Have to concur with the 20 year observation. Although the theming was a bit Disneyfied at most places the staff usually played along. The Treasure Island naval battle has been reduced, inevitably, to a pointless T&A display with FX almost nonexistent.
It’s less Vegas and more Orlando/Myrtle Beach with smartass kids working most places and a flood of foreigners with little or no English. It seems that Saigon airlift in 1975 dropped them all in Nevada.
Food is bad and getting worse - as you say, the buffets are as bad as any at the beach. Cheap cheap cheap. Went to NYNY ‘Village’ where we’d had some good food at places in the past - it’s terrible now.
Can’t step inside a building without someone pestering you to get a players card. Discounts comps blah blah blah. Meanwhile they’re selling your personal details far and wide.
The once simple act of walking is even degraded now. Casinos have given up on grand entrances and are now sticking restaurants and bars on and over the sidewalks. Speaking of sidewalks, they’re almost impassable thanks to: (deep breath) people in superhero costumes (usually Batman), trashy ‘showgirls’ with pale skin, cellulite, fishnets and lots of tattoos (in other words, hookers who are daylighting), Mexicans STILL handing out hooker flyers and casino promo barkers.
But the worst addition is the vast increase in bums, mostly addicts, sprawled out everywhere and begging for money if they aren’t passed out. They are supposedly legal but they are ruining multi billion dollar operations.
Yeah, saw lots of street bums on the strip during our last trip a few weeks ago for a family gathering. Downtown has become more of a freak show than it ever was as well.
Pretty sure we won’t be back anytime soon. It’s definitely not the Vegas of the 80s and 90s anymore. Back then, you could have a pretty good time on the cheap and maybe walk away with some extra money in the process.