T-Mobile Arena is the brand new gem on the Las Vegas Strip (see pics from our pre-opening tour), and hopefully the home of the first major professional sports franchise in Vegas history, but the new park, aptly named The Park, that fills the area between the arena and Las Vegas Boulevard may be just as impressive as the arena itself.

Today, MGM Resorts unveiled The Park to the media and invited guests (we fall somewhere in between those two) and held their version of one of the dumbest traditions in American culture, the ribbon cutting.

Let’s start with pictures. Here are the best ones and then there’s a gallery of all of them at the bottom.

Too bad I’m not tall enough to touch it. Bet it feels as nice as it looks.

That’s her foot.

Heat eating flowers

BeerHaus has Connect Four on the tables

Observations

Surprisingly it actually does feel like a park. Unlike The Linq where it feels like a shopping mall, The Park really does give the feel of a city park.

There’s plenty of shade, but the tables do not have umbrellas, so if a table isn’t shaded, yikes.

There are outdoor bars at most of the restaurants and there are plenty of seats. Will be awesome for pre and post games.

The water wall path is spectacular. In Vegas we love fountains and walls of cascading water, this on lives up to the Vegas fountain standard.

It takes a while to get back to Bliss Dance, which is awesome because it builds suspense. Then you see her, and… just… wow. She’s unreal.

You can touch Bliss Dance.

You can take sweet selfies with Bliss Dance and the Arena.

The Park is completely separate from Toshiba Plaza. Toshiba Plaza is where the stages will be out in front of the Arena, The Park is physically across a street from the arena which gives it it’s own home.

Videos

Ribbon cutting ceremonies are so stupid. I hate them. But I took a video of it anyway. Governor Sandoval, MGM CEO Jim Murren, and Clark County Commissioner Mary Beth Scow.

So, I’m not sure what this is, or why, or what they are wearing. But here it is anyway.

Picture Gallery

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T-Mobile Arena opens Wednesday the 6th. We’ll be there. Follow us on Twitter for live tweets from The Killers show and check back on the 7th for a post similar to this with pictures, videos, and observations from the first ever event inside T-Mobile Arena.