Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps, has a new attraction--The Sphere!
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| From the Stratosphere |
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| From the Stratosphere |
What should you know when visiting The Sphere?
First, the good: the show was amazing since it had a 4D type surround theater and sound with motion seats. It was Postcards from Earth, and was well done with views from around the world. One felt as if in the scene and could reach out and touch the images.
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| Soaring through the mountains |
Now, the bad:
1. The Sphere is not at the Venetian. It is at the Expo Hall behind the Venetian, which is a 20 minute walk. We asked concierges and the taxi drive, who dropped us at the Venetian casino entrance and said, "Just walk through the casino. Follow the signs." The concierge there said the same. We did that along with a horde of other Sphere goers and ended up at the side entrance just down from the main entrance we entered. Very confusing! If going, ask to be dropped at the Expo Hall where taxis and rideshares let you off at the main gates with no extra walking. Apparently, since there were so many of us lost, there is a problem with directions to it.
2. Start times: everything we received said the show started at 4:30. However, only the gates and expo hall opened at 4:30. We could have arrived almost 2 hours later than our 3:30 arrival and been fine. The gate opened at 4:30 and the show started at 5:30. That was never clearly communicated until a lady in line behind me said she got an email about 3:30 that clarified it. I checked and sure enough I had an email. It was not sent in timely manner so that we could have rearranged our travel time.
3. Expo Hall exhibits: the write up about these on the website make it seem as if there is a lot of hands-on exhibits for kids. We saw only 4-5 exhibits in a mostly empty hall. They rush you in and out very quickly. All exhibits were shutdown after the show, so if you want to see them be sure to go early. It was some robots doing tasks; that's about it.
4. Food: typical concert fare food and prices. $18 for 3 chicken tenders and some fries. $10 for water. We did not have an alcoholic beverage. Tasted fine for fast food.
5. Seats: they are small, crammed in, and uncomfortable. The angle is very steep in sections 200 and up with the higher seats the worst. Some elderly complained it was difficult for them. The lower 100 section looked nicer, not as small seats or on such steep inclines, but we saw no one in that section at all. I do not usually get motion sickness, but did experience a little due to the surround feel of the screen that makes you become immersed in the film. The higher up sections were worse said some of the people after the show.
6. Cost: Although tickets were advertised on the website starting at $69, we found none of those on any of the days/times during the week. Not sure where those ticket prices can be found at. Our cost was $111 apiece. Still, the cheapest we could find using discounts, etc...
If you would like a great view of The Sphere from the sky then try seeing it from the Stratosphere, which offers an amazing view of Las Vegas at 1149 feet in the air. It has bars, shops, rides, etc... (see photos above) and is well worth the price of admission.
Would I go again? Yes, the theater and show was a neat experience even though there were numerous challenges and drawbacks. Being prepared always helps, too, so hopefully after reading this your journey and time at the Sphere will be a great one!
There were so many nationalities of people of Las Vegas, and we heard many dialects. Here's some neat activities to help you think about dialects from across the United States:
Enjoy the uniqueness of dialects around the US in January!
