When Richard suggested taking us to the Sphere in Las Vegas for my birthday, I jumped all over the idea. I couldn’t have been more excited to visit a venue packed with excellent entertainment in this wild city. He planned to take us to dinner at Javier’s at Aria Resort and Casino located on the strip. Then he and his lovely girlfriend would drop us off at the Sphere while they’d park the car and meet us where they left us at the corner of Sand and Koval after a long walk from a parking garage back to the venue.
The parking at the Sphere started at $70, and after the expensive cost of the tickets, which was about $200 per person, and the costly dinner at Aria, it made no sense for him to pay that much for parking. They parked at a casino where Richard had a parking pass and walked several blocks to meet up with us while we waited outside for about 20 minutes.
Once he told me he’d booked the tickets, I was concerned about access to our seats at the massive theatre. After reading dozens of reviews, many visitors complained about the steep steps, ramps, and walkways. This worried me. Although I can walk three miles a day in the corridors here, it’s level for easy walking; I couldn’t imagine how I’d manage to walk up and down ramps and multiple flights of stairs and make our way to our seats high in the theatre.
Richard discovered that the better seats were up high since the bulk of the viewing experience of the film, “Postcards from Earth,” included almost a full viewing of the massive ceiling. If seated too low in the arena, we would constantly be straining our necks to get a full view and perspective of the magical scenery. Once we were seated, we realized how difficult a lower seat would have been. But our seats proved to be perfect.
From when Richard booked the seat until we left yesterday late afternoon to head to his house, I often read reviews, looking for answers on how to make the trek to our seats easier for my troubled legs. Much to my delight, I found there were elevators and escalators inside the venue.
While we waited for them to meet up with us after parking, I spoke to a security guard, and he pointed us in the direction of the VIP entrance, where there were elevators that would take us directly to the floor where our seats were located. Once the four of us were together again, we walked less than a block to the bank of elevators, where an operator took us to the correct floor.
Once off the elevator, we had a short walk to the entrance to our section, and then, the only tricky part of the experience began. We had to walk up a few flights of steep stairs and literally wiggle our way onto a very narrow ledge where the seats were situated. We had to squeeze by the knees of about eight already-seated people on this narrow ledge.
The seats were situated on theatre-style seating but were steeper than we’d ever seen. If a person had a problem with heights and elevation, this could have been a problem. All four of us maneuvered ourselves gingerly to access our dead-center seats. I must admit I did so with more caution than the others. Once I plopped down in my seat, I was thrilled to finally have made it with much more ease than I’d anticipated.
And then the magic began, more of which we’ll share in tomorrow’s Part 2. Today, we’re sharing a few food photos from our fantastic dinner at Javier’s at Aria before the show and more photos I took during the astounding show. No regular cameras were allowed, and I wasn’t sure that included smartphone cameras. I ensured my flash was off and managed to sneak in a few shots, although they did not fully represent the magnitude of the experience. That would be nearly impossible to do well when scenes on the full-circle ceiling and screen flew by in a blur. A video would have been impossible while seated in the steep and tight seating.
What a terrific evening we had! I felt relieved knowing it all worked well and that I had no significant issues entering and leaving the theatre. Of course, as always, Tom kept a tight hold on me, which was comforting and reassuring.
More will follow tomorrow, including a description of “haptic seating.”
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, February 22, 2014:
