National Roller Coaster Day Is Tuesday, August 16

National Roller Coaster Day is almost here! Some may say that Las Vegas is like an emotional roller coaster. But, we're talking about real roller coasters.

Thrill seekers celebrated at The Strat Hotel, Casino and Skypod last year. The Strat did a YOLO and BOGO promotion: Buy one, get one free tickets for all the rides at the top of the Las Vegas resort. You were also able to buy an unlimited thrill ride pass and get one free. The deal applied to the Big Shot, Insanity and X-Scream rides. These rides are known to be extreme, gut-wrenching and simply awesome.

At any amusement park, roller coasters have the highest “wow” factor.  On National Roller Coaster Day, take a ride on one and get a thrill a minute! If you’re all frown up, relive a child’s anticipation of a slow, often rickety climb way, way up the top, and plunging way, way down to the bottom!

Even in the age of high tech sophistication, roller coasters still make us scream, giggle, and just plain giddy over a ride that became popular back in the 1920s.

If you're just a thrill seeker at heart, get it racing with the The Big Apple Coaster at New York, New York!  It's goes over 67 mph, and it's the first coaster to feature a 180-degree “heartline” twist and dive maneuver and 203-ft drop. Over 1.4 million riders a year take this ride. You can Reserve your entry time in advance for a preferred date and time. Entry time is good for the 2-hour window selected, and you must be in line 30 minutes prior to entry time ending.

Las Vegas used to be the land of FREE PARKING! Well that has certainly changed, and locals are downright unhappy.

If there’s just one thing locals wish they could demand out of Strip, and downtown casinos, it would be free parking. Locals admit, they would do a lot more on the strip if they didn't have to pay for parking. It's not necessarily the price, but the principal.

Self-parking garage policies have changed dramatically over the years, and far ewer resorts offer complimentary parking in Las Vegas nowadays.

The latest to announce "no more free parking" is The Venetian and The Palazzo, whose management said paid parking will kick in at the resorts sometime later in August.

The policy change appears to be because of the anticipated opening of the Sphere – so I'm quite certain other parking garages will change their policies so they can also cash in on the new foot traffic we'll be seeing.

Here’s a breakdown of the free and sorta, kinda, free-ish parking garages that are still available as of the beginning of August 2023. How long it will last is anyone's guess, so grab it while you can!

The options of complimentary self-parking in Las Vegas are very limited. Several properties on the Strip offer free parking to locals for a specific number of hour, or on certain days. And a few downtown properties will validate for a few hours (some keep it pretty secret, so don't be afraid to ask.

Many resorts offer free self-parking for loyalty program members of a designated level, and local Nevada ID's can save you a little bit.

Horseshoe, Caesars Palace, Paris, The Linq, Flamingo and the Cromwell resorts all offer the first three hours free for locals with a valid Nevada driver’s license.

Bellagio, Aria, Vdara, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Park MGM, New York-New York, Luxor and Excalibur resorts, offer the first three hours free for locals with a valid Nevada driver’s license.

The Mirage offers the first three hours free for locals with a valid Nevada driver’s license. Locals who use their Nevada ID at the resort’s players club, and join Hard Rock’s Unity loyalty program will be upgraded to the second-tier and gain complimentary free parking access.

Resorts World offers complimentary parking for 'Genting Reward' members.

The Strat offers complimentary parking for locals with valid Nevada ID.  (Yay!!!!)