Post by TCSIn re: Luxor
Post by David H.--REMOVE "STOPSPAM" to replyCouldn't you just take the stairs up a level or two, then get on? ;-)
Or maybe go to a restaurant or store or other such place up a level or two
and do the same?
My daughter and I managed to do that - but I can't remember how. We just
wandered around on different levels until we found an unguarded entrance.
There are 4 inclinators, one at each corner.
There are 4 inclinators at each corner of the base of the pyramid -- a total of
16 inclinators. There are a small number of elevators offering vertical service
to the first few floors.
Elevator service is slow enough with 16 elevators for the remaining floors of
this big a hotel; it would be an utter nightmare if they only had 4 devices in
the entire pyramid -- unless they had Serius Cybernetics engineering. ;-)
Luxor's literature has the 4 corners labeled Inclinator 1, 2, 3, and 4. These
are the SE, SW, NW, and NE corners of the base of the Pyramid, respectively.
Areas 2 and 4 serve floors 6-15. Area 3 serves floors 16-21. Area 1 serves
floors 22-30. All rooms in the pyramid are along the external wall, except there
are a small number of rooms in the top floor that are at the center of the
pyramid. I don't think those rooms would have any windows, but I could be
mistaken. They look like expensive rooms.
On most floors, the walkway around the sides of the pyramid opens to the atrium.
You can look down and see the "attraction level" of the Luxor: the entrance to
the IMAX theater, ride simulator, etc. That level is Floor 2 of the hotel; Floor
1 is the registration/casino level. This was a good choice -- if the casino were
at the atrium level, you would hear echoes of those damn slot machines all over
the atrium. On the topmost floors of the pyramid, the walkways do not open to
the atrium. From the mid-level floors, you can see a rather spectacular amount
of dust and some assorted flotsam on the roofs of the buildings inside the
atrium.
If you are on Level 2 and walk toward the middle of the south side of the
pyramid -- near the walkway to the Mandalay Bay hotel -- you will see a small
stairway of maybe 4-5 steps going up. This is a hallway for access to the rooms
on the west half of the south face of the pyramid on the 2nd floor. If you walk
up those steps and start walking down the hallway to the west, you will soon get
to the Inclinator 2 area on Floor 2. You can then hail an elevator to ride up to
higher floors without being accosted by the security staff. There may be similar
access to the other Inclinator areas; I didn't bother to look.
Do you think the Luxor staff would voice an objection to selling off old Luxor
hotel keys on EBAY?
Two other notes about the Inclinators:
1. The 4 inclinators in each corner are laid out with 2 on each side of the
hall. They are at least 3 times farther apart than vertical elevators -- because
they must have room to move sideways. The large amount of real-estate needed for
horizontal elevators is another reason why pyramids are so inefficient a layout
for a building.
2. Since so much of the component of motion is horizontal, the inclinators must
move faster than normal elevators to move passengers with the same throughput.
Post by TCSThen coming down we got lost. Got off too soon and thought we were backstage
on a movie set.
The only possibilities would be Level 2 or 1. I could understand getting
disoriented on either level -- especially Level 1. I walked through the casino
every day: Inclinator 2 to the Tram loading area. It is designed to be
confusing; there is no straight shot across it, and your dead-reckoning skills
are challenged by the layout of the casino. Perhaps I should stop for a few
moments and pour some of my loose change into a machine...
Someday when I have more time, I should describe the Doppelmayer trams linking
the Luxor, Excalibur, and Mandalay Bay -- and explain why you're almost always
better to go via Mandalay Bay to get between the Luxor and The Strip north of
the Excalibur. It's an amazing and convoluted setup -- and it all has to do with
the desire of the designers to draw you into the casinos. It's such an odd city
to walk around.
Post by TCSTCS (The Colorado Skier)
Colorado Springs - Gateway to Colorado Ski Country
--phil