Vegas World opened with a 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) casino, and 90 hotel rooms in an eight-story tower.

The land was occupied by the Todkill/Bill Hayden Lincoln Mercury car dealership, and was purchased by Stupak at a cost of $218,000,[1] with money he raised himself and from his father's friends.

[2] After the fire, Stupak managed to persuade Valley Bank to lend him more than $1 million to complete what would be known as Vegas World.

[10] Stupak opened the space-themed Vegas World on July 13, 1979,[4][11] with 90 hotel rooms in an eight-story tower, and a 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) casino.

[8] In 1983, Stupak began an expansion of Vegas World,[16] which included the addition of a 25-story hotel tower that was finished a year later,[17] for a total of 400 rooms.

[18] The hotel's second and thirteenth floors were not labeled as such; Stupak explained, "When a shooter hits a two at the dice tables, it's 'snake-eyes,' a loser.

[25] Koko performed another stunt on August 30, 1984, in which he climbed atop a small platform, 326 feet above the ground and positioned on a 90-foot scaffolding, located on the roof of the 25-story hotel tower.

Inside Vegas World following the stunt, Koko received $1 million in cash from Stupak, as part of a deal they made.

[14] On the evening of May 30, 1991, high winds knocked the sign over, leaving it partially hanging over South Las Vegas Boulevard.

Later that year, the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division met with the gaming commission to discuss the legality of the advertisements, following the earlier complaint.

In those advertisements, Stupak requested a $396 check from customers in exchange for a three-day, two-night stay at Vegas World.

[34][35] The idea eventually evolved into the Stratosphere observation tower,[36][37] approved by the Las Vegas City Council in 1990.

[37] On August 29, 1993, around midnight, hundreds of customers evacuated Vegas World when a fire broke out at the half-finished Stratosphere tower.

[44] Stratosphere Corporation, a subsidiary of Grand Casinos, completed its purchase of Vegas World in November 1994, for approximately $51 million.

[46][47] Vegas World's two hotel towers,[48] consisting of 932 rooms,[49] were renovated to become part of the Stratosphere resort,[48][50] which opened in April 1996.

[4] Vegas World featured an extensive collection of space-themed memorabilia such as rocket sculptures, as well as a replica of the Apollo Lunar Module and a life-sized astronaut that both hung from the ceiling.

The hotel also featured what was claimed to be genuine Moon rocks (approximately the size of rice grains), which Stupak somehow obtained from the Nicaraguan government.

[51] During the 1980s, artists Robert Barnett Newman (an original member of The Motels) and Paul Whitehead created various space-themed murals on Vegas World's two hotel towers, measuring 25 and 10 stories high.

[14] After its closure, much of Vegas World's space memorabilia wound up in a collection of various items owned by Lonnie Hammargren, a local collector and former Lieutenant Governor of Nevada,[24] who was also an aspiring astronaut.

[59] In October 1988, the comedy duo of Allen & Rossi filmed a television special inside the Galaxy Theater to mark their 25th anniversary as a team.

[30] In August 1989, scenes were shot inside Vegas World for Queen of Diamonds, directed by experimental film maker Nina Menkes.