And as such, through the aughts, MGM remodeled it into modern oblivion. Treasure Island became another folio property. When Wynn let his ego get too big, he lost it, and all of his portfolio, to MGM in their absorption of Mirage Resorts. TI, an MGM propertyīut, much like the rest of the town, Treasure Island has been mired. Treasure Island was a success, and the history it started is legend. The Aria Tram? Mirage to Treasure Island in 2 minutes came first. One could say the nightly fireworks were the first real light show on the Strip. It also got the first anchored Cirque show, Mystere, a force of its genre to this day. Treasure Island got its own (RIP Sirens) strip show. And aside from that, he added things that were downright adventurous (pun intended). Pirate themes were accentuated with fine art from his collection (some of which still stand to this day, sharp eyes around the cage). But Treasure Island took things above and beyond. Taking Mirage’s Polynesian theme into Pirate infested waters, the hotel built on the theme and took it deeper, just as Encore took the Wynn standard to a higher echelon. Like Bellagio, Mirage, and even Wynn, it featured it’s own allure in design. The hotel itself was the second wunderkind of Steve Wynn, and as such, it bears his hallmarks. To that end, TI as it’s known now after many inclinations and due to its unmistakable (and ahead of its time) MGM-era Marquee, is a true history of the Strip bottled up into one property.

Buffets and my first slot experience later, Las Vegas became ingrained in me just as it had with my family before me. And for a splendid night of debauchery, myself and 21 of my peers piled into a room (4 at a time, security watching) for the night. That place was the all new Treasure Island at the Mirage. Our destination…the place we could fit in the most for the least. The all new Treasure Island at the Mirage One night, drunk under age in a van full of my cohorts, we arrived at a shining beacon in the dark. Carving in drywall, making my own tent, and using that tent to camp throughout the southwest. When I was young, naive, and before I knew what it was like to put down coin on a table or in a machine, I was an 18 year old architecture student.

TI’s porte-cochère…a preserved piece of the Wynn Fingerprint.

Treasure island casino las vegas