The Mirage

The Mirage is a 3,049 room hotel and casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip. The resort is owned by MGM Mirage.

The Mirage is connected by a free tram to Treasure Island, its sister property immediately to the north.

History

The Mirage was built by developer Steve Wynn and opened in 1989, and was owned by Wynn's company Mirage Resorts (later MGM Mirage). It was the first resort that was built with the money of Wall Street through the use of junk bonds.

Its construction is also considered very noteworthy in that Mr. Wynn had set a new standard for Vegas resorts, and is widely considered to be the father of today's Las Vegas. Prior to the Mirage's opening, the city was experiencing a decline in tourism that began in the 1970s, especially around the time the state of New Jersey legalized gambling and tourists (in particular those on the East Coast) began to frequent the casinos of Atlantic City. Also, this was a time when Vegas was no longer considered a cool place to be, so something had to be done, and something big, to get the tourists back.

From 1990 through 2003, the Mirage was the venue for the Siegfried & Roy show. The two headliners combined magic and the use of wild animals. The closing of the popular attraction in 2003, after Roy Horn was attacked by one of the white tigers used in the show, impacted the Mirage for a while. Siegfried & Roy's White Tiger Habitat keeps one of the white tigers always on view.

In 2004, Danny Gans took over the main showroom and marquee, becoming the resort's main entertainment attraction.

Attractions
 
Notable features include:

• Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat
• An artificial volcano along the Strip that "erupts" periodically during the evening. After sister property Bellagio opened, Wet Design, the company that helped create the Fountains of Bellagio attraction, redid the technology behind the volcano effect to make it more spectacular. To hide the smell of the natural gas used for the fire effects, The Mirage pumps out a piña colada scent.
• A waterfall in front of the hotel that uses approximately $10,000 worth of electricity per day to operate.
• A 20,000 US gallon (76 m³) aquarium behind the front desk.
   

Trivia

• The Mirage does not have a wedding chapel.
• The marquee in front of The Mirage is the largest free standing marquee in the world.
  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Uses material from the article The Mirage.