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Trip Report - Las Vegas and IAAPA Expo 2009
On a very wet and windy Saturday morning, a few of us made our way towards London Heathrow's Terminal 5. At check-in I met up with Heather, Nev and Christine (Barry was already in the air on a different airline), and after the regular amount of airport faff we boarded the BA flight to Las Vegas for a week of Casinos, Coasters and the IAAPA Expo.After an almost sideways and very turbulent take off due to 70mph gusts of wind, we were soon above the clouds and into smooth air for a long flight (10.5 hours) to Las Vegas chasing the sunset all the way. With only 4 of us on the plane it didn't warrant the usual club trip announcement from the pilot welcoming the RCCGB on board, thus a low key flight was had, so I spent 5 hours updating the website pages ready for 2010 to pass some of the time. After landing Nev and Christine got a taxi direct to their hotel while me and Heather made our way to the car rentals place to pickup a car for a couple of days.
Once we had the car (well I say car, it was a huge SUV), we went straight to the Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix Park so Heather could ride a new coaster! This was done nice and quickly and we then went onto our hotel New York New York to check-in and find some beer.On Sunday morning, myself and Heather met up with a small group of enthusiasts from ACE (American Coaster Enthusiasts) who were in Las Vegas for the IAAPA expo, so added a small weekend event to their agenda. We joined them for the Sunday portion which involved an ERS on the Manhattan Express coaster at our Hotel. This coaster has now been renamed to "The Roller Coaster" at New York New York, though there are still many references around the building to the Manhattan Express. At 10:30 we started an ERS on this. It hasn't got any smoother with age!! There are new restraints on both trains now which were claimed to give improved ride comfort. They are simply slide down over shoulder restraints (similar to those on Mumbo Jumbo at Flamingo Land). The restraints are still quite big and thus, you still bang your head on them, so although I'd say it's an improvement, it's only small.
Following that session, it was off to the Adventuredome at Circus Circus. Here we enjoyed a discounted all-day wristband and several rides on the Canyon Blaster coaster. This was a surprise to me. I have ridden this before and remember it being a lot rougher than it was. When we were arriving at the station after the first go, I mentioned to Heather that it was actually quite smooth and a pleasant surprise, so we had a few more goes! It was now time to move on, so before we left we said farewell to the people from ACE, who were very friendly and welcoming. Thanks guys for letting us tag along and enjoy some fun with you!
Next we moved across the road and down a bit to the Sahara Casino and Nascar Cafe complex to have a go on the coaster "Speed". I've always liked this coaster as I rate LIM launches quite highly. The future of this coaster is in doubt as the casino want to expand and build another tower block where the end vertical tower of the coaster is. We're not sure why, but the coaster is also limited to 1 launch every 15 minutes now.
Probably to save costs, but annoying if you want the front row and there's 2 people in front of you, as it results in nearly a 30 minute wait!!! Anyway, we had a go and it's as good as always. Lets hope it survives a bit longer, or at least is relocated somewhere it can be enjoyed.Sunday evening we met up with Nev, Christine and Barry, and also our US friends Pete and Lisa, for some food, drink and casino action. We headed off-strip to the Rio as they have a good buffet. The casino has a good "Show in the Sky" and there's always plenty of eye candy during these shows. Following that we headed up to the rooftop nightclub for awesome views over the Vegas strip thanks to some VIP tickets Barry had sourced.
Monday morning we all met up with the intention of going down to Buffalo Bill's resport in Primm Valley, NV to have a look round the shops and ride the Desperado Coaster. We ended up making a brief stop at a new Casino simply called "M" just outside Las Vegas. It's about 7 miles west on Las Vegas Blvd. The intention was to have a look around and for Nev & Barry to sign up to the loyalty scheme. In the end and due to free gambling credits and t-shirts, we all signed up! After a while, we jumped back into the car for the short trip down the I15 to Primm.On arrival we split up to do some shopping before joining up to ride the Desperado Coaster. We went into Buffalo Bill's casino and ended up signing up to the casino loyalty scheme for another free t-shirt and gambling credits before riding the coaster. I think there's demand for a new website here for Nev and Barry... "www.casino-comp-card-count.com"! Anyway, we all had a few goes the Desperado at the front/back etc. and it was very enjoyable. Not the smoothest coaster again, but enjoyable all the same, with blue skys and desert backdrops as we went round.
Following that a quick go on the wheel-of-fortune where the Casino Club of Great Britain photo was taken before heading back to "M" for a free buffet lunch comp'd by the Casino due to the gambling efforts when we simply "popped in" earlier. After our day out, we dropped some people back at Hotels then went to return the rental vehicle as it's no longer needed for the week.
Tuesday Morning was Day 1 of the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Expo at the Las Vegas convention center. We met in the Wynn Casino for the opening ceremony which involved 5 Elvis's (only in Vegas) on stage whilst everyone was seated! The show kicked off with various awards and welcomes, announcements from IAAPA regarding the chairman etc. and a short report on the year the industry has had, and a look into the future and whats coming soon. Following this it was onto the Convention Center for the Expo Show. This is huge! If you walk every aisle of the floor, it'll be a 9 mile journey to cover it all! The show contains absolutely everything that could be associated with the Amusements industry. Over the next two days we visited all the key roller coaster manufacturers stands. All the usual suspects were there including Premier Rides, B&M, Vekoma, Pax, Gravity Group, CGI, Maurer Sohne, Gerstlauer and S&S Power who had their new flying coaster car mocked up in the show. Gravity Group also had the new coaster seats on display for us to try out for comfort. These will be fitted on The Voyage so those going on the USA 2010 trip will be able to try them out for real!
It's easy to become distracted in the show as there is so much to do and have a go on. Some manufacturers construct full sizes rides if they can fit them in the building, and there's an outdoor area for bigger rides (no coasters though!). I must say, having not been to the show before, I have never seen so many inflatables in my life, there's 100's of them in all shapes and sizes! One interesting outdoor display was a real snow generator. We had the opportunity to have a go on a rubber ring and slide down a slope. It wasn't extreme, however for novelty value, riding a real snow slope in the middle of the desert is always good value.We spent 2 days attending the expo and there are many pictures of the attractions and displays which I've added for you to look through. On the Thursday the group split up to do their own thing. Nev, Christine and Barry decided to visit every single casino along the strip from the MGM Grand down to Harrah's, Pete and Lisa headed home to Seattle and Heather and me had a tourist day out to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.
Friday was the last day with a night flight home, so we checked-out of the hotels, dumped the luggage with the bell boy, and headed for the Stratosphere. We all had a go on all three rides at the top which were X-Scream, Insanity and the Big Shot. I had not been on either X-Scream or Insanity before so was looking forward to those. Heather for some reason was simply terrified of the prospect of X-Scream which made for excellent photo's, but strangely loved Insantiy. X-Scream was great, me and Nev sat in the front row and I loved it - hands up all the way, even through the additional 10ft sudden drop that I forgot about (even though Nev had mentioned it prior to riding). The Big Shot is amazing, and out of all the rides and attractions in Las Vegas has to be the best so far. The AIRtime is awesome on this, and with the views and the fact you're on the tallest building in Vegas, just adds to the thrill. We spoke with the management of the Stratosphere who told us about their new ride for next year (2010). This will be called Sky Jump Las Vegas, and will be a freefall jump off the top of the Stratosphere. We're not sure how the logistics will work yet with regards to items left "on the platform" so to speak, as it's intended as a 1 way journey down.
You will be hooked up to a harness and literally jump (or walk the plank) off the top of the tower. As you free fall to the bottom, you'll be slowed down before getting the 900ft+ to street level but experience at least some freefall time. We look forward to hearing more plans about this as it becomes available.So that's it folks! It was then back to the airport for the night flight home! All in all, an excellent week away. Nice to have a go on the Vegas Coasters and attractions again, and see the IAAPA Expo in full swing. I think Nev and Barry enjoyed the casinos not to mention spending the week collecting the various casino chain comp cards. So next time they joke about people that use coaster-count.com, remind them to get on casino-count and casino-comp-card-count.com! HAHA!
Below are some of the pictures from the trip. If you use the slideshow feature, you will see all of them that are not thumbnailed below!
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| The Canyon Blaster Coaster | Group in the rooftop Nightclub at the Rio Casino | Been Here Before? | The Challenge Continues..... | Premier Rides Expo Stand as you walk in |
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| The new Timberliner Seats by Gravity Group | Heather tries the desert snow!! | S&S Power's new Free Flyer Coaster | The B&M Stand | Game on! |
