Vegas Honeymoon - Shows, Trip, Restaurants
 

My husband to be and I will be having part of our honeymoon in Las Vegas. We're booked into the Venetian from 29 June 05 to 5 July 05.

We have chosen to see 2 shows - a traditional showgirl one and a big production show but can't chose between Jubilee and Folies Bergere for the former choice and Mystere and O for the latter. Any thoughts?

We have also earmarked Picasso, Delmonico, Emerils Steakhouse, Rosemary's Restaurant and the buffet at Paris as places to eat. Are there any other suggestions for good food - perhaps a Deep South/Creole restaurant?

We are also deliberating about which helicopter company to use for our Grand Canyon trip. We want to fly by helicopter from Las Vegas but want the ability to land on the rim of the canyon - do all the big companies do this or just land inside the canyon? I think the photos will be better taken from the top of the rim of the canyon.

Where is going to be the best place in Vegas to get a feel for American Independence day on the 4th July? We're very excited to be there on that day. :-)

Thank you in advance for any help.

Jules

Jubilee has better seating, but Folies is less corny IMHO. Folies is also cheaper.

Mystere put me to sleep. Everyone else raves about it. I haven't seen O.

For deep south/creole food, try Commander's Palace located in the Desert Passage at the Aladdin. This is a branch of the famous New Orleans restaurant.

You might try www.looktours.com for answers to your tour questions. Their customer service agents will be able to help you as well.

I am using Papillon Helicopter Tours and actually getting married on the floor of the Grand Canyon

If you want a great buffet, go to Mandalay Bay. The food is great.

I agree with the recommendation for deep south/creole food at Commander's Palace. You may also want to look into the VooDoo Cafe at the top of the Rio. It has an outstanding view of the Strip and a great atmosphere.

First off, congratulations on your marriage! :)

I highly recommend O over Mystere, based on the fact that O has a dry/water stage that's amazing. I think the story line and choregraphy is much better as well. I always leave O feeling it ended too soon...

Another show to consider is La Reve at the new Wynn resort. It should be up and running, but I have no idea on ticket prices, etc or even if there's any available. They showed a commercial for it last night and it looks awesome! It will also have a water/dry stage similar to O and is choregraphed by the same guy. I can't wait...

As for restaurants, I highly recommend the Paris buffet, mostly because of the handmade crepes. We always enjoy our meals at Prime - they have the best staff in the world (and the food's not bad either!) I'm not fond of the Mandalay Bay buffet - it seemed small and overpriced, unless you indulge in the king crab legs.

Off strip, there's an Italian restaurant that is quite the romantic spot. It's called Capo's and is designed like a speak easy. It looks unimpressive from the street, but it's amazing inside with really great food. It's not far from the strip, so a cab ride there wouldn't be outrageous.

As for fireworks, there's a big fireworks display on the strip itself. We watched it once from the Treasure Island parking garage, and it was great. The VooDoo club at the Rio (previously mentioned), the Ghost Bar at the Palms, or the top of the Eiffel tower at Paris would be my top 3 choices for watching fireworks. The view from the ground should be fantastic as well.

I saw Folies a few days ago.
It was awful. We had 2-for-1 tickets and that was a little more than what it was worth.
The scenic design was very nice.
The music production was bad. I'm fairly certain they used stock sounds on cheap synthesizers to do the orchestrations.
The arrangements took any emotion that may have been in the original song and tossed it out.
The volume was a little harsh, too, but most of the audience seemed to be at an age where they might need that extra volume in order to hear.
I think that the dancers, individually, were good but they were rarely in sync with each other.
There were occasions where the lighting colors clashes with the colors of the costumes.
The juggler who had his own spot near the end of the show was the best part.

I haven't seen Jubilee!, but it is high on my list. I'm a little leery of seeing it after seeing Folies. I get the impression that Jubilee! is a much better show though.

Mark

What are you looking for in a Cirque show?
Mystere is the stereotypical Cirque du Soleil show. I saw it years ago when the ticket price was very prohibitive to me. I was amazed. The show was absolutely worth it.
I haven't seen 'O' yet, so I can't compare the two. I will be seeing it in a few weeks and I 'd be happy to post a comparison if you are interested.

I have seen every other Cirque show in Vegas. I really enjoyed Zumanity and Ka. Neither are as acrobat heavy as the typical Cirque production. Zumanity was a great cabaret. Having a seat in the front row where I was able to see where the costumes began and ended was nice, too.
Ka is a technical phenomenon. It also focuses on telling the story more than acrobatics. I posted a review of it a while ago. You should be able to do a search for it.

Take Care,
Mark

Vegas is the ONLY place you'll see "O". It's bizarre, amazing, confusing, exciting - so much wrapped in one.

Jubilee would have been disappointing had I not had such low - campy - expectations. It really wasn't worth the price of the full price tickets.

About 30 minutes before showtime, while racing to meet my friend who was joining me - I entered Bally's from the strip (through the big outdoor neon tunnel) and saw a hand-written sign just inside the sliding doors. They were selling full price tickets ($60, I think) at the deep discount of $5 each. I felt like a chump for paying full price.

Ate at Rosemary's Restaurant last night -- be forewarned that it's VERY far from the strip so a cab will cost you about $20 or so each way. Their prix fixe dinner of $39.95 is superb, great value and very well done. The chef's tasting dinner was uneven, and not worth the charge. Out of five courses, two were excellent, three were fair to poor. Very disappointing. Our service was surprisingly unattentive, unfriendly and spotty; the restaurant was virtually empty so there was no shortage or stress on the waitstaff.

We like Bouchon at the Venetian so much we're going back. The breakfast at Paris, as others have said, is exceptionally well done, very fresh, excellent value, with some really fun things like boudin blanc and smoked whitefish and sturgeon -- and the hollandaise for the eggs benedict (a true test as far as I'm concerned) perfect.

B/

I've seen both Mystere and O and my vote goes to Mystere. However, I seem to be in the minority with that viewpoint. Maybe it's because I saw Mystere first so it was new and novel to me, and expected O to exceed that? I've heard KA is also good, but don't have first hand knowledge.

I saw KA last night. It was very good. The theater is spectacular. The show is less acrobatic than other Cirque shows I've seen (Mystere, "O" and LaNouba). My husband thought it was the best Cirque show he's seen. My favorite is Mystere. However, I am a big Cirque fan and enjoyed KA very much.

Congrats on the marriage!

Have fun!

With regard to the Grand Canyon part of your trip, photos (and views) from the bottom are actually more spectacular (imho). If you can, try to get down to the bottom for at least part of your visit. We did our tour through look tours and had time along the rim and at the bottom. We were on the West Rim, which was uncrowded and beautiful. Have a great trip!

I went in 2003 and again last month. I loved Mystere, but I have never seen "O". I have seen La Nouba as well and enjoyed Mystere better.

If you like crab legs, we did go to the Bayside Buffet at Mandalay Bay and all 5 of us enjoyed it.

In 2003 we went to an all sea food buffet at the Rio. I am a light eater and it was expensive. The food was just okay, not really worth it for me. I thought that Mandalay was better.

We walked through the Venetian and it was so beautiful. I am sure thatyou will have a wonderful time!