While I was in California for the first time in 1999 my cousin offered to drive me to Las Vegas for the day, and since I was 21 I said, “Yeah!” I knew the old Disney Mark IV Monorails were sent to Vegas, so my primary purpose of going was to see the monorails I grew up with from my childhood. I rode up in front of those monorails when I was a kid. The monorails that made me want to be a monorail pilot when I grew up. This video has a lot of quick cuts of Vegas casinos and long shots of monorails. I don’t know why I filmed little 2 second shots of all the casinos, maybe because I was running out of tape, or battery. Maybe I wasn’t that interested in casinos and more interested in monorails. I wish I took longer shots because there are so many classic 90s Vegas gems in here. Insert a coin, pull the arm, and check out this jackpot of Las Vegas classics.
STORIES AND TRIVIA:
0:08 Zzyzx Rd. If you are traveling from L.A. to Vegas you will pass this road. My first time seeing it I had to take a video. I said, “What the heck is that!?”
0:09 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. This landmark was erected in 1959.
0:20 Bally’s/MGM Grand Monorail. First things first, I wanted to see the old Mark IV Monorail from Disney World. A lot of footage was taken here. We rode from MGM Grand to Bally’s.
0:50 Barbary Coast. This casino opened in 1979 and closed in 2007. My wife and I had a 1 am pancake dinner here once.
0:52 Bally’s. I filmed a little bit of the casino here, but was told by security I could not film people gaming. I understand. In 2003 my wife and I stayed here. Now it’s called Horseshoe.
0:53 Caesars Palace. I went outside and filmed Caesars, and since it was July, I experienced a heat I never experienced in Florida, and I thought my skin was burning. It was well over 100 degrees. Most of the day we stayed inside.
0:54 Flamingo. This classic hotel has been on The Strip since 1946.
0:55 Bally’s/MGM monorail. We rode the monorail back to the MGM Grand and I got to see both trains: the white and blue Bally’s monorail and the gold and green MGM Grand monorail.
1:20 Excalibur. We drove over here so I could see the tram and I gambled for the first time. I knew how to play roulette, so I tried that and after a few rolls my $1 on double zero hit and a stack of chips were pushed in my direction. I had a smile on my face for 2 hours. When I cashed out I had earned $52 total.
1:26 Excalibur/Mandalay Bay Tram. Here’s a full video I took on this: https://youtu.be/7W8vXmWNHyc
1:42 New York New York. This hotel was somewhat new in 1999, it opened in 1997.
1:43 Paris. A little bit of construction is shown on the new Paris Las Vegas casino, which opened a few months later in Sept. 1999.
1:44 New Frontier, Stardust, & Desert Inn. All hotels that are now extinct. New Frontier closed in 2007, Stardust in 2006, and Desert Inn in 2000. The Wynn Las Vegas replaced the Desert Inn.
1:46 Riviera & LaConcha Motel. The old El Morocco Motel was a Korean BBQ restaurant in 1999. The Riviera closed in 2015. I liked the food court here.
1:50 Treasure Island. The classic sign in this video was changed to TI in my future Vegas trips.
1:52 Hard Rock Hotel/Cafe. I used my roulette winnings to treat my cousin to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I had a milkshake in a souvenir pilsner and saved the glass. I put it with my HRC Orlando glass I got when I took Mrs. Share a Dream to Universal in 1998. Since then I now have over 40 HRC glasses. The Hard Rock Casino closed in 2020.
2:11 Las Vegas Hilton. This used to be the International Hotel.
2:14 Stratosphere. The total height is 1,149 ft.
2:20 Fremont Street Experience. This street was in Honey I Blew Up the Kid, so I wanted to see Vegas Vic and all the old school Vegas casinos.
2:24 Fremont & 4 Queens. Fremont opened in 1956 and the 4 Queens in 1966.
2:32 Golden Nugget. Steve Wynn was the youngest Vegas casino owner when he bought a majority share of this hotel in 1973.
2:34 Binion’s Horseshoe. Former home of the World Series of Poker.
2:35 Pioneer Club. This closed in 1995, but the sign was still on the building along with Vegas Vic in 1999.
2:37 Golden Goose & Golden Gate. In 1980 Vegas Vickie was placed next to the Golden Goose sign. The Golden Gate is the oldest Vegas hotel opening in 1906.
2:44 Plaza. I definitely wanted to see this hotel since it was in Back to the Future 2 and Cool World.
2:55 Fitzgeralds. This became The D in 2012.
2:56 Gold Spike. The MTV show Real World: Go Big or Go Home was filmed here.
2:57 Sam Boyd’s California. Several of my friends & family from Hawaii stay here.
3:05 The Mirage. I was able to see the volcano erupt from the car window.
3:14 Planet Hollywood. This restaurant opened in the Forum Shops in 1994 and just recently closed in 2023, but the Planet Hollywood Casino is still standing.
3:18 O’Sheas. The leprechaun mascot here is named Paddy.
3:22 Luxor. This casino contains the world’s largest atrium.
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