Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Simon Cowell; or head into the genuinely creepy haunted house portion of the
museum (I won't give away what happens in there, but I will warn you that some
of the ghouls are alive). Madame Tussaud got into the biz by making death masks
of the luminaries beheaded during the French Revolution. I have to wonder if she
ever could have imagined that her small business would someday be a massive
chain, or that the statues would someday cost $125,000 each to build (five are
added per year; their bodies made from fiberglass—only heads and hands are of
wax now).
While I've steered visitors away from Tussaud's in the
Pauline Frommer's
London
and
Pauline Frommer's New York
books, here a visit seems more apropos,
in keeping with the studied surreal-
ism of the rest of the city. Plus the
Vegas museum has some nifty addi-
tions, such as the all-NASCAR
room (complete with racing screens
and dress up clothes); an interactive
celebrity poker room where you
play against Ben Affleck; a Vegas
legends room (featuring a Wayne
Newton who looks more real here
than he does in person); and a
finale called “The Spirit of
America” that spotlights that great
American . . . Princess Diana.
Seems that a poll was taken of who
visitors wanted in this red, white
and blue tribute room and Shy Di won. And if that doesn't just sum up the
Alice
in Wonderland
logic of Sin City, I don't know what does. Kids will love this place,
and if you've enjoyed the rest of the spectacle of Vegas, you will too.
A word on costs: Nobody pays full price to go to Madame Tussaud's (well,
maybe the geniuses who thought Princess Diana was American did). Simply take
a gander at any rack of tourist literature and you're sure to see a coupon offering
$5 off admission. Better still, stop by any Tix 4 Tonight booth (p. 183), and you
should be able to snag tickets for $12.
Fish are fun. Really. Or at least the ones at
Shark Reef
555
9
(in Mandalay
“
Las Vegas is an intense locus of
financial activity in the middle of
one of the world's most severe
deserts. Like its predecessors, ranging
from ancient Babylon to Luxor . . . it
is able to capitalize on that fact by
allowing people to imagine and then
erect castles on the sand and into
the air.
”
—William L. Fox,
In the
Desert of Desire
Bay;
%
702/632
-
4555; www.mandalaybay.com;
$
16 adults,
$
11 children 5-12, 4
and younger free; daily 10am-10pm)
are, as this neato aquarium concentrates on
only the most Vegas-like fish-killers. Every inhabitant here is a predator of some
sort, the mafia of the aquatic world, and their bloody modus operandi are
explained in breathless detail when you take the audio tour (recommended).
You'll see the only Thai golden crocodiles in the U.S., 20-feet long and blessed
with the ability to hold their breath for up to 2 hours; fish that jump out of the
water to snatch small birds from the sky; lionfish with deadly spines; and piranha
with teeth engineered to sheer off huge chunks of flesh. The stars are the sharks
of course, and these come in all varieties, menacing the tanks they stalk. Feeding
time, which is a show in itself, is at 3pm; try and time your visit to coincide.
The setting for the exhibits is a bit melodramatic: You start in a recreated jun-
gle temple, sinking deeper and deeper into the sea until you're finally surrounded
