Casears Forum Fountain Show

Every shopping center worth its overpriced boutiques needs an area where you can sit down and relax in between bouts of spending money you won at the casino. The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace offer high-end shopping that has become an attraction in itself, so it's only right that everything from the spiraling escalators to the painted blue-sky ceilings dotted with fluffy clouds to the Roman-style fountains with sculpted gods and goddesses frolicking in the water puts on a show for the guests.

An oldie but a goodie—Frank Sinatra, Julio Iglesias and Judy Garland performed there in the past—Caesars Palace opened in 1966, but the Forum Shops, along with Caesars Forum Fountain Shows, didn't arrive until 1992. The inside of the complex is ornately decorated and the fountain shows turn everyday wishing wells into platforms for mini performances throughout the day at the top of each hour.

Festival Fountain's free shows—you don't even have to toss a penny into the water and make a wish—are at the west end of the mall and let you eavesdrop on a discussion among the Roman gods while watching an out-of-place, but still fun, laser show. Listening to animatronic statues of Bacchus, Apollo, Pluto and Venus dish the deific dirt promises to be more interesting than watching Audrina and LC talk about, um, nothing on The Hills. This fountain show is only an appetizer to the more exciting Fall of Atlantis show at the east end of the Forum by the aquarium. Watch the sinking of the lost island of Atlantis unfold, complete with enough fire, flooding and fabricated natural disaster to make you think you're on a low-budget action film set. The story starts with the king's children battling one another to rule Atlantis. The gods step in and settle it all with the Fall of Atlantis. To oversee the mayhem, a 20-foot winged beast hovers around the king's throne and watches as the island is ravaged by fire and then flood. This show is a definite crowd-pleaser, a favorite among bored fathers and shop-till-you-drop moms alike, so arrive a little early for prime spot in front of the action.

After the show, head to the nearby aquarium, where you can check out hundreds of sea creatures swimming about in the beautiful 50,000-gallon circular aquarium with Roman columns. Or if you're in need of refueling, just duck into the Cheesecake Factory next door to fill your quota for (edible) splurges of the day.