O Christmas Tree
December 11, 2009
There’s something about superlatives that does it for me on some level. World’s biggest this, nation’s longest that, etc, etc. I still like pointing through my window and saying “Look, there’s the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River.”
I was a fan of the Guinness Book of World Records as a kid, and I suppose that aspect of fascination has never completely abandoned me.
When I heard that the nation’s tallest Christmas tree was coming to Las Vegas, I immediately wanted to see it. I had planned on taking the family to see the tree lighting ceremony on December 12th, but after stating as much publicly, I realized that it was a bad idea. The Bellagio has become less enjoyable with each passing season, and attending the tree ceremony had the potential to be no better.
Instead, I decided to use my cat-like reflexes to sneak into the M under the cover of daylight, armed only with a plastic spoon and three latex condoms in order to catch a glimpse of the tree.
That’s right, I’ve decided to become a Christmas ninja.
Merry Christm
See, I’ve already moved on to the next paragraph. That’s how good I am.
Anyway, upon arrival, I was somewhat surprised to find that the tree was not outside of the M, but rather inside of the pool complex. The M has decided that they aren’t going to put on a free show like the Mirage, Bellagio and T.I. and give people the option of coming in afterward. Screw the honor system, if you self-parkers want a peek at the tree, you’re going to walk through the casino and at least let the house take a shot at enticing you to play.
There’s nothing wrong with this, but it’s going to be hard for patrons to complain about Junior and Junette being dragged past the blackjack tables. Christmas displays are typically family endeavors … especially at a locals-friendly casino.
After incapacitating the bazooka-toting M guards with purple nerve gas, I made my way to an area near the tree where I could see workers putting the finishing touches on the display. Both DC and NYC have X-mas trees, but I’ll be damned if this wasn’t technically the tallest decorated tree I have seen. I was struck not only by the height of the tree, but also its relative thinness and shape.
It’s certainly a bit different.
The Tallest Christmas Tree in the Country at The M Resort
The Tallest Christmas Tree in the Country at The M Resort
The Tallest Christmas Tree in the Country at The M Resort
The Tallest Christmas Tree in the Country at The M Resort
The Tallest Christmas Tree in the Country at The M Resort
The Tallest Christmas Tree in the Country at The M Resort
Instead of the fat bottom, thin top of the stereotypical J-Lo tree, this one appears to be relatively consistent in width until the very top. It’s also not terribly full, but my guess is that a dense tree of this elevation would be prohibitively heavy and unwieldy.
To put the height of the thing into perspective, the Rockefeller Center tree (often considered the tallest decorated display) is typically between 75-90 feet tall, and the M tree clocks in at 109 feet. I couldn’t help but wonder how many “world’s largest erection” jokes were made as the tree was being, uh, erected.
Since the M is a hybrid local/visitor joint this will probably be a large draw. When extended family flies or drives to visit one of the two million residents of Las Vegas for the holidays, “Where should we go?” will almost certainly be followed by “Do you want to see the country’s tallest Christmas tree?”. This would not work if it was merely the second or third tallest, so the decision and effort is actually a very good marketing gimmick that may pay decent dividends in relation to the cost expenditures to procure the horticultural specimen.
In any event, the lighting ceremony starts tomorrow night at 5pm, and there will be free hot chocolate and live performances by children from local schools. As Vegas Casino Christmas events go, this will probably rank near the top in pure family-friendliness. Since there is a possibility of snow, the weather might be perfect for it.
I am not going to attend the lighting ceremony, but I will almost certainly take everyone there on a subsequent night to see the lights. Ninja-style of course.
If you are resident, or will be in town tomorrow night, it may very well be worth seeing.
If you do go, and you happen to see two unconscious guards laying near the entrance to the pool, for god’s sake, show some holiday spirit and give them the antidote to purple nerve gas #7.
Written by tully on December 11, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Ninja skills always come in handy during the holidays—careful trying to ninja down chimneys, however.
Tree looks absolutely loaded with lights, so should be quite spectacular at night. Wonder how far it will be visible, given the height?
Nice to see M doing this, and hope it does give them a nice increase in business during a traditionally slow time for LV. They made a couple missteps when they opened—-an opening night traffic snafu, and resort fees. But unlike a lot of other places, they apparently learned from their mistakes. They got rid of the resort fee, and hoping they’ve figured out how to handle traffic for this weekend’s lighting. They’ve done a lot right, so hope this tree is a success for them.
Kids of all ages will love the tree..
Written by Michelle on December 12, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Missed the lighting ceremony but will be checking it out when I head out there. I prefer fuller trees but it’s still neat b/c it’s the tallest in the US. Good business move on M’s part to make people walk through the casino to get to the tree. I like that photo w/ the palm tree in the foreground and the Christmas tree in the background, interesting perspective. Makes the palm tree look like the world’s biggest palm tree, lol.
Written by catherine on December 13, 2009 at 11:33 am
I made it to the lighting and it was beautiful! Lots of people and no snow but we did get some drizzle and it was ccccold but fun.