Totorus

Photo credit by Cynnerz Photos

There are so many sights to see in Las Vegas, but the "Dancing Waters" in front of the Bellagio Hotel/Casino has to be at the top of the list. It will make your feet tap, your body sway, and you'll want more, more, more.

Welcome to the Bellagio!

As you stand in front of the Bellagio, it's like being in Bellagio, Italy. Only it didn't cost you a fortune to get there. When Steve Wynn, the creator of the Bellagio, visited Italy, he fell in love with the city, came home to Vegas, and duplicated it to perfection.

Just so you know, the Bellagio is the first hotel/casino in Las Vegas with an age code. You must be 18 years of age, or accompanied by an adult to enter. There are exceptions, of course, and you can find them at Bellagio Las Vegas.

Although there is so much to see at the Bellagio, the definite draw is the free outside water show called "Dancing Waters." The show takes place in the quarter-mile long lake that adorns the front of the hotel/casino.

Dance the Nite Away!

As you wait impatiently for the water show to begin, you're filled with anticipation. And then... when it's over, you're titillated and rejuvenated. Your body was swaying, your feet were tapping, and you felt like dancing! All in one fell swoop!

The Bellagio has done what no other casino has ever done. They've made water dance - right before your eyes. Created by WET Design, a southern California company that also created the LeapFrog Fountain at Disney World's EPCOT, the fountains are an incredible sight you will never forget.

One-fifth of a mile long (900 feet), with 1,200 nozzles, 4,500 lights, and a $40 million price tag, the Bellagio fountain show is Vegas' first dancing fountain known world-wide.

The shimmering and dancing water is a little like watching the Rockettes up close and personal. The free show begins (depending upon the weather) at 3 PM and runs every 15 minutes or every half hour, depending on the time of year, until Midnight. The fountains do not run if it's windy, by the way. The pattern of the fountains, which varies with the season, is choreographed to a number of different songs, each of which lasts between 5 and 10 minutes.

There are 19 shows, but my favorites are "Singing in the Rain", where you can almost see Gene Kelly and his umbrella dancing across the tips of the water; "One" from "A Chorus Line" that will make you want to join one (and you're definitely in the right town!); and "Luck Be a Lady" sung by the infamous Frank Sinatra. During the show, there are moments where the water will soar as high as 240 feet in the air.

As you stand and watch this free show, if you can tear your eyes away from the fountains and watch the people watching the show, you'll be just as entertained. Our rainbow of visitors are delighted when they see the show; their faces lose every tense muscle and they are smiling ear-to-ear. Heads keep time to the music, or feet tap on the pavement to the beat. Mothers, holding babies in their arms, are swaying and dancing to the beat of the music; while the fathers are busy taping the show with their video cameras so they can show their children in years to come "What we saw when you were a baby."

The array of visitors watching the water is as individual as each water droplet that makes up the show, but yet when they watch the water show, their enjoyment is the same. The water, the music, the lights, all of them strikes a chord of happiness.

At the end of the show, there's a sadness that it's over so quickly, but amid the shouts of "Awesome!" and "Wow!" and "Spectacular!", you know you just witnessed something incredible. And you want to wait around for the next show.

Do it! It's well worth the wait.