New Years in Vegas

Spending New Years Eve in Vegas is something everyone should do once.

Unless you do not like crowds.

New Years Eve is one of the most crowded days to be Las Vegas. It will be interesting to see whether the economy will impact the New Years Eve party in Vegas.

Want fireworks?

At midnight a spectacular fireworks show, coordinated with a musical soundtrack, will launch from eight ground locations along Las Vegas Blvd. from Mandalay Bay, Luxor, MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island/Mirage, Las Vegas Convention Center, Stratosphere and Fremont Street Experience.

Want stars?

Three-time Grammy Award-winning artist, Fergie (from the Black Eyed Peas) performs live at The Venetian and The Palazzo before heading to LAVO nightclub to take on duties as celebrity host. At the Playboy Club in the Palms, Kid Rock, will host and DJ the 2009 New Year's Eve celebration following his live performance at the Pearl Concert Theater while AKON rocks the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Pink will turn up the heat at Wasted Space at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

The Kardashian Sisters will host a party at LAX inside Luxor, while Carmen Electra hosts the annual bash at Tao inside The Venetian. In addition to the street party outside, Las Vegas Blvd. morphs into a celebrity block party within Strip nightclubs. Usher celebrates all night at The Bank in Bellagio, while Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Pete Wentz party at PURE next door in Caesars Palace. Just on the other side of Caesars, JET at The Mirage rings in the New Year with New Kids on the Block, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood, while hit reality-stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt host festivities at Christian Audigier at TI. The newest nightclub to hit Las Vegas, XS at Encore, is sure to please New Year's crowds with 40,000 square feet of party space.

Getting around

With thousands of revelers descending upon The Strip for New Year's Eve, the Las Vegas Monorail will be the only form of public transportation available because Las Vegas Blvd. will be closed to traffic. The Monorail offers visitors a convenient option to and from the city's hottest spots safely, quickly and efficiently. On New Year's Eve, the system will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m.

General tips
1. Eat early - You WILL be waiting in line for everything.
2. Bring a jacket - It snowed in Las Vegas for only the second time that I remember (because I was there both times). It's December and it can get cold.
3. Park and walk - It's probably the only day of the year that you have to pay for parking unless you are a hotel guest. So leave the car in your hotel parking lot or pay $10 to $20 bucks to park and walk to where you need to go. But once you park, leave it until you are ready to go home.
4. Stay the extra day - The airport will be in chaos. The hotel check out will be in chaos. If you stay on the Jan. 1, you can watch the bowl games and the town will go back to normal.
5. You can still get a room for NYE now if you move. Look on different hotel websites for the rates. If you are driving to Vegas, you can still get a room and have a blast.

Vegas solo vs. group

A popular question that comes up is can I go to Las Vegas alone. How safe is it? What do I do? etc.

I guess it depends on what you want to get out of your trip. For example, I wanted to go to Vegas with someone I was dating at the time. She doesn't gamble. I do. She loves shopping. I don't. She would like to go to a show. I would tolerate it. So my choices were to do separate things or one person hating what they were doing while on vacation.

So, if you go with a group, make sure you are all of like mind. If it's a gambling group, go gamble. If it's a clubbing group, hit the clubs. If it's a poker group, then play poker. If it's a sightseeing group, then see the sites. So at least have a mix of people so one person doesn't feel like an outcast from the group.

FREE TIP OF THE DAY: If your group scatters, always have a set time to meet every day either for a meal (lunch usually) and gameplan the rest of the day. Trying to do it on the fly causes problems. It doesn't have to be in the room. It can be in the lobby of your hotel.

Going solo

No big deal. It's not a hassle to eat in restaurants. There are people eating by themselves all the time. It's actually easier to get tickets to popular shows. For some shows on Saturday night, it could be impossible to get 2-4 seats together. Finally, you are not on a timetable. You can do what you want when you want.

It's also safe as long as you don't act like an idiot or flash cash on the streets. Be smart and stay relatively sober.

Bottom line

Don't fret if you can't get a group together for a Vegas trip. Trust me, you will have fun going solo.