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| - I wanted to take this tour for three reasons: to see the plane, the horses, and the house. I purchased my ticket online and came early and they were able to put me on a earlier tour.
First, you watch a 15 minute movie about Wayne Newton and his career. It's very interesting. I caution the reader, however, that this tour is for middle aged people and older. It is not for millennials or anyone under 35 unless they know Wayne Newton for some reason.
After the movie, you board a shuttle that takes you across the Sunset Road and in the front gates to the estate. The stops are in the following order: the plane at the museum, then the car part of the museum, then costumes Newton wore during part of his career along with photos, letters, and other memorabilia, some of it very interesting.
Then you go to the horse area where there is a bleacher setup. Two Arabians are brought one at a time to the arena and they show how well trained they are and how beautiful they are. What majestic animals!
From here, it's off to the exotic animal area, then the house and then back to the store/ticket office.
My favorite things of the tour were the plane and the Arabians. Very enjoyable and informative. I applaud Newton for the many USO trips he made. He deserves every honor for that.
My problems with the tour are several. Some of the tour is repetitive. Some of what is seen in the movie is repeated at the museum or in other places on the tour. In the auto section of the museum, it would be nice to have a stand with the info on each car for one to read. Instead, the tour leader readers from notebook sheets the year of the car, the make of Rolls (if it is), and who owned it prior to Newton obtaining it if it was someone famous. This takes so much time doing 10 cars one at a time.
The exotic animal area is a bit forlorn. There was a beautiful electus parrot out when I was there and many peacocks roaming around, but like any other "zoo," the animals are sometimes not easy to see as they're behind wire mesh to keep them in and safe.
Now the main reason for my poor review. With no announcement made by our tour leader, some of the group I was with got on the shuttle and in a moment or so, the bus started and before I knew it, we were back at the museum/ticket office area. As the driver was leaving, I saw the rest of our group walking to the house so I never got to see the house.
I filled out a comment form on their website, and the next day I got a call from a woman apologizing for the mixup. She didn't know why it happened or why some of the people were coming back early. She told me she'd send me an email and when I received it, I should list three dates when I could come back to finish my tour and see the house. I got the email, I responded, and almost two weeks later, I have heard nothing back. What had been great customer relations turned out to be awful customer relations.
The other thing I'd give as a negative of the tour (I bought the platinum--the most expensive--tour) is just too long. Three hours? You have to be a real fan of Newton to spend 3 to 3.5 hours on this tour. Maybe that's why part of the group returned before the end of the tour but the tour leader should have made an announcement. We were all on the same platinum tour.
If you're a fan of Newton and you have time to spend while visiting Las Vegas, this would be interesting. If you have other plans, allow plenty of time so time constraints don't become an issue.
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