I actually liked the Jamz venue -- plenty of seating in the arena, lots to do in the hotel (bowling, theater, plenty of restaurants). The hotel was smokey, but aren't they all in Vegas? It's far from the strip, that's the main drawback I think. But the room prices and restaurant prices were reasonable (compared to Aladdin). I think Aladdin is too expensive, and other than their shopping mall, there's nothing to do there unless you go out walking around the strip. And let's face it, the strip isn't exactly the best place to be walking around with kids under 18. I wouldn't mind it if Jamz had it there again next year. But if they wanted to try something new, that would be fine too. But I didn't miss Aladdin.
Orleans is MUCH better than Aladdin. I think the only thing they need to change is the length of the competition (really, that is ridiculous from 8:00am-1:00am). And scale back on the Nazi security guards.
I can understand parents being upset not going done on the floor. I would have liked to see my teams performance from the front as well. However, I must say as a mother of a 9 year old, I was happy that they didn't let me down there. Because that meant they wouldn't let the "freaks" down there either. This was Las Vegas after all. Every time we walked through the casino with the girls people would come up and talk to them. I wanted to give a couple of the girls their soda and the security guard took it to them for me. I think it is possible that some of the guards attitudes could have been affected by how people treated them. And even if you were nice it doesn't mean the person before you was. Frankly, that is a job I would not want.
I tried to look at that perspective as well--the perspective of them protecting my daughters and they did do a good job at that--but a child knows who there parent is and could easily tell the gaurd they don't know them if a stranger was to talk to them. I just think common sense went out the window--maybe they could all tag us like cattle and match us to our kids that way if for some reason our kids forget what we look like. I am glad at least one person had a positive experience with the security--I am sure you would have felt different if they DIDN"T let you give your child their soda and made YOU feel like the "freak" you talk about.