Wife and I are staying at Mandalay Bay for a few days. Any tips on gambling? food? the pool area? shows? etc???
Thanks.

Pool area: get there early enough to get a good spot (not in full sun), depends on how crowded the hotel is at the time. I'd recommend before 9AM. The lazy river was the best part, they rent tubes for like $20 a day but you can bring your own so stop at walmart and pick up something inflatable for dirt cheap and use it the whole time you're there.

Gambling: Watch out playing BJ. Many different rules on different tables. Try and avoid CSM tables (shuffling machine). Middle of the pit tends to be best.

Food: Red Square is great for martini's. Rock lobster was pretty good for lunch, I had a chicken fajita wrap, loved the Noodle Shop where prices were cheap (~$12), thought the buffet sucked compared to Bellagio and in the same price range-definitely not worth it.

Shows: Storm is gone-don't think they replaced it yet. I didn't find anything else interesting at this end of the strip. Clint Holmes at Harrah's was great as was the puppet show guy at Rio during the afternoon was great, get 2 for 1 tickets with a slot card signup. I think Mandalay has the best bar/lounge setup on the strip, they are right on the casino floor and are very open and have bands playing at night. Looked like a lot of fun and not stuffy like Bellagio.

Why would the "middle of the pit" be any better than any other part?

We greatly enjoyed "The Rum Jungle" located there - the 9-course Brasilian "sampler" meal was delicious! Each course is served from huge skewers; chorizo sausage, angus beef,chicken,fish,etc. prepared in different manner, served with salad & rice dishes. You won't leave hungry! Also features, you guessed it, rum drinks - turns into a fun nightclub around 10:30 PM. Also go to "Blue Man Group" next door at the Luxor - reserve tickets early, as it usually sells out fast. Fun, wierd humor, audience participation - we loved it.

Food- the 24 hour restaurant "raffles" is good and convenient. Not cheap, but when we had to grab something at 5:00 AM on the way to the airport, it was very convenient for us. I suggest it if you end up gambling really late and want to grab a bite (it's right at the casino's edge, near the elevators). The have a fairly extensive menu for a 24-hour place.

Red Square is a GREAT place for drinks. We showed up after their kitchen closed, but loved the signature martini with the bleu-cheese olive.

Pool--as others said, get there early. Hours vary slightly on different days, so call from your room in advance, then plan to show up early on. You can even grab a good cup of coffee (starbucks, I think!) at the pool's snack bar. Another advantage of showing up early is that some of the walls cast a shadow in the morning (they don't have umbrellas or many shade trees). Misters everywhere make it about 10 degrees cooler than the regular outdoor temperature. Don't forget your room keys (everyone must bring their own!), because they scan them when you enter. The main pool is one of those silly "wave" pools (with what appears to be a one-foot "wave" every few minutes). We chose one of the two smaller (but still pretty big) pools off to the side, because we didn't want to be in a water-park setting (been there, done that, bor----ing!). There are hot tubs adjacent to these two pools. We got our hot-tub fix here because there weren't any suites available when we checked in. We must have been lucky because all the children we saw at the pool were NOT running around like wild animals, and were PERFECTLY behaved. Witnessing that almost gave me hope for the future of the human race! Another idea is to come to the pool in the mid/late afternoon, for a couple hours before it closes. Less crowded, more shade.

Gambling--I only played a couple slots and some VP. Did okay--almost broke even. Drink service was okay on the floor; I made sure I was on a machine near a walkway. I also played some VP at the bar at the sports book (the screens are under the glass at the bar...neato!). Inexperienced gambler that I am, I didn't expect comped drinks at the bar, but I got a couple very good drinks there (much more potent and tasty than the ones I got from the waitress). Maybe 'cause I amused the bartender by ordering things that were popular about 40 years ago (side cars, rusty nails, etc.), but he made some great drinks and I took care of him tip-wise.

Use the tram to get to Luxor or excalibur, than make your way up the strip from there. There's also a walkway from the casino to the Luxor.

I *think* you can use your Mandalay room charge at the other mandalay properties (luxor excalibur, etc) because the charge receipt from the restaurant seems to indicate this. we didn't eat at other mandalay properties so I don't know for sure.

It's a great resort, enjoy it.