Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002 | 9:10 a.m.
In Las Vegas, it's simply one the biggest nights of the year.
Tourists and locals flood the Strip to bring in the New Year. Foot traffic is excessive. Most everybody wants to get drunk. Bumbling through a sea of reveling strangers is unavoidable.
To prepare for the spectacle, there are portable toilets to rent, party favors to order, security to assemble and bars to stock for the anticipated 280,000 visitors many awaiting the midnight fireworks display.
"We estimate that we're going to be serving about 50,000 cocktails throughout the evening," said Tim Herman, food and beverage manger at The Venetian, where 1,000 champagne bottles and 20,000 party favors were ordered for New Year's Eve.
Security remains a high priority at MGM MIRAGE resorts, where staffers are working to ensure The Mirage volcano erupts precisely at midnight and the Treasure Island cannons fire in conjunction with the final countdown.
"We've all become pretty adept at this through the years," MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said. "Planning begins with Metro and Highway Patrol, (and) fire (departments) in November.
"There's general discussion about what everyone's plans are regarding street closures and locations of command centers. Communication is big. (You've got to be sure certain employees and guests know what time frame (streets will be closed) so they can get in and out.
"Everyone works. No one has the day off."
The party, this year dubbed "America's Party," begins in the afternoon and lasts through the following morning.
Keeping up with demand from thirsty revelers is an arduous task at New York-New York, where 5,500 balloons will be dropped at midnight and the Times Square ball drop will be simulated at the Bar at Times Square.
"Last year we went through 10,000 bottles of beer on New Year's Eve day," said Tom Recine, vice president of food and beverage at New York-New York.
"We go through pallets and pallets of beer. Budweiser provides a refrigerated truck. As far as food and beverage revenue goes, it's the biggest night of the year... Just the amenity planning alone is a huge undertaking."
The hotel will send roughly 1,000 amenities, mostly fruit baskets and wine, to guest rooms during the holiday, Recine said.
Additionally, he said, "Every outlet has party favors in the pits. Cocktail servers at midnight go out with champagne. Every single manager is here." Across the street from New York-New York at MGM Grand, making sure everyone is working that evening is the main concern.
"It's a pretty serious night, staffing-wise," said Tony Angotti, executive director of food and beverage for MGM Grand. "Everybody needs to be on the floor. Every cocktail server, bartender, bar back, bar porters. Every manager."
"It's just a numbers thing at this point. It's a massive amount of people."
As the clock nears 2003, the hotel empties out to give employees a minute to catch their breath before the crowd returns.
"There are 10,000 people leaving to go out to the Strip at 11:45. It's like a vacuum. You'll be at maximum capacity and 15 minutes later it's like a bomb scare."
Palms and plants
Sheri Long, director of marketing at the Palms, said hotel staff began planning its New Year's Eve themes and events last summer.
"There is a lot of competition for it," Long said. "We had our invitations in the mail in November. We started advertising the day before Thanksgiving."
The hotel brought in a set design company from Oregon to create sets in its ballroom, Key West Room and Palapa Lounge. The sets are similar to those used in the movie "Moulin Rouge."
"It's very elaborate, somewhat bizarre," Long said. "Very Burgundy."
The public parties, open to ticket holders, will feature roaming jugglers, magicians, singers and a jazz band. Other parties will be held at Rain in the Desert and ghostbar (featuring DJ Grandmaster Flash).
Hotel occupancy is expected to be at 100 percent. And unlike hotels where partiers flood the Strip near midnight, Long said, "people who come to the parties will stay at the party and bring in the New Year."
To fill out the evening, 6,000 party favors, a dance floor and 600 bottles of champagne (for its New Year's toasts in the casino and at the three "Moulin Rouge"-themed parties) were ordered.
"Everybody orders their dance floors in advance," Long said. "There are only so many dance floors in town."
From explosive to calm
Last year at Fremont Street Experience, 40,000 partiers crowded the mall for its New Year's Eve celebration. Everything (including replacement plant material) is ordered far in advance.
"We actually order the port-a-johns and confetti in July and August," Mark Paris, president of Fremont Street Experience, said.
Nearly 40,000 hats and horns were brought in. Staffers began setting up confetti cannons yesterday.
"It's quite a storm," Paris said, regarding the confetti shoots. "What's interesting is to see how much is up and down the mall at 1:30 a.m. It's inches."
The dance party, which includes performances by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and .38 Special, is a contrast to dining at Wolfgang Puck restaurants where (unlike other restaurants charging an exorbitant fee for New Year's Eve dining) the restaurants' menus remain true to their year-round dinners.
"It's an a la carte menu," said Tom Kaplan, managing partner of Wolfgang Puck's fine dining restaurants. "We try to make the menus accessible, no stringent rules. What we do different on this night is we have a special tasting menu."
For this, farm-raised venison from New Zealand will be shipped that day to Spago at the Forum Shops at Caesars. Black truffles will arrive from France and turbot from New York City.
"The very, very lavish ingredients that are most festive we use for the holidays," Kaplan said. "It's a time where you can put together these tasty menus."
But Kaplan doesn't expect diners to stay all night.
"A lot of people like to be finished and out in the party," he said. "Usually 50 to 60 percent stay. Unlike other cities, it's not a prerequisite to be in the restaurant. In Las Vegas people will eat and go somewhere else or go home."
Forget being bothered by the unruly noisemakers during dinner. Though party favors will be on hand, Kaplan said, "It's usually soft noise."
archive
