One Day at a Time

When the Excalibur Hotel and Casino was opened in 1990, it was the largest hotel in the world. With over 4000 rooms in themed buildings on a property sprawling out over 70 acres, one can see why it got the distinction at the time. Built at a time when themes hotels were all the rage, the Excalibur's facade is like a picture from one of Walt Disney's sketch books. There is a castle with five multicolored turrets, bounded on each side by stylized high-rise hotel blocks. When the turrets were built, a wizard was set leaning out one of the windows (it was removed in 2007).

The Moat once featured an animatronics show which featured a fire-breathing dragon and a
Merlin. The show was shut down sometime in 2001; since then, the dragon has been removed, while Merlin's house remains. Recently, the moat was drained; rendering some of the tracks and parts from the original attraction visible, leading to speculation that said original version may return or be replaced by a newer attraction.

At the time of the grand opening, the hotel was filled with fun medieval themed decor, from larger than life statues to majestic backgrounds painted on walls. The idea was to include a family fun environment along with the casino experience. The casino began with 100,000 square feet of gaming area, later expanding another 50,000 square feet.

There are over 1700 slot machines in and around the numerous table games. One thing every casino does not want to do is pay out the big jackpot win that every gambler is seeking. On March 21, 2003, a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles won $39,713,982.25 after putting in $100 in the Megabucks slot machine at the Hotel. This was the largest slot machine win that Vegas records list being without some mega winnings.

1.2 million, the number of alcoholic beverages served each month to guests at the Excalibur
hotel-casino.

The Excalibur is probably most famous for its dinner theater 'Tournament of Kings', in which a medieval jousting tournament takes place live in front of the diners. Twelve breeds of horses and
32 cast members act out a genuine jousting competition, complete with serfs and wenches. Dinner is served without the modern luxuries of utensils and niceties.

A more recent addition to the Excalibur is 'Dick's Last Resort Restaurant'. The theme here is not medieval but wacky and obnoxious. Large bibs are handed out, napkins are thrown at the customer and paper hats are expected to be worn. Servers are trained to be familiar and even obnoxious towards guests - all as part of the 'fun'.

Circus Circus Enterprises built the Excalibur but MGM Resorts has owned it since 2005. Since then, the medieval theme has been toned down quite a bit. The murals remain, but the statues and scenery have been removed in order to update and modernize the attraction. All of the 4000 rooms are being updated to include more understated decor, new furniture and plasma televisions. According to Wikipedia as of 2009, the Excalibur is now the seventh largest hotel in the world and the fifth largest in Las Vegas.

The Excalibur Hotel does have reports of ghosts – Whispers, shivers, words without meaning… Walking down the hallway on the 10th floor you feel as though someone is directly behind you, hovering over your back, and then you hear a whisper, directly in your ear as if their lips were only an inch away. Don’t worry… nobody is there. Just the AC or maybe King Arthur is looking for his magical sword.

Fun Facts:

*The hotel was featured in the South Park episode "It Hits the Fan".
*In the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a hotel resembling the Excalibur made an appearance.
*In the video game Driver, Excalibur is featured in the "Las Vegas" portion of the driving/gaming mode.
*In a special Las Vegas edition of the TV show Fear Factor, The Excalibur casino was the setting for one of the stunts.
*The hotel was featured in season six of Top Chef, when Jennifer used it for inspiration of her next meal.