Remember last month when Genting Gaming surprised everyone by swooping in, buying the Stardust/Echelon land and announcing plans for the massive Resorts World complex? Well, that may not be the company’s only Las Vegas interest. A reliable Five Hundy mole reports that Genting is deep into negotiations with MGM Resorts to buy Circus Circus.

Earlier this year, Jim Murren, MGM’s CEO and all-around fashion icon, said the company was open to offers for its properties. While the nongaming properties at CityCenter (Crystals, Vdara, Mandarin Oriental) may be most obvious assets on MGM’s sales list, unloading Circus Circus makes some sense. The location is disconnected from MGM’s South Strip landmass and the property has long been the red-headed stepchild of MGM Resorts in Las Vegas—so much so that it isn’t even part of the Mlife loyalty program.

For Genting, buying Circus Circus would give the company an immediate presence on The Strip (vs. waiting three or four years when Resorts World opens) along with a large chunk of land adjacent to the plot it just acquired from Boyd. Between Circus Circus and Resorts World, the company would dominate the family-friendly market. Once the Echelon land is fully developed, Genting could potentially redevelop the neighboring Circus Circus land into something shiny and new.

Update: A second Five Hundy mole tells us Genting officials has indeed been sniffing around Circus Circus (which should be enough to scare them away), and that the deal has already fallen through.

More as it develops…

After a 12-year run at New York New York, Coyote Ugly is closing at the end of February. The bar, (I can’t consider it a nightclub because they admitted me while wearing my usual footwear) known for scantily clad female bartenders who dance on the bar every 10 minutes (yeehaw), came to Las Vegas shortly after a shitty movie was made about the original New York location in 2000.

I rarely post stuff like this, but after I received and confirmed a tip about the closing from listener @vegasrebel10, I figured I might as well take advantage of this news by breaking an always-exciting Five Hundy exclusive. Drink it in and savor it.

No word on what New York New York has planned for the space.

Update: MGM Resorts and Coyote Ugly reached a deal to keep the place open.

Las Vegas podcast #360 includes:

• New Adventures of Old Christine opener
• VIMFP location announcement
• Gordon Ramsay burger joint location
• Plans for Bally’s entrance space
• The Quad vs. Hotel 3535 survey… what about that whole superstition thing?
• Tons of new stuff at the Hard Rock
• Michael Morton announces new Mexican restaurant
• Park on Fremont is headed for Maharaja Hookah Cafe space
• Downtown Project takes over Fremont East check-cashing storefront
• Our sponsor, Viator
• Dear Tim and Michele
• Listener calls about Planet Hollywood, Terminal 3, Lavo, Earl of Sandwich, Sirricos, The Henry, Terrace Point Cafe, Jersey Boys, Hash House, casino war, Koi, Hyde Lounge and other stuff
• MGM treats low-limit players poorly
• Call us at (702) 866-9494

Direct download of the podcast: Five Hundy By Midnight 7/15/12 78:03 min, 73.8 MB) or subscribe.

Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris Las Vegas has been receiving raves, and plans for a Gordon Ramsay gastropub in the Bradley Ogden space is the worst-kept secret of the year. Next up for Gordo may be a burger joint at Planet Hollywood, based on questions in a Total Rewards survey I received and completed this morning.

The survey’s restaurant description said:

“Located center Strip at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Gordon Ramsay’s GR Burger brings new life to one of the most energetic areas of Las Vegas. GR Burger will introduce a stylish modern ambience, youthful energy and sporty vibe—a departure from your typical burger joints.

“Here, guests can enjoy a contemporary menu, diverse specialty drinks and self-serve beers on tap, coupled with uncompromised sports and entertainment viewing.

“Gordon Ramsay’s GR Burger will also have an open kitchen to add to the excitement—watch our cooks prepare your burgers over an open hardwood flame grill.”

Renderings:

Every couple months I receive a Total Rewards surveys about one possible concept or another. Five Hundy listeners have reported receiving similar (sometimes slightly variations on the same) surveys. Recent questions have covered a possible Golden Corral Buffet at Imperial Palace and various name concepts for the new buffet at Caesars Palace.

With anything at the market research stage, there’s a decent chance it may never happen. However, with reports last year saying Ramsay would be opening at least three restaurants in Las Vegas, I’m thinking we’ll be seeing GR Burger (or at least the burger joint concept perhaps with a different name) at Planet Hollywood in 2013.

Update: Other names being market-tested include Fat Cow Burger, Flame Burger, Gobsmacked Burger and G-Spot.

The RJ has an update to the Excalibur/Luxor zip line plans we broke in February. The FAA approved the plan on April 6, and Clark County signed off last night. The FAA approval becomes final on May 16, opening the door for MGM Resorts to start stringing the cables.

According to today’s update, three of the lines will serve as a multi-leg zip line course. The fourth line (starting at the Excalibur entrance) will function separately.

Here’s the weird part… the company that will run the thing, Ziptrek, plans to have guides (zip line sherpas?) lead zippers through the course, delivering educational lectures about “sustainability and four conditions which must exist in a sustainable society” during the two hours it will take to complete the course. People will be clamoring to get on the zip lines just to escape from the hippie buzzkill. How long before they drop the unnecessary lectures?

A few days ago, we began hearing that Speed: The Ride was finally being disassembled at the shuttered Sahara. According to a blog entry from the company doing the removal work, the roller coaster is headed for the Akita Plaza strip mall located across Las Vegas Boulevard from Mandalay Bay (not far from the alleged future home of the Skyvue ferris wheel).

A little more digging revealed additional details along with artist renderings.

Thanks to listener Allen for the tip.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see the dead-sexy Neil Young writhing on a lip-shaped couch while wearing nothing more than a merkin and a smile? According to Ticketmaster, you’re in luck.

As part of its huge renovation project, MGM Grand is apparently breaking new ground with this one-of-a-kind mashup of its long-running French dance revue and Canada’s most influential singer-songwriter. How they’re going to make these two things work together is beyond me, but Criss Angel still has his own show so I guess anything is possible in Las Vegas.

As rumored, Fitzgeralds is about to become The D Las Vegas. @denvergambler, who has been ahead of everyone on The D name change uncovered this YouTube link, which has since gone private:

The currently empty YouTube channel hosting the video offers a little insight into the new name/theme. It seems “D” stands for “Detroit” and “Downtown.”

On Tuesday evening, we will be speaking with The D’s head honcho, Derek Stevens, to get more information on the rebranding of The Fitz.

With Linq construction underway, we’ve been wondering when O’Sheas will close. We may have our answer. According to this Twitter post, employees received a 60-day termination notice on March 1. If this is accurate (as all things on the Internet are), plan to pour out a 40 in honor of O’Sheas on April 30.

Adding to the likelihood that the end-of-April closing is legitimate, tickets for Dirk Arthur’s show in the O’Sheas showroom are available only through April 28.

Thanks to the popularity of Flightlinez on Fremont Street, at least three Strip hotels may be getting zip lines of their own soon. According to a permit request from MGM Resorts International uncovered by @detroit1051, Luxor and Excalibur are planning up to four separate runs of four lines each. They would include:

1. Excalibur entrance to roof of the pedestrian covered walkway at the southwest corner of Tropicana Ave. and the Strip. (500 feet)
2. Top of the north side of the Luxor pyramid to the southwest corner of Excalibur. (950 feet)
3. Roof of the southwest corner of Excalibur to a new platform at the northwest corner of Luxor’s east tower. (340 feet)
4. New platform at the southeast corner of Luxor’s east tower to the roof of the Excalibur tram station. (1,440 feet)

Using my third-grade-level Photoshop skills, I put together a rough approximation of each zip line course’s route:

Meanwhile, across the street, Tropicana may be getting a zip line of its own. According to a recent Trop customer survey sent our way by @airportlimbo, “The zip line would run from the roof of our Club Tower down to the grassy area on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Blvd. Riders would ‘fly’ over a portion of our pool and beach club area and land in a new structure that includes a new restaurant and bar with exceptional views of the flyers from take-off to landing as well as of the Las Vegas Strip.”

Based on that description, I’m thinking the route would look something like this:

So, the race to build the first Las Vegas Strip zip line is on. So many questions:

• Who will build one first?
• Will it happen before a Las Vegas Strip ferris wheel opens?
• Will the zip line cables interfere with Parabounce?