NEW YEAR, NEW STUFF: What to Expect from Vegas in 2025

Posted on: December 29, 2024, 04:40h. 

Last updated on: December 29, 2024, 05:26h.

Las Vegas has mastered the art of transforming itself into ever better (and more expensive) permutations of its former self. While no new hotels will open next year, here are some of the more anticipated attractions, restaurants and residencies scheduled for 2025.

At least until they’re postponed until 2026.

Attractions

The ‘Friends” Experience: The One in Vegas: They’ll be there for you at the MGM Grand when this assemblage of Instagram-ready set recreations debuts next year. The attraction will feature Central Perk, Monica’s apartment, as well as a nod to Ross and Rachel’s Las Vegas wedding.

The “Friends” Experience has already toured 13 US cities in the past four years, so hundred of thousands of the sitcom’s most fanatical followers have already experienced it. But when has something like that stopped anything from opening in Las Vegas before?

Universal Horror Unleashed: Universal’s first year-round horror attraction will open sometime next year at AREA15. It will feature separate haunted houses called Universal Monsters, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scarecrow: The Reaping, and Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer.

Bob Marley Hope Road: Fans of the late reggae legend can get together and feel all right late next year at Mandalay Bay. This showcase of installations celebrating Marley’s life, music and influence has the full cooperation of the Marley family, which has provided many of its artifacts and performance videos. Live performances will be featured on the nightly.

Evel Knievel Museum: Sometime next year, this shrine to the late motorcycle daredevil jumps from Topeka, Kansas to downtown Las Vegas — five miles from where Knievel tried jumping his bike over the fountains of Caesars Palace on Dec. 31, 1967. It would have been Knievel’s longest successful jump to date — if it hadn’t launched him over his handlebars and skidding into the Dunes parking lot next door. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of that Triumph Bonneville T12 are unknown, but the artifacts will include most of the other bikes that survived to tell the tale.

The John Wick Experience: This interactive attraction, based on the popular Keanu Reeves action movies, is set to open at AREA15 in February.

Interstellar Arc: Coming this fall from Felix & Paul Studios, this experience is a spaceflight simulator that will whisk adventurers away on what its creators describe as a “26th-century deep space mission across the far reaches of the cosmos.”

Food

Bazaar Meats: José Andrés is closing his steakhouse, rated one of the best in Las Vegas for the past decade, at the Sahara. But he’s reopening it in the Venetian’s Palazzo tower.

Actually, Bazaar Meat never opened at the Sahara — not intentionally anyway. It opened in 2014 along with the SLS Las Vegas, a failed experiment in transforming the Sahara into an upscale Beverly Hills concept. Bazaar meats got trapped when the downscale Sahara brand returned to the property in 2019.

Via Via Food Hall: Opening next summer at the Venetian, upscale eatery will include the All’Antico Vinaio Florentine sandwich shop, the B.S. Taqueria chorizo palace, the Howlin’ Ray’s  Nashville hot chicken joint, the Ivan Ramen shop from Chef Ivan Orkin, Scarr’s Pizza, and the New Orleans eateries Turkey and the Wolf and Molly’s Rise and Shine.

Stubborn Seed by Jeremy Ford: This Michelin-starred restaurant from Top Chef” Season 13 winner Jeremy Ford, known for its tasting menu in Miami, will open its second location at Resorts World sometime next year.

Netflix Bites: This one year pop-up residency will open at the MGM Grand early next year in the former Avenue Café space. It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes inspired by popular Netflix series such as “Bridgerton,” “Stranger Things” and “La Casa de Papel.”

Music

New Kids on the Block: The now-older Kids will perform their first Las Vegas residency over 16 dates at Dolby Live, starting June 20. Dubbed “The Right Stuff,” it will feature the entire original lineup: Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.

Janet Jackson: Her residency at Resorts World, which opens Dec. 30, continues at least through Feb. 15.

Blake Shelton: The country superstar debuts a residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Feb. 5. Expect regular late-night jams at the country crooner’s Ole Red Restaurant — some perhaps with Shelton’s wife, Gwen Stefani.

Josh Groban: The classical-pop singer’s “Gems” residency classes up The Colosseum starting May 9.

Black Eyed Peas: Their “3008” residency at Planet Hollywood launches Feb. 15.

Mötley Crüe: The heavy metallurgists kickstart their residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM on March 28.

Sammy Hagar: The Red Rocker’s “Best of All Worlds” Van Halen-forward residency launches at Dolby Live on April 30.

Shopping

Over Grand Prix weekend, the Puma store opened at BLVD, replacing the declining Hawaiian Marketplace, which no one misses. The rest of the 400K square-foot mall will follow next year and feature Adidas, H&M, JD Sports, and the world’s largest In-N-Out Burger.

And Last but Definitely Not Least…

Spherical “Wizard of Oz”: This remains unconfirmed, but trust us, it’s happening. A very reliable source told Vital Vegas that the Sphere is working with Warner Bros. Pictures on adapting “The Wizard of Oz” for the Sphere as its next movie project.

WrestleMania 41: Professional wrestling’s biggest event will place a chokehold on Allegiant Stadium over April 19-20. It’ll be the first time Wrestlemania was held in Vegas since WrestleMania IX in 1993.