Las Vegas Christmas 2014 - CSI: The Experience

When we bought our tickets for Criss Angel: Believe, at the Tix-4-Tonight booth, we saw that the tickets for CSI: The Experience, were really inexpensive. We didn't have too many activities booked up during our four day weekend, so it seemed like a good time to check this attraction off of our Las Vegas bucket list.

Located in the MGM Grand, CSI: The Experience is an interactive crime solving attraction based on the hit television series. Just to make it seem a little more seedy and creepy, the entrance is located at the bottom of a dark escalator.

Neither of us are fans of the show. Fans of the show will probably enjoy the video introduction featuring cast members and also the handful of props that they have on display. I enjoyed looking at a charred body that they had from an episode featuring a factory fire. Creepy!

We had read reviews and we were prepared for the crimes to be fairly easy. There are three crime scenes and we were assigned to the second crime scene, which according to internet reviews, is the best one. We were given a clipboard with paper to make notes and sketches. The page also had questions regarding the crime that we had to answer as we walked through the exhibit.

After watching an introduction video, we were sent to our crime scene. Our scene featured a female body sprawled on the ground near a dumpster behind a hotel. She had tire marks across her back and her purse had spilled open to reveal a headshot picture and a mysterious white powder. We took notes at the crime scene before moving on.

There is no gore, as all of the bodies are dummies without any realistic features. We couldn't get close to the crime scene, as we were behind a plexiglass wall. This actually made it difficult to see some of the details that we were expected to note.

After viewing the crime scene, we walked into several rooms to examine evidence. There is no specific order to the stations, so we walked to the stations that were free. Luckily, we visited the exhibit on a slow day. I imagine that it's a nightmare when it's crowded. We examined various tire tracks, we looked at the victim's last text messages, we viewed lab sampled of flies found on the victim's body and we heard the autopsy report.

Viewing the crime scene and going through the evidence stations took about fifteen minutes. The next step was to sit at a computer station and file an official report. After answering questions, we watched a video to see if we had correctly solved the crime. We had, it was super easy.

Once our report was filed, we could dress up in CSI gear and do a photo session with various backdrops and we could collect our diploma for correctly solving the crime. Of course, all of these cost extra. We could also pay a small fee to go through the exhibit again and do the other crime scenes.

There are several problems with CSI: The Experience. First, it's just too darn easy. Start to finish, we were at the exhibit for less than thirty minutes. Second, even if we had wanted to pay to do another crime scene, it was ruined, because while sitting at the computer monitors, it's impossible to tune out the other computers and you hear the resolutions for the other scenes. Third, all of the nickel and diming left a bad taste in my mouth. Even with our discounted tickets, this exhibit is grossly overpriced. It should have included entry to all three crime scenes ( made harder to solve) and have those crime scenes set in their own rooms, so overhearing info is impossible. If it had been set up like this, I would have left feeling like I received value for money. As it is currently set-up, this attraction is an epic fail.

Las Vegas Christmas 2014 - Gordie Brown

When we checked-in at the Golden Nugget, we noticed tons of advertisements for Gordie Brown, an impressionist and singer, who is the hotel's headline performer. We didn't have plans for Christmas Day and Brown was performing with tickets still available, so we decided to go for it.

This is the best deal that we have ever had in Vegas. The tickets, a drink at the show and a buffet dinner, were $34.99 each. We were even given the best seats at the show and we were able to use the buffet passes for the special Christmas champagne dinner. The buffet was actually pretty good and we were made to think that it had special holiday offerings that were not normally available. Our server was very liberal with pouring the bubbly!

We ate in the afternoon, hours before the evening performance. Each table at the buffet had a Gordie Brown placemat. The advertising for the show is impossible to escape.

We picked tickets for the early show and we made our way to The Gordie Brown Showroom, about half an hour prior to the start, so that we would have enough time to enjoy our drink before the show. The drinks here are strong and large, another way that they exceeded my expectations based on the low cost.

We were not seated in the front row. However, I think that we had the best seats in the house. We were in the exact center of the front row of the back section. The theatre is fairly small and this meant that we were approximately eight rows back, but that we had the aisle in front of us, so we had that extra leg room.

The set is simple, just Brown and his band on a blank stage. Brown does a few things with props, like a hat, but mostly, it's just him. The ninety-odd minute show is a mix of his impressions ( often done with singing) and him telling jokes. Admittedly, the jokes are hit and miss. Some of them were corny and some were in poor taste. By poor taste, I mean that he brought up stuff like the Bill Cosby scandal. The audience actually groaned with the Cosby joke, no laughs. A lot of the jokes were very modern, TMZ/Celebrity gossip, that went over the heads of many of the mostly older audience members. We are middle-aged and we were definitely among the youngest audience members. I did laugh a few times, but not as much as I should have for the effort that he was putting forth.

The jokes were really an unnecessary part of the show and unfortunately, they undermined Brown's talent. Seriously, this guy is very talented. His impressions were spot on and not only that, he has a fantastic singing voice. I was genuinely wowed by his talent. I think if he kept the show classy and skipped a majority of the jokes, the show would be first-rate. Outside of the realm of this particular show, I'd definitely pay to see him sing in a band with original music. If he isn't already, he should be pursuing a singing career. I left the show thinking that Brown is better than this show allows him to be.

That said, with the buffet/show package, the price is a steal and definitely worth doing if you're looking for shows in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Christmas 2014 - Golden Nugget

I've spent the majority of my adult life complaining about Christmas. I love the holiday and the time of the year, but I resented the hassle and forced following of family traditions. I was tired of always having to spend Christmas Eve eating at the same restaurant, followed by a tour of the neighborhood to see the lights and then present opening. Christmas morning was always the same, stocking stuffers followed by cinnamon rolls and then sitting around until we ate turkey at 2pm. I guess it was the adult in me that wanted to strike out and form my own holiday traditions, yet being an only child in a small family, I felt that expressing my desires would lead to hurt feelings.

Christmas 2013 was sad and awkward. My aunt, who was my last living relative, passed away just a few days before Christmas. Dan and I brought all of our presents back from her house and we opened them on Christmas morning. I couldn't sit around our home, so we went to the movies and saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We ate pot roast that I made in the slow cooker for our holiday meal. Honestly, it was the low fuss holiday that I had always wanted, but it still didn't feel right.

As this Christmas approached, I realized that it would be the one where I felt the absence of my family the most. The previous year, I had been in a bit of a shock, but this year, I was feeling it. I actually missed those traditions that I had complained about, but mostly I missed the family that I shared them with. I wasn't ready to move forward with anything related to Christmas as I knew it. We decided to get out of town and Vegas was calling.

Neither of us had ever stayed in Downtown Vegas and since the Golden Nugget had ridiculously cheap rates, we thought that it was time to give it a shot. We caught a flight out of Bob Hope International on Christmas Eve and rented a car for our four night getaway.

Our first impression of the Golden Nugget was favorable. The lobby and check-in areas were tastefully decorated and we were quickly ushered through check-in with friendly staff. On the walk to our room, we could see the pool complex, which is simply amazing. In the center of the pool is an enormous aquarium with sharks and a water slide through the middle. We went on a tour of the shark tank during our stay, so more on the pool in an upcoming post.

We had asked for a room away from the elevators, hoping for less noise. This didn't work out for us. Our room was miles from the elevator and we still had plenty of noise. The Golden Nugget is both a party hotel and a hotel crawling with families. We had plenty of noise from both. Worse than the people, was a church located outside. The bells from the church rang every hour throughout the entire night. Since it was Christmas, they chimed carols. It was a tad creepy, because although we could see the entrance, we never saw a single person enter the church or even congregate on the steps. It appeared abandoned.

Our room was okay. It felt very much like an older, lower-mid range strip hotel, like The Flamingo or The Tropicana. There was nothing wrong with the room, it had all of the basics, but there was also nothing particularly special. The one feature that I did appreciate, was a small vanity with a lighted make-up mirror. The bed was also notably comfortable.

After getting settled in our room, we hit Freemont Street. Although teeming with colorful characters that provided plenty of excellent people watching, we quickly learned that Freemont Street is not our scene. It's like Hollywood Blvd, kind of scummy. We listened to some country music (which I like), grabbed a drink and took a picture of the Christmas tree. In about thirty minutes, we were done. The only other time that we walked down Freemont Street during our stay, was to grab a coffee at Dunkin Donuts.

The location of the Golden Nugget is probably the single biggest reason that we would be unlikely to return. Most of the days of our trip, we found ourselves driving to the strip for entertainment or to our favorite place, the Bass Pro Shop. There just wasn't enough that caught our interest in downtown. I think it's a great place if your interests revolve primarily around gambling and cheap alcohol.

My favorite thing about our hotel, was the wacky and quite frankly, inappropriate holiday decorations. The "fairy elves" look like they've been engaging in some naughty behavior (probably out on Freemont Street) and I love the polar bear cub that looks like he's puking. There is little that I love more than Christmas decoration fails. Hilarious!

I can't decide which of these elves is my favorite. The expressions are priceless and so, so inappropriate.

This guy enjoying his reindeer ride?

or this guy? I'm not even sure what he's enjoying, but he's clearly pleased with himself. Maybe it's his chef's hat with the gingerbread man flair? Snazzy!

A stay at the Golden Nugget wouldn't be complete, without taking a moment to admire the golden nugget.

We had a fun time during our Christmas stay at the Golden Nugget. As I mentioned, if this hotel had been located on the strip, we might consider returning, especially when on a budget trip. However, downtown held little appeal for us, so we are unlikely to return.

My biggest regret about our stay, was not having the opportunity to try out the pool. It looked fabulous, definitely competition for some of the nicer strip properties. It was just far too cold during our stay. The pool is a big enough draw that it might even sway me to return.