Friday’s Takes Over Vegas Casinos

Oct 23

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T.G.I. Friday’s is moving in to four Las Vegas casinos, hoping to replicate the success of its Orleans Hotel location on Tropicana Ave, about 2 miles north of the Las Vegas Strip. The new locations will open in the Aliante Station Casino, the Gold Coast, Sam’s Town, and the Suncoast (the latter three all under the Coast Casinos chain of properties.)

The Aliante Station Casino is a new property opening on November 11 in North Las Vegas. It joins a huge chain of properties owned by Station Casinos. Friday’s will join four other restaurants inside the Aliante; Camacho’s Cantina, MKRT, the Original Pancake House and Pips, as well as a buffet and the usual assortment of fast food options inside its food court. The casino also has a 700-seat showroom and a 16-screen movie theater.

The Orleans, the Gold Coast, and Sam’s Town are all established casinos with a reputation for catering to locals. The Suncoast Hotel and Casino, the newest Coast Casino property built by Boyd Gaming Corporation, opened in September 2000 near Summerlin.

Las Vegas Lands Lion King

Oct 02

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The Lion King the Walt Disney musical is setting up shop in the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, NV next year. The production is reportedly going to be the full-length feature following the Broadway version, though Vegas shows typically get chopped down to 90 minutes to encourage gaming activities (like Phantom, the shortened version of The Phantom of the Opera running at the Venetian). It joins six other productions of The Lion King around the world, and currently is set for an open-ended run.

Broadway musicals relocated to Las Vegas typically take years to recoup their investment and make money, but MGM Mirage (owners of Mandalay Bay) hopes that the production will be a big enough draw to at least get people into the casino.

Show previews begin April 20, 2009 and debut performance is set for May 2.