What should we do in Vegas - preferably on the cheap

[savingtofreedom]

So my in-laws are taking us to Vegas as a Christmas present from last year.  We had a choice of $1,000 a couple or a trip to Vegas (flight, hotel, buffet of buffets for two, and $100).   They are very generous and we do appreciate it.  They are also the complete opposite of frugal.   I would have chosen the money but my husband was getting annoyed that I am sometimes too much of a cheap bastard.

Unfortunately I think that $100 is going to go to gambling -  I don't gamble as I hate losing money but if I can get him to stick to just $100 and free drinks during that time it is not the end of the world.

Would love some ideas on free or cheap things to do and low cost eating options.  We will be there Friday - Monday.  Our last two trips have went way over the restaurant budget because of poor planning and I do not want to do that again.  I will probably bring Kashi and fruit for breakfast so that should help. 

Thanks in advance!!

[honobob]

Take the dam tour.

[crazy jane]

People watching, the fountains at The Bellagio, the botanical garden also at The Bellagio, the volcano in front of The Mirage and the show in front of Treasure Island are all free. Red Rock Canyon is inexpensive, but you would need a car. Have fun!

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

If you are on the Strip, take a walk up and down the Strip at night when all of the casinos are lit up. Stop and watch the fountain show outside of the Bellagio, the volcano eruption outside of the Mirage, or the pirate? show outside of TI. Walk through many of the bigger casinos and look at the extravagantly wastefulness. These things are shrines to the money gamblers are throwing away. Walk through the Venetian shops and look at the canals and gondolas. Walk through the Ceasar's Palace shops. Walk through Bellagio and Aria. For a first time visitor, the sights can take up a lot of your time. The Strip is long. When I'm there I go for a walk/jog in the morning while everyone is in bed. I go from the Venetian down to Mandalay Bay and back. It's a great workout. So, hopefully you are in shape and can walk the Strip one night.

I find the Strip at night annoying now. Various escort agencies pay the immigrants to stand every 25 feet trying to give you cards with nearly named chicks on them advertising for the escort services. These cards are littered everywhere. Lot of panhandlers around. And late at night, when everyone out is so drunk they can't talk or walk, that gets annoying, too. I refuse to pay for cabs and I always stay at cheaper hotels and walk to the good poker rooms. And I don't understand the people who a) bring kids to Vegas, and b) are walking around with them at 2am when it's nothing but drunk people stumbling and cursing.

But, for a first timer, the Strip is cool to see. Free and you can kill a lot of time walking through all of the casinos and shopping areas.

If you are downtown, check out the Freemont Street Experience. The area of the old school Vegas casinos now has a roof over the street and there is a light and sound show every hour on the canopy over the street. And they normally have concerts outside too.

For the most part, cheap food no longer exists. You have to go with fast food for that or go to a locals place. But Vegas now is one of the top dining destinations in the world. If you can, try and have at least one good meal. Just use Google to research all of your options: cuisine and pricing.

I don't have much else to add. When I'm in Vegas, I'll hit a sports book with friends during the day to bet sports/horses, and then play as many hours of poker as I can each night.

[savingtofreedom]

Thanks for the feedback everybody.  I probably should have stated that I have been to Vegas before but haven't made it to all of the place listed.    I do hate the overpriced food.  The buffet of buffets is actually one of the better deals - so that will cover us for 4 meals.

I will have to use Yelp to see what other restaurants are a good value. 

Iron Mike - I agree that the guys flipping the pictures of naked ladies is pretty obnoxious.  I don't think we will really be partying this trip - I  am looking at this as more of a relaxing type vacation where I read some and chill out. 

I am a former shopaholic that tries to limit my shopping to window shopping so may do some of that.  The people watching is also awesome.

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Another idea.

I don't drink anymore, but we used to like going to the Indigo Lounge at Bally's. it's a small little lounge right off the main gambling floor at Bally's. we used to end up there at night on the weekends. No cover and they used to have cool little cover bands that specialized in 60's and early 70's soul music. Or at least the few years we went they had them. I always enjoyed dancing the night away to classic R&B and soul.

If you're into those dueling piano bars, Harrah's has a good one. I find them cheesy now. And the people that come up to sing karaoke hurt my ears now. But that's just me being sober.

If I ever become FI, Vegas is on my short list with Florida to move to - no state income tax and good poker scenes. I definitely would take advantage of Red Rocks Canyon if I lived out there.

I think I've been to Vegas seven times and never seen a show. Of course, I've never been there with a significant other. I would catch a Cirque show if I do go out there with someone special.

[Rich M]

Take the dam tour.

I thought that was a big ripoff actually.  First they charge to park, then the tour is a huge cost.  I got suckered into the parking then learned with a little walking I could have saved that coin.

I say drive across the dam, park for free, walk back across the dam, do the new highway.  All free.--make sure you tour the restrooms.  Not kidding--they rock!

If you want an awesome free dam tour, go to The lake Powell Dam.  It's a taller damn and the tour is hardly crowded and all free.

Otherwise, I feel Vegas is not cheap anymore and it super crowded. It's a model of antimustachicism.

[Senor Smallchange Soulpatch]

The Pinball Hall of Fame (www.pinballhall.org): Free admission, but playing the machines costs money obviously.  You can stay entertained here for hours on a few bucks in quarters though.  It's a couple miles off the strip on Tropicana, so if you're staying on the south end of the strip (MGM, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Tropicana, etc.) it's walkable if you're adventurous and the sun's still up (not the greatest neighbohood).  If you're center/north strip or downtown you can get there by bus easy enough.

The National Atomic Testing Museum (www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org):  $14 bucks admission, but well worth it IMO if you're into military tech and/or cold war history.  Easily walkable from center strip or via bus if you're coming from farther away.

Hiking at Red Rock Canyon:  You'll need a car for this one.  Absolutely beautiful out there though.

Fremont street/downtown:  The light show on Fremont is worth checking out and costs nothing.

CET "Buffet of Buffets" (www.totalrewards.com/microsites/las-vegas/buffet-of-buffets):  $50 for a 24 hour buffet pass to all the CET casinos.  Time it right and you can get 2 dinners a breakfast and a lunch.  $12.50/meal/person isn't exactly mustachian, but you will not be able to beat it on the strip unless you go strictly fast food.

Walk from casino to casino, stop in at each one, sign up for their player's club cards and see if they're running any promos for new signups.  You should be able to grind out a few bucks worth of free play and/or some discount meals.  Cosmopolitan has been running a $100 slot loss rebate that is a very good deal.  Basically, if you have a net loss of $100 in a calendar day, you can take your card to the membership desk and they'll load $100 of free play on it.  Then you can run that $100 through a lower-variance machine (video poker works well for this) and expect to get ~$90 of it back.  The killer part about this promo is that the $100 resets every day.  Meaning you can go in and sign up on your first day, then plunk your $100 into a machine and start playing.  If you lose the $100, go get your freeplay.  But if you win, cash out and come back the next day.  The required loss for the promo resets at midnight.  You could in theory win a million bucks on Friday night, then come back on Saturday, lose $100 and claim your $100 rebate, even though at that point you'd be lifetime ahead $999,900.  In practice you will come out a few tens of dollars ahead or behind the vast majority of the time, but it reduces your risk of loss considerably.

[Villanelle]

The pinball hall of fame is really fun.  It is off the strip, in an unassuming little strip mall.  It isn't really a museum in the traditional sense, nor is it an arcade.  It is filled with old (and newer) pinball machines and other arcade games, and you can spend some time checking them out, and toss in a few quarters here and there for some games.  If you want to the info, it is on trip advisor and is rated one of the top things to do in Vegas, surprisingly.

[Done by Forty]

A blogger I follow goes to Vegas regularly -- I think if you commented on a Vegas post or emailed her she'd be able to give you some good Mustachean activities:

http://www.allyouneedisenough.com/2012/10/keep-your-money-in-your-pockets-tip-7.html

[zoltani]

I second the pinball hall of fame, but i am a pinball fanatic.  The atmosphere leaves something to be desired though.

Red Rock Canyon is where I spend most of my time in Vegas, great rock climbing!

What time of year?  If it is not summer then you could hike to arizona hot springs, it is pretty amazing.
http://www.nps.gov/lake/planyourvisit/hikeazhot.htm

[savingtofreedom]

You guys are awesome!!  I am going this weekend.  Looks like it is going to be warm.

As part of the trip the in-laws are paying for the Buffet of Buffets.  SSS (love the name by the way) we have done the Buffet of Buffets before and as you recommended we got 4 meals out of it.  It is a great deal as I eat the shit out of some crab legs at dinner at Planet Hollywood - you can also eat pretty healthy with all of the salad bars which is nice.

The pinball hall of fame sounds like fun.  I could see my husband and brother in law being into it.

The Cosmo promo sounds great. I am going to tell my husband about that.  Hell I may even gamble if I can get my money back. 

The in laws are also taking us to a show - but they have probably seen every single one of them so may be tricky picking which one we see next. 

We have been to the red rocks before - I believe when we were in Arizona (they have red rocks too - or am I making that up?).

[Nords]

The National Atomic Testing Museum (www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org):  $14 bucks admission, but well worth it IMO if you're into military tech and/or cold war history.  Easily walkable from center strip or via bus if you're coming from farther away.

Another vote for the atomic museum.  (Man, what a relief that I'm not the only one posting about it.)  I thoroughly enjoyed all of the history as well as the equipment displays.  Only a 20-minute stroll from the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel.

I was not very amused to see that some of the radiacs that I used in the 1980s are now considered museum equipment...

[Senor Smallchange Soulpatch]

FYI, just checked the Cosmo website and it says the $100 rebate promo ends today (April 30).  They've been been extending it one month at a time for about a year now, so it very likely will still be valid this weekend.  But make sure you double-check with the staff at the membership desk before you go light $100 on fire.  Also get them to clarify which games it is good for.  You can't use it on anything with a progressive jackpot for example.  There are a few other restrictions as well.

I did it about a month ago and went straight to the high limit room and burned my $100 in 4 spins.  Then I ran my freeplay through a $1 blackjack machine and ended up cashing out $116.  My wife did it more conservatively and went with the $1 blackjack the whole time.  She got ahead $40 the first night and decided to take the win then lost the $100 the second night and ended up cashing out $80 from her freeplay.  So net we were only up $36, but it beats losing (not to mention that we were basically getting paid to drink for several hours each night).  And that will very likely be the only time in my life I'll have the experience of playing a $25/pull slot machine, if only for the 30 seconds it took to lose that first hundred.

[NWstubble]

I second the pinball hall of fame, but i am a pinball fanatic.  The atmosphere leaves something to be desired though.

Red Rock Canyon is where I spend most of my time in Vegas, great rock climbing!

What time of year?  If it is not summer then you could hike to arizona hot springs, it is pretty amazing.
http://www.nps.gov/lake/planyourvisit/hikeazhot.htm

So many great outdoor activities to do, enjoy the pleasant weather and see some beautiful sights vs. the crap that is the strip.

[savingtofreedom]

I wanted to thank the folks that recommended checking out Red Rocks Canyon Park.

It was amazing. 

I can't say I will miss being in Vegas - it is pretty un Mustachian but it was great that everything was pretty much paid for.  My husband even won $300 the second night of our trip and managed to not gamble the rest of the weekend.

[zoltani]

Glad you had a good time.  I was kind of bummed last year when i learned that some of my family was relocating to vegas....but i have come to appreciate the amount of beauty and outdoor activities that are in the immediate area. 

[Grigory]

Fremont street/downtown:  The light show on Fremont is worth checking out and costs nothing.

I second that! Fremont is where the locals go to hang out - the Strip is simply too expensive. Fremont has street artists, performers, mimes, tons of eye candy, cheap beer and snacks, bands, etc... Oh, and the light show is pretty much amazing.

Since you'll be visiting in December, it probably won't be worth it to go to the First Friday art festival (held every first Friday of every month) downtown: when it gets chilly in Vegas (40 degrees haha), everyone stays indoors. Still worth a shot if you've got nothing else to do, though.

[spoonman]

Another thing you can do is go to the M&M and Coca Cola stores...you'll have the most awesomest time!  (if you have kids, it's a slam dunk).