Tag: Mandalay Bay

Posted in: Exploring Nevada, Hotel, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Cabana and Pool Time, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

Written by tepetravels

The boys and I still woke up early so that they could attend their “live” classes. We snacked on the donuts that we picked up yesterday from pinkbox. Everyone’s favorite was the DoughCro (a croissant/donut). Ben had taken a vacation day, so he finally got to sleep in.

Pretty good donuts. The pink one is funny, but it really is just a lot of icing piped on top of a regular donut with a glaze/shell over the whole thing.

Today was pool day! We were all excited to go swimming. The pool opened at 9:00 am and was operating at 50% capacity due to COVID restrictions. Once capacity was reached, there was a waiting line to get in. If you leave the pool area and it is at capacity, you would need to wait in the line to get back in. However, if you book a cabana, then you can come and go all day long. Masks were also required in the pool area unless in the pool, eating/drinking, or going directly into/out of the pool. There were staff members at exits with disposable masks for people as well. I did see a few stop people who were just walking around or sitting on chairs and give them masks to wear.

We had reserved a cabana for the day on the Mandalay Bay Beach lazy river. Ben had always wanted to try a cabana and it definitely helped with social distancing. The boys also still had school so it gave them a place to do their school work in the morning. Although we had prepaid, you still had to check into the cabana by 11:00am or give them a call to let them know you were going to be later. We packed up, checked out of the hotel room, and headed down to the pool area a little before 9:00. We brought the boys’ computers and the hotspot so they could continue with their classes.

We chose a cabana on the end to help with even more social distancing. The cabana had a loveseat, a table and two chairs, TV, towels, 2 inner tubes, a mini fridge with included Pepsi/Diet Pepsi/water/bucket of ice, 2 lounge chairs under an umbrella, and a safe. Food and beverage service was available for an extra charge.

Tipping and charges were a little different than what I was expecting. There was the cabana charge and the cabana host tipping option (they were the ones in the blue shirts). We didn’t really interact with them much. One person showed us to our cabana and another replaced the waters in the fridge towards the end of the day. The people in red were the food and beverage servers and were a separate charge and tip. We saw our server multiple times during the day, as she checked in on us quite frequently. She was very friendly. We ordered a frozen drink (Miami Vice 22 oz, souvenir plastic cup, $28) and an order of chips and guacamole ($11, way over priced for the amount we actually got). The drink was very tasty! The guacamole was good, a little spicy, but the chips seemed a little stale.

The main pool area had a walk up food/drink service as well, but it looked like the same menu.

There were a few restrooms around the different areas, but not specifically changing rooms that I could see. There was an outdoor shower area to rinse off the sand from the beach. The entry walkway also had a beach shop, but it had very limited gear. I had not not been paying attention when I packed my swimsuit and accidentally grabbed two bottoms. I stopped in the beach shop to see if they had any bathing suit tops. It only had tiny bikini tops and small one-piece suits, no larger swim tops/shirts. (Seriously, I tried on a top and there was no way I could swim and stay in it. I ended up just using my swim skirt bottoms with my bra and top.) Video: Walking Around The Mandalay Bay Beach pool area.

The lazy river was also operating at 50% capacity. When we got there in the morning, there wasn’t a line to get in, but towards the afternoon it got crowded and you did have to wait in line. There were times it was just a sea of people floating past us, so we took a dip in the Wave Pool to avoid any crowds. NOTE: You can also bring your own inner tubes for the lazy river as long as they are round, no rafts. There is a fill up station near the lazy river entrance. Video: Traveling Along The Mandalay Bay Beach Lazy River.

The lazy river was a decent temperature. It was a little cool when you first got in, but I quickly adjusted so it wasn’t bad at all. The Wave Pool was freezing. It would have been really funny to watch everyone’s faces as they got in the water, but I’m pretty sure I had the same “Holy Cow, this is cold” look on my face.

NOTE: The walkways are very slippery if they are wet or even just walking with wet feet! Go slow. The Wave Pool also goes off every 90 seconds, I believe.

Posted in: Exploring Nevada, Hotel, Sightseeing

Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas

We have been living in our 400 square foot RV since June. It’s been quite the adjustment from the much larger house we had and learning to live together in a small space has had its challenging days. Sometimes all you need is some space! During our stay in Las Vegas, Ben wanted to treat everyone and stay in a hotel for the night.

Prices for hotel rooms were pretty cheap when we were there. After checking to see what hotels were open and also had pools, we choose the Mandalay Bay because it had a lazy river. What can beat a lazy river?! I looked at the hotel’s website for booking, but found a cheaper rate online. The hotel claimed they matched third party pricing, so I called the hotel directly to book and they did match the other price. Yay!

You could check in online (I believe it was an app), or they had check-in available at the hotel front desk. We chose to check-in at the hotel. There was an EMT taking temperatures at the check-in line and masks were required.

You did need an active hotel keycard to access the guest floors from the elevator. I had gone to check-in while Ben parked the truck, so I waited until the boys came in to go up to the room. When we arrived outside our hotel room, I noticed a seal sticker on the door to show that it had been cleaned and not gone into again. There was also a little cover over the TV remote to show it had been cleaned as well.

Our room was a standard 2 queen room and was 550 square feet. It seemed so spacious! I guess if we didn’t have the kitchen area, the RV would too. 😂 The bathroom though…man…it was definitely one of my favorite parts. There was a walk-in shower and a separate bathtub. Guys, I took a shower without worrying about running out of hot water, someone flushing the toilet and having no water, or the grey tank getting full and backing up into the shower! It was amazing!

Our room overlooked the pool area, had two queen beds, a work desk and chair, and a small table with two chairs. There was a mini-fridge, but it was for pre-stocked items only. There were sensors, so if you moved something to put your own supplies in the fridge, you were charged a fee.

The desk had a complimentary kit that contained 2 reusable masks and a hand sanitizer. The letter with it also said it had a stylus, although ours did not. Ben did say it was the most comfortable mask he’s worn (other than his gaiter). I thought that was a really nice touch. Masks are required in Nevada and most casinos have the disposable masks available near the entries, but these were nice reusable ones.

We relaxed for a little bit in the room and then drove to Henderson to explore and grab some food. There were several food places open in the hotel (the buffet and a few of the nicer sit down places were closed), but we felt like going out. We grabbed some burgers for dinner and donuts for breakfast.

Coming back to the hotel, we had an easy relaxing night of reading and some TV.

The bed was nice, a little softer than I like but Ben loved it. The pillows were soft, although not as bad as feather pillows. It was so nice to have a real queen sized bed where our toes were not in danger of hanging off if we scooted down a little. (A regular queen mattress is 60×80, but the RV Short Queen is 60×75,) It was also really nice to not have the room move every time someone moved around in their bed!

Posted in: Exploring Nevada, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Las Vegas: Hershey’s and The Strip

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Las Vegas: Hershey’s and The Strip

We headed back to The Strip and parked at New York New York. We didn’t get down to this part of the Strip yesterday. We were pretty tired and the monorail is not running at the moment (COVID). As we walked in, the roller coaster was running and we could hear screams (hopefully of delight).

Our destination wasn’t really the casino, but the Hershey store. The store was so much fun. Almost anything you could think of was for sale with the candy logos: toy cars, baking accessories, extra large candy, clothes, scented candles, etc. It made me wish I had a bigger place, because I would have bought the kids some gear, a few chocolate candy scented candles for me, and the Twizzlers scarf for Ben. I did a walk through video as well that’s up on YouTube. The chocolate Statue of Liberty and Twizzlers Statue of Liberty were pretty neat to see.

We headed down to the Excalibur. The shows, several food/drinks stores, and the arcade are closed right now (COVID). It was pretty empty of things to do other than gamble.

Next, we walked through the Luxor and looked at the different statues. Just like the rest of Vegas, the shows are closed at least until November. We were hoping to see the Blue Man group because I think the boys would have gotten a kick out of it.

Our final stop for this part of the Strip was Mandalay Bay. They had some really neat fountains.

COVID NOTES:

Excalibur: Shows, many food/drink places, and the arcade are closed. Hand sanitizer stations around the casino.

Luxor: Hand sanitizer stations, shows closed.

New York New York: Hand sanitizer stations. New York’s arcade and some rides were open.

Mandalay Bay: Buffet closed, but many other food places open. Hand sanitizer stations available.

Pools: At one time you could rent cabanas and beach chairs to the various hotel pools. However, now you have to be a guest of the hotel to enjoy the pools.

Monorail is closed.

Posted in: Exploring Nevada, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Las Vegas: Walking The Strip

Written by tepetravels

After brunch at the Wicked Spoon, we decided to walk the Strip. We had parked the car at the Cosmopolitan before breakfast. Many of the casinos on the Strip were offering free self-parking. The Cosmopolitan’s garage was under the hotel/casino and was really neat. Each parking spot had a sensor which would glow green if empty and red if occupied. The end of the rows also told how many available spots there were.

We wandered through the Cosmopolitan to exit onto Las Vegas Blvd. The casino had a hands free motion activated door opener, which was neat.

When we made it out onto the Strip, it was a little after 10:00 am and already very sunny and warm.

Our first stop was the Bellagio. They still had the beautiful flowers on the ceiling that I remembered from years ago. The boys said they were neat, but I think that was more to appease me than anything else.

They did like the Conservatory. It was set up for Fall and contained a woodland scene. It was amazing. It had to have taken so much time to set up. There were fountains, flower covered mushrooms and trees, a talking tree, a tree house, flickering dragonflies, and a large tree you walked through. I have a quick video on YouTube that shows the display.

Next we headed to Caesars Palace. We walked through the Forum Shops. The Atlantis show was cancelled, but we still got to see the different statues and the sky ceiling. The fish tank was fun to watch as well. There was even a COVID-19 Essentials store which sold a large variety of face masks. We took the spiral escalator down (because when are we going to see one of those again?) and headed back out to the Strip.

Our next stop was the Mirage. We saw the waterfall in the front (we had just missed seeing it turn into a volcano last night) and the atrium.

We headed over to Treasure Island. The front of this had changed since I was last there. I got to see the Pirate vs British ship and the guy vs girl battle shows in the past. Those are over now, although I wish they still had the Pirate vs British show since the kids would have gotten a kick out of it. The one ship now has what looked like horns on the bow and a large Viking shield by the wheel (even though the boat itself has not changed design and is definitely not a Viking ship). I found this video on YouTube of the original pirate show.

We stopped at the Wynn next. The inside was beautifully decorated. There was a moving carousel made of flowers. The horses even had eyelashes! The nearby walkway had large flower balls hanging from the trees. Further down the path was a hot air balloon also made from flowers (this one didn’t move).

Off to the Venetian! The gondolas were running, so we watched them for a few minutes outside. We wandered around for a little bit inside and found Carlo’s. I used to watch Buddy’s show all the time! We got a cannoli and a lobster tail to try later.

We walked past the LINQ. We’re hoping to do the High Roller Wheel later in our stay.

We stopped in Paris for pastries and bought an eclair and an apple pie tart.

Everyone was pretty tired by this point and we still had to walk back to the truck. On the way back, I was slightly envious of all the people with scooters zooming along the sidewalks.

We ended the night with the boys taking a dip in the campground’s pool.

COVID-19 Notes On Las Vegas Casinos:

Because we had the kids with us (and the fact that I am not a big gambler at all), we mostly just walked through the casinos to see what we could see. We stayed on the main walkways for the most part, so these notes are definitely not everything, just what I observed as we walked through.

Bellagio: Throughout the Bellagio, especially at the entrances, they had stations of hand sanitizer and masks available for use. Near the casino floor, they also had a hand washing station. There were floor markers for social distancing at check-in and the Conservatory.

Caesar’s Palace: At the entrances, they had stations of hand sanitizer and a sign with Mr. Las Vegas wearing a mask. Masks were not available at the station we saw, but it did say they were available at the front desk, security, and Rewards Center. When we exited the casino, we did see a mask and hand sanitizer station, so I guess they had masks at select spots. Seating/benches were marked as closed by a sticker, but not roped off, so many people ignored the signs.

Mirage: We didn’t explore the whole gaming floor since we had the kids with us. The blackjack tables did have plastic dividers between players.

Treasure Island: This was the worst casino we have seen so far on the trip. The main entrance off the strip did not have hand sanitizer or masks. The doors are not touch-less to enter. I was glad I had my own sanitizer with me.

Wynn: Hand sanitizer stations available. The roulette wheels had coverings on the outer side near the walkways. Blackjack tables had plastic shields between players.

Venetian: When we entered from the Strip side, there was a hand sanitizer station. They also had a thermal temperature scanner that took temperature readings as guests walked in. There was even a staff member standing at the top of the escalator telling people to fix their masks if they had it on wrong (not covering their nose, etc.). Poker tables had plastic dividers between players.

Paris: Social Distancing floor stickers by restaurants. Mask stations.

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