Driving to Vegas (from Anaheim) and Vegas in general?!?

[simba_one]

So, we're currently planning our third visit to the DLR and are considering visiting Vegas this time round. As we'll hopefully be booking with Virgin on Xmas day 2007 for the online 15% dicsount, we won't be able to book Anaheim AND Vegas like we would if we called them direct or did it through a travel agent. So, we're thinking of booking just Anaheim just booking for 3 weeks and then booking a hotel (we're thinking the Bellagio - any good?) on the Net for a night and then driving to Vegas. I've looked and it's 4 and 3/4 hours from the Hyatt OC which doesn't seem that bad. We've driven from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando before so...

We're thinking we'd leave early morning (around 6 or 7?) and then see what we can get up to until we can check-in at the hotel. We'd check-in, then explore Vegas some more before going back to the room or seeing a show we would have previously booked tickets for. And then following morning we'd check-out and explore some more before leaving around 3 or 4?

Does our idea sound crazy? Any opinions?

 

[wendypooh22]

You should be able to make it to Vegas from Anahiem in about 5 hours... There are some great outlet malls if you are into shopping. With all of the great hotels on the strip, you can easily spend a day sightseeing and checking them all out! I would recommend the Bellagio's indoor garden. It is decorated for the season and is really spectacular!

If you are going to make the trip back to LA on sunday leave EARLY!!! Traffic is horrible coming back to LA and personally, I avoid returning home on sudays whenever possible.

Have fun...

 

[Danauk]

The Bellagio is a beautiful hotel (that is where we plan on staying for 5 nights on our Vegas trip.) The Venetian is beautiful too, an all suite hotel. We have stayed there and booked it over the phone from the UK (free phone number.)

 

[simba_one]

Danauk Thanks for your view on the Bellagio. We were looking at the Venetian but it looks a little TOO swish for us. Comparing pics of it with the Bellagio, it doesn't look as nice. The rooms at the Bellagio look AMAZING!!

Who do you usually book with?


wendypooh22 Thanks for your views! I'm not THAT clear on exactly what there is to do whilst in Vegas... I'm just thinking hotels and the touristy thing of the Strip? That's all we'll have time for anyway. We do want to do a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon though.

We were originally planning on going driving to Vegas on Friday staying Friday night and then leaving Saturday but we thought that'd be one of the busiest day combinations so we're going to go midweek now. Any days particularly good?

Also, you mention the outlet malls... we're definitely interested. Are they close to the Strip?

 

[wendypooh22]

Friday and Saturday are definately the busiest and most expensive for hotels... There is an outlet mall just after you cross the nevada border. It is on the right side of the highway. There is another indoor outlet mall "Bells" and it is just before you get into the city. Not sure of the exit, but if you ask anyone at the hotel where the Bells outlet is they should be able to tell you. Another outlet mall is outdoor and north of the strip. I like this one too and they have great stores... Sorry that I can't get you the exact streets, but if you go to vegas.com it is a great site for all of your vegas needs... When I book my room, I normall call the hotel directly.

A neat place to see the water show at the Bellagio is from the top of the Eiffel tower. Both times that I tried in the evening, they closed it because of the winds, but even during the day it was beautiful

My parents recently stayed at the Venetian and they loved it. The rooms were large and comfy. They are currently at the Hotel at Mandalay Bay. My mom is quite impressed with the amenities in their room...

Oh yeay, Caltrans is doing major construction work on the 15 fwy... Hopefully your traffic will be minimal.

Drive safely!!

 

[Danauk]

We book the flights and hotels seperately. We usually book with the hotels direct as we get upgrades with our credit card but I have seen great deals for the Bellagio on expedia.

As for things to do in Vegas I have loads of suggestions, if you want to PM me I would be glad to give you some suggestions.

For helicopter tours we use Sundance. They are really good, they do limo pick up and drop off at your hotel. We did their champagne lunch tour last time which was amazing. We plan on booking a tour with them on our next trip. With them we booked directly through their website.

When we went to Vegas last time we drove from there to San DIego which took around 9 hours so driving from DL to Las Vegas would be an OK drive.

 

[Danauk]

Sorry double post, the computer went wierd!!

 

[simba_one]

wendypooh22 That's exactly why we're looking planning mid-week instead of weekend. The rooms are around $100 more and we can use that $200 on more important things. Thanks for the names of the outlet malls... I've noted them. We've started a new holiday folder already so we can keep all the info we accuire safe.

Thanks for the tip of watching the Bellagio fountains from the top of the Eiffel tower - will do... weather providing. I'm excited about watching them from our rooms and listening to the soundtrack on the TV.

Danauk Do you save much booking things sperately? We looked into that last year for this past summers holiday and we were actually going to end up paying more?! We ended up booking with Virgin liek we always do...

I'll definitely PM you for suggestions on what to do in Vegas... from a fellow Brit!!

I came across the Sundance website again last year when we were booking our helicopter tour of LA. We did a tour of LA with them in 2004 and REALLY enjoyed it so we tried booking with them again - we couldn't fine them anywhere so ended up booking with Briles To Fly LA and they turned out to be even better!!! And they told us that Sundance LA, had packed up and they were focusing on Vegas, etc. now. I did give their site a good look though. I did again yesterday and their tours look amazing!!

9 hours to San Diego doesn't sound THAT bad. The 2 (x2) from Anaheim to San Diego in one day is enough for me though so I'm glad it's only around 5 to Vegas from Anaheim.

 

[Danauk]

The 1st time we went to Vegas we went to some travel agents to get some quotes after doing our research. They couldn't get it within £500 of our own price. We always end up booking seperately as our holidays tend to be quite individual (we stay DVC at WDW so only need flights, our next trip we are staying in Las Vegas, Hollywood and Disneyland so it is easier to book seperately as we know which hotels we want to stay in and the travel companies don't always use the ones we want.) I guess you could always price things up for yourself using the hotels websites, airlines own sites, expedia etc and compare that to the pckage price.

I have lots of suggestions for Las Vegas, I think though you will need more than 1 night there. We spent 5 last trip and plan on spending the same next trip. We did manage to tour all the casinos, see several shows, do tours etc though. Oh and play some games!!

 

[Zoemakes5]

The last two times we went to so. cal. we flew in to Vegas. I LOVE vegas! The second to last time, I went w/friend to my brother's wedding. We flew in to Vegas early am on Wednesday, stayed at the Tropicana and then drove to San Diego next day. We were in no major hurry, we checked out at check out time, went to nascar cafe and hard rock cafe gift shops and then headed out. We went straight through except stopping for a quick lunch in Carona. We were in San Diego at our hotel by 6:30. I'd say total time, including stopping for lunch was only 5 hours. Trip back was about the same. We came back on Sunday. You should have seen the nasty nasty traffic heading back into LA area on Sunday afternoon! OMG! We did some non touristy things in Vegas with family. But we did wander around and looked at the shops and the lights of the strip. Watched the Bellagio fountain, walked through the conservatory, went to M&M world. We also went downtown and watched the freemont experience. The afternoon we spent in and around the pool, and LOVED the swim up blackjack bars in the pool! I could easily just spend a good 5-7 days exploring Vegas and surrounding areas!
The last trip we took, it was the entire family. We flew in late Friday night (well, make it Saturday am, we got in at 1am!) and rented a van. We drove to the border of CA/NV and stayed in Primm at Whiskey Petes. We were pretty impressed with the rooms, especially considering we only paid $47 for the room. It was slightly less than an hour from Vegas. We left around 11am. We stopped, oddly enough, once again in Carona for lunch and let the kids play awhile. We were at our Anaheim hotel by 3:00. That was a Saturday.
I'd highly recommend taking the time and spending a couple of days in Vegas. The drive isn't difficult, even if it is a bit long. Interstate the entire time. Mid week will give you the best deals $$ wise AND the least amount of crowds and traffic. Unless you like mobs of people, avoid Vegas anywhere near new years eve/day, though. If you can, avoid that entire week between new years and christmas. Too crazy.
Bellagio is a great place to stay, from what I hear. Especially that time of year.
Check out a number of other posts here about fun things to do/not to miss in Vegas.

 

[simba_one]

Thanks so much for your tips and insights Zoemakes5. We do want to do more than one day (well, night - we'll have about a day and a half really) but if we're gonna get the online discount booking the Anaheim part of the holiday, we'll be losing nights at the Hyatt in Anaheim. I might get in contact with Virgin and ask whether you can make ammendments or add things on (or whetehr there is anyway of booking Anaheim AND Vegas online in the firsdt place) 'coz then we'll be more than willing to spend a good couple of days there as we won't be losing paid for hotel rooms elsewhere.

Danauk I dunno how you manage to save. I priced things up the other day and it came to a few hundred quid more than a package with Virgin - just like before. I will keep trying though.

I'm gonna PM you now for tips on seeing Vegas.