Spotlight: Las Vegas - The Stratosphere

Spotlight: Built in 1995, the Stratosphere is one of the most recognizable hotels along the famous Vegas Strip. Reminiscent of the Space Needle in Seattle, the Stratosphere is the tallest free-standing observation tower in the United States (1,149 feet/350.2 meters). The tower has two observation decks. The first is a rotating restaurant known as "Top of the World." Above that is a deck dedicated to adrenaline junkies - complete with 4 thrill rides: Big Shot, Insanity, Sky Jump Las Vegas and X-Scream. The hotel is actually a separate building (24 floors) with 2,427 rooms.

View from the top

Location: The Stratosphere is located at 2000 S. Las Vegas Blvd.

Cost: Observation Deck admission - $20/adult, $14/child, $10/hotel guest
     Tower + 1 ride - $25; Tower + 2 rides - $30; Tower + 3 rides - $35
     Sky Jump - $119.99
     An unlimited rides pass to Big Shot, Insanity and X-Scream - $39.95
     - Add $5 per ticket on weekends (Fri-Sat)
   
Time: The rides are open Sun-Thurs from 10:00 am - 1 am; Fri-Sat from 10:00 am - 2:00 am. Plan on spending about 1-2 hours.

Description: Since we didn't stay at the hotel, visit the casino or eat in the restaurant, I can't really comment on those. However, my daughter and I did go up to the top deck to check out the rides.

     When it was built, Big Shot (1,081 feet/329 meters) was the highest thrill ride in the world. It is a pneumatically powered tower ride in which you strap yourself into your seat. Then you wait, knowing that you're going to shoot up into the air, but never quite sure when until suddenly, ZOOM! Your seat shoots about 150 feet up at 45 mph. Then you drop about halfway and shoot up again. You yo-yo a couple of times before slowly descending to the deck.

     Insanity is appropriately named. First you strap into your seat next to your neighbor. The five pairs of seats are attached to a claw-like contraption that slowly maneuvers out over the edge of the tower until you are looking down at the street 900 feet below. Then it starts rotating at about 40 mph as the chairs swing out at about a 45 degree angle. You swing like that for almost two minutes before the claw stops rotating and slowly maneuvers back onto the deck. My daughter screamed the entire time. I laughed so hard I got a headache.

     Sky Jump Las Vegas holds the Guinness World Record for highest commercial decelerator descent with an official height of 829 feet. After riders are given a brief safety lesson, they suit up in a special jumpsuit and led to the edge where they have to jump off. They are attached to the tower by a machine called the "descender" which controls the speed of their fall, particularly near the end.
     X-Scream is approximately 866 feet high. Riders strap into a roller-coaster style bobsled that slides along a 68 foot straight piece of track. When the ride starts, the sled see-saws back and forth along the length of the track which extends 27 feet past the edge of the tower.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) - We only did Big Shot and Insanity.

Things You Should Know: - Prices are higher on the weekend, so it pays to go during the week. Although you don't have to stay at the hotel to go on the attractions, they do offer significant discounts to paying guests.
- They take the safety of their guests seriously. If their is any indication that the ride isn't functioning at optimum performance it is shut down until the problem is completely fixed. As a result, not all the rides may be open when you go. We missed out on X-Scream because it was closed  for maintenance.

Nearby: Adventuredome Theme Park, The Mirage, Caesar's Palace, The Bellagio