The height differential on the track is relatively small, but the base is on the 108th floor of the tower. It has a very simple layout by necessity; it simply circles the tower building three times at a reasonable speed. The train traverses the track awkwardly in a few places, with some noticable jarring, but the seats are well padded and absorb most of the bumps. If this coaster had been located at ground level it would be irrelevant and just one more credit to tick off on the list. However, the height adds more to the ride than any theming ever could. Nevertheless, it is still the mildest of the rides on the tower and therefore a good start for people trying to work up the nerve for the bigger rides.

Footage of the Big Shot seen in an IMAX movie is one of the many things that precipitated my interest in thrill rides. The premise is very simple; riders are launched straight up almost two hundred feet, from a base that is already more than a thousand feet in the air. S&S Space Shot rides, like this one, are more often than not toned down, giving a relatively weak ride experience. I am pleased to say that the reverse is true with the Big Shot, with the launch giving by far the most forceful acceleration I have ever felt on a ride of this type. To call this ride amazing does it an injustice; it is without question one of the greatest thrill rides on the planet.

X-Scream consists of a eight person vehicle that can move back and forth on a tilting track. The lower end of this track hangs off the side of the tower, on the 107th floor observation platform. The vehicle hits the brakes at the bottom of the track at a not inconsiderable speed, giving riders the impression that they are about to travel to their doom far below.

I came to the Stratosphere having made a point of using the restroom beforehand, with this ride being the main reason for that. While I am not particularly afraid of heights, I have only recently beaten the fear of falling (Intamin Drop Towers make good therapy). To be honest, I had made the decision to ride regardless of how I felt when I got up there, and when I boarded I really wasn't expecting to enjoy X-Scream at all. I was correct in that assertion, albeit not for the reason I'd anticipated. Regular readers of my ramblings will know that I am not afraid to be controversial. So here we go; X-Scream simply isn't frightening. There is no doubt that the view from the front seat is spectacular, and those who are afraid of heights will suffer. Otherwise, though, the whole impending doom thing really doesn't work that well. On one of my rides, I got a simulated drop sequence which was simply too slow to be convincing; it felt like what it was, namely the track tilting downwards, rather than something out of control.

 

A single ride on Speed (#386) costs the princely sum of $10, and as an all day wristband was available for just under twice that it seemed that would be the way to go, as I anticipated wanting to ride more than once. Premier Rides made their name building Roller Coasters using Linear Induction Motors for accelerating the train. Unfortunately, many of the early models suffered from numerous rider complaints due to the uncomfortable design of the restraints. For this reason, most of the models were later refitted with a modern lap bar design, the only exception being this model. I boarded the train with more than a little trepidation; was I about to get a restraint headache? Were the original harnesses really that bad?

The answer is yes, but fortunately it isn't a major problem on Speed. The difficulty with the restraint design only occurs in a sharp turn, and fortunately there is only one of them on the ride, just after the launch track. A second bank of LIMs is hit after the vertical loop, taking the train to an impressive 70 MPH right before the trademark vertical spike previously seen on the Mr Freeze coasters. Nevertheless, even the one jarring turn was enough to limit rerideability of what is still the best coaster in the Vegas area; I managed three rides on my first visit, though I did go back for two more just before bed time (it was attatched to my hotel after all!).

 

Canyon Blaster (#387) is enclosed within the Adventuredome, a huge pink-coloured glass dome just off the Vegas strip and attached to the Circus Circus hotel, which contains a number of other flat rides and an impressive collection of arcade machines. From my experience with large corporate parks, it was refreshing to find somewhere I could walk around without having to pay an expensive admission fee.

Older generation Arrow Dynamics coasters, like Canyon Blaster, are not known for their smoothness. Corkscrews are the major problem; it seems as if the trains just cannot get through them on most of these rides without jarring. It was a very pleasant surprise, therefore, to discover that Canyon Blaster was an exception to this rule, and at just $6, it was also the cheapest coaster in the area. I only took one ride in the end, largely because I had decided not to buy a wristband, but next time I'm here I'll definitely ride it more.

 

Manhattan Express (#388) is a remarkably photogenic Roller Coaster built over, round, and even through the New York, New York casino in Las Vegas. It is the most expensive Roller Coaster in the area, costing $12.50 for a single ride, so it follows that it should be the best coaster in the area, right? Wrong.

We all know that sometimes coasters don't track as smoothly as the rider might like, but even the worst offenders usually make it up the lift hill without noticable jarring. Not so this ride; after the third nasty bang on the way up the lift hill, I began to dread what might happen once the coaster picked up speed. The first drop was actually reasonably fun until the bottom was reached, at which point the train started bouncing so violently as to be painful. The only smooth part of the ride was the vertical loop, and then only the middle portion of it. Some of the directional changes around the course were so painful that I can still feel them as I type this a few hours later.

Compulsive swearing comes naturally to me, but in deference to popular opinion I try to avoid it under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, a really painful coaster ride can occasionally break down my linguistic defenses, and I'm not the only one; Robb Alvey's video of Manhattan Express shows that it wasn't just me (warning; contains strong language).

Manhattan Express falls into a small but truly elite band of coasters, principally SLCs and Volares, that I never want to ride again. As I disembarked, breathing a sigh of relief, I noticed a sign mentioning that re-rides were available for $6.00. I found an operator, and politely enquired if this sign was referring to the salary for those willing to ride a second time, and if so, did he not consider that a higher wage might be in order?

He didn't see the funny side. Oh well.

 

It should be noted that I am not a big fan of Star Trek; I will watch it very occasionally when channel-hopping, and I have seen most of the movies, but that's as far as it goes. Though a former girlfriend possessed an alarmingly large number of Voyager episodes on video tape, I'm pleased to say that this has never happened to me; I keep theme park memorabilia instead. Nevertheless, my friends had advised me that I'd probably enjoy Star Trek: The Experience, and I'm pleased to say that they were quite correct.

Both the shows, Klingon Encounter and Borg Invasion 4D conclude with messages asking the audience not to share the secrets, and I intend to honour that request. What I will say is that both are extremely well done, putting the customer in the center of the action and using live actors to great effect. Even someone with no interest whatsoever in Star Trek will likely be enthralled by the detail of the sets and the realism of the simulation. The only slight criticism I can bring is price. The shows are not sold separately until late evening, so you are looking at an outlay of $34.95, which seems a little on the expensive side for something like this. While there will be some interested in a repeat visit, which the ticket includes, the majority of people will only be interested in seeing a given show once. Cheaper admission would be welcome.

 

Though strictly speaking not in Las Vegas, Buffalo Bills is only about 40 miles away in Primm, Nevada, and can be easily reached via a shuttle bus service or via a half hour drive. It is also on one of the main routes from California into Las Vegas, making it a tempting stop if a weekend of gambling is what you are after. Despite what Blackpool Pleasure Beach may claim, when it was built in 1994, Desperado (#389) was the tallest and fastest Roller Coaster in the world. Even now, ten years later, it remains tied in eighth place for the fastest Roller Coasters in the world, and is the tallest of the four remaining Arrow Hyper Coaster models (Desperado, Magnum XL-200, Pepsi Max Big One, and Titan in Space World, Japan).

As a ride, it is the smoothest of the three Arrow Hypercoasters that I've been on (not that that's saying very much) and has the most interesting layout, but it's not in the same league as the more modern designs by B&M, Giovanola, and Intamin. Nevertheless it remains an interesting coaster, and not bad value for the price ($7).

 

Lighting a casino to look like Paris in the early evening is an interesting idea, and one which has been executed reasonably well. Unfortunately, it is rather marred somewhat by all the staff opening (or closing) their sentences with words like "Monsieur" and "Madame" but pronounced with no attempt at a French accent whatsoever. The result is pretty tacky, but I suppose this is in Las Vegas. The Eiffel Tower here is a half scale replica of the real thing, with the main difference being that the entrance is inside the casino rather than outside over a public square. The ticket contains a prominent warning about No Unauthorized Weddings; who on earth would want to get married in a fake Eiffel Tower in a simulation of Paris? But I digress.

The view from the tower wasn't bad, but was limited somewhat by the huge number of people allowed there at a time. The staff seemed to be happy to bring up people as fast as the elevators allowed (each had paid $9 for the privilege of course) but with no thought to whether there would actually be any room available for them at the top. I never managed to get a clear view myself; the picture above was taken by leaning across two other people with my camera, which I'm sure they appreciated.

On the way down in the lift, when the operator said "Bonne chance!" in an American accent, I finally cracked, choosing to recite the age old French tongue-twister in my best accent: Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches?, which gained me a I'm sorry, mon-sir, I don't speak any French. Oh dear.

 

I can't say that I ever expected to spend one hundred and fifty dollars on a show ticket and come out thinking I'd gotten a bargain. It needs to be said, though; Cirque du Soleil's Kà is amazing. Sure, the merchandising is shameless ($15 for a programme!), but the detail in effects, costumes, and indeed the theatre itself points to a show that costs a small fortune to put on. I don't profess to have followed the storyline at any stage, but I was in positive awe at the insane acrobatics and special effects. More than once I found myself asking how did they do that and being unable to figure it out. Phenomenal.

 

I spent just two days in Las Vegas on this trip, and to be honest, that's about as much as you need in any one visit. Reading about Vegas and looking at pictures (and Ocean's Eleven) does not do the place justice. I will make a return visit in a few years, probably staying for two days again!