At 1,149ft, the Stratosphere hotel in Las Vegas is the USA's tallest freestanding observation tower. Of course, far more important to me - and probably to you if you're reading a small themed entertainment blog - is that it also offers some of the country's most unique thrill rides. With a visit to Vegas planned, I could not wait to see what the tower had to offer - aside from fear and regret.
We spent the first full day of our January trip wandering the Las Vegas strip, dipping in and out of all the wild and wonderful resorts that bordered the long, dazzling road. Staying at the Luxor, right at the very south end of the strip, meant that the very last stop on our tour was The Strat. Towering over the other resorts, the Strat (like everyone else) offered a hotel, casino and many different shows and restaurants. But the part that interested us lay many hundreds of feet above the rest.
On arrival at the Skypod entrance, a thorough security check was undertaken with bag inspections and metal detectors, before being ushered in to a manned elevator. The operator pressed the button and off we went, soaring upwards with enough speed to aggressively pop my ears - I feel so sorry for the ears of the elevator attendants! Then we were there, gazing out towards the vast open sky.
Our first stop on reaching the thrill ride level was outside for a quick photo, before Chris returned to the safe, thrill-ride-free interior and I was left to pick which two of the three rides I would like to make me regret all of my life choices.
Our tickets for the Strat were purchased through Groupon which for $22 each gave us admission to the Sky Pod observation deck and one buy-one-get-one-free voucher for rides. As we were visiting at the weekend, a premium rate applied to tickets so this offered a saving, but having had a quick glance at their website it's actually cheaper direct on a weekday, so do check if you're visiting! Once at the Strat I was able to purchase two ride tickets for $15 using the voucher, which seems fairly good value given the unique nature of the rides. I mean, Big Apple Coaster cost me $23 dollars plus $1 for the obligatory locker (christ). If I'd been visiting alone, or with a group focused on thrills I would probably have opted for the unlimited rides wristband to get a few goes in on everything, but that just wasn't the focus of this trip so two was plenty.
After all, there was only one ride I was absolutely determined to do...
... and it's positioning makes it really difficult to get a photograph of.
X-Scream
X-Scream is probably the ride that people most associate with The Strat. A ride that is known to grace many 'scariest rides' lists, X-Scream is essentially a see-saw. Or perhaps the world's shortest shuttle coaster - though I promise I haven't added it to my cred count! The ride itself involves sitting in a coaster-like car, with a lap-bar restraint and sliding backwards and forwards on a short rail. In a regular park this would be firmly consigned to the kids area, but this is not a regular park. Here that rail is suspended off of the side of one of the largest buildings in the world, leaving you dangling 866ft in the air.
I'm going to be honest, when we were planning our trip to Vegas I put this on the plan without a second thought. I somehow really didn't think this would scare me. I'm not the biggest fan of heights, but I tend to be fine with them so long as I have no free will. Stick me on a 300ft lift-hill stapled in with a lap-bar and I won't blink. On a 10ft family high-ropes course... well, I will be blinking. Hard. So maybe that's why I suddenly started re-thinking every decision that had brought me to this ride as soon as I was stood there on the loading platform, gazing up at the ride and down at nothing but thin air. Thankfully, I didn't have long enough to balk as the car was ready to go and only had one other rider. Seeing the other rider sat front-row I slid in to the seat behind him, got comfortable and tried not to think about where I was. Alas, he was having absolutely none of it and beckoned me forward to come sit front-row alongside him much to my absolute devastation. In hindsight, I'm very glad he did. Whilst I'm sure it's still pretty terrifying at the back, being at the end of that rail and seeing nothing for hundreds of feet below me is not something I'm going to forget in quite a while. Likewise, I'm pretty sure I will never forget the very first slide. I thought I was ready. I really, truly thought I'd be okay. But no, as that car slid past the boundary of the building and out towards the wide open sky, I panicked and I shouted 'oh crumbs!' before screeching like a banshee. If you're judging me for my weird curse of choice, don't worry, my ride neighbour absolutely rinsed me for it and proceeded to shout about how ridiculous the British are whilst we slid backwards, and repeatedly shouting 'oh crumbs!' whilst sliding forwards. Great stuff.
Those multiple tilts were one of my favourite parts of this ride, it's got a decently lengthy ride cycle! I got a good 5 or 6 slides over the edge during my ride and in that time I got to progress from pure fear, to having-the-time-of-my-life. In the end I left the attraction completely buzzing, absolutely overflowing with adrenaline and seriously debating dropping $15 for another ride.
Honestly, I just really loved this. If you're ever in Vegas, just do it.
Shout out to the ride camera for taking photos throughout the ride. I assure you the photo of my first drop looked nothing like this.
Big Shot
Next up, Big Shot. After years of being afraid to ride an S&S shot tower, of course I chose this ridiculous thing as my first. The former 'world's tallest thrill ride' record holder (surpassed in 2012 by the Canton Tower in China), Big Shot launches you to a total height of 1,081ft in the air at 45mph. Whilst I've also seen this ride place in other people's 'most scary' lists, I honestly didn't find it too intimidating. Especially compared to X-Scream. I had the entire vehicle to myself, so got to choose whichever seat I fancied and thus had a wonderful time bouncing up and down gazing out over the Las Vegas strip. For the most part, the ride didn't really feel any different to a regular drop tower in terms of thrill but the feeling of dissociation between the height and the drop was a little bizarre. My body was fully expecting to drop the whole distance to the ground, so falling just 160ft felt very strange. The cycle itself was pretty tame, with a really fun initial launch followed by some relatively mild bounces and it was all over with before I even knew it. Honestly, I was a little disappointed in the brevity of the experience. With no one else on the ride, and no one waiting it would have been nice to have had the opportunity to ride for a little longer. I have absolutely no familiarity with this ride type though, so have no idea if that's something that's actually possible, or just far more hassle than it's worth.
The reason Space Shots had been a no-go for me before this point was my fear of bouncing. I always used to find the bounce sensation in my stomach very nauseating and struggled a bit with Tower of Terror. But, I think years of forcing myself to ride that masterpiece have paid off - ToT no longer fazes me, and neither did this! Hurrah!
Insanity
Insanity was sadly the ride I chose to skip out of the three. I'm still working on my flat ride tolerance and whilst I'm definitely making progress, the spinny one was always going to be the ride on the cutting room floor for me. In hindsight, I do slightly regret this decision. I think spinning around in a seat tilted downwards would have been really unique, offering a much more prolonged sense of danger than X-Scream and a far more interesting experience than Big Shot. I think this thing is beautiful too, green and purple is always a winner!
Skypod
Of course, the main attraction at the top of the Strat is the observation deck itself - Skypod. Skypod offers 360 degree views over Las Vegas and the surrounding desert, with plentiful comfy seating and lots of information available to help you make sense of the views. The pod also featured a bar, cafe - with some realllly nice looking cakes - and gift shop, meaning you could comfortably spend a few hours here enjoying some lunch and the views. And those views truly are stunning.
The best part of the pod - and something we had no idea about until we talked to some staff - is that your ticket grants you admission for the entire operating day, as many times as you want. Our initial visit was mid-afternoon which was great, but being told this on the way out meant that we knew immediately we'd be coming back at night. Thankfully, there's a Denny's right next door so we were able to get some great, cheap eats (love u dennys) and come straight back, right as the sun was setting. Sitting on a plush sofa, watching the sun set and the strip come to life was a sort of magic I didn't expect to experience during our time in Vegas and I'm so grateful we were able to.
If you ever find yourself in Las Vegas, I really do recommend a visit to The Strat. Whether you want to feel that adrenaline that only sliding off the side of a ridiculous building can provide, or just want to take in the Vegas skyline with coffee and a cake, I'm sure it will be one of the highlights of your visit!
Speak again soon,
Claire
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