Pinball Museum. Seriously.
You got Hoover Dam for one day, then Red Rock with a hokey dude ranch for another. Then whatcha planning on doing? Seriously?
Jeez you guys…
The Fountains at Bellagio are fun in an artsy sort of way and free. $10 a person to look at the Ferraris at The Wynn (won’t kill a whole lot of time but it’s kind of fun). There’s the M&M Factory just north of the MGM that’s free. M&M Factory is the same building as Gameworks which Hardly mentioned above. A bit more expensive, but Mandalay Bay has the aquarium, and if Luxor still has The Titanic exhibit, I saw it in Vancouver, BC and higher recommend it (saw Bodies at Luxor in February and it was just OK).
If this is your first trip, which it sounds like, you’ll waste plenty of time just walking around the casinos. The size and scope of places like Mandalay Bay and MGM will awe people of any age.
Wow, this has been discouraging. Right now its not a choice of going/not going with the kids, its a question of what to do while I’m there. And dropping the kids off somewhere and making them go away for the day is a non-starter, too.
I knew that Vegas marketed the whole “vice rocks” thing, and I fully prepared to avoid many things with the kids.
Thanks to those who did suggest some things that are kid friendly. I have been looking at other sources that have kid friendly suggestions, also.
One more question. What pools/water parks are public or available to non-hotel guests? ANy good “keeping cool at noon suggestions”?
We went in August several years ago, and I quite frankly didn’t think the heat was that bad. I mean, it was hot, but it wasn’t “OMG, I’m dying!” hot. It was 100 or a touch more, but it had been 96 and muggy when we left home. I’ll take 4 extra degrees and air dry enough that the sweat actually evaporates and cools you any day.
You do, of course, want to drink plenty of water, far more of it than you think you need. You sweat a lot more than you realize when it dries almost immediately, and it’s easy to get yourself dehydrated that way. Especially with little ones. You might want to make them eat a banana every day, too, to make sure they don’t deplete their potassium.
Okay, I do have one tip for you, since you’re resigned to going. Seven of the hotels (the Harrahs ones: The Flamingo, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Bally’s, Harrahs, Imperial and Rio) just rolled out a “Buffet of Buffets” program. For $40, you get a wristband good for all you can eat admission at *any *of their buffets for 24 hours. Breakfast at Paris (crepes!), second breakfasts at Planet Hollywood, elevensies at Rio…whatever. Mix and match and enjoy. Bring Tums. Considering that a single buffet is, IIRC, around $25 per person, the deal is really a deal, especially if you have hungry teenagers to feed.
Lots of the hotels are really cool to look at from the outside. The Treasure Island hotel is shaped like a big X and has a pirate ship outside of it. The Paris is a big Eiffel Tower. The Excalibur is a castle of enormous proportions. There will be free shows sporadically throughout the day in front of various places so just walking around the strip will get you a good half a day worth of entertainment.
I will say though that Vegas with the kids is not a great idea because not only is the entertaining stuff for kids limited but Vegas is a city where people go to get away from the more wholesome side of life. You go gamble, drink, swear, and otherwise do things that are not allowed or are frowned upon elsewhere in the country and other people bringing their families kind of brings that down a bit. It is kind of like if you went camping out in the wilderness with the intention of getting away from civilization and the guy in the camp site next to you brought a portable TV and a boom box - technically he didn’t do anything wrong but his choice sort of messed up the intention of your vacation. Add to that having to explain to your kids why that woman chose to wear underpants as an outfit today or what exactly an escort is and why there are so many fliers for them and it will probably be less than ideal. That said, I hope you guys have a great time and get a chance to get out of Vegas and see some of the other stuff in Nevada. Hoover Dam sounds like it could be neat and Area 51 will appeal to any sci-fi fans in your group, not to mention Ethel M’s!
There are still Family Friendly shows in Vegas:
**Mac King **at Harrah’s. He has been voted *Best Value *in Vegas numerous times. Tickets to his show are pretty cheap, and he is the funniest magician you’ll ever see. He’s clean, and his show is a stand-up comedy type format (not the big Vegas-style show). He performs twice a day, and both shows are fairly early in the day I think.
Penn and Teller is fairly family friendly. Though I have heard Penn use the F-word in a couple of routines.
Gregory Popovich at Planet Hollywood has trained housecats! (Dogs too, but anybody can train a dog.) Very family friendly. He’s trained a number of animals, all from shelters, to do circus acts. Very entertaining.
Blue Man Group is good, but I think they have a rule about being at least 6yrs old to get in. Is your five year old pretty close?
Helicopter tours of Vegas, of the Grand Canyon, of Lake Mead, are nifty. But not cheap.
Mount Charleston is a great place with great hiking, and cooler elevations.
http://www.springspreserve.org/ is nice.
But being in Vegas with people under 21 would not be my first choice.
We spent one night in Vegas with our kids while they were young, and enjoyed the Howard Johnson lodge pool and restaurant. It was odd visiting Howard Johnson’s casino, though. Sadly I don’t think HoJO still exists in Vegas.
Actually, as I review this, I should mention that the program actually helped me not overeat. When paying $25 for a single buffet (as we did the first night), the temptation was great to make it “worth it” by eating a whole day’s worth of calories or more in one sitting. Once we got the wristband (the program rolled out the second day we were there), knowing that I could just eat what I needed then and return for more later when I was hungry again without paying more money kept me in check. 
Over spring break we spent a couple of days in Vegas. Our kids are 6 and 3 and we had a great time. We stayed at the Monte Carlo, and were very happy with it. The kids spent a lot of time in the pool area, which was conveniently located (didn’t have to go through the casino area). Actually, the only time we had to walk through casinos was to get outside so we could walk to New York New York. Once there, we contemplated the roller coaster, but it was hideously expensive. So we played the arcade games and then went to ESPNZone (also in NY NY) and played yet more arcade games (two words: Street Luge!).
The kids also enjoyed the free elevated tram that runs between Monte Carlo and the Bellagio. At the Bellagio we saw the indoor Botanical Garden, which was amazing.
When the kids are a little older, I’d like to take them to a show like Lion King or O. There was a ton of stuff we didn’t have time for, like Circus Circus, the Hoover Dan Visitor Center, the Children’s Museum and the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.
For us, the key was a hotel with a great pool area. Everyone in the family had fun and we are planning on doing it again, maybe making it a yearly trip.
Well you do have the option of not going, or going someplace else. You say your sister “got your family a condo for a week”. IMO, if I had young kids, I would wish I would think seriously about saying “Thanks but no thanks” to such a gift. I assume you are going to have to spend something to get there, and for food and entertainment while there. For the money you’'ll be spending I bet you could easily find someplace else that your kids (and you) will enjoy better. Or even have a “staycation” at home…
I’m a huge fan of P&T and free speech, and cuss like a sailor myself, but I was a tad taken aback by the number of f-bombs Penn dropped the last time I saw him. Way more than just a couple - and way more than he had previously. Of course this was a few years ago, and I have no idea if he is still doing that.
Hope you have fun, but you’re gonna have to work at it!
Thanks, RainGrowsBrite, that is actually a great website that I have never heard of. Will keep it for future reference, and even pass it on to people I know here - although, scanning it, none of the locations are “new” or a surprise, but nice to have them all lumped together in one spot.
Nonetheless, I stick by my recommendation that people really shouldn’t bring kids to Las Vegas - and even that list is going to require a lot of schlepping to get from point A to point B - so you better have a car and kids who don’t mind some travel time getting to the fun spots. Just getting from the entrance of Mandalay Bay way back to the Shark Reef is a good 20 minute walk for adults, much longer with little kids with little legs.
And the fact that they included the Bodies exhibition?! Goodlord…I suppose if you want to scare the bejesus out of your little one’s and pay for therapy a few decades, but really…for kids?
Know your kids and know yourself. I’m a huge biology/anatomy nerd, and my kids pick up on my enthusiasm. We had a blast there with a 14 year old and 3 almost 4 year old, but yes, she had a LOT of questions. Her favorite part was the embryology exhibit and the body of an 8 month pregnant woman opened to view the fetus inside.
She also tuckered out halfway through, though, because the Chicago version was simply huge!
If you want pool access, I think most of the hotels without public access will allow you to rent a cabana. I’m not too sure how much it’ll cost, but here’s a link I found with some details: Link
Many things in Las Vegas has the high price associated with serving a tourist industry. Food can be cheap but the good buffets generally run around $20-40/person. Tickets for the premiere shows runs in the hundred and even the aquariums and tiger exhibits was around $15 a person. With a family of 6, this can add up pretty fast. But there’s also plenty of free shows too, with the Bellagio fountain show, the Mirage volcano, and the Sirens show.
The casinos are pretty big, so if you’re planning on going with younger kids, try to plan out your day so that you’re not spending most of your time walking from casino to casino. If any of the kids are sensitive to smoke, newer casinos seem to have better ventilation. But since they’ll only be walking through the casino and not spending time there, it shouldn’t be an issue unless they’re very sensitive.
Kids are pretty resilient. I went to a Bodies exhibit years ago and there was a family in front of me where one of the little boys cried at the thought of seeing Real Dead People. We saw them again later on and he was running around admiring the exhibits with his siblings. I think kids are pretty fascinated in general by bodies and gross things.
I was a travel agent when the whole “Las Vegas is TOTALLY a great place for family vacations – bring the kiddies!” thing was rolled out. There were only a few hotels that were really trying to push it – MGM, New York New York, Excalibur, Circus Circus, a few others – but most of the hoteliers were adamantly against it, as was the LV Convention & Visitors Authority. Of course, Circus and Excalibur were always quite family-friendly, and that was fine, but the other joints knew where their bread and butter came from and it was NOT from parents schlepping kids around.
Stratosphere had their scary-ass roller coaster (which I wouldn’t have set foot on for a million-zillion dollars, given what I know about the shadiness of one of the dudes who was a major player in building the Strat), and NY had a coaster, too. MGM had their theme park with rides and stuff, and Treasure Island opened up, with the pirate ship battle as a big draw. Now the battle has been sexed up a whole bunch, and the MGM’s theme park eventually closed; it never brought in the money the way they wanted.
You’re set on going, Reloy3, which mystifies me. I’m afraid you’re going to be in for a very rude awakening. There’s no way on Pete’s green Earth I’d take minors to Vegas. I always advised against it when I was selling travel, and many clients thanked me later when they took my advice. It’s going to be expensive and tiring, and your wee ones in particular are going to learn some interesting things. Be aware that some of the hotels, particularly the more upscale ones, will not allow non-guest children in the doors, full stop.
Um, I guess you could go shopping? There are some good outlet malls, and the Forum Shops at Caesar’s are interesting, although they’re mostly high-end designer names.
If you aren’t driving to Vegas, rent a car!!! Cabs are fairly priced, IMO, but with six in your group, you’ll have to ride in a minivan cab, because the sedan-type ones won’t take you. Oh, and if you’re going to park at a hotel, just drop it at the valet, rather than trying to schlep to and from a parking garage.
Hit up a Walgreen’s or a similar store for a case of bottled water to keep in your room. Circus and Excalibur have entertainments for families, so go there. There’ll be lots of other families around.
No one mentioned Freemont Street-old Vegas. Not sure if it’s too seedy an area for little ones, but the overhead light show was amazing.
Wow, that’s impressive. I actually saw quite a few adults take the optional shortcut skipping the fetal development section.
FWIW, I think everyone’s being a little tough here. I can’t say I’m a Vegas expert but I’ve been there three times with the last time just this last February. I’ve been once as a minor, twice in my 20s, and I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to take kids. Now, there’s probably little reason to go back for a SECOND trip before you’ve hit the age of majority ;), but there’s still plenty to do there for a first one.
Reloy3, you’ll have fun and so will your kids provided they’re walkers. If you’ve got the scratch and your younger ones have the attention span grab a Cirque show while you’re there.
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I think adults, by and large, have a lot more emotional baggage over that section than an almost four year old does. She just saw it as one more cool thing to learn about, and was quite put out that it skipped from 18 weeks gestation to 26 weeks, because she wanted to see *exactly *what she looked like when she was born (just shy of 24 weeks)!
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