[NFBNJ] NFBNJ: Final Updated Info For National Convention Items Of Interest

[Brian Mackey]

>From the desk of NFBNJ President Joe Ruffalo.

 

Greetings to all!

 

For those attending the national convention in Las Vegas, please read through the items of interest.

For those not attending the national convention, read through if you wish.

 

1. AIRA at the Airport

2. [State-Affiliate-Leadership-List] Airport shuttle Services

3. Coffee in hotel rooms

4. [NFBP-Talk] National Convention Q and A

5. 2019 NFB National Convention Materials available

6. Additional National Convention Materials

7. [NFB-Conventions] location of restaurant menus?

8. [State-Affiliate-Leadership-List] Clearing up confusions about Wi-Fi at convention hotel

9. ​Items for sale from NFBNJ at our 2019 National Convention

10. Description of hotel layout

 

1. AIRA at the Airport

Received from Denice Brown, President, NFB of PA Greater Philadelphia Chapter.

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Earlier today I was at a press conference at Philadelphia International Airport with the AIRA Corporation.  

 

Philadelphia International Airport is now a Free Access Zone.  If you are flying out of Philadelphia, you can dial up an agent in order to navigate the airport at your convenience.

MccarranInternational Airport in Las Vegas  is a free Aira zone also.  I would suggest that everyone download the app to your smart phone.

 

Please send this information to your members who are attending the 2019 NFB National Convention.

 

Denice Brown

 

***

 

2. [State-Affiliate-Leadership-List] Airport shuttle Services

Received from Terri Rupp, President, NFB of Nevada

 

Here are the shuttle companies that pick up curbside at McCarran Airport. Please contact each for additional information including pricing.

 

ODS - 702-688-7353

Bell Transportation- 800-274-7433

AWG Limo- 702-740-3434

SuperShuttle-800-258-3826

 

***

 

3. Coffee in the hotel rooms

Received from Annemarie Cooke, NFBNJ Board Member

 

Each room has a Kirig machine; a  "kit" with ONE Kirig cup plus hot drink cup, etc.  is 6  DOLLARS per person for one serving!

Concierge says we can bring our own Kirig capsules and unbreakable cup and fixin's.

 

***

 

4. [NFBP-Talk] National Convention Q and A

Received from Jim Antonacci, Treasurer, NFB of Pennsylvania

 

Thanks to my niece, Michelle, we developed this document that may answer some questions for those attending the national convention.  Many of the answers are from the hotel web site and many more are from other web sites. Thus, the accuracy is dependent on what other persons have reported.

 

Hopefully, the information here will be of some help.

 

Jim

 

 

Q1. Do the bathrooms have hair dryers?

          Answer: Yes, all of the bathrooms have hair dryers.

 

Q2. Do you have to pay for the regular pool chairs?

Answer: The answer is challenging because the Mandalay "Beach" area has a number of pool areas and they have different rules for entry, I think. The Wave Machine Beach and Lazy River require only a room key for entry and I believe first come gets the first choice of a number of chairs or loungers. If you want a private space -- a cabana or bungalow - then there is a significant fee which could be hundreds of dollars. All of this is explained on their website. There are other smaller swimming pools adjacent to the main Beach area and I don't think you pay for chairs.

 

Q3. I noticed the hotel is close to the airport. Is there much disturbance from the planes?

Answer: I have stayed at Mandalay Bay several times. I have never noticed any noise at all from the airport. The location is a benefit, because a cab ride to and from Mandalay Bay from the airport is much cheaper than going mid strip. Be sure to tell the driver ...NO tunnel.

 

Q4. Do the bathrooms have separate shower and bathtubs or shower/tub combinations?

          Answer: The shower and bathtub were separate.

 

Q5. What level is the lobby located on?

Answer: First level. As you enter at the main entrance you are right near check in desks and the lobby. They may call it Lobby level because the pools, beach and some shops are the level below the lobby!

 

Q6. Which of the cabanas is best for relaxing pool side?

Answer: Depends on your preference. They are all great. My favorite is one on the beach side because we play in the wave pool a lot. However, if you are looking for more peaceful or quiet area, try the lazy river cabanas.

 

Q7. What is included in the resort fee? Do you have to pay to use the pool if you are a guest?

          Answer: If you are a guest, you can stay by the pool without a charge.

 

Q8. How fast is the lazy river?

          Answer: Not fast at all, very calm, mellow and relaxing.

 

Q9. How many pools does this resort have?

Answer: The main pool area is a beach, which is an outdoor wave pool. there is also a lazy river and another pool area that does not have sand and a hot tub. The other side (Moorea) has a private cabanna area with a private pool & one long pool for all to use & long hot tub by the the bar.

 

Q10. Does this resort have a breakfast buffet?

Answer: They do have a breakfast buffet but we did not eat there for breakfast. We did have brunch one day and dinner one evening and found the buffet to be very good. We ate breakfast at the House of Blues every morning.

 

Q11. Does anyone have the list of how much the mini bar items are? Is there champagne in the mini bar?

Answer: A minibar is super expensive, one bottle of water cost 20 dollars(for the same money at the supermarket you can buy 100 bottles of water ), everything else in the minibar is way more expensive than a bottle of water and yes they do have champagne. I suggest you buy outside of the casino save money.

 

Q12. How many restaurants does this resort have?

          Answer: 25.

 

Q13. What time do the trams start in the morning?

          Answer: 9am.

 

Q14. I know they charge for the in-room coffee maker, but can you use it to just heat water for free?

          Answer: You can use the coffee maker for free. Just don't use their coffee pods or cups.

 

Q15. Do they have irons and ironing boards in rooms?

          Answer: Yes.

 

Q16. Are towels provided for the pool? 

          Answer: Yes, towels are provided for the pools.

 

Q17. Are smoking rooms available?

          Answer: No, they do not have smoking rooms. Just in the casino.

 

Q18. Do the suites come with a fridge to store items?

Answer: Unfortunately the refrigerator in the room is fully stocked with liquor and Mixers. Leaving no room for you to put anything in it.

 

Q19. Is there a convenience store on the property?

Answer: No, only an expensive gift shop.

 

Q20. Is smoking allowed at the pool?

          Answer: No, non-smoking signs are posted.

 

Q21. How far is it to get to the center of the strip? Is it an easy trip?

Answer: Yes very easy, you can Uber (best bet) or the hotels are connected pretty much with trams and such....sometimes you have to walk to the hotel next door but everything is easy and accessible in this area. There is a tram from Mandalay Bay to a resort a little closer to the center of the strip. It is quite easily walkable provided you are able to do some stairs. It's not like walking straight down a sidewalk like in most towns. But to tell you the truth, the walk is part of the entertainment.

 

Q22. How far is the Mandalay Bay from the main strip?

Answer: The Mandalay Bay is "technically" on the main strip. It is just at the very end of the main strip. You can take the Tram from Mandalay to Excalibur and walk from there to central parts of strip. Also, Uber and Taxi's are available to take you wherever you want. It is at one end of the strip beyond which there's only the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. It is about 2.5 km from the Bellagio which can take about 35-45 mins in Vegas.

 

Q23. Do they have fridges? I am diabetic and need it for my insulin.

Answer: The hotel policy is a spare mini fridge is provided free of charge for medical use. The charge is $40.00 per day for personal use.

 

Q24. Is breakfast included in this hotel?

Answer: No, Mandalay Bay did not have breakfast included and even the coffee in the room was at a cost.

 

Q25. Is the "One" show on premises at Mandalay or is it across the street at the MGM?

          Answer: It is on the premises of Mandalay Bay.

 

Q26. Do you have to pay entry to the aquarium if you are a guest?

          Answer: Yes.

 

Q27. Does Mandalay Bay have working Ethernet/wired internet connections in the room, or is it WiFi only?

          Answer: Both are available.

 

Q28. Is there a laundry room or just laundry services?

          Answer: Only laundry services are available.

 

Q29. Is the alcohol free while gambling?

          Answer: Yes, while you gamble the drinks are free but don't forget to tip your waitress.

 

Q30. How far of a walk is it to the nearest Walgreens or CVS?

          Answer: Approximately 15 minutes - across from the New York New York hotel/casino.

 

Q31. What is the incidental amount per night at the Resort Casino?

Answer: Around $35. If I can put this out there, hopefully it will answer many questions. Even if you're only playing small amounts in the casino, get a PLAYERS CARD and use it. Even a very low limit player will get free things, food, gifts, room service .It will always cover small incidentals.

 

Q32. Is there a shuttle service to and from the airport?

Answer: Yes. Bell Trans offers a shuttle service. You can make reservations but you can also pay at the pick up location. Shuttles depart for hotels every 10-15 minutes. After retrieving your luggage simply exit Baggage Claim Door 8 at Terminal 1, or proceed out Door 51 in Terminal 3 to the booth. The greeter will direct you to the appropriate vehicle and the driver will provide you with a ticket for your return from the hotel to the airport. The phone number to book is (800)-274-7433.

 

Q33. Are there any other restaurants outside of the hotel within walking distance?

Answer: Yes. Across the street from the hotel is a small plaza, called Akita Plaza. In this plaza is a Panda Express, McDonalds, Liquor Outlet, Subway, Chikita Daiquiri Bar, and Mirchi South Indian Kitchen.

 

***

 

5. 2019 NFB National Convention Materials available

Received from Scott White, Director, NFB-NEWSLINE

 

Good news! The 2019 National Federation of the Blind National Convention agenda is now available on NFB-NEWSLINE. The Convention is from July 7-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. To read the agenda using the telephone access method, go to Option Five for Newspapers in Different State, then Option Five for National Meetings of Interest to the Print Disabled and follow the prompts to select the item of your choice such as the 2019 NFB Convention Agenda, the 2019 NFB Convention Exhibitors, 2019 NFB Convention First Timers Guide, or the 2019 NFB Convention Restaurant Guide. If you're using NFB-NEWSLINE Mobile, choose Publications, Publication Options, and All Publications to find the 2019 NFB Convention Agenda, the 2019 NFB Convention Exhibitors, 2019 NFB Convention First Timers Guide, or the 2019 NFB Convention Restaurant Guide.

 

As we have offered in the past, we are hoping to have the 2019 National Federation of the Blind National Convention available for streaming on the telephone portion of the service and through the NFB-NEWSLINE Mobile app. Check back often for any updates to the 2019 National Federation of the Blind National Convention materials for updates on the convention stream plus other convention happenings. The restaurant menus are being finalized and will be available soon.

 

National Federation of the Blind | nfb.org | 866-504-7300 | nfbnewsline at nfb.org <mailto:nfbnewsline at nfb.org> 

 

***

 

6. Additional National Convention Materials

 

2019 National Convention Live Stream:

We are proud to provide portions of the 2019 National Convention via our live stream for those who are unable to be with us in person. The convention will be streamed during the Board of Directors Meeting, General Sessions, and the Banquet. Find the media players available to access and the sessions scheduled to be broadcasted at https://www.nfb.org/livestream.

 

Agenda and other convention documents available on NFB-NEWSLINE:

To read the agenda or the other convention-related documents using the telephone access method, go to Option Five for Newspapers in Different State, then Option Five for National Meetings of Interest to the Print Disabled and follow the prompts to select the item of your choice such as the 2019 NFB Convention Agenda, the 2019 NFB Convention Exhibitors, 2019 NFB Convention First Timers Guide, or the 2019 NFB Convention Restaurant Guide. If you're using NFB-NEWSLINE Mobile, choose Publications, Publication Options, and All Publications to maneuver to the documents.

 

Google Calendar:

Below is a link to a public Google calendar for the upcoming national convention. You can access and subscribe to this calendar from within apps if you want to see the whole convention agenda or just add individual events.

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/pqckoub820qm8r0s3i12vidl3c@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

 

***

 

7. [NFB-Conventions] location of restaurant menus?

Received from John Bergren National Convention Chairperson, NFB

 

some of the most popular menus can now be found on our website off the main convention page https://nfb.org/convention or be visited directly by visiting https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/menus. In addition, you will be able to access the hotel menus on NFB-NEWSLINE very soon.

 

***

 

8. [State-Affiliate-Leadership-List] Clearing up confusions about Wi-Fi at convention hotel

 

Here is a message directly from our National convention chair, John Berggrem,  in regards to questions about Wi-Fi at the hotel.

 

Guests will need to purchase a WIFI package.

When they log on using MGMRESORTS WIFI, if they have a conference access code, they may enter that.

 

Visitors may place their e-mail address in:

*        no-charge low speed (for only an hour or two, I believe).

 

Premium purchase :

*        Up to 5 Mbps

o   For 4 hours - $7.99

*        Up to 20 Mbps

o   1 day - $39.99

 

***

 

9. ​Items for sale from NFBNJ at our 2019 National Convention

Received from Linda Melendez, NFBNJ First Vice President

 

NFBNJ Exhibit Table A37

*        Calendar Raffle: Purchase one date for $10 or 3 dates for $25; maximum of 366 raffles sold for one winner of $500    

*        $10 Key Ring/necklace holder for new NFB membership coin 

*        $15 NFB Red T-Shirts sizes small to extra large; white logo with National Federation of the Blind over the left breast pocket; on the back in two lines Live the Life You Want

*        $20 NFB Red Polo Shirts sizes small to extra large; logo with National Federation of the Blind over the left breast pocket

*        $20 Framed color photo of Mt. Rushmore with our four NFB Presidents

*        $ 5 Techie Triple Play raffle to win two Echo Dots and a Set of Bluetooth Headphones valued over $130 

 

Linda Melendez, First Vice President
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
President, NFBNJ Sports and Recreation Division
732 421 7063
lindamelendez220 at gmail.com <mailto:lindamelendez220 at gmail.com> 
“The sky is the limit and you are stronger than you think you are. Come out of your comfort zone and become the best version of yourself possible – Live the life you want; you got this!”

 

***

 

10. Description of hotel layout

 

NAVIGATING THE HOTEL:

 

Welcome to the Las Vegas Strip and, specifically, the southernmost hotel on the Strip, the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. As with many of the newer Las Vegas hotels, the Mandalay Bay is enormous, boasting more than 3,200 sleeping rooms, several pools, and its own convention center. While the property is aligned neatly to the cardinal direction grid of South Las Vegas Boulevard, the entrance faces more of a NNE direction. Because this is a bit inconvenient for navigation, I’m going to rely on the age-old metaphor of an analog clock face. In fact, we’re really just interested in the afternoon hours for our needs.

 

Before we get started, it’s helpful to know that the middle of the clock face is covered with Mandalay Bay’s pools—the wave pool, the lazy river, the lagoon pools, and more. You’ll visit the center of the clock when you need to cool off after a long day of convention activities. The hotel and its various parts wrap around the pools nearly encircling them. Traveling through the hotel, our path will slowly arc around the pools counter-clockwise. Our navigation begins at the bottom of your clock face at six o’clock. 

 

When you arrive at the front entrance, you will enter the Mandalay Bay’s palatial lobby on the Casino Level. As I said, we are at six o’clock. Take several steps into the lobby. The bell desk is immediately to your left. Continue straight into the lobby and a long registration desk is on your left. At the far end of the lobby in front of you are floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the pools. On the right side of the lobby, across from the registration desk, is MB Lifestyle where you can purchase locally logoed clothing, snacks, and other souvenirs. In between the registration desk and MB Lifestyle is a large statue of Michael Jackson. The square base, with benches backed up to all four sides, make for a good lobby rendezvous point.

 

If you had entered the lobby at the front doors and turned to your right, you would find the mobile check-in counter on the right. As you continue to the right through the lobby, your path splits. To the left are the elevators to the sleeping rooms. To the right, you will begin to hear the sounds of a water feature and find railings that lead you to both an escalator and stairs that take you down to the Beach Level. Head down to the Beach Level and to your left are the doors leading to the transportation lobby and one of the dog relief areas. 

 

Instead of taking the right branch of our lobby split, we travel down the left branch through a short hallway to the guest room elevators. Imagine that the circular elevator lobby is a wheel with six spokes. Three of the spokes contain banks of elevators and three of the spokes are hallways. The two types of spokes alternate. Let’s focus on the elevator banks first. Each bank of elevators contains eight cabs, four on each side, and serves specific floor numbers. The floor ranges are 2-16, 17-30, and 56-69. Entering from the main lobby, the elevators for floors 2-16 are immediately to your left. You will find the floor ranges increase as you move clockwise around the hub of the wheel. One level below, on the Beach Level, the spokes are organized in just the same fashion.

 

You need your room key not just to get into your room, but to take the elevator to your sleeping room floor. The key is an RFID proximity card, meaning you need only hold it against the lock on your room door for your room lock to open. There is neither a need to slide the card into a reader nor is there a front or back side to the card. Like the sleeping rooms, the elevators also have card readers. When you step inside an available elevator, you must hold your room key up to the reader before pressing the button for your floor. Just above the center column of buttons for selecting your floor is a rectangular-shaped box a little smaller than a three by five index card—this is the card reader. Please note that your room key will take you to YOUR FLOOR ONLY. 

 

When you reach your floor and step out from the elevator bank, you will again be at the hub of a wheel. However, there are now only four spokes to the wheel. One spoke contains the bank of elevators from which you have just disembarked. The other three spokes contain sleeping rooms. Each spoke has signage indicating its range of room numbers. Again, the room number ranges increase as you move clockwise around the hub of the wheel.

 

Let’s head back down to the Casino Level elevator lobby. As mentioned earlier, three spokes of the wheel are hallways. The first comes from the main lobby. The second hallway, between the low-floor and the middle-floor elevators leads out to the casino. The third hallway, between the middle- and high-floor elevators leads to Hazel Coffee &Cocktails. For those of you needing an early morning coffee fix, Hazel opens at 5:00 a.m. to serve premium coffee and a variety of breakfast items. Hazel also stays open late, beyond midnight, to serve those interested in a jolt of a different variety.

 

Taking the hallway leading into the casino, we are approaching five o’clock on our clock face. There are wide carpeted paths heading off to both our right and left. Take the path to the right and the casino will be on your left while a number of shops are on your right. Among the retail stops are Hazel Coffee & Cocktail (a different entrance) and a number of high-end clothing options. Following this path to the end of the casino, you can head straight to catch the Mandalay Bay Tram to the Luxor and Excalibur properties. Turning left instead of heading to the tram, you can find the House of Blues, the Shoppes at Mandalay Place, and the entrance to the Cirque de Soleil show, Michael Jackson ONE.

 

As we emerge from the guest-room elevator lobby into the casino, though, the carpeted path to the left is of greater interest to meeting attendees. This time, the casino is on the right and, save for a handful of slot machines, food outlets including The Noodle Shop and Seabreeze Café begin to appear on the left. We’ll essentially be traveling in a straight line from the five to the four on our clock face. As the carpeting gives way to a faux riverbed stone floor, the casino ends and the restaurant options multiply. 

 

The arc between four and three o’clock on the face of our clock are filled with a broad variety of options, too many to mention them all. The menus for many of these restaurants can be found both on our website and NFB-NEWSLINE®. To the right is Mizuya, while Bayside Buffet and Fleur are on the left. Nearly straight ahead is Citizens Kitchen + Bar, serving American comfort food twenty-four hours a day. To the right of Citizens are a few more restaurants including Lupo, Wolfgang Puck’s first Italian restaurant. Continue past Citizens to the left for another half dozen options including Libertine Social and Steakhouse. It’s this left path that takes you towards the meeting space. You’ll notice a slight incline as you emerge from the gauntlet of dining options. I should point out that on the right side is a Starbucks which will no doubt be an important stop for many.

 

MEETING SPACE:

 

We have now reached nearly two-o’clock on our metaphorical clock face. The Mandalay Bay’s convention center begins with a flooring change from riverbed stone to terrazzo. Immediately to the right is a hallway leading to the hotel’s Event Center; none of our meetings or activities take place in the Event Center. Straight ahead is a wide hallway. The left side leads to the Border Grill, the food court, and the South Convention Center. The right side of the hallway gives way to a staircase flanked on either side by a down escalator and an up escalator. Continue down the left hallway just beyond the escalators and stairs to find elevators on the right wall. All three (down escalator, stairs, elevator) will take you down to the North Convention Center’s lower (ground) level where you will find the entirety of our meeting space for the convention.

 

After descending the escalator or stairs, the Bay View Patio is to the left, the Islander Registration Desk is straight ahead, and the meeting space is to the right. The elevators are just off to the right between the stairs and the registration desk. The Bay View Patio is straight ahead when you step off the elevator. The doors out to the Bay View Patio will take you to a second guide dog relief area.

 

If you take a right at the bottom of the stairs or the escalator (or make a U-turn to the left when stepping off one of the elevators), you will enter our convention meeting space. The corridors connecting our meeting space are L-shaped and you are standing at the intersection of the two arms of the ‘L.’ The short arm of the ‘L,’ called the Conference Promenade, extends out in front of you to the breakout spaces. Bay View Court, the longer arm of the, ‘L’ is to your left and leads the way to the Islander and South Pacific Ballrooms. It could be noted that this is one hotel space that conforms cleanly to cardinal directions. The Conference Promenade runs east-west while Bay View Court runs north-south.

 

Heading straight ahead along the Conference Promenade, you will find on your right a large breakout space called Tradewinds. It is broken into six sections, lettered A through F. Sections E and F are immediately to your right while the remaining sections are further down the promenade on the right. Beyond Tradewinds B is a small hallway to the right providing access to Tradewinds A and breakout rooms Mariners A and B. On the left side of the Conference Promenade are a series of smaller breakout spaces, each of which break into two or three sections. Closest to the intersection of the arms of the ‘L,’ you will find Shell Seeker B and A followed by Coral C, B, and A. At the end of the promenade on the left are Tropics B and A. 

 

If, from the intersection of the ‘L’, you instead head left down Bay View Court from north to south, you will first pass Islander Registration Desk on the left which will be home to consolidated registration activities beginning on Tuesday, July 9. Next on the left you will find men’s and women’s restrooms. Across Bay View Court from the registration desk and the restrooms is Islander Ballroom, home to the Exhibit Hall and the Independence Market. When you reach the end of the Islander Ballroom, there is an intersection of sorts. The South Pacific Ballroom is ahead on your right. Immediately to the right is a hallway that runs between the Islander and South Pacific Ballrooms. Along the left side of this hallway are four large sections of the South Pacific Ballroom lettered D through A, all of which host meetings throughout the week.

 

Back at the intersection, opposite the hallway on the left side of Bay View Court are stairs that lead up to the Border Grill, a contemporary Mexican restaurant serving both lunch and dinner. Continuing further south along Bay View Court are additional sections of the South Pacific Ballroom. Sections F and J, both on the right, will be used for meetings on Seminar Day such as Rookie Roundup. For the remainder of the week, the doors to South Pacific Ballroom F and J are the entry doors for Resolutions, the NFB Board Meeting, General Sessions, and eventually the Banquet. Opposite the South Pacific Ballroom F is another set of restrooms. On the wall between the men’s and women’s restrooms are ten mobile device charging stations.

 

At the end of Bay View Court, a modest hall turns to the right. Down this hall are a set of elevators and an escalator that will take you up a level to the food court in the South Convention Center. Head straight out of the elevators or turn left off the escalator to cross the foyer to the food court. If you’ll remember the transition to terrazzo several paragraphs ago, there was a wide hallway, the left side of which led to the South Convention Center. Had you continued down that hallway, you would have passed the Border Grill and the stairs leading down to the lower level of the North Convention Center. Beyond the stairs, still on the right side of the hallway is BBQ Mexicana, a quick service counter open for lunch. At the end of this long corridor is the same food court I mentioned above. At this stage of the journey, you have reached the twelve on the face of our clock.

 

The food court is host to a number of reasonably priced food options including Bonanno’s New York Pizzeria, Johnny Rockets, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Pan Asian Express, and Subway. The food court is accessed via a gradual incline on its right side or three steps on the left. There is a variety of seating within the food court. Many of the booths and high-top tables offer outlets and USB charging stations.

 

Beyond the food court are the ticket counter and entrance to Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef Aquarium, host to sharks, giant rays, sea turtles, and more.

 

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