Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 8)

Reinhold Schmitt
ISA-GUIDE Chefredakteur (V.i.S.d.P.)
E-Mail: info@isa-guide.de


(rs) The 27.th October 1993 is regarded as the historical date in history of Las Vegas. Under the presence of almost 200.000 spectators, who gathered at the Las Vegas Boulevard, nearby the Flamingo, were under the authority of Steve Wynn, Chairman of the Mirage Resorts Inc., the detonation-ignition device has been activated in order to knock the Dunes Hotel and Casino, biased by computer based explosive’s blasting composition down to Ground Zero.

This was not the first implosion of a Hotel-Casino, but probably one of the most remarkable at all. Because of it should initiate a new era in Families‘- and Theme-Hotels. Simultaneously with the „execution“ of the Dunes there has been celebrated an opening of another casino some 2 Kilometers further northwards, the Treasure Island. Steve Wynn, a very remarkable manager of the casinos-scenery of Las Vegas, who became big by means of acquiring the Golden Nugget in Downtown, as well as the Atlantic City, should have been imposing a completely new etiquette.

By the beginning of the 80ies there have been about 46.000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas. The annual figure of the visitors was 12 Millions. Only just 10 years later, both figures almost doubled. Further on approximately 21 Million visitors were coming annually and there were about 94.000 hotel rooms ready. Up until today Las Vegas is regarded as the most visited city in the world and until today Las Vegas is regarded as the most visited City in the world and has shook off so far all the other destinations. Either within the tourism sector Las Vegas did overtake yet the journey’s destinations as Orlando, Florida, as well as what there is regarding Conventions, where New York or Chicago has been leading so far.

The population of the City Las Vegas has rose within the last years that immensely that it has to be seriously considered according to Logistics and the demand for water. The city grows today for approximately 6.000 inhabitants more each month, i.e. annually for 70.000. Including the suburbs the city counts its about 2 ½ Millions of inhabitants today.

The Internationals airport of Las Vegas has 2 main terminals, one terminal for the International Arrivals and the Charter, where e.g. Thomas Cook sets the tourists from Frankfurt, and one for all other flights. This airport doesn’t know any times of grounding order, every 100 seconds there is at least 1 Take-off or 1 Landing. McCarran International Airport is regarded as one of the 5 largest airports of the USA and is used meanwhile also as a turnstile, so here are landing also travellers, who were even not intending to come to Las Vegas, but are about to fly directly further. Who arrives at Terminal 1 is already after ones get off expected by Slot-machines and Video-Poker-devices. Also at the Luggage-pick-up there are rows of Slot-machines to give the tourists just once the adequate welcome.

Until 1995 Las Vegas reached the phenomenal amount of inhabitants of 1 Million that has been above any expectations of the Founder of this City. And until today this figure did even once double!
The concept of the new Casinos of Las Vegas matched fully. Off from the pure idea of games of chance, towards a family oriented place of entertainment.
Theme Hotels that should were lifting their visitors into a sort of Fantasy World, where there was just the right for every taste. So were hotels built like the ancient times style (Excalibur), of a Pirate Look (Treasure Island), some Italian (Monte Carlo, Venetian), Paris, New York, … Until today this trend seemed to be decreasing, and the hotels began again, to be not anymore for families only as aligned. The „Adult“ concept comes again more to popularity nowadays. This is nowadays‘ concept. However 10 years ago it looked still completely different.

The Excalibur Hotel and Casino is probably one of the more extreme examples for a family-oriented Casino. It opened on 19.th June 1990, exactly in time of holidays‘ season. The costs for the construction work were 300 Million Dollar and the 28-floors Hotel has 4.023 rooms in total. It reminds regarding statements on a Disneyland-like castle and its interior reminds on a knights‘ fortress. The croupiers have uniforms on as some 1.000 years ago, and court jesters in the above level inspire children. Occasionally there is a Lady shown, how she plays the harp. One gets the impression, to be in another era. From the beginning on the Exalibur Hotel was extremely successful. With some estimated 30.000 visitors a day and a room exploitation of almost 100 %, a dream of balance sheet for every casino proprietor.

And the success of this concept should encourage every manager of Circus Circus to further projects. The Luxor, a Theme-Hotel in the Olt-Egyptian style was opened directly next to the Exalibur on 15.th October 1993. A 30-floors bronze coloured Pyramid with 2.526 rooms and an extension for some additional rooms. Today the Luxor is directly combined by means of automatically driven „Moving-Walks“ and a air-conditioned Way with the Exalibur, as well as that both are connected to the newest Hotel of this Casinos Group at all, with the Mandalay Bay, by means of a mono-rail, which is permanently pending and so is conveying passengers like the tourists‘ masses to and fro, of course free of costs.

In order to give the well-disposed Reader an imagination about the size of these casinos, here are a few main data about it. The gambling area in the Luxor consists of about 30.000 square meters. It comprises about 2.500 Slot-machines. The elevators that are leading of Casinos‘ level the hotel rooms are called „inclinators“. Under the Casinos‘ level is some kind of Nil-imitated scenery, where the visitors could make a trip around by boats and be transferred to a dream-world of the Ancient Egypt. On the 3.rd level, which is the New York Times Square level, is the hotbed for „New-Talents of Gamblers“ i.e. for Children. Here there are some entertainment possibilities – from the Videogame to the 3-D-Imax Theatre. And of course there was also a McDonalds Restaurant and other catering-possibilities. Simultaneously with that expansion’s wave there was also in the Head office of Circus Circus Enterprises no one sleeping. There has been built the Grand Slam Canyon as an additional attraction, a roofed over entertainment’s world of the High-tech format, for children and such, who wants to stay it. There is a roller coaster and different other attractions that can be used unlimited for a daily-ticket.

Nevertheless the Visitor of the Circus Circus Hotels will not overcome it how that this hotel is not anymore just the newest. The hotel has meanwhile 35 years yet and though has an additional Hotel-tower with several hundred rooms additionally, to be able to host even more guests. The Casino-floor however has stayed on same size and the Casino is still as it was highly rentable.

With the completion of the Mandalay Bay Casino the name of the enterprise had been changed then as well to Mandalay Bay Group. Mandalay Bay, the Flagship of the company is one of the top-hotels of Las Vegas with an own aligned sand-beach for the visitors. The hotel-lobby is decorated as an aquarium, in which the baby-sharks swim about. In spite of carrying salt water out of the Pacific to offer the sea’s inhabitants an adequate living-environment, there has been Millions of sweet water artificially salted so that the sharks would have optimum living conditions. And the palms that were adorning the casinos from outsides have never ever been from these latitudes. They are since years transported from palm plantations of California on vans.

Only Las Vegas is where the city is the show.

How the show went on and what Steve Wynn else did have as surprises on stock – more about it in the continuation to this series.

See also:
New reports: Gambling in Las Vegas
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 1)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 2)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 3)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 4)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 5)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 6)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 7)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 9)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 10)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 11)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 12)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 13)
Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 14 – End)

Walk through Las Vegas