Also, any insights about the airport in Vegas would be appreciated!
Susan
Most of the story will be taking place outdoors, or in crowded indoor settings. No one will be gambling, etc, so I really only need the flavour of a casino rather than detailed workings of one.
It is truly just a setting rather than an integral part of the plot. I could choose to set it at Graceland, for instance, as I believe there are some impersonator events that happen there as well. Unfortunately I haven't been to Graceland either!!
Guess I'm not a true Elvis fan, huh? *G*
The point is, I need the impersonators' convention, with the exact setting being secondary. I chose Vegas because I know they do have such conventions there.
Susan
Then again, as you might guess, I've never spent a lot of time in casinos.
-People smoke everywhere, therefore there are people whose job it is to walk around the building emptying ashtrays. It's uncanny, those tall ones with the sand in them---people put out cigarette butts in them NONSTOP, but they are always empty, with designs drawn into the sand. I saw a guy empty it once, and then he just disappeared.
-Like someone else said, there are no clocks. There aren't windows either, and a good portion of the glass doors are tinted. The aim is to make you lose total track of time. Most of the bigger casinos look exactly the same (events, employees, # of gamblers) 24/7.
-Buffets. Everywhere. Inexpensive. Everywhere.
-They push free stuff on you. Free coupon books (to their casino), free pulls on slots (novelty slots where you win casino-logo imprinted T-shirts and playing cards), coupons for buy 1 get 1 free tickets, and especially FREE drinks (when you're gambling). Their aim is to get you drunk and spend money.
-There are alot of time-share places that offer free night stays for coming to their presentation (at the time share).
-Most of Vegas maintains "Player's Clubs" on Credit Card-esque cards. You give the card to your dealer (or slide it in the slot machine), and you get free stuff for gambling a reasonable amount of money. You don't have to LOSE a lot of money, just run it through the tables/machines. Gamble $200 and get a buffet ticket, $1000 and get a free room. Then, people that spend a lot of money will have incentives to come back ("I'm sorry sir, your free room is only good on your NEXT stay at OUR hotel.")
-Like I said, the hotels are PLANNED to the limit. Like mazes. VAST mazes. And there are attractions: cheap buffets, rollercoasters, 3-D motion rides, NICE restaurants (Spagos, etc), circuses, movies, animatronics, virtual reality, etc; and to get to these attractions, you'll have to walk through a GREAT distance of gambling tables and slots (PLUS you'll have to ask directions no less than five times).
-NICE POSH NIGHTCLUBS.
-The Strip and Downtown are TWO seperate places. The Strip is what you think of when you think of Vegas . . . EXTRAVAGANCE!!!!! Downtown is NOT the strip. Downtown is the OTHER area of Vegas that families from back east get lured by ultra low room prices (ten dollars less than the strip). There is only gambling and sleazy hotels downtown (think sleezy leisure suit lounge lizards). Oh, I take that back, downtown has a light show and cheap ham and eggs.
-The airport. There are slot machines in the airport, but not NEARLY as many as there used to be. Smoking is no longer allowed in common areas in the airport, it is only allowed in small enclosed rooms PACKED with slot machines, lots of people, and the densest clouds of smoke you've EVER seen. The airport itself (most of it) is newer and more modern in design than most, but in general it is particularly non-descript.
-Uhh, I'm tired. Vegas . . . veeeegaaaaassssssssss. . . .
Since you are all being kind enough to help me out, I went ahead and posted the beginning of the story for which I need this info, working title: "Elvis Must Die". Not ready for readers yet, but crits on the opening welcomed!
It might be enough to give you a feel for what I'll be doing with this tale, so also the type of info about Vegas that would be useful to me.
Thanks again, all!
Susan
There is another Las Vegas, where the natives live. Astonishingly middle America (and I'm talking about geography, not just economic). Nice place, nice people. I still wouldn't want to live there.
One thing I seem to recall about the airport: the distance from the gates to the main terminal is enormous. They have a dedicated, enclosed, elevated, electric tramway, and the trip takes five minutes.
I've never usderstood why people are attracted to gambling…or Elvis. (He did have a beautiful voice.) Ah well, de gustibus non disputandem est.
Ding ding ding ding ding!
Another impression of Vegas in general - bright, loud, glitzy. Especially at night. Everything has a sense of the fantastic and gaudy. Even the McDonalds. Of course we're talking the downtown/strip area. Like someone already mentioned the rest of Las Vegas is pretty typical of a growing western city with lots of suburbs surrounding a concentrated downtown.