Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

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CHAPTER 7 . WHAT TO SEE & DO IN LAS VEGAS
into an underwater palace. As the line twists around, a sci-fi fantasy world
unfolds, with mists clouding the multicolored lights of the legendary city of
Atlantis. Once inside the ride, you are treated to a 3-D visor (which has a tendency
to slip, putting unpleasant pressure on one’s nose, so hang on tight) and
a silly safety rap sung by Neptune’s cowardly secretary. The ride itself is a 3-D
motion simulator, which uses computer animation to create the lost city and the
racecourse. The goal is to get to the ring before the evil demon god gets there.
If you like a bumpy ride, be sure to sit in the very front or very back. During
the 4-minute race, your chariot is impeded by flying shrapnel, the evil god, and
even by Neptune’s own inept secretary. With the 3-D glasses, all of these sharp
objects flying at you can get pretty intense. Eventually, the ring is saved, and the
famed city of Atlantis survives. Not for the weak of stomach.
In Caesars Palace Forum Shops, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S. Admission $10 adults; $9 Nevada residents, seniors,
and students; $7 children under 12. Sun–Thurs 10am–11pm; Fri–Sat 10am–midnight.
Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy and Mirage Dolphin Habitat
Kids
Siegfried & Roy’s famous white tigers have long had a free exhibit in The Mirage.
They still do, but now they have an additional space, the Secret Garden , a
gorgeous area behind the dolphin exhibit. Here, white lions, Bengal tigers, an
Asian elephant, a panther, and a snow leopard join the white tigers. (Many of
these are bred by Siegfried & Roy and are also in their nightly show.) It’s really
just a glorified zoo, featuring only the big-ticket animals; however, it is a very
pretty place, with plenty of foliage and some bits of Indian- and Asian-themed
architecture. Zoo purists will be horrified at the smallish spaces the animals
occupy, but all the animals are rotated between here and their more lavish digs
at the illusionist team’s home. What this does allow you to do is get very close
up to a tiger, which is quite a thrill—those paws are massive indeed. Visitors are
given little portable phonelike objects on which they can play a series of programs,
listening to Roy and former Mirage owner Steve Wynn discuss conservation
or the attributes of each animal, and deliver anecdotes.
The Dolphin Habitat is more satisfying. It was designed to provide a
healthy and nurturing environment and to educate the public about marine
mammals and their role in the ecosystem. Specialists worldwide were consulted
in creating the habitat, which was designed to serve as a model of a quality, manmade
environment. The pool is more than eight times larger than government
regulations require, and its 2.5 million gallons of man-made seawater are cycled
and cleaned once every 2 hours. It must be working, as the adult dolphins here
are breeding regularly. The Mirage displays only dolphins already in captivity—
no dolphins will be taken from the wild. You can watch the dolphins frolic both
above and below ground through viewing windows, in three different pools.
(There is nothing quite like the kick you get from seeing a baby dolphin play.)
The knowledgeable staff, who surely have the best jobs in Vegas, will answer
questions. If they aren’t doing it already, ask them to play ball with the dolphins;
they toss large beach balls into the pools, and the dolphins hit them out with
their noses, leaping out of the water, cackling with dolphin glee. You catch the
ball, getting nicely wet, and toss it back to them. If you have never played ball
with a dolphin, shove that happy child next to you out of the way and go for it.
There is also a video of a resident dolphin (Duchess) giving birth underwater;
her fourth calf (30 lb. and 3 ft. long) was born just before Mother’s Day in 2003
(in the spirit of Vegas, at press time The Mirage was holding an employee contest
to name the newest arrival). You can stay as long as you like, which might
just be hours.