Las Vegas, Nevada 1968. The brand new Circus Circus casino is opened up on Las Vegas Boulevard. Modeled after a pink and white circus tent, the casino, and later hotel, catered to families with live circus acts and midway games. In 1993, Circus Circus expanded on the family theme and added the Adventuredome, an indoor theme park complete with a corkscrew roller coaster.
However, today I would like to a take a quick step back to the early days. The Las Vegas landscape was yet to be as fully developed as it is today, and many, many things have changed over the years.
The Circus Circus casino originally opened with no hotel rooms. In 1973, the first hotel tower was built. Then in 1975, an additional hotel tower was constructed, as well as adding the now famous 126 foot tall clown sign.
The above image was taken sometime in 1974 I presume since the first hotel tower is present, but the clown sign is not.
Did you know that the Circus Circus casino originally had water fountains out front? I surely did not as it was long before I was even born, but now that I see the fountains, I wish they were still there. I have always thought the streetview of the Circus Circus casino was unwelcoming since there were no softscapes against the hard pavement. Among the magnificent properties along Las Vegas Boulevard, Circus Circus needs some better curb appeal.
There also used to be a carousel located out at the street, as you will see in the bottom right. I am just taking a wild guess that as wild as Las Vegas can be, there was substantial risk to have the carousel located that close to the street with kids running around. Although maybe the Nevada heat caused a lot of people not to ride it. Then again, who needs to pretend to ride fake animals when you can steal a tiger from Mike Tyson for your hotel room.
In 1979, the Circus Land RV Park opened on the Circus Circus property, allowing camping travelers a place to stay for the night.
My best guess is that the above image was taken sometime in 1981. The RV Park is called out on the large clown sign, yet the sky rise tower addition from 1986 still does not appear.
Today if you step in front of the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino, you will notice little has changed with the look of the buildings. I enjoy the nostalgic look of the Circus Circus grounds amid all the newest of everything in Vegas. How about you?
My mother’s family travels to Vegas nearly every year, and the surprising thing is that my cousins, who are all 13 years plus younger than I am, have enjoyed going to Vegas every year since they were little kids. Where do they stay? Circus Circus. They must be doing something right, even with the lack of water fountains out front.
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