It seems to me there were a lot more people in town than last year. We again
went to the strip for the fireworks. We went to Ballys/Paris and if we go to
a strip hotel next year we may just try to get a room with a good view of the
strip and stay in the room for the fireworks. Last year we were at Harrahs
and walked to the Mirage and the crowds were large, but we weren't totally
packed like sardines during the fireworks.
This year we exited Paris about 11:30pm and found wall to wall and elbow to
elbow people. We managed to cross over to the barrier directly across from
the Eiffle Tower. People were pressed up against one another, and the bad
thing was when groups moved through the crowds. I don't know why they were
moving, since they were at a good location to see the fireworks, but a small
stream kept on the move, and this was dangerous in the crunch situation of
people. (Great for pickpockets too I'm sure - we left the purse in the safe
in the room).
Fireworks seemed short at 8 min and from our vantage point in front of Paris,
we couldn't see the whole strip, so the fireworks didn't seem that impressive
to me. No way to hear any music they may have had due to crowd noise.
This definitely wasn't the best place to view the fireworks and the squash of
the crowd was disturbing (good thing we weren't claustrophobic). We didn't
have any real problems while we stood there, but we were concerned that when
the crowd broke up after the fireworks, we would have trouble crossing the
street back to Paris, so we made our way back closer to the sidewalk during
the fireworks and had no trouble getting back into Paris. But with this many
people squished together it could be a dangerous situation and definitely not
recommended for old people or kids. Other spots on the strip probably had
less crush, like wider areas in front of Caesar's or Mirage etc.
Best side to be on was opposite to fireworks for better view, but crossing
from one side of street to the other is difficult due to lack of allowed
crosswalks.
When they close the strip, they put up barriers so that 2 lanes are still
available for emergencies, which actually limits the amount of space for
people quite a bit. Should crowds get any larger, they really need to open
up more space on the highway for people, maybe just have 1 lane for emergency
vehicles in most places.
Crowd was boistrous, but not unpleasant, just squished into too little space.
Some people were noisy, beer-drinking, etc., but not unruly. One thing that
annoyed us was that as we looked up to see fireworks, some guy decided to
throw confetti at just that moment - and kept throwing it - and it landed
right on us (and our eyes - fortunately behind glasses), making us blink so
it interrupted our firework viewing.
It is neat to be on the strip during fireworks, but this year the crush was a
bit much for us (and as I said it was better last year) so next year we will
probably try to watch from a room or look at the skyline offstrip.
Note you really needed to have a room for the night because most places
closed thier doors and wouldn't let you in unless you had a room key. In
some places you could get in with a slot club card. If you want to just go
down to see the fireworks without a room, you could have a problem getting in
to a casino for toilets (not to mention getting into or out of the strip
while it is closed).
Most of the casinos put up extra barriers to protect their casinos from
crowds, but this just helped cause the squish of people. Also bathrooms were
extremely crowded in the half hour or so before the fireworks began, so if
you have a room, you should try to use it for a toilet stop prior to exiting
to the street.
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