What places should I consider visiting for Defcon?

[TheCotMan]

We've got a new location, and many people will be on foot, limited to busses, or want to minimize their cab/drive times in the city of perpetual construction delays. Additionally, since it is our first year at the Riviera, we don't yet have an idea what nearby resources are best for our needs.

Point of interest near the Riveria for Defcon people.

Add to the list. Do you know of something closer? Further but worth the distance? Corrections to what has been posted? Feedback, on worthiness of cited entry? Post a reply.

1) Transportation:
We are on the strip, so bus access should be easier with more choices and greater frequency and opportunity.
Las Vegas Bus Map with Riviera marked on it (png) as taken from from rtcsouthernnevada.com (pdf).
"The Deuce" is a route that travels the strip. According to this,"A Deuce day pass is $5 and a one-way ride is $2." (Probably cheaper than a cab and more conveinient than a car+parking if you are trecking to see the sights of the strip.)
Las Vegas Monorail seems to have closest stops at the LV Hilton (to the east) and Sahara (North by NorthEast) or the Las Vegas Convention Center. (7:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m., Monday-Thursday) or (7:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m. Friday-Sunday) Cost: $5/trip, $9 for a 2-trip-pass, $15 for all-day pass.
There are always cabs, or rental cars.

2) Grocery Stores / food stores nearby:
Circle K (1.0 miles from the Riviera)
Albertsons Sav-On: Las Vegas (1.9 miles from the Riviera) (Deuce, 204, ~109)
[Syntax] posted about a Walgreens#2 (1.8 miles from Riviera but a "Day-pass" on the "Deuce" may make this a reasonable choice) and a Walgreens#2 (2.2 miles from the Riviera)

3) Places to eat:
Kallahar's Recon: Riviera Food court has several eateries: Kallahar's recon: KFC, A&W, CheeseSteaks etc., Jade Dragon (may have replaced Panda Express), Pizza Hut, Quiznos, La Salsa
List of Riviera Dining options
[Syntax wrote: Theres also an arcade at the hotel and a Korean resturaunt with cyber cafe 1 building south.
Kallahar and later Abby Normal mention The Peppermill which is map (0.4 miles from Riviera)

4) Bars/Liquor Stores:
Strip Liquor (0.1 miles from the Riviera)
Quarks at the Hilton (0.5 miles from the Riviera)
Town Pump Liquors Inc (0.6 miles from Riviera)

5)Hotels near The Riviera:
What Hotels are Nearby? (according to google maps)
Hotels Near The Riviera (According to Travelocity)
Hotels Nearby (According to Expedia)
Hotels Nearby (According to College Hotel Guide and a custom URL to abuse form data)

6) Other stuff:
[Syntax] posted: Bungie jumping across from the Riviera.
Kallahar photo recon of the Riviera -- What are the couches like? What are the TV like? What are the beds like? Bathrooms? Locations? Check this. If you like this recon, maybe you should buy him a beer, or drink.
Tacitus photo recon of the Riviera: There are difference from Kallahar'a recon here. Convention space, floor space, skybox room views and more. If you like this recon, maybe you should buy him a beer, or drink.
Rather expensive automatic weapon rental and firing range. When there is no Defcon Shoot, some people go here. They do have "printable coupons" but that does not save you much if you rent 4 -8 clips with just one automatic weapon. (Like $5 off.)

Anything else?

[kallahar]

Also within walking distance are the Stardust and Circus Circus - across the street, and the Stratosphere (like $8 to go to the top, then more for the rides, but definately worth doing once.) If you've seen Vegas Vacation, that part where they get the buffet food by color is the Circus Circus buffet...

The Riv has a comedy club that we went to, no drink minimum but there was a cover, the "dance club" was empty when we went by, and the food court closes around midnight. The peppermill is close and is open 24h with fairly good food.

The rooms were nice, our A/C was loud but worked really well in the Monarch tower. There are two little 7/11 type stores inside the hotel which have misc drinks and alcohol, the prices weren't horrible. Kady's has good breakfast and lunch food and their bay windows overlook the pool.

Oh, and it was 115 degrees in May, the pool has waitress drink service, it's 9 feet deep but closes at 6, and at least one light pole on the grass had an open 110v outlet.

[Tacitus]

the pool has waitress drink service, it's 9 feet deep but closes at 6

Any idea if this is extended longer in the summer? Do they enforce nobody in the pool or do they just pull the lifeguard? Perhaps there is a change defcon can have extended pool hours?

[astcell]

We need to go over to the Alexis Park at midnight, light a candle and drink a shot.

[Gobniu]

The Imperial palace which is up the strip a bit has a great car museum. They used to have the Batmodile from the 60's Tv show. they also had Hitler's limo and some cult leaders Rolls-Royce with a weird lace paint job. They also had the the worlds largest collection of Dusenberg's. The reason For the past tense is they had everything for sale the last time I was there because they like to rotate the collection.
http://www.imperialpalace.com/autos.php

[renderman]

Since we're talking about cars.... another option (though a bit of a drive) is the free tour of the Shelby American plant at the las vegas speedway.

http://www.shelbyamerican.com/tours.asp

From the site:

Located near the famed Las Vegas Speedway, Shelby Automobiles has 10:30am tours Monday through Friday of the Shelby museum and Cobra production facility. The museum is always changing and includes some of the most famous cars ever produced from the first Cobra CSX2000 to prototypes of the wickedly fast Series 1 and some of the latest creations.

Not terribly long, but cool none the less.

[DaKahuna]

We need to go over to the Alexis Park at midnight, light a candle and drink a shot.

Only one? Waste of a trip.

[TheCotMan]

We need to go over to the Alexis Park at midnight, light a candle and drink a shot.

You might get more support if you mentioned something about not buying the drinks from the AP.

[astcell]

Well only one shot because there would be 6000 of us there.

We'd buy the drinks from the liquor store on the corner. :>

[kallahar]

re pool: The lifeguards were leaving and they asked everyone to leave the pool and most of the pool area. Then they put out the "pool closed" signs. Everyone seemed to follow the rules... not sure what the penalties are ;)

[renderman]

re pool: The lifeguards were leaving and they asked everyone to leave the pool and most of the pool area. Then they put out the "pool closed" signs. Everyone seemed to follow the rules... not sure what the penalties are ;)

Please tell me that someone on the goon squad has addressed this?

[shrdlu]

Please tell me that someone on the goon squad has addressed this?

Standard hotel pool rules for Vegas.

They want everyone out of the pool long before evening. The whole idea is to push you into the casino, where you'll gamble. Any hotel on the strip is going to have the same rules. The random hedonism of the Alexis Park is almost certainly not going to work at the Riviera.

Happens.

[Surreal]

a minor "must visit"

...
Add to the list. Do you know of something closer? Further but worth the distance?

Mexican food and margaritas from La Salsa in Caesar's Forum Shops. The food is decent and not too over-priced. The margaritas are freaking excellent, and they've got a great selection of tequila. They make huge to-go drinks in a tourist-grade plastic container to keep you provisioned as you wander around. ("1 yard" drink, "1/2 yard" etc. you'll look like a refugee from Mardi Gras)

One point of suckage is that they Will Not sell straight shots of tequila. You can only have additional shots added to a drink. (is that a Vegas law problem, or just them?)

I can't brink myself to buy a shot of killer Anejo just to add it to a mixed drink - "sure, we've got Jamaican Blue Mountain! What kind of Frapuccino do you want it in?" (The horror. The horror.)

One absolutely bizarre gotcha is that the Forum food and drink places close at midnight. WTF are they thinking?

Surreal

[Tacitus]

Mexican food and margaritas from La Salsa in Caesar's Forum Shops. The food is decent and not too over-priced. The margaritas are freaking excellent, and they've got a great selection of tequila. They make huge to-go drinks in a tourist-grade plastic container to keep you provisioned as you wander around. ("1 yard" drink, "1/2 yard" etc. you'll look like a refugee from Mardi Gras)

The food court in the Riviera also has a La Salsa they might have the same alcohol deal without the walk through the heat to Caesars.

[Abby_Normal]

Standard hotel pool rules for Vegas.

They want everyone out of the pool long before evening. The whole idea is to push you into the casino, where you'll gamble. Any hotel on the strip is going to have the same rules. The random hedonism of the Alexis Park is almost certainly not going to work at the Riviera.

Happens.

Am I the only one worrying about this? It just seems like this could go very bad very fast.

And what are we going to do for poolcon?