First Time Travel to Las Vegas

[diskids2]

Hi all,

We are considering a trip to Las Vegas over the summer. I have a few beginning questions that I'd love some advice/opinions.

1. We pretty much have decided on the Bellagio. I guess I just really want to stay there. I know it has a pretty good location for the strip so that is another reason for the choice. Can anyone recommend room categories?
We have looked at the Bellagio suite with two bathrooms, that is appealing.

2. Are there any websites besides this one! to look for information? Specifically a listing of the shows that need tickets or those that don't.

3. We are planning on six nights. I am guessing this is enough time to visit the Grand Canyon. Any special touring companies to look into?

4. Lastly, we MAY have our 18 year old son with us for the trip. I'm not sure he may have something better to do with his friends . If he does join us, how can I plan for the fact that he is underage. I know he can't enter casinos, bars, etc. Are there any activities I should look into? If he does come with us, do you suggest me allowing him to invite a friend along to keep him company (that would be feasible financially).

Thank you everyone...I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[halfmonkey]

Hi all,

We are considering a trip to Las Vegas over the summer. I have a few beginning questions that I'd love some advice/opinions.

1. We pretty much have decided on the Bellagio. I guess I just really want to stay there. I know it has a pretty good location for the strip so that is another reason for the choice. Can anyone recommend room categories?
We have looked at the Bellagio suite with two bathrooms, that is appealing.

2. Are there any websites besides this one! to look for information? Specifically a listing of the shows that need tickets or those that don't.

3. We are planning on six nights. I am guessing this is enough time to visit the Grand Canyon. Any special touring companies to look into?

4. Lastly, we MAY have our 18 year old son with us for the trip. I'm not sure he may have something better to do with his friends . If he does join us, how can I plan for the fact that he is underage. I know he can't enter casinos, bars, etc. Are there any activities I should look into? If he does come with us, do you suggest me allowing him to invite a friend along to keep him company (that would be feasible financially).

Thank you everyone...I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Congrats on planning your possible first trip to Las Vegas, also known as Sin City or The City of Lost Wages. My wife and I live in SoCal so a trip to Vegas is basically a weekend trip and we usually go a few times a year. We love LV.

To help answer your questions, staying at the Bellagio; you're not going to go wrong. We've stayed there many times and even if you get their basic room, it's still a nice room. It's not like it's a Motel 8. Besides, you really shouldn't be spending much time in the room anyways. If you are, then basically you've wasted your vacation being in the room instead of vacationing. I would recommend though that you sign up for their Players Card in advance before you go even if you don't gamble a lot because the card can offers many discounts such as to shows or even comps on your room.

As far as information, I would suggest you visit Bellagio's website as it's quite complete with pretty much all of the information you'll need on their hotel/casino. For the most part, you will need to buy your tickets ahead of time if you want good seats and I would recommend you watch the O show at the Bellagio. If it's sold out, you can also watch Mystere at Treasure Island. If you plan on doing any fine dining, you'll want to make sure you have resevrations ahead of time as well. You can always make your plans ahead of time or talk to the concierge when you get there.

As many times as my wife and I have been to Las Vegas, we've never been to the Grand Canyon. I'm sure it's a nice sight to see but I believe it's a few hours drive from Las Vegas. In our opinion, it's kind of like the 7 Sacred Pools in Maui. We don't know if the drive was actually worth going. It's nice to be able to say we've seen the 7 Sacred Pools but we'll never do it again. Vegas is also known for their helicopter rides but again, we've never done this. Frankly, the helicopter rides kind of freaks us out so we'll leave that up to you.

Regarding your 18 year old, he may have a little bit of a hard time keeping himself occupied for 6 days so it might be good to allow him to bring a companion. There are some things to do but it is limited as it's mainly geared for 21+. I believe all of the clubs in the casinos are 21+ so there might be some 18+ clubs off the strip. My wife and I have never been to an 18+ club in Vegas so I'm not sure if they even exist. There are many things to do as a family though such as enjoying a Sunday brunch at the Bellagio or watching the O show at the bellagio or walking the Ceasar Forum Shops. My wife and I can't be in Vegas for more than 2.5 to 3 days as it's just too much for us so 6 days would def be overkill for us but keep in mind how often we go. For someone who has never been, you might find that it's not enough time.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Vegas gets really, really, really hot in the summer. I don't know when in the summer you plan to go but it's not like NY heat where it's also humid. There's no humidity but it does get up to like 120 degrees so even if you're loungin by the pool, the hot will be sorching! You will want to be in doors with the a/c.

Good luck and if you have any more questions, please feel free to Pm me or post here.

 

[diskids2]

Thank you so much for all of the information. I've signed up for the players club card based on your recommendation and will look over the Bellagio website tonight when I get home. I'm also off to check on the shows. Do you know of a website that lists them all?

I will be sure to post additional questions and thanks again!

 

[halfmonkey]

Thank you so much for all of the information. I've signed up for the players club card based on your recommendation and will look over the Bellagio website tonight when I get home. I'm also off to check on the shows. Do you know of a website that lists them all?

I will be sure to post additional questions and thanks again!

I don't know of a website that lists all of them but there are a few ways to find shows.

1. You can always ask the concierge when you get to your hotel and they'll have information on all shows, I believe, including shows not affiliated with the Bellagio hotel group.
2. You can do a general search on-line as there are many Las Vegas informational sites. Maybe try the visitor's bureau.
3. You can visit the Cirque de Soleil website which will give you information on the the shows that they produce.
4. You can visit each hotel/casino's website and view each of the shows that they host.

Glad to hear you signed up for the Players Card. Like I said, you don't have to do too much gambling to receive some pretty good offers. Basically, by you signing up, they now have a direct line to try to lure you to visit their hotel/casino and sometimes, they give you some really good deals. We've been to Vegas many times using their offers. The last time I went, it was on their dime because our room was comped. Can beat that.

Good luck.

 

[Judy from Boise]

with that long a trip make sure to spend an evening downtown. You can zip line, see the hourly Freemont street shows, and pose with all of the "characters". Downtown would also be a good spot for your son as all of the stages and some free shows are outside in a pedestrian only area.

 

[CamColt]

I too am a first timer, going next week and I was just looking into getting tickets for a show. I came across this site and found it helpful.
http://www.bestofvegas.com/Shows-Tickets/

Judy, we are planning to do the zip line. Do you take a cab to get to Freemont St?

 

[usnuzuloose]

If you dont have a car, you can take the Duece , bus to freemont st. It costs 7 dollars for 24 hours. So you can take it from place to place. I like the bus system.

 

[Happy vacationer]

We are heading to Vegas in a couple of weeks and these are some sites I've found very useful.

tripadvisor.com/forums/nevada/lasvegas
visitlasvegas.com
vegas.com

Be warned. The trip advisor boards can become very addicting!

 

[dgbg100106]

I fly in to Vegas on Thursday, and have spent way too much time on tripadvisor.

 

[Neil_UK]

If you dont have a car, you can take the Duece , bus to freemont st. It costs 7 dollars for 24 hours. So you can take it from place to place. I like the bus system.

Is it necessary to have a car during time in Las Vegas?

I'm visiting there on the end of my trip after being in San Francisco and Hollywood, going to be driving from LA to Vegas.
Just wondering if I'll actually need to keep the car for getting about? I was thinking it would mainly be walking about?

 

[Judy from Boise]

You can walk the entire strip and not need a car, or walk the entire downtown and not need car, what you can't do is walk from one to the other.........there are bus options or a cab fare of $20 or so.

 

[usnuzuloose]

You can ride the Duece bus for 7 dollars for 24 hours. It will take you all the way down to freemont st. I like it , as I can get off at any casino I wish to visit.

 

[dgbg100106]

You can ride the Duece bus for 7 dollars for 24 hours. It will take you all the way down to freemont st. I like it , as I can get off at any casino I wish to visit.

The duece bus is very easy and clean..

 

[usnuzuloose]

I plan to use it next month.

 

[SnowWhite09]

The Deuce bus is amazing value!

 

[Lisa71]

Just want to add your DS can enter the casinos, but has to be walking or moving in a public area, as in the middle of the floor towards a show or restaurant. We went to Vegas with our DD when she was a baby as I had a class there and they could not hang out in many areas, but as long as they were moving towards the pool, etc it was fine. She enjoyed the pool and Daddy time when I had the class. Glad she did not get a gambling problem at such a young age! There were plenty of areas that were fine.

 

[DisneytheKid]

I forgot the name of the company but I went to LV with my family when I was 18 and we went to an indoor sky diving location which was a lot of fun. Granted that was a few years ago but I'm sure its still there or something similar

Hi all,

We are considering a trip to Las Vegas over the summer. I have a few beginning questions that I'd love some advice/opinions.

1. We pretty much have decided on the Bellagio. I guess I just really want to stay there. I know it has a pretty good location for the strip so that is another reason for the choice. Can anyone recommend room categories?
We have looked at the Bellagio suite with two bathrooms, that is appealing.

2. Are there any websites besides this one! to look for information? Specifically a listing of the shows that need tickets or those that don't.

3. We are planning on six nights. I am guessing this is enough time to visit the Grand Canyon. Any special touring companies to look into?

4. Lastly, we MAY have our 18 year old son with us for the trip. I'm not sure he may have something better to do with his friends . If he does join us, how can I plan for the fact that he is underage. I know he can't enter casinos, bars, etc. Are there any activities I should look into? If he does come with us, do you suggest me allowing him to invite a friend along to keep him company (that would be feasible financially).

Thank you everyone...I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[diskids2]

Thanks everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I keep checking in and reading the other threads to help with our planning so if there are any other tips please keep them coming.