Hawaii Vegas Connect: January 2025

Sunday, January 19, 2025

Circa Resort and Casino Review 2024

Opened in 2020, Circa Resort and Casino is the newest hotel and casino in Downtown Las Vegas. Although all of the properties in Downtown have undergone renovations through the years, Circa was built from the ground up on the block that once housed the Las Vegas Club, Mermaids and Glitter Gulch. Golden Nugget's Rush Tower opened in 2009 and Downtown Grand's Gallery Tower opened in 2020 as well, but these were additions to already established properties.

Circa is the most Strip-like property with its modern design, technology and luxury amenities. Prices here are higher than any other Downtown property but lower for comparable properties on the Strip. You can still get cheaper room rates on the Strip at the mid-to-lower tier properties on the Strip, but it's definitely cheaper compared with Bellagio, Wynn and Caesar's properties.

Circa is also a 21+ property and you'll need to show your ID at all entrances before stepping onto the property.

Night time view of Stadium Swim from our room on the 26th floor. Stadium swim comprises six pools on tiered levels, much like a stadium. It includes a 40-foot LCD screen that is on 24/7. The pool is open year-round, but during the winter months, only a couple of pools (heated) are open. We did see a few people lounging during our December trip. By the way, brothers Derek and Greg Stevens owns Circa, D and Golden Gate. If you are staying at those other properties, you have access to Stadium Swims. Guest can also use the facilities for a fee.

Night view of Plaza from our room.

View of Fremont Street canopy, Golden Nugget and the D.

Vegas Vicky used to sit outside one of the structures that was replaced by Circa. I'm glad they saved and installed her inside the casino. Love her.

The Mega Bar is one long bar. The bar outside is pretty long as well. The D also has a pretty long bar.

Circa Sports is a sport lovers dream. Huge monitors show games over two levels of seating. So impressive.

Room tour time! We books a king room. Rooms were spacious with floor to ceiling windows. Our room faced South so we had a view of the Stratosphere in the distance. In the picture, you can see a desk and a bench below the television.

We had a couch in the room. We thought it was a pull out bed, but it was not. You could sleep on it though. The middle of the couch sunk in a little, so I think it's time to replace the cushions!

The bathroom had double sinks. The area in between was a little vanity area with a chair tucked below the counter. It was nice to put all your stuff in the middle and keep the sink area clutter free.

There was no tub, but a HUGE walk in shower.

At the entrace (and across the bathroom) was a closet. What I didn't take a picture of what this little shelf right against the closet where you could put your key or other small things when you walk in.

What was cool about the room was the tech. Right by the door, there is a little digital display. If you press the "hello" (I think) button, all the lights in the room turns on. When you hit the "Bye" (I think) button, all the lights turn off. There's also an iPad that controls various lights in the room (like the reading light over the bed) and the curtains (black out or outer curtains or both).

I didn'r take any photos of the dining options, but Circa offers a lot, including a Saginaw's (24-hour deli), Jack Pots (similar to Starbucks), Project BBQ, Barry's Downtown Prime (steak), Victory Burger, Legacy Club (which boasts amazing views), 8 East (Asian)and more! We've eaten at Sagniaw's, Project BBQ and 8 East.

As far as the casino floor, Circa is a two-story casino. I can't think of any other casino that is multi-story. I guess the Cal? But not the same. LOL. I actually played quite a bit here, mostly the Squid Games, Kong and Wizard of Oz slots. They were kind to me. :-)

Would I stay here again? I sure would! Hopefully I get some offers that will allow us to stay again. Until our next trip, a hui hou!

Want to read more? Check out my 2024 Vegas recap!

Las Vegas 2024

This blog entry is going to be a big dump of all the trips to Las Vegas taken in 2024. I'm going to start it as a continuation of our summer trip, which include visits to Universal Studios Hollywood and Disneyland.

After two fun-filled days at Disneyland and California Adventure, we headed to Las Vegas via car. At first we were going to take a flight, but it was pretty pricey, considering there were four of us. So we decided to do what a lot of Californians do . . . drive to Vegas!

Being from Hawaii, a 45 minute drive is considered long, so this was definitely an experience for us. Here's some observations from someone who has never driven anywhere outside of Hawaii:

California is a very large state! The drive was about five hours. It takes us five hours to fly from Hawaii to California! So I was very worried about driving for that long.
I was fascinated and amazed at all the big rig trucks on the road. Too many to count! You don't see this in Hawaii, and I wondered what they were carrying and where they were going.
Driving over the mountain pass was pretty cool. There was a stretch where it was advised to turn off the air conditioner to avoid overheating. I'm not sure if everyone does it, but I'm one to follow directions, so off the air conditioner went!
I've watched You Tube videos of different places can stop during this drive, but we didn't do any of it. Maybe next time we will.
It was a shock when we stopped for lunch at In-N-Out at Barstow. We went from nice mild weather to HOT HOT HOT weather. It is not tolerable because "it's DRY heat!" LOL. It's still HOT!
Once we crossed the border, Las Vegas was just a short 45 minutes away!

OK . . . so the following are just random photos in no particular order.

Summer display at the Bellagio Conservatory.

Milk tea from the Arte Museum Tea Bar. This was a cool experience.

I recommend the Arte Museum. It kinda reminds me of the Team Lab experiences in Japan.

This is one of my favorite rooms at the Arte Museum. My picture doesn't do it justice.

Some eats from the Proper Eats Food Hall at Aria.

Views that never get old. Bellagio at night.

Paris from the Bellagio fountains.

I'll probably never hit a jackpot, but small wins are always nice!

A mocha latte from Pink Box always hits the spot on a hot day!

Tried Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips. Super expensive, but it was good.

Lots of LSU and USC supporters during our September trip. Energy was super high. It was a good game! Unexpected win for USC.

Stopped by Resort World to get a Junior's cheesecake!

Hot dog and a PBR for $2 at the Downtown Grand. I think they raised it to $3 and they serve a different beer now.

We checked out Fountainbleau. It's a beautiful casino. These pictures are just from walking from the parking structure through the lobby to the casino.

Playing Bingo in Downtown Las Vegas at the Plaza. Bingo is so high tech now with a lot of different rules and cards you can buy. Green pack, blue pack, yellow pack, etc. I've played Bingo a few times now and I normally get about 40-ish cards. Thank goodness for automation. I've never won, but the hubz has gotten bingo a few times. Small amounts, but there are people who will win a few hundred during the session!

At the Cal. Santa getting some surf time before the big day.

Holiday display at the Bellagio. So pretty and smelled so good. They were pumping a holiday smelling scent in the air.

I went roller skating on my December trip!

It was Flippers' Roller Boogie Palace located at Tao Beach Club at the Venetian. They covered the pool area with flooring.

I had the whole place to myself! Just the DJ, the skate marshal and another employee dancing outside of the rink. I went at night because I didn't want to skate in the sun, even though it was December and chilly. I didn't realize they closed at 8 p.m. and I got there at 7 p.m. When I got up to the rink area, two other ladies were leaving, leaving me there all by myself! It was the best time! :-) I hope they have this again next winter! If not, I'll need to try ice skating at one of the pop-up rinks.

When I visited Main Street Station on our December trip, I was surprised to see a lot of slot machines and the table games gone. It was just a big empty space!

But they were just changing out the carpet. The top of the picture is the new carpet, with the old at the bottom. Can't wait to see the final result on my next trip.

I played at my first ever slot tournament! It was a two day tournament and each player played one session on each day. The people with the top five scores won cash prizes and the next 50 won slot credits. Each session was three minutes long and let me tell you, pressing on that button for three minutes is hard! Of course I did not place, but it was a fun six minutes!

While strolling around Container Park in Downtown Las Vegas, I stumbled upon a wrestling match and stopped to watch for a bit. I wonder if this is how The Rock got his start. Wrestling at these types of venues.

And that's a wrap for 2024! Oh wait, I do have one more post left -- a review of Circa, so please check that at well. Thanks for reading! I hope to visit Vegas in 2025 and will be better at posting on a timely basis and with better photos as well.

Disneyland Summer 2024

After our fun filled day at Universal Studios, we got a good night's sleep, had a leisure morning, packed up and ubered to Disneyland, which took about 45 mintues to an hour.

On our last trip to Disneyland, (8 years ago) we stayed at Camelot Inn, which is right across the street from the Disneyland entrance. When we returned home they sent us an email to offer us a 25% discount on our next stay at the property. When I called to make the reservation for this trip, they enthusiastically honored the discount when we inquired about it, even though it's been years! That's great customer experience!

It's a really great property. The location can't be beat and it has a small pool on the fourth floor with vantage point to watch Disney's nightly fireworks. There is no restaurants on property, but it's next to McDonald's, Panera Bread and a locally owned Italian restaurant. There used to be a Pizza Press next door, but it moved further down the street.

The property recently renovated before our trip so we got fresh rooms.

The main room included a king sized bed with a pull out sofa and a nice sized tv and microwave.

The second room included two queen beds and a tv as well. The bathroom was located in this room.

Pixar was celebrating a milestone anniversary in 2024.

Lunch at Downtown Disney.

The Lego store is always fun to visit.

The Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney was replaced by a Star Wars Trading Post.

After a short nap (isn't it funny how you go back to napping when you become a certain age?), we headed back to Downtown Disney for dinner.

View of the firewards from the swimming pool deck at Camelot Inn.

Disney day one was spent at Disneyland, and headed straight to The Rise of the Resistance ride at Star Wars: Galaxy Edge. It was AMAZING! We got in line fairly early so we zipped through most of the line experience. Believe it or not, the above is part of what you see while staging for the ride. It's a bit blurry because we just quickly walked through this area.

Another staging area before we got on the ride.

Whether or not you are a Star Wars fan, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is impressive. Disney has really outdone itself with the detail and the different vehicles and props from the Star Wars series. I could probably spend the entire day here just exploring the area.

A mint julep is always refreshing on a hot day!

I forget where we had lunch, but it was around the New Orleans Square area.

There was a traffic accident on the Autopia on the two tracks next to us. Not sure what happened, but one car on one track jumped the track and hit the car on the other track. So everything came to a grinding halt. We had sat withe the engines idling for a while and then all the cars turned off and we had to wait until Cast Members directed us to the proper exits. Someone in front of us was complaining of waiting so long in the heat, but there's a protocol to follow for safety, right?

Scenes from a parade . . .

Disney day two was spent at California Adventure. There was car trouble in Cars Land! While cruising through Radiator Springs in the Radiator Springs Racer ride, all the cars came to a stop. We waited and waited. And then all the lights turned on. We waited some more. And then a bunch of technicians came out to check a car in front of us. And we waited some more. Finally, we were asked to get up from our cars in a specific order/manner and follow a Cast Member to the exit. No pictures allowed. Honestly, it was cool to walk through the area with the lights on. No detail overlooked and you can't tell that these are all props. For our troubles, we were given Lighting Lane passes that can be used for this ride (normally Lighting Lane passes cannot be used for this ride).

At the Avenger's Campus. This replaced an area that had mainly rides for younger children. It's not as detailed as Galaxy's Edge.

In my previous post, I mentioned how I suck at Mario Cart. I also suck at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters as well. My family gets points in the hundred thousands while I barely get 10,000 points. Well, I was WINNING at the Web Slingers ride at the Avengers Campus! Whoo hoo! Needless to say, I enjoyed this ride immensely!

The Tower of Terror ride was replaced by a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I passed on this, but the kid rode it twice.

Radiator Springs at dusk is truly beautiful. My pictures don't do it justice.

I'm so easy to spot in these pictures. LOL.

So that's it for Disneyland. This was just small glimpses of our stay there. People complain about the prices, crowds and long lines, but if you plan it right, you can avoid some of this. Disneyland really is a magical place. They do it right there.

Next up . . . Las Vegas!