Free Las Vegas
Attractions
(also see our separate page about non-free
attractions)
Bellagio Fountains
The
most ambitious water feature ever conceived in terms of
choreography, complexity and scale, the Fountains at
Bellagio express the romantic spirit of the Resort. More
than a thousand fountains dance in front of the Hotel,
creating a breathtaking union of water, music and light. The
display spans more than a fifth of a mile, with water
soaring as high as 240 feet in the air. The fountains are
choreographed to music ranging from classical and operatic
pieces to songs from Broadway shows. Performances range from
delicate and whimsical to grand and commanding, and each
performance is uniquely expressive in its interpretation.
(from Bellagio's
website) The Las Vegas Sun says it has 1,200
nozzles, 4,500 lights, and cost $40 million to build.
Shows begin at Noon on the weekends and 3:00pm M-F.
Shows happen every half hour until 8:00pm, and then every 15
minutes through midnight.
Mirage Volcano and Rainforest
(Volcano
closed until the end of 2008.) Every fifteen
minutes from dusk to midnight, flames shoot into the
night sky, spewing smoke and fire 100 feet above the waters
below and transforming a tranquil waterfall into streams of
molten lava. The volcano at The Mirage has been Las Vegas'
signature attraction ever since the resort opened in 1989.
The show is free to the public.
Inside
The Mirage's front entrance, you'll find a lush and verdant
indoor rainforest housed under a 100-foot-high dome. Palm
trees reach 60 feet above cascading waterfalls. Lagoons
meander through a forest of rich tropical flora including
bird of paradise trees, orchids and bromeliads. Woven into
this waterscape is an artist's palette of beautifully
colored, delicately arranged tropical flowers enveloped in
natural sunlight. Water mists the area lightly throughout
the day to enhance the atmosphere and help keep the plants
cool. Six full-time gardeners spend over 240 hours each week
to maintain the more than 100 different types of plants in
the atrium. Over 300 fresh orchids and 1000 bromeliads grace
the walkways. (from the Mirage's
website)
Pirate
Battle at Treasure Island
For years the free pirate battle shows at Treasure Island
have been one of the most popular attractions on the strip.
The show and showtimes are always changing, so see Treasure
Island website for current info. (As we write this in
Jan. 2004 the current show is called Sirens of TI, so
click on that when you get there.) From TI's website:
"a clash between a group of beautiful, tempting sirens
and a band of renegade pirates. Visitors will be awed by the
music, dance, excitement and seduction in this modern
musical-meets-action-movie spectacular. From daring
swordplay to high-diving acrobatics and eye-popping
pyrotechnics, the show is packed with countless thrills. But
beware the sirens, temptresses of the sea. Now, no man is
safe in Sirens' Cove. FREE performances nightly at
6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. in Sirens'
Cove at the front entrance of Treasure Island Hotel and
Casino. Note: VIP viewing for Treasure Island guests. For
the safety of all our guests and patrons, strollers are not
permitted at the Sirens of TI show."
Moving statues at Caesars Palace
At the very end of the Forum Shops at Caesars is a free
show with large, moving statues acting out a short play,
running every hour on the hour. It's very popular,
but the sound system is horrible: it's almost impossible to
make out what the statues are saying with the intense reverb
and the thunderous sound effects. It's something about the
two offspring vying to be the successors to their father's
throne, and he can't choose so he leaves it up to the
audience, but then there's some big bird thing and everybody
dies. The statue that's the son looks like Keanu Reeves when
he's been startled by some headlights. Anyway, it's free, so
what have you got to lose?
Fremont
Street Experience
When the downtown casinos started losing lots of business
to the new megaresort casinos on the strip in the early 90's
they decided to fight back. They all banded together to come
up with an attraction to keep people coming dowtown. Many
ideas were floated, including a system of canals as in
Venice, but they finally settled on the Fremont Street
Experience: a huge metal canopy over Fremont Street, over
five football fields long, and filled with over 12.5 million
computer-controlled LED lights which faithfully reproduce
video and animation.
The free shows happen every hour on the hour, starting
at sundown and ending at midnight. It's easy to find:
just go to Fremont Street and look up. If you're on the
Strip just hop on the Deuce bus for $2.00 -- it goes
straight to Fremont.
If you saw the show before June 2004 and weren't
impressed, check it out again: The upgrade added a bunch
more lights and dramatically improved the resolution. I
thought it was pretty cheesy before, but it's rather
impressive now. (Visit the
official website.)
Hotel Architecture/Themes
Hotels on the Strip have invested billions to build
massive structures that show off their themed architecture.
Here are some of the more famous, in order from the north
end of the strip to the south, with the theme or attraction
is listed in parentheses.
- Stratosphere Tower (thrill rides on
top)
- Treasure Island (pirate battles)
- The Venetian (Venice; gondola rides;
historians on retainer)
- Mirage (volcano, tropical
rainforest)
- Caeser's Palace (Roman)
- Bellagio (water fountains)
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- Paris (1/3-scale Eiffel Tower)
- New York-New York (Façade is
NYC skyscrapers, and Statue of Liberty)
- MGM Grand (Hollywood)
- Excalibur (Medieval)
- Luxor (Egyptian; building is a large
pyramid; it lights up at night)
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(also see our separate page about non-free
attractions)
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