CIRCUS CIRCUS

Casinos come and go leaving behind a rich history of showbusiness.

Casinos come and go leaving behind a rich history of showbusiness.

The brainchild of Jay Sarno who was the dreamer behind Caesars Palace, Circus-Circus Hotel was the only Casino in Las Vegas with trapeze artists flying right above the heads of gamblers.

The circus acts appear as a free show in the big- top themed resort

Circus-Circus was the first Las Vegas Hotel to have its grand opening broadcast on live TV. In 1968 The Ed Sullivan Show featured the Grand Opening of the tent shaped building on Las Vegas Boulevard. The Casino first opened without hotel rooms and added rooms in 1972. The original concept was to have circus performers and animals roaming the casino floor during the day. There was to be trained orangutans to deal cards and an elephant to pull the handle on slot machines. The same elephant was trained to throw dice at the craps table, but the mere mention of craps around the elephant caused him to deliver. This led to the expulsion from the casino of all animals and the building of a second floor midway above the casino to separate the players from the acrobats.

The ongoing circus acts were a precursor to today's Cirque de Soleil shows. The success of the performers led to a steady stream of visitors, causing the need to build a high rise tower, an RV park, another tower and then a monorail to connect them all. Eventually the the Circus-Circus Adventuredome was constructed, the only indoor amusement park in Las Vegas.

Circus-Circus Enterprises eventually changed its name to Mandalay Resort Group and built the Mandalay Bay Resort, The Luxor, partnered with Golden Nugget Corporation to build the Monte Carlo Hotel. In 2005 Mandalay Resort Group and Golden Nugget Corporation ( which had become Mirage Resorts) was sold to MGM Grand and became MGM-Mirage, the second largest gaming company in the world.

Although Circus-Circus has never had an actual show in the conventional sense of the word the complimentary circus acts still perform daily above the casino floor.

If you have any information about the history of entertainment at this property please do contact us, we aim to update this section of the site as frequently as possible so that we can ensure as accurate as possible correct historic information.