Vegas During Covid? Are You Nuts?
I remember when we were in the thick of covid in early 2020 when commercials urging us to visit Vegas started airing. I thought; how ridiculous! Are they crazy?
I also thought that a pre-covid Thanksgiving weekend planned birthday Girls Trip for L. Burner (director of documentary, The Rise of Eve) to Sin City stood the odds of still being a go.
When I say we were in the thick of covid, this is when people were hoarding meat and toilet paper and the country was completely shut down. It seemed careless and stupid to open the city back up just for gambling purposes.
All live shows were cancelled indefinitely so that was a bummer for our group because we planned to stay at Mandalay Bay simply to see and be close to the Michael Jackson ONE show.
A Glimmer of Hope
By October there was talk of some shows reopening in November so we used Vegas.com to book tickets to MJ Live at the Strat and Australian Thunder From Down Under at the Excalibur.
Both were cancelled days before we were scheduled to see them.
We were able to book tickets to the Bright Lights City Tour, Motown Extreme, and a comedy show at Delirious Comedy Club.
The Bright Lights tour takes place in an open pink jeep. It also includes tickets to the 550 foot tall High Roller Ferris wheel, which we skipped.
Temperatures were in the high 50s to low 60s when we were there so that two hour ride was a chilly one.
The Motown Extreme show was Christmas themed and though it’s not a great show, in my opinion, we had fun with it and there are some great singers in the cast. The J5 portion of the show needs lots of work.
The comedy show at Delirious gave us more than a few tickles and it was very interactive as the audience only consisted of six people!
Cool Things To Do in Vegas On a Budget
Fremont Street Experience
The free and open Fremont Street Experience is located in downtown Las Vegas, also known as old Las Vegas.
Did You Know: the main Las Vegas strip is not located in Las Vegas proper? It’s actually in Paradise! Fun fact I learned on the Bright Lights City Tour.
The Fremont St. Experience is a mall and an attraction that features concerts, New Years Eve parties, and it’s home of the SlotZilla zip line.
During our time there vendors, street performers, women dressed in almost nothing, a dusty looking Michael Jackson impersonator, and the Chippendales were the main entertainment.
Side note: Male strippers are aggressive AF and they say the wildest shit! You’d think they’d chill a bit in the #MeToo/#TimesUp era, but nah.
Walking The Strip
Meeting Magical Family Members
Karaoke Party Lyft
Vegas During Covid is Safe
Everywhere we went masks and social distancing rules and regulations were in place and everyone I saw followed them, though it’s hard to fully adhere to the social distancing part in crowds.
Temperature checks were also the norm at some places so I felt like I’d have no problem remaining covid free during my stay, and I did.
Don’t Visit Vegas During Covid
This wasn’t my first trip to Vegas but it was definitely the most event heavy and touristy one. At this point I’m over it, I’ve had my fill of Sin City.
I did have a good time with friends but it’s my suggestion to visit Vegas after covid, especially if you’ve never been or are looking to do more than play slots.
Las Vegas is a city that should be experienced in its fully glory. Not with cancellations, pictures with masks on, temp checks, small separated audiences, closed stores/buildings, or other mood killing restrictions.
Paradise will still be there when all this mess is finally over.
