Downtown to Bellagio

Again, my answer on a discussion board seemed detailed enough to keep here.


I have large luggage, so I prefer the Deuce. It is a longer ride, but usually not so crowded at the times when you would be checking out of downtown, and it is probably not crowded when you catch it. Also, the Deuce in late morning is uncrowded going South until it gets beyond Circus Circus.
I try to make my way to the center seats facing the exit door. This gives me room for my luggage, sometimes even a space between those seats and a bus wall where my luggage can be slipped away. If I can't get a seat there, I stand there and usually a seat will open up along the journey. What this does is eliminate the hardest part of luggage on the Deuce, getting the suitcase down the aisle to the exit door. If I position myself early in the journey when the bus is less crowded, then exiting is very simple.
But the real advantage over the SDX is that when I exit, everyone is exiting at a dedicated EXIT door. I may slow up the line a bit, but on the SDX I am exiting with luggage and facing a crowd of people entering using the same door; it is like swimming upstream against a salmon spawn.

Now if I were going to the Bellagio, I'd take the WAX to Tropicana, cross over the strip and walk go to Monte Carlo, go inside and then take that free tram from Monte Carlo to Bellagio. I have not done that, but I think you could do it with luggage. When I call, they seem puzzled, but they don't say no. I think they don't see much luggage on that free tram.

Also, after the WAX you could just take the Deuce from in front of MGM to Paris. There was construction there last time so I had to walk a bit North to find the stop. Again, I'd take the Deuce. I had one hell of a time exiting at Paris from the SDX with luggage.

It might seem silly to go farther South on the WAX and then backtrack, but the goal in easy bus riding in Vegas is to avoid as much strip riding as possible. And the WAX is fully set up to accept luggage.
Now, I don't know what passes you are using. You can try boarding the Deuce with a 24 hour residential pass that you buy on the WAX, but that technically as a tourist you can't use. If they ask for a local ID, play dumb and tell them you are just going as far as Bellagio. You have less chance being asked on the SDX because it is unlikely you will see an inspector between MGM and Paris.
So, then the residential 24 hour pass for $5 would probably work. Even if they put you off the bus to get the right strip pass, they would do it at Paris. On the other hand, if the bus is just to get you from downtown to Bellagio, then $2one way on the WAX, and $5 two hour on the Deuce is not much money. Or for $8 from the machines in front of Binions you could buy a 24 hour strip pass good for your trip and for any other trips within a 24 hour period.
Often when the bus is compared to shuttles or cabs, folks forget that added into any 24 hour pass are opportunities to travel all that day and perhaps part of the next for no added expense. So the value of the bus often increases if you intend to see something away from your base hotel.

If you do choose the SDX, be sure to validate the pass before you get on the bus or you'll be dropped off to validate and that is not a great task with luggage. On the Deuce or WAX you validate when you pass the driver.
When you come home post your experience and let us know how it went. I'd especially like to know how going WAX to tram to Bellagio worked.