DECAGONATHON weekend 2006 almost certainly included a North Loop crawl. For those not familiar, the current North Loop starts mid-strip and heads north hitting the casinos north of Harrahs/Mirage. A typical route would be through Casino Royale to Venetian, across to TI, over to Fashion Show Mall, across Las Vegas Boulevard (LVB) to Wynn/Encore, out the back door up to Resorts World, out the side and into Slots A Fun (a shell of its former self,) out another back door to Circus Circus (DooDoo Circus to those in the know,) continuing up LVB (don’t forget your Zoltar fortune) to Sahara (SLS Sahara not REAL Sahara,) onward to Aztek Inn, then (if you survive) into Stratosphere, end of line.
In 2006 (just before The Great Recession) the North Loop would have been very different. It was the same north of Harrahs/Mirage starting point through Casino Royale to Venetian, across to TI. Instead of over to Fashion Show Mall it was over to New Frontier, up to Stardust, over to Riviera, across to Slots A Fun, into Circus Circus, out and up to Sahara, on to Stratosphere.
In 2006 many of these stops on the North Loop were looking to move upscale. They watched the newer center and south strip properties draw more visitors resulting in added revenue. The older North Loop casinos wanted to join the increased revenues party by building shiny new resorts. However, if you want to build a new building on land where a building already exists, you gotta tear the existing building down.
March 13, 2007 Stardust was imploded. Next came New Frontier on November 13, 2007. Sahara closed May 16, 2011, deemed not economically viable. Riviera was imploded June 16, 2016. With the exception of Riviera, and including Foutainebleau, each had plans for bigger, better resorts to replace them. The Great Recession in 2007 stopped or at least delayed (looking at you Fountainebleau) these plans throughout the twentyteens.
So what’s happening for your Competition Council to say North Loop resurgence? First was Sahara coming back in 2019 after a stint as SLS. Yes, it’s not REALLY the Sahara, but it is a North Loop anchor point having the tram station. Next was Resorts World opening June 24, 2021, on the old Stardust location. From the Riviera implosion to Resorts World opening the North Loop was really more of a “tram to SLS/Sahara and walk to DooDoo Circus trip” than an actual loop. So, while Resorts World isn’t the budget casino DECAGONATHONIANS enjoy, it is at least a stop on the loop, and it has a great food hall. Now assuming Fountainebleau opens in the fall of 2023 as planned, the North Loop will have enough viable stops between Wynn and Sahara to justify the walk. Remember it’s not a loop if you aren’t tired at the end.
TL:DR – As soon as Fountainebleau opens the DECAGONATHON North Loop is back baby!