16. The Excalibur Dragon was actually an addition to an already existing hotel but didn’t quite make the cut.
The Excalibur Hotel already exists in Las Vegas. It looks like a white medieval castle inspired by the Sword and the Stone. This hotel is great for anyone who loves fantasy, but there could be so much more. At one point in time, Gary Goddard planned to install a fire-breathing dragon in front of the hotel. The idea turned out to be far too expensive, and the attraction was never built. However, a similar concept now exists in Harry Potter World, where the Gringotts Dragon breathes fire a few times a day.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Dream City: The Vegas Skyline That Might Have Been. Erin Ryan. Las Vegas Weekly. 2012.
List of Las Vegas Casinos That Never Opened. Wikipedia.
Hugh Hefner’s Atlantic City Playboy Casino. The Press of Atlantic City. 2017.
Playboy Officers to Sell Casino in Atlantic City. New York Times. 1982.
Moon Resort. VegasTodayAndTomorrow.com
Almost Las Vegas: The Hotels That Never Were. Vegas.com
Xanadu (Film). Wikipedia.
A Titanic-themed Resort Almost Opened in Vegas — and That’s Not Even the Craziest Failed Project. Yahoo News.
Demolition of Vegas’ Never-Opened Harmon Hotel Beings in Two Weeks. Jay Jones. Los Angeles Times. 2014.
WWF Bails Out on Hotel Project in Las Vegas. TheGlobeAndMail.com
Adaptation or ‘Disaster’?. Las Vegas Sun.
Linda McMahon says WWF-themed casino big holds powerful lessons. Wade Tyler Millward. Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Dreams. VegasTodayAndTomorrow.com
In Las Vegas, Too Many Hotels Are Never Enough. The New York Times.