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\tLisa McPherson was in town for a cousin\u2019s wedding when she suggested to family members Monday morning they should ride the High Roller observation wheel \u2014 the centerpiece of The Linq retail, dining and entertainment attraction.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIf I didn\u2019t, I thought I would be sorry,\u201d said McPherson, a resident of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.<\/p>\n
\tTurns out, McPherson, her husband, Doug and parents, Leif and Charlene Wadelius, were among the first paying passengers to ride the 550-foot-tall Strip attraction.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cReally?\u201d she said in astonishment when told passengers who held 1 p.m. tickets would be among the first to experience Las Vegas\u2019 newest customer draw.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cNow I\u2019m really glad we came,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\tThe High Roller opened for business Monday five days after Clark County officials certified the wheel\u2019s safety and operating and safety procedures and granted The Linq\u2019s management team an operating permit.<\/p>\n
\tAfter Linq managers, the High Roller\u2019s developers, executives from Linq owner Caesars Entertainment Corp., elected officials and media members took an initial 30-minute cruise, the public hopped aboard one of the High Roller\u2019s 28 cabins.<\/p>\n
\tEach pod holds up to 40 passengers.<\/p>\n
\tNews of the opening traveled fast.<\/p>\n
\tPeople lined up Monday morning in front of the High Roller ticket office once it became known the attraction was ready for customers. A daytime ride cost $24.95 a person; a nighttime ride, after 6 p.m., is $34.95 per customer.<\/p>\n
\tGary Simonson of Forest Lake, Minn., walked away holding a ticket for an 8 p.m. ride.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI like the nightlife,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tThe Linq, which includes 300,000 square feet of stylish retail offerings, trendy restaurants and hip entertainment venues, has been opening in phases since December. Most of the major attractions, including Brooklyn Bowl, Yard House, and Sprinkles Cupcakes, opened in March.<\/p>\n
\tLinq developers never gave a date for the High Roller opening as the observation wheel \u2014 promoted as taller than the London Eye or the Singapore Flyer \u2014 needed several rounds of testing.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe\u2019re excited to finally get it open,\u201d said Linq General manager Jon Gray, who has ridden the wheel eight times during testing.<\/p>\n
\tIf there was glitch, it came during the christening. Linq Executive Project Director David Codiga and Caesars Chief Marketing Officer Tariq Shaukat shattered bottles of Dom Perignon against one of the support structures. But Codiga\u2019s bottle shattered in such a manner that he was covered in Champagne.<\/p>\n
\tThe High Roller\u2019s pods have television displays that show riders how high up they are during the 30-minute revolution, including a signal when the pods have reached the wheel\u2019s apex. There is also bench seating, but it was hardly used as passengers moved about the cabin to take in the 360-degree views of the Strip and Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\tThe media and dignitary tour prompted dozens of Tweets and other social media postings from the riders, signifying the High Roller\u2019s opening.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cInaugural ride,\u201d posted Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., on Twitter with her signature hashtag, \u201cOnly in District 1.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tEqually excited was Las Vegan Diane Lemon, who waited patiently with her 1 p.m. ticket. Lemon, who has lived in Las Vegas 10 years, watched the attraction being built.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI can see it from my mailbox,\u201d Lemon said, \u201cespecially at night when it\u2019s lit up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tOnce she heard Monday the High Roller was opening, she passed on a trip to gym to buy a ticket for the wheel.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe gym will be here tomorrow,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tLemon was alone but quickly made friends.<\/p>\n
\tGay and Kenny Boogren of Yucaipa, Calif., also heard about the opening and were excited about being among the first official passengers. They shared Lemon\u2019s enthusiasm and talked like longtime friends, even though they had met just a few minutes earlier.<\/p>\n
\tAngela Moyaert and Simone Coppeun of Ontario were staying at Bally\u2019s and could see the High Roller from their room. Monday morning, they heard about the opening and rushed over.<\/p>\n
\tMoyaert said she had ridden the London Eye and was looking forward to comparing the experience with the High Roller.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou need to say this one is taller,\u201d Lemon said.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lisa McPherson was in town for a cousin\u2019s wedding when she suggested to family members Monday morning they should ride the High Roller observation wheel \u2014 the centerpiece of The Linq retail, dining and entertainment attraction. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t, I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}