Stay at the Excal. The Trop is pretty outdated and not so clean. Both have pools and are fine. It's going to be so hot then you won't be at the pool too long.

IF you walk across the street, you can catch the monorail at MGM. But beware, this is almost a mile walk from the entrance of the casino to the monorail station.

Just wear comfy shoes, have plenty of bottled water availble and enjoy your trip!

Definitely stay at the Excalibur. I was bored as an adult at the Tropicana. My son liked the Excalibur. It's an easy walk/monorail to check out the Luxor or walk to NYNY. We grabbed the trolley at the hotel to get us up the strip. We walked back from the Bellagio. It was a very hot summer afternoon, but survived it! A morning walk should be cool enough.

Check out the hours for the fountains though. I don't believe they have shows 24 hours. You may be there too late at night and leaving early the next day. You may want to take a cab directly from the airport to the Bellagio to check it out if the fountains are a "must see". But check out the times. I do think I saw them at midnight once and that might have been the last show. They are memorable. I'll be going to see them again in two weeks.

Enjoy.

Definitely Excalibur, of the two. Trop is striking and goin downhill fast. Across the street next to MGM is Gameworks, M&M and a Mexican Restaurant (alright food, FUN). If you get out of the airport fast and dumped your bags at the hotel fast and got to the strip by 11:00, there should be plenty of time to have some fun and still get a little sleep. Night is the best time to this city. You might even catch the rollercoaster at NYNY.

I would choose Excalibur over Tropicana. I stayed at the Trop in the 80s and it was nice but it has gone downhill. Tropicana is slightly more convenient.

It is possible to get to the hotel by 11PM. With no checked bags figure 15 minutes to get to the taxi stand. At 5PM on a Friday the wait for a taxi might be an hour. At that time on a Saturday I would guess 15 minutes. It's less than 3 miles to the hotel, if you tell the taxi driver to go the "back way", but it could take 15 minutes. That makes it 11PM. Might be a 2 minute wait for the taxi instead of 15. Checking in might take a bit, but you could be walking out of the hotel by 11:30PM

We just stayed in one of Excalibur's remodeled rooms a few weeks ago - much nicer than the room I recall from a stay there about 10 years ago. DH didn't like the bed (too firm). but it was fine for me.

NB