Party time!!

Just a few thoughts on why Vegas is now listed above NY Times Square as the place to party on New Year’s Eve: 303,000 people expected to visit for the weekend, but in addition to locals the four miles of the Strip will be closed to cars and open to party, much more room than in Times Square; 10 new nightclubs opening around New Year’s Day (the new tower of the big hotel next door opened yesterday, so JayZ’s 40/40 Club can be open tonight, $700 to get in the door but Beyonce is supposed to be there too); fireworks from the roofs of seven of the big hotels all along the Strip, with more sparks than just about anywhere else in the world. Of course, it will be about 35f out there tonight, but no wind expected. It’s about time to make reservations for next New Year’s if you want to party then, for now; I think every hotel room in town is taken this year.

Other big club venues include: The Bank at Bellagio ($250, packages start at $5,000 for four including two bottles of liquor and one of Dom Perignon and some mixers); Body English at the Hard Rock has Backstreet Boys ($500); Moon/Playboy Club at the Palms ($300) hosted by Jaime Pressly; Pure at Caesars ($250) hosted by Pamela Anderson (no word on which husband or ex will appear); Tangerine at TI ($300 VIP) hosted by Kevin Federline; Mariah Carey at Tao ($250), the Hilton sisters at LAX ($278.88 - don’t ask me), Avril Lavigne at Prive Planet Hollywood ($200), Jet at Mirage will have a James Bond theme, dress as your fav Bond character ($200), plus dozens of others at assorted prices, including the big party downtown on Fremont Street ($60) with several big bands including the Doobie Brothers and the Bangles. Shows not at parties include Earth Wind & Fire, BB King, Tony Orlando, Goo Goo Dolls, Kanye West and Debbie Reynolds, so there is something for everyone.

So, too late for this year, but you can plan ahead for next.

Update

Here is what it looked like this morning - images taken from the web site of the Las Vegas Review Journal, not by me.


That was over eight minutes of sparkles from seven strip resorts, all synchronized to music blasting all over the strip. We turned on our TV to hear it and stood out in the front yard to look down at part of it. Even three miles away our windows shook from the concussion of all of those explosions at times.

In our local paper, read the RJ article directly. If you wanted to go downtown to the Fremont Street Experience there were probably a few more people per square foot, but I hear NY Times Square had a million. So with less than half that on our four mile long Strip it was probably a lot more comfortable here.


Oh - all those parties - they go on like that all year round. They just don't charge as much to get in, and don't close the street for fireworks. So if you want to come to Vegas to party, yes, bring money. Most of the clubs don't open until 10:30pm, and the real party doesn't start until after midnight, but you do get out to take advantage of those big breakfast buffets.