Zarkana Closes - Postmortem Review

April 30, 2016 marked the final performance of the Cirque du Soleil show Zarkana.

As I had wrote in a previous blog post - the show and showroom itself are being removed to make way for an expansion of the Aria Convention Center. In that blog post I said that I had always wanted to see Zarkana, and its closing might give me extra incentive to actually see it.



I did in fact see Zarkana during my recent stay at Aria. I really enjoyed the show and thought it was just as good - if not better than - the other Cirque shows I've seen (Mystère, Kà, and Zumanity).

Zarkana didn't really have a strong plot or theme. Similar to Mystère it was more or less a collection of acrobatic acts and live music that Cirque shows are known for.

While I don't think that hurt the production value of the show - it probably hurt marketing efforts. It seems like every other Cirque show in Vegas has some kind of hook to bring people in.



Perhaps the biggest reason for the show's demise was the fact that Aria doesn't really seem to be centered around entertainment. The showroom was located well off the casino floor up an escalator. Zarkana and the property's first show Viva Elvis kind of felt like afterthoughts rather than a priority.

While getting rid of a showroom to add more convention space won't benefit the average Las Vegas tourist - it probably does make sense for Aria.

New Wynn Paradise Park Lagoon Details

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about Wynn Paradise Park - the new proposed development by Wynn Resorts which will include a 1000 room hotel with a large man-made lagoon as a centerpiece attraction.

Today a press release was issued giving more details about the project. The lagoon will be constructed by a Miami based company called Crystal Lagoons.

"A 38-acre Crystal Lagoon will be the centerpiece of the development that will feature 260,000 square feet of premium meetings and convention space, a 1,000-room hotel tower, a small casino and extensive dining and nightlife. The elaborate water attraction will include both daytime and nighttime entertainment elements. At night, the space will transform with an elaborate fireworks display that is launched from the 120 ft. center island and surrounding areas. The expansion will be constructed on approximately 130 acres of real estate that currently houses the Wynn Golf Club. The project remains subject to the approval of Wynn's board.

The man-made lagoon with crystal-clear waters and white-sand beaches will be the size of more than 30 football fields and close to the size of almost 100 Olympic-size swimming pools. The new Crystal Lagoon will change the Las Vegas lifestyle with by making water sports readily available, such as stand-up paddle-boarding, wind-surfing, sailing, swimming and more."

Also notable from the press release was information touting the environmental sustainability of the project. The lagoon would use significantly less water than the current golf course.

It certainly looks like an impressive project, and if the sample image below is any indication it will be a great place to hang out. New outdoor spaces are a trend in Las Vegas with The Linq and The Park developments recently opening. Wynn Paradise Park would take the outdoor entertainment concept to the next level.

In my blog post a few weeks ago I was pretty skeptical about the project actually happening, but now that we have more details I think it would be a great expansion. If anyone can pull it off Steve Wynn is that guy.


Image: Crystal Lagoons

Derek Stevens buys Mermaids and La Bayou

Downtown Las Vegas king Derek Stevens plans to expand his Fremont Street empire even further. He has agreed to purchase Mermaids and La Bayou casinos, as well as the Glitter Gulch strip club.

Those properties will close on June 27th. The real estate will then be used to facilitate the expansion and remodeling of the Stevens owned property formerly known as Las Vegas Club.

Expanding the Las Vegas Club space into the Mermaids space seems like a great idea, as it will extend the property down into the heart of Fremont Street - attracting more foot traffic.

Expansion of Golden Gate - also owned by Stevens - into the La Bayou space also seems like a possibility, but it's kind of hard to tell at this point.

Derek Stevens has quickly become one of the most popular casino owners in Las Vegas by interacting directly with his customers at the bar and in the casino. Rumor has it he shakes so many hands every day that he has to soak his hand in ice each night.

Stevens has also gained international notoriety with some of the creative marketing techniques he's used to promote The D and Golden Gate.

Boyd buys Aliante

Boyd Gaming is expanding their reach in the Las Vegas locals market as they have agreed to purchase Aliante Casino and Hotel for $380 million.

Boyd seems to be in a buying mood as they are also rumored to be nearing a deal to purchase Cannery Casino Resorts which would give them even more Las Vegas locals exposure.

Las Vegas locals is Boyd's bread and butter so these deals make perfect sense.  Is too much of Boyd's revenue is concentrated in one market though?  I wonder if Boyd will be looking to acquire more properties outside of Vegas.

Boyd still doesn't have a property on the Strip though after abandoning the Echelon Place development a number of years back.

It's interesting that Boyd at one point was set to open a multi-billion dollar resort complex on the Strip, and now they're reduced to buying Aliante and Cannery.

Wynn Paradise Park Lagoon

Wynn Resorts held an investor day presentation yesterday. In an effort to share more about upcoming projects Wynn addressed investors for two and a half hours, and the company released a ton of renderings of the upcoming Wynn Palace Macau and Wynn Boston.

Many topics were discussed, but the item grabbing all the headlines is the plan to redevelop the golf course behind Wynn and Encore in Las Vegas. The new project could have a budget as high as $1.6 billion and would include a hotel, small casino, restaurants and retail.

The centerpiece of Wynn Paradise Park would be a large lagoon where guests could partake in a variety of water activities. The company would also plan to launch fireworks over the lagoon every night, just like at Disney.



Even with this model of what Wynn Paradise Park would look like, I'm still skeptical of this actually happening anytime soon. If it does get built I'm guessing the lagoon will be scaled down a bit. Something about building a huge lake in the middle of drought-ridden desert just doesn't feel right. I know what you're going to say - Wynn already did it a Bellagio. True, but this looks like a much bigger undertaking.

Either way, a project like this just underscores the continued expansion of non-gaming activities in Las Vegas. Even though the new hotel will have a casino, it's clear the focus will be on dining, shopping, and the lagoon attraction. Wynn Paradise Park would fit right in with the new outdoor spaces on the Strip - Caesars Entertainment's The Linq and MGM's The Park.

Each one of these features a main attraction to bring people in - the High Roller wheel at The Linq, T-Mobile Arena at The Park, and now the lagoon at Paradise Park.