Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

THE TOP ATTRACTIONS 181
finds, but we suggest not spending too much time in there, and instead hustling
outside to the slide, the little roller coaster, and best of all, the four go-kart
tracks. Each offers a different thrill, from the longest road track in Vegas, full of
twists and turns as you try to out-race other drivers (be a sport, let the little kids
win occasionally), to a high-banked oval built just so you can try to make other
drivers take spills on to the grass, to, best of all, a timed course. The latter
requires a driver’s license, so it’s for you rather than your kids (but the wee ones
will find the 4th course is just for them), and here you can live out your Le Mans
or Police Chase fantasies, as you blast through twisting runs, one kart at a time,
trying to beat your personal best. A good kind of adrenaline rush, believe us.
The staff is utterly friendly, and the pizzas at the food court are triple the size
and half the price of those found in your hotel. The one drawback: It’s far away
from main Strip action—here’s where you’ll need that rental car, for sure. Note:
Kids have to be at least 36 inches tall to ride any of the attractions.
1401 N. Rainbow Rd., just off US 95 N.& 702/259-7000. www.lvmgp.com. Ride tickets $4.95 each, $23 for
5. Sun–Thurs 10am–10pm, Fri–Sat 10am–11pm.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway This 107,000-seat facility was the first
new super-speedway to be built in the Southwest in over 2 decades. A $100 million
state-of-the-art motor-sports entertainment complex, it includes a 1 1 ⁄2-mile
super-speedway, a 2 1 ⁄2-mile FIA-approved road course, paved and dirt shorttrack
ovals, and a 4,000-foot drag strip. Also on the property are facilities for
Go-Kart, Legends Car, Sand Drag, and Motocross competition. The new speedway
is accessible via shuttle buses to and from the Imperial Palace hotel, though
some of the other major hotels have their own shuttles to the speedway.
7000 Las Vegas Blvd. N., directly across from Nellis Air Force base (take I-15 north to Speedway exit 54).
& 702/644-4443 for ticket information. www.lvms.com. Tickets $10–$75 (higher prices for major events).
Liberace Museum
Moments You can keep your Louvres and Vaticans
and Smithsonians: This is a museum. Housed, like everything else in Vegas, in a
strip mall, this is a shrine to the glory and excess that was the art project known
as Liberace. You’ve got your costumes (bejeweled), your many cars (bejeweled),
your many pianos (bejeweled), and many jewels (also bejeweled). Also, the
entrance itself is a giant jewel. It just shows what can be bought with lots of
money and no taste.
The thing is, Liberace was in on the joke (we think). The people who come
here largely aren’t. Many of these guests would not have liked him living next
door to them if his name was, say, Bruce Smith, but they idolize the-man-themyth.
Not found here is any reference to AIDS or chauffeurs who had plastic
surgery to look more like him. But you will find a Czar Nicholas uniform with
22-karat-gold braiding and a blue-velvet cape styled after the coronation robes
of King George V and covered with $60,000 worth of rare chinchilla. Not to
mention a 50.6-pound rhinestone costing $50,000, the world’s largest, presented
to him by the grateful (we bet they were) Austrian firm that supplied all
his costume stones.
The museum is now better than ever thanks to a costly renovation that turned
what was once a too-low-key exhibition (especially given the subject matter) into
something much more gaudy and over the top—and, better still, properly
enshrined. Expect a ridiculously outrageous entrance (three words: giant pink
piano) into rooms with various exhibits that finally give detailed attention
to facts and figures. Admission has been cranked up, probably to pay for the