Join CDC Gaming as we embark upon a road trip Inside America’s Casinos. For our seventh stop, we visit Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort.
With my Foxwoods visit checked, it was time to hop less than 10 miles east, to Uncasville, where my next destination, Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort, awaited.
The drive from Foxwoods to Mohegan Sun took me less than 20 minutes, but I felt the transition was much wider than the mileage suggested.
Leaving Foxwoods was as much of a journey as entering the property. It gave me a feeling that space and land were not an issue, so everything was built on sheer scale and fragmentation. Both in and out, I had to navigate among gaming spaces, shopping malls, and hotel towers, making my way through huge corridors that seemed to have been built after the fact, to connect parts as they were built.
When I drove into the Mohegan Sun grounds, I felt the contrast immediately. Unlike Foxwoods, which spreads out across the land, Mohegan Sun seemed to compress everything into one parameter. If one gave me the feeling of a neighborhood that expanded across the area over time, the other reminded me more of a preplanned complex that condensed everything together for maximum efficiency from day one.
And that difference shaped the rest of my visit to Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort.
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Mohegan Sun — The younger ambitious brother
Mohegan Sun opened in 1996, four years after Foxwoods erupted onto the scene and became a force to be reckoned with in the Northeast gaming market. The Mohegan Tribe didn’t enter the market to become a distant second. The plans from the start were to build a resort to match — and eventually top — Foxwoods’s early success.
The original Mohegan Sun boasted a large gaming floor that immediately became an attraction for gamblers and curious visitors in the region. But what followed was a planned rollout toward a full-scale resort. The Sky Tower, a 34-story hotel, opened in 2001, followed by a steady expansion of gaming spaces, retail areas, and entertainment venues, including the Mohegan Sun arena.
First impressions — An industrial complex
Having seen photos of the property, I was expecting the glass sky tower to greet me from afar, as was the case when I approached Encore Boston Harbor earlier in the week. But even as I crossed the Thames River, it was difficult to spot the tower as the focal point of the resort. Instead, I was driving on Mohegan Sun Boulevard through parking lots and what looked like the backsides of large buildings with loading docks and service entrances.
Maybe it was because I was driving on ground level or perhaps I came in through the back entry. But for me, there was no grand entry into Mohegan Sun Casino. Instead, it felt more like I was going to a shopping mall or industrial complex of some sort. So I parked my car in the Winter parking lot and, along with many others, started marching to the action.
Tribal themes are apparent across Mohegan Sun’s gaming floor. (Ziv Chen photo for CDC Gaming)
Beyond gaming — A flowing design of spiritual elements
Possibly because I was parked far, it took me awhile to get from the lot to the casino, walking through long indistinct hallways with carpets that had seen better days. But when I finally walked through the doors and stepped onto the casino floor, I felt like I was stepping into a different world.
What hit me first wasn’t the huge scale, but how quickly the space started making sense. There’s no one large space, as I’ve seen in most of the other casinos I’ve visited so far on this trip. Instead, the property is broken into very different environments.
Mood shifts among gaming spaces
I started at The Casino of the Earth, a 180,000-square-foot gaming floor designed with warm earthy tones and dim lighting. As the name implies, it made me feel more grounded and relaxed. I then moved to The Casino of the Sky, a bit smaller, but still huge, spanning 119,000 square feet. The space opened up with a signature ceiling that shifts in color and light and made me feel more upbeat and energized. I actually felt my mood change as I moved through the casino.
Navigating via landmarks
As I walked around the Casino of the Sky, I was busy looking at slots and game tables, so I didn’t pay too much attention to the surroundings. Then, it hit me when I was standing right in front of it: Wombi Rock, a huge multi-story structure made from stone, with the wolf, the ancestral symbol of Mohegan tradition, sitting on top. In the Casino of the Earth, I saw Taughannick Falls, a huge waterfall that adds movement and sound and again throws you into an entirely new zone.
Beyond the breathtaking architectural beauty of these indoor elements and the atmosphere they create, they serve as useful orientation points. Unlike many large casinos that almost intentionally make you feel disoriented and lost, walking through the Mohegan Sun’s huge gaming floors was never confusing. I always had landmarks to help me understand where I was and which direction to head next.
Mohegan Sun’s gaming floor is easy to navigate, thanks to landmarks. (Ziv Chen photo for CDC Gaming)
The gaming floor — an indoor universe
Between the two casinos, machines and tables spread throughout, Mohegan Sun boasts more than 300,000 square feet of gaming. It includes almost 4,000 slot machines, over 300 game tables, and over 30 poker tables. I also saw a very impressive FanDuel sportsbook, with the obligatory screens, tables, and betting kiosks, but again, everything was bigger, more impressive, and designed with a lot of attention to detail. The property also has a racebook, mainly with screens and self-betting kiosks.
Again, themed after the natural elements of the universe, the Autumn Section at Casino of the Earth features the Sunrise Square area, which offers Asian table games like pai gow and sic bo.
Poker atmosphere and variety
The poker room is also located in another part of the Casino of the Earth, called the Hall of Lost Tribes. Unlike other poker rooms in casinos, which offer mostly Texas Hold ’em tables, I noticed at Mohegan Sun more Omaha and seven-card stud tables. There were also cool promotions going on, which added to the excitement, like $1,000 high hands every 30 minutes, ladies-only buy-in events, and Mohegan Sun sweatshirt giveaways.
Slots tournaments and private tables
Beyond the endless slot machines, I found at Casino of the Earth a Hold & Spin Slot Zone, which links more than 250 cabinets with the Hold & Spin bonus feature. I played at the Aristocrat area, which features over 50 Dragon Link games. Instead of a standard high-limit lounge, the Novelle is a refined cocktail lounge that also serves as a jazz club with live music and shows. I didn’t play there, but I was very impressed by the vibe
The resort and guests
The Mohegan Sun has 1,600 hotel rooms in the 34-story Sky Tower and the 13-story Earth Tower. It also features over 40 dining options, shopping, 10,000-seat entertainment venue, golf course, and more.
Similar to Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun is a full-scale resort that attracts gamblers and non-gamblers alike seeking a holiday destination. But unlike the gaming floor at Foxwoods, which was just one of many areas, the casinos at the Mohegan Sun are at the heart of the resort, serving as the main attraction for all guests, whether they’re gambling or not. I noticed many people just wandering around, soaking up the atmosphere and views.
I felt that the ratio of sightseers to gamblers was a lot higher here than on other gaming floors I’ve visited, which is probably why I didn’t notice as many families with children as in other resorts.
Leaving Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort
As I was walking back to my car, I realized that finding parking on my way in and walking up to the casino were the most confusing parts of the visit (and they weren’t that confusing). Inside the casino, everything felt effortless and not for the lack of scale, which is epic. But I was never lost or overwhelmed. At any given moment, I knew where I was and everything seemed to flow naturally as I moved from space to space and explored. Once I walked out the casino doors, back into the long carpeted hallways, I felt like I was returning to reality after a few hours in a Disney-style theme park.
The Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort didn’t impress me at first glance from the outside, but the longer I spent inside, the more magical it became.
