I've been going to Las Vegas for 15 years, so I'm happy to add a few thoughts.
General Recommendations: The length of your trip is about right for a first time. Since you are staying at the Mandalay Bay, you may want to consider renting a car. It will probably end up costing a bit more, but its much more convenient and the good news is everywhere you go has free parking. McCarron Airport has a shuttle service to and from the car rental building, where all the car rental companies are located.
If you do rent a car, understand that unlike Manhattan, where lights are geared to move traffic north/south more quickly than east/west, Las Vegas is geared to move traffic east/west quicker. That's why you never want to be stuck in any type of vehicle on the Strip, which runs north/south. For your first trip, you're going to be tempted. The Strip is certainly pretty to look at at nighttime as you slowly drive past, but the Strip is a traffic nightmare and slow is the operative word! Expect long waits in traffic on the Strip. If you rent a car, you have to learn to use Frank Sinatra Drive and Industrial Road, both of which run behind the casinos on the west side of the Strip. The view sucks (mainly backs of parking garages,) but there is less traffic and fewer stoplights on these two roads, so you can get to where you are going in a hurry.
The Mandalay Bay is at the extreme southern end of the Strip. While there is a free monorail between Mandalay Bay and the Excalibur, which also basically gets you easy access to Luxor, NYNY, MGM Grand and Tropicana, it is rather slow and sometimes the wait for the train seems excessive. Also, if you want to get to the north end of the strip to the Mirage, Treasure Island, Venetian, Wynn, etcetera, you will not be able to walk from either Mandalay OR Excalibur. DO NOT take the Clark County public transit bus that goes up and down the Strip! I cannot stress this enough. It stops at every block. At every stop, twenty to thirty seniors get off the bus, and twenty to thirty seniors get on the bus. Inevitably, every tourist getting on has a question for the driver. Which means it can take over almost two hours to get downtown to Fremont Street on that bus.
Cabs are an option if you limit your trips to maybe two cab rides a day. For longer cab trips, make sure the driver uses Sinatra Drive and Industrial Drive mentioned previously.
Hotel recommendations: Mandalay Bay has both a wave pool and a lazy river. Take advantage of these. Remember, pool drinks are expensive regardless of where you stay.
Also, check out the Flower Conservatory at the Bellagio. Always beautiful. The inside of Luxor is interesting, even if they got rid of the animatronic talking camels (they were always breaking down.) Paris and Venetian are nice, as well.
Restaurant recommendations: The Mandalay Bay property has plenty of exceptional restaurants to choose from. My two favorites are "Aureole" in the Mandalay and "Verandah" at the Four Seasons, which is a seperate hotel tower attached to the Mandalay Bay. Both are a bit pricey (Aureole more so) but very convenient and well worth it.
If you are arriving early enough on Sunday, try the Champagne Brunch Buffet at either the Paris, Mirage, Bellagio or Wynn (Wynn is the best, but also the most expensive.) I do not recommend the buffet at the MGM. I think someone previously said they were unimpressed, and I second that. Do not eat on the plane if you are going to do the Sunday Champagne Brunch. At around $40, it is the only meal you will need that day.
Other recommended retaurants are Kerry Simon at the Palms Place (off strip,) where the food is truly divine; and Stratta at the Wynn.
Entertainment recommendations: Without a doubt, the best show in Las Vegas is Cirque's "Beatles Love" at the Mirage. Better than the original Cirque show "Mystere" at the Treasure Island and much better than "O" at the Bellagio, which put me to sleep. Use the many Tix 4 Tonight booths to try and get discounted tickets.
Wayne Newton, a Las Vegas legend, is performing at the Tropicana. I saw his show at the MGM Grand six or seven years ago, and it was outstanding. Unfortunately, I saw his new show at The Trop last month, and there has been a substantial drop off in quality. Now, the show consists more of video clips from his past than actual live performance. At around $40, it's a fairly inexpensive ticket at the discount booths, so if you want to be able to say 'I saw Wayne Newton in Las Vegas,' then go. But you may be disappointed, and that's unfortunate.
Other recommendations: Get an MGM/Mirage Player's slot card at Mandalay Bay -- good for all MGM/Mirage properties including Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, NYNY, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo, City Center, Bellagio and Mirage. They don't own Treasure Island anymore - had to sell it to get the cash needed to make debt service payments on City Center. The card will get you discount offers if you want to go back to Vegas, but remember that you points expire if the card goes unused for 18 months.
The Liberace Museum, located near a strip mall on East Tropicana, is great fun. Ask if you can try on one of his coats (seriously)! The Pirate ship battle at Treasure Island used to be better when it was the Pirates versus the British Navy. They tried to sex it up a bit, so now, its the Pirates versus the "Sirens" of Treasure Island. Not as good, but free, so worth checking out. Shows are every 90 minutes starting around 4:30 PM I think.
The free white tiger display at Mirage is gone, but MGM Grand more than makes up for it with a free Lion exhibit that is outstanding. (All the white tiger did was sleep all the time, anyway.) MGM usually has either two male lions or three female lions in the exhibit, and handlers try to get them to "play" with large balls, etc. Don't miss this!
Get downtown one night to see the 4 block long overhead light show. It's every hour on the hour. Stay for two shows, that's enough. While downtown, I would avoid most casinos except the Golden Nugget, Binion's and Four Queens. Some of the others are pretty shady.
They ruined the "Masquerade Show in the Sky" at the Rio (off strip.) Don't waste you time. Also, there's really nothing special to see inside Bally's, the Monte Carlo or Planet Hollywood for that matter (including the Miracle Mile Shops.) better shopping experiences are had at the Venetian/Palazzo, Caesar's and Fashion Show Mall.
Updated On: 4/19/10 at 03:15 PM
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