Plaza Las Vegas Throws a “Back to the Future” Day Bash

By Scott Roeben, on October 22 2015
2 min read 0 comments
Downtown Las Vegas Las Vegas Hotels

Downtown’s Plaza Hotel &Casino threw a party in honor of “Back to the Future” Day on Oct. 21, 2015, drawing a healthy crowd of movie fans of all ages, many dressed like characters from the popular film series.

Plaza Back to the Future
Try not to hear that Huey Lewis song in your head. Dare you.

The Plaza took advantage of its unique connection to the “Back to the Future” franchise, having served as the inspiration for Biff Tanner’s Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel featured prominently in 1989’s “Back to the Future Part II.”

Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise
The Grays Sports Almanac young Biff was given by his future self to build his financial empire cost $32.19. There will be a quiz.

Here’s the Plaza today. Well, in the recent past, which is becoming the more distant pass even as you read this. Unless you’re a believer in the circularity of time, in which case the past has already happened. We are a Las Vegas blog, not a Newtonian cosmologist.

Plaza Las Vegas
The hotel’s distinctive dome houses Oscar’s Steakhouse, but was originally a pool.

Oct. 21, 2015, of course, holds a special place in the hearts of “Back to the Future” fans as it is the date Marty and Doc Brown visited in their time machine.

Back to the Future
After Oct. 21, 2015, everything that happened in the “Back to the Future” series happened in the past, although “Back to the Past” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

The party at the Plaza featured a number of DeLoreans, several tricked out with “Back to the Future” accessories, and Doc Brown’s van from the movie.

Back to the Future
DeLorean owners divide their time between “Back to the Future” events and auto repair shops, but mostly that second thing.

Former Las Vegas mayor, and one of this blog’s all-time favorite humans, Oscar Goodman, stopped by the event.

Plaza Back to the Future
Former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman and Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel.

Guests of the event were invited to enter a costume contest, and several Doc Brown and Marty McFly lookalikes were on site for photo ops.

Plaza Las Vegas Back to the Future
Doc’s full name is Emmett Lathrop Brown. Emmett is “time” backwards, phonetically.

“Back to the Future” remains a popular cultural touchstone, including the recent introduction of self-lacing shoes from Nike and the revelation Biff Tannen’s character was based upon Presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

Plaza Las Vegas
In early drafts of “Back to the Future,” the time machine was a refrigerator.

Props to the Plaza for making the most of “Back to the Future” Day. It gave guests a chance to check out the casino’s new party pit (formerly the Louie Anderson gift shop, the dealers even wore “Back to the Future”-inspired outfits), its outdoor Beer Garden, Oscar’s and other offerings.

Any movie with anything Las Vegas is worth another watch, even if there’s no actual “Pleasure Palace” in Las Vegas. Then again, give us a minute.