From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stratosphere
Facts and statistics
Address	2000 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas, NV 89109
Opening date	April 30, 1996
Previous names	Vegas World Casino
Casino type	Land-Based
Theme	Thrill rides
Owner	American Casino & Entertainment Properties
No. of rooms	2,444
Total gaming space	80,000 ft² (7,432 m²)
Permanent shows	American Superstars Bite
Signature attractions	The Big Shot Insanity the Ride XSCREAM
Notable restaurants	Top of the World Lucky's Cafe Roxy's Diner Courtyard Buffet Crazy Armadillo Triple Crown Deli (Closed) Naga Fellini's Ristorante
Years renovated	2003 (second hotel tower)
Website	Stratosphere Las Vegas

The Stratosphere Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, owned by American Casino & Entertainment Properties which is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Real Estate Partners. The hotel offers 2,444 rooms and an 80,000 square foot (7,000 m²) casino. The Stratosphere tower is the tallest observation tower in the United States.

The Stratosphere is the northernmost of the major Strip casinos and the only one actually in the City of Las Vegas, as the rest of the strip south of Sahara Avenue is in the suburbs of Paradise and Winchester. Following its completion in 1996 it was initially less popular than first envisioned due to its location on the extreme north end of the strip, far away from the most popular hotel casinos. But its low room prices and unique offerings eventually ensured its success. While many tourists consider its location to be inconvenient, others feel the location is an advantage since it is equidistant between the more popular strip casinos and the downtown area (which includes the Fremont Street Experience).

Contents 1 History 2 Attractions 2.1 Previous attractions 3 Gambling 4 Gallery 5 See also 6 References 7 Notes 8 External links

In the early 1990s, The Stratosphere was conceived by Bob Stupak to replace his Vegas World casino. At the conception of the project, one of the planned rides was to be a giant ape that would carry riders up and down one of the tower's columns.

In 1995, Grand Casinos was brought on as an equity partner for the still privately funded project under construction.

While construction was still progressing, the Stratosphere Corporation was formed as a public company with shares being offered to the public.

The Stratosphere opened on April 30, 1996. Shortly after opening, the Stratosphere Corporation was forced to file for bankruptcy. This caused construction on the second tower to stop with only a few stories partially built and allowed Carl Icahn to gain control through one of his companies by buying a majority of the outstanding bonds.

A major addition was completed in June 2001 for $1 billion that included finishing the 1000-room second hotel tower.

In the early 2000s, the company attempted to get approval for a roller coaster that would run from several hundred feet up the tower and, in the last proposal, across Las Vegas Boulevard. Part of that last proposal included an entry monument on the ride over Las Vegas Boulevard welcoming people to the City of Las Vegas. The City Council did not approve the project due to objections from the neighbors over possible noise from the enclosed cars on the proposed ride. This ride was intended as a replacement for the never-built ape ride.

Since its opening in 1996, five people have jumped to their deaths from the top of the tower.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The Stratosphere Tower, at 1,149 ft (350 m) tall, is the tallest free-standing structure in Nevada ( the guyed BREN-Tower is taller) and the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United States west of the Mississippi River, after the Kennecott Smokestack in Magna, Utah.

The top of the tower has two observation decks, a revolving restaurant, and three thrill rides:

• The Big Shot at 1,081 feet (329 m) is the highest thrill ride in the world;
• Insanity the Ride, opened in 2005, at 900 feet (274 m) is the second highest thrill ride in the world, it dangles riders over the edge of the tower and then spins in a circular pattern at approximately forty miles per hour. Since its public opening, the ride has stopped twice with passengers onboard (upwards of an hour each time), due to high winds that trigger a safety mechanism which shuts down the machine immediately without bringing the passengers back to the loading dock. The hotel is currently being sued by the first set of passengers who were trapped on the ride dangling over the edge.^{[citation needed]}
• XSCREAM at 866 feet (264 m) is the third highest thrill ride in the world. This ride also "drops" people over the edge, and has also stopped while people were on it, though it is not clear what triggered this ride's failure.

• The High Roller at 909 feet (277 m) was the second highest ride in the world and the highest roller coaster. It was closed on December 30, 2005 and dismantled to make space for a new attraction.

Some of the casino games include slot machines, video poker and European roulette. The Stratosphere has inherited some unusual variations on casino games from its Vegas World predecessor, such as "crapless craps" and "double-exposure blackjack", which came with a number of twists. For example, the variation on blackjack involved the dealers showing both of their cards, which appeared to greatly favor the player. However the rules also were changed that the house wins in the event of a push, which meant that statistically the game favored the casino more than in normal blackjack. This type of blackjack is popular in Atlantic City, but rarely seen in Las Vegas.

View looking upwards at The Stratosphere	The Stratosphere by night	Insanity the Ride atop the Tower	Clouds over the Stratosphere at midday
An aerial view of the Stratosphere	The X Scream on top of the Stratosphere "drops" riders over the edge of the tower

• Domino (2005), a film whose climactic action scene takes place in the Stratosphere.

• John L. Smith, No Limit: the Rise and Fall of Bob Stupak and Las Vegas' Stratosphere Tower (Huntington Press, 1997) ISBN 0-929712-18-8

1. ^ 'Man jumps from Stratosphere Tower', Joe Schoenmann, Las Vegas Review-Journal, January 7, 2000.
2. ^ 'Two Jump to their deaths at separate hotels', K C Howard, Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 16,2002.
3. ^ 'Tragedy follows 'Elvis' show work', Norm Clarke, Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 30,2005.
4. ^ 'Man jumps from Stratosphere Tower', Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 8,2006.
5. ^ 'Man jumps to death from Stratosphere Tower', Las Vegas Sun, May 6,2007

• Stratosphere Las Vegas homepage
• Las Vegas Leisure Guide page on the Stratosphere, with construction details
• Stratosphere Tower in the Structurae database
• Insanity the Ride

• Insanity the Ride video
• Satellite shot

v • d • e Las Vegas Strip
South end	Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign
West side	Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas • Mandalay Bay · THEhotel at Mandalay Bay · Luxor · Excalibur · New York-New York · Monte Carlo · Project CityCenter (2009) · The Cosmopolitan (2009) · Bellagio · Caesars Palace · The Mirage · Treasure Island · Las Vegas Plaza Hotel (2011) · Echelon Place (2010) · Slots-A-Fun · Circus Circus · Stratosphere
East side	Tropicana · MGM Grand · Planet Hollywood · Paris · Bally's · Bill's · Flamingo · O'Sheas · Imperial Palace · Harrah's · Casino Royale · The Venetian · The Palazzo (2007) · Wynn · Encore (2009) · Riviera · Fontainebleau (2009) · Sahara
Transportation	Las Vegas Monorail · The Deuce  · Citizens Area Transit

v • d • e Supertall observation and communication towers

Borj-e Milad • Central TV Tower • CN Tower • Eiffel Tower • Fernsehturm Berlin • Gerbrandy Tower •Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower (under construction) • Heifei Emerald TV Tower (under construction) • Höiåsmasten • Jakarta TV Tower (under construction) • KCTV Tower • Kuala Lumpur Tower • KXJB-TV mast • KVLY-TV mast • Liberation Tower • Macau Tower • Odessa TV Tower (under construction) • Oriental Pearl Tower • Ostankino Tower • Riga Radio and TV Tower • Sky Tower • Stratosphere Las Vegas • Sydney Tower • Tallinn TV Tower • Tashkent Tower • Tianjin Radio and Television Tower • Tokyo Tower • Tower of the Americas• Torrena (under construction) • Vilnius TV Tower • Warsaw radio mast (destroyed) • Zendstation Smilde

Coordinates: 36°8′50.59″N, 115°9′19.40″W