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On October 9 at 2:30 am, the Tropicana Las Vegas will be detonated in glorious fashion. The explosion is expected to take a mere 22 seconds, which will bring down 23-story towers. The “party trick” will be done by a combined 2,190 pounds of explosives. The festivities are being dubbed “Drop the Top.”
Yes, it’s a festival more than anything else. The night before the explosion, there will be a celebration. Right outside Tropicana, there will be a fireworks and drone show. It’ll be one last goodbye for the former Rat Pack hangout spot that’s been at the Las Vegas Strip since the ‘50s. It’s making way for a brand-new baseball park that’ll host the Athletics in 2028 and the MLB betting that comes with it.
Vegas locals or explosive aficionados should savor this moment because it might be the last of its kind in Las Vegas for a really, really long time as we’ll get into in this article.
Tropicana Explosion Could Be The Last For A Long Time
Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson is a Las Vegas native. So of course, there’s some sentimental value in losing the Tropicana, once the big looker of Las Vegas’ betting scene. But Gibson — who knows the city like the back of his hand — also thinks it’ll be the last trademark of Vegas to go down for a long, long time.
“This is the last (of the) real major structures on the boulevard that will be coming down any time soon,” said Gibson.
It makes sense too because, for the most part, the Las Vegas Strip has kept up with the times. Most of what you see on the boulevard is either brand-spanking new or heavily upgraded. The Mirage Las Vegas also closed its doors this year, but rather than tear it down, the new property owners, Hard Rock, decided to renovate the space they bought up.
Now that the Tropicana is closed, the oldest remaining properties on the Strip are as follows:
- Flamingo — opened in December 1946
- Sahara — opened in October 1952
- The Linq — opened in 1959 as the Flamingo Capri
- Caesars Palace — opened in April 1966
- Circus Circus — opened in October 1968
Caesars is a golden example of how to keep pace with the times despite an old building. It remains one of the best casinos on the Strip. It also owns The Linq, which underwent a huge upgrade in 2015 that coincided with the name change. The Flamingo is another Cesar’s property. While not the nicest, there is a section of renovated rooms that was completed in 2018. The Sahara also completed a $200 million facelift in 2023. See? There are not many options to tear down.
Hotel Room Prices Soar To Get Front Row Seat To Explosions
It won’t be easy to witness the historic blow-up. Not at all. Obviously, it’s happening at a purposely weird time at 2:30 am — to avoid the crowds on the Strip. Moreover, a number of nearby roads and sidewalks will be closed.
Road closures begin at 11 pm — hours before demolition. Affected roads include Park Avenue to the north, Mandalay Bay Road to the south, Koval Lane to the east, and Frank Sinatra Drive to the west. These closures will stay in effect until Wednesday at 6 am.
The only people that’ll have front-row seats will be demolition crews and those staying at nearby hotels with views toward the Tropicana. Hotels with views include the MGM Grand, New York New York, Excalibur, and Luxor. However, those seats are not coming cheap.
You won’t believe some of these prices for a Tuesday night in October. New York New York has rooms starting at $599 (+$42 resort fee). Park MGM? That’ll go for over $700 (with resort fee too). Hell, even a place like Caesars — which will not have a clear view of the destruction — has rooms starting at $529. The prices reflect this one-of-a-kind experience that won’t be replicated on the Strip for a long time.
How To Watch The Implosion For Free
Rooms, even at those wild prices, are mostly sold out by now. The few remaining rooms will likely be sold out any minute now. But there are alternative ways to watch the explosions — and these ways are free of cost too.
We stole these suggestions from the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper so credit to them. But here are the best vantage points that will be open and not cost you a cent:
The first is parking garbages. Going to the roof of these garages will have the best views, of course. However, MGM has already said it’ll be restricting rooftop access to their garages. No word on other properties but that could become an issue.
Other options are parks that offer great — but far-off — views of the Strip. The LVRJ mentioned several parks in Summerlin and Centennial Hills offer Strip views.
Speaking of the LVRJ, they will actually livestream the explosion (local broadcast news channels will too). Yes, that’s a thing nowadays too. The great thing is even if you’re not in the city but just love explosions, the stream will be viewable to you. So we hope that helps you plan accordingly — maybe some online casino gambling to pair with a live blow-up stream! Sounds like a fun Wednesday morning to us!
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