A Trip to Las Vegas, 2004 Trivia Quiz

Answer: pyramid

Luxor Las Vegas is named after the Egyptian city of Luxor, site of the ancient city of Thebes. In front of the hotel sits a reproduction of the Great Sphinx of Giza. At night the Las Vegas sky is lit by the 315,000-watt Luxor Sky Beam, which the Federal Aviation Administration has designated a navigational landmark.

At the time of my visit in 2004, it was the only original technical attraction that remained in operation from the time of Luxor's opening.

Answer: Mandalay Bay and Excalibur

In addition to the Shark Reef Aquarium, a large saltwater aquarium, Mandalay Bay boasts a wave pool (with a connected pool for small children) and a lazy river, which is a water ride with rafts gently floating down a canal.

The Excalibur Hotel and Casino is a castle-shaped resort which, when it opened in 1990, was the largest hotel in the world, having more than 4000 rooms. Although it had a strong Camelot and family-oriented theme when I visited in 2004, two years later Excalibur started removing most of the statuary and scenery and making the decor more generic and grown-up again.

Answer: "Jubilee!" at Bally's

"Jubilee!" began in 1981, and when the Folies Bergere closed in 2009 after nearly 50 years of performances, "Jubilee!" became not only the longest-running topless revue but also the longest-running production in Las Vegas. It also became the last classic revue. Filled with brassy, glittery costumes (not every act was topless), lots of camp, comic relief, and Broadway oldies like "There's No Business Like Show Business", it's an encapsulation of everything old-school Las Vegas. And for having nudity, it's really not at all lascivious like Zumanity (which opened 2003) or other shows. The gowns are especially lavish, and there were even more of them in the weekly non-topless performances. "Jubilee!" is a snapshot of an earlier time when Las Vegas was filled with revues like this one.

Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson is a prop comic who started performing at Luxor in 2011. Siegfried Fischbacher & Roy Horn were magicians who peformed illusions with animals until a tiger injured Roy in 2003. "Zumanity" is Cirque du Soleil's first "adult" acrobatic show (with nudity).

Answer: The Rio

Built in 1990 originally as a casino to attract locals rather than tourists, The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino is named after Rio de Janeiro, the former capital of Brazil and site of the famous Carnival. It was the first Las Vegas hotel to have "all suites" (hence its name).

Penn & Teller became the resident headline (permanent main act) at The Rio in 2001. Penn Jillette and Raymond Joseph Teller began working together as magicians since 1975 at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. In addition to Vegas, they had TV series on Showtime and on Discovery in the USA. One of their most famous tricks was catching a bullet in their teeth.

Answer: "Mamma Mia!"

"Mamma Mia!" played at Mandalay Bay from 2003 to 2009. When it finished its 1000th performance in June 2005, "Mamma Mia!" became the longest running musical from either Broadway or London's West End to play in Vegas. The musical originally opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End in 1999. Written by Catherine Johnson, it features songs that were released by the international sensation ABBA during the 1970s and '80s, including "Super Trouper", "Dancing Queen", "SOS", and, of course, "Mamma Mia".

Answer: The Sands

The Sands was demolished in 1996, before the 21st century began, and so never had the privilege of showcasing the Blue Man Group and their amazing music and theatrics. The Venetian was built in its place.

The Blue Man Group played at Luxor from 2000 to 2005, graced The Venetian from 2005 to 2012, and then began at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in 2012. The Blue Man Group is not exclusive to Las Vegas, however, and has more or less permanent shows in New York City, Boston, Chicago, and the Universal Orlando Resort.

Answer: Circus Circus

Naturally, a hotel with a big top would be called Circus Circus! Built in 1968, Circus Circus as the flagship casino for its owners, but the lack of a hotel nearly bankrupted the company as it could not attract high rollers. (They have since corrected the problem.) It has the only RV park on the Strip. The facility has been renovated a dozen times between 1972 and 2013, and it has changed owners a few times, but the name has always remained Circus Circus.

The Adventuredome Theme Park was fun, but the air quality at the time of my visit in 2004 left a lot to be desired, as indoor smoking was allowed throughout Las Vegas, and the theme park was enclosed in a dome. I had to leave early because of headaches and nausea brought on by second-hand smoke, despite the filtering systems that were in place. Something to consider if you are sensitive or have asthma.

Answer: Treasure Island

Treasure Island, like Excalibur and many other hotels built in the 1990s, had been designed to be family oriented, but also like Excalibur, it eventually abandoned that. As I was there in 2004, I missed the original show, "Buccaneer Bay", which ran until 2003 and which was a true pirate battle, with a captain sinking with his full-scale British naval frigate.

The show I witnessed, "Sirens' Cove", was still loosely pirate-themed, but it was definitely adult-oriented, with singing, dancing, and light ribaldry.

The show, however, remained free, so I got my money's worth. The kiddie pools and video arcade were replaced with hot tubs and bars as well.

Answer: Orleans

The rooms were very large and had more of the feel of a traditional sort of hotel, without all the ultra-modern and high-rolling feeling that the hotels on the strip convey. And it was one of the least expensive hotels to stay in Las Vegas. It was a good place to take children, too, or your mother or maiden aunt, as it was one place (at least in 2004 when I visited) that had not abandoned its family-friendly atmosphere.

It still had a casino, of course!

Answer: Children are not allowed on the casino floor

The couple had to make sure they were walking in the pathways that were next to but not officially on the casino floor. The hotels in Las Vegas were very strict about not allowing anyone under 21 in the casinos. Eighteen-year-olds, however, are permitted to attend topless revues (like "Jubilee!" at Bally's) and other shows with nudity (like "Zumanity" at New York-New York) -- although they are not allowed in strip clubs! Maybe having to enforce these rules is one reason so many hotels like Excalibur and Treasure Island, built in the 1990s during the family-friendly craze that had seized Vegas, decided to move away from child-appropriate fare and return to the adult orientation which made Las Vegas so famous (and infamous)!