Las Vegas
The Paris Casino with replica half-sized Eiffel tower and balloon
While home at one point to Elvis, the Rat Pack and Liberace (now Bette, Cher, Elton and Barry), Vegas also has a history steeped in tacky. Consider yourself forewarned. Wandering around Downtown after sundown, paying money to climb to the tops of things, waiting to get into a club you know you don't belong at … time best spent elsewhere.
Fremont Street
Almost as pedestrian as it is shabby, the Fremont Street Experience is a "must see" highlighted in every pickpocket's guide book. But if blinking lights and craning your neck like an ostrich in a rainstorm appeals, do what you must to hide your belongings where you would at least notice an intruding hand.
Chinatown
Unlike San Francisco and New York, whose Chinatowns sprung up via a natural, organic influx of immigrants, resulting in a thick concentration of pan-Asian culture, Vegas' Chinatown is about as real as the Venetian's gondoliers' accents. Hokey, garish, and filled with mediocre restaurants and bubble tea houses, this area just west of the Strip at Spring Mountain is best left to the masses. Only Tofu Hut and Joyful House redeem.
Decrepit wedding chapels
Las Vegas and marriage are inextricably linked, but not necessarily in a classy sense. For hens' or bucks' parties, it's a glorious playground of course. And for those who want to get hitched while drunk, ceremony presided over by someone dressed as Elvis, there's no better place on earth.
Most of those wedding chapels of old are … old. And in varying states of disrepair. Unless you're truly in a hurry (in which case there really is a drive-through chapel), skip the Chapel of the Bells/Flowers/West, and the Wee Kirk O' the Heather and either invest just a tad more for one of the myriad Strip hotel chapels — many with useful amenities and package deals (adventurous couples can really stretch their imaginations with helicopter rides to the Grand Canyon for a sunset ceremony, a night-time ceremony over the Strip or even a wedding in the ice bar at New Zealand export, Minus 5 at Mandalay Place) or, for the most personal service, held anywhere you desire, have a friend or family member ordained via the Universal Life Church (free, takes under one minute) to legally bind you in holy matrimony.M&M’s World
Located on Las Vegas Boulevard, about a half-block down from the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel, M & M World, Las Vegas is a must see for the chld in each of us--but may not be a store for a kid. This is a store where real fanatics can spend some money other than the casinos. In fact, the Food Channel even did a segment on the store during its Unwrapped series M&M World Episode . You can see the store from the overhead walkways--just look for the giant yellow bag of candy on the front of the store. The store is just that--a merchandising wonder of the M and M variety. There are four floors of merchandise, including wearing apparel, toys, collectible dishes, cookie jars, pillows, etc. on the first floor. The second level has floor-to-ceiling level bins of all 22 colors/varieties of the candy, including some colors not found in the bags. The candy is sold in small cellophane bags for $9/pound--a bag is estimated to hold about 2 pounds, but it's probably closer to 1 pound. The second floor also has games and different packages of the candy, with birthday bears, decorative boxes, etc. A trip up to the third floor introduces the tourist to a 3-D movie, one of which is " I Left My M in Las Vegas ." The fourth floor is centered around Nascar and M and M sponsorship--the most impressive items are the leather jackets on sale for $299. Tourists seem to think the store is located inside the MGM Casino when, in fact, it's accessible from the MGM Casino stop on the monorail.
Vegas Indoor Skydiving
At Vegas Indoor Skydiving, America's first vertical wind tunnel, you can break the bonds of gravity and body fly. Vegas Indoor Skydiving gives you the chance to test your skills of human flight during a single flight session or as a participant in a personalized coaching program. Vegas Indoor Skydiving is a popular training resource for sport skydivers, competition teams and military units. Our body flight experience can be your resource for corporate team-building programs and high adventure recreational groups.
Vegas Indoor Skydiving, formerly known as
Flyaway, operates America's first indoor skydiving facility built in
1982. At Vegas Indoor Skydiving guests will earn their wings and
experience bodyflight during a simulated skydive experience in the heart
of the Las Vegas Strip. The experience is similar to skydiving with the
addition of a mesh trampoline floor and foam padded walls. Guests are
able to simulate the freefall aspect of skydiving without the use of an
airplane or parachute.
We use a Vertical Wind
Tunnel to introduce guests to the sport of Indoor Skydiving. The tunnel
produces enough wind to support the weight of an average adult. At
Vegas Indoor Skydiving each flyer will attend a brief training class,
suit up in all the necessary flight gear, then jump in the tunnel and
fly. The entire experience will take about an hour.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
WEIGHT GUIDELINES
Men - Male Over 6'0" 230 lbs. max. (over 182cm 105kg max)
- Between 5'6" & 6'0" 220 lbs. max. (171cm & 182cm 100kg max)
- Male Under 5'6" 180 lbs. max. (under 170cm 82kg max)
Ladies
- Women Over 6'0" 200 lbs. max. (over 182cm 91kg max)
- Between 5'6" & 6'0" 180 lbs. max. (171cm & 182cm 82kg max)
- Women Under 5'6" 160 lbs. max. (under 170cm 73kg max)
No Age Limit - Minimum Weight 40 lbs.
Our suggested height and weight restrictions are important. Guests who exceed the maximum weight are not guaranteed to generate enough lift to actually fly. Being outside the weight guidelines is not a safety issue as much as quality of flight. We don't want to take your money and then not be able to provide a high quality experience. Depending on how someone is built, or if they are really tall, we can sometimes be flexible with the maximums. We are often asked why the restrictions are different for men and women, the answer is simply that men and women are built and carry their weight differently. Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Spark your child's imagination by giving them the gift of flight.
Call Toll Free: 877.LUV2FLY to schedule your private function or birthday party.
Things to do:
- Dress in comfortable clothes with socks and sneakers.
- The minimum weight for participation is 40 pounds.
- Minors are required to have a parent or guardian present during flight training.
- Flyers are prohibited from participating under the influence of drugs and alcohol
- No Pregnancy
- Previously dislocated shoulders
- No previous neck or spinal injuries
Things NOT to do:
Santa Claus goes scuba diving in Las Vegas
This Santa Claus stand-in, Jerry Cowley, is an Aquatic Safety manager at Silverton Casino in Las Vegas. Each year, Jerry dons Santa's suit and dives into their aquatic display, fully revamped for the Christmas season.
Jerry puts on a 90-minute exhibit each weekend over the holidays, swimming around and mingling with dozens of species of underwater life, including more than 4000 fish, as well as sharks and stingrays.
Santa isn't alone, though. He's joined by his "assistant elf", Heather Carrasco. Heather, best known for winning gold for swimming in the 1996 Olympics.
Heather won five National Championships and seven World Cup championships. When she's not helping Mr. Claus in the tank, she also coaches young swimmers and athletes.
The real Santa is rumoured to be far too busy in December to break for holidays. He reportedly opts for a stay with Mrs. Claus the Bahamas every June instead.