Las Vegas- Kid Friendly????

[dthogue]

My DH and I thought taking a trip to Las Vegas, but would be bringing along our 12yo DD. I read several articles saying that Vegas isn't a kid friendly town and that kids should stay home. My DD has looked at the websites and thinks it would be "cool" to go. Certainly seems that there is enough to to for a family (we aren't big gamblers and won't spend too much time in any casino).

I was thinking of 5 days, 4 nights - is that enough time? Where should we stay? What activities should not be "missed" with kids?

Thanks,
Tammy

 

[happygirl]

My DH and I thought taking a trip to Las Vegas, but would be bringing along our 12yo DD. I read several articles saying that Vegas isn't a kid friendly town and that kids should stay home. My DD has looked at the websites and thinks it would be "cool" to go. Certainly seems that there is enough to to for a family (we aren't big gamblers and won't spend too much time in any casino).

I was thinking of 5 days, 4 nights - is that enough time? Where should we stay? What activities should not be "missed" with kids?

Thanks,
Tammy

We took our 6 and 4 year they loved it. We stayed at Excaliber it was okay. Watch out timesales people. Excalilber has a little game arcade and some 4D rides. They also have a really neat dinner show. Go to the Mirage and see Siegfred and Roy animals amazing.!!! There is a lion exhbit and MGM that is really neat. There is really a lot to do. Make sure you ride the huge roller coaster at NewYork NewYorl. The stratospehere has some really neat rides as well. We were only there for 3 days 4 nights and ran out time. Have a great trip

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I have gone 3 times (2 with my husband and once with my friend) and I would not take my children ... even my teenagers.

As you walk on the streets, there are cards (that look like baseball cards) that men are passing on to people that are promoting escort services. The cards have women (practically nude) on them ... My husband and I were laughing imagining our sons saying "I will trade you the blond C cup for the the brunette D cup ...."

We have seen a fight take place with a drunk patron and security in the entrance to one of the hotels (this was at 11:00 in the morning) ...

And the poor and homeless that are around is quite sad.

I think it is a great place perhaps to sight see for a day with the kids ... but I'm not sure it is real "kid friendly".

This is just my opinion ... I really hope the trip works out for you.

 

[happygirl]

I have gone 3 times (2 with my husband and once with my friend) and I would not take my children ... even my teenagers.

As you walk on the streets, there are cards (that look like baseball cards) that men are passing on to people that are promoting escort services. The cards have women (practically nude) on them ... My husband and I were laughing imagining our sons saying "I will trade you the blond C cup for the the brunette D cup ...."

We have seen a fight take place with a drunk patron and security in the entrance to one of the hotels (this was at 11:00 in the morning) ...

And the poor and homeless that are around is quite sad.

I think it is a great place perhaps to sight see for a day with the kids ... but I'm not sure it is real "kid friendly".

This is just my opinion ... I really hope the trip works out for you.

Weird we didn't have any problems with any of that stuff.

 

[Inigo]

The best trip to Vegas for us was the one when our kids were with us. They were 15 and 11 at the time. Our 11 year old daughter was actually our "tour guide" on that trip. She loved watching Samantha Brown's travel shows, as well as other travel shows, and knew what we needed to see in Vegas.

We would never have seen all we did without our daughter's expertise. She took us to all the cool things to see in every hotel, knew exactly where we needed to stand or sit to see the best view of things, and we had a blast. We're not big gamblers either. I think I lost a total of $10 on the slots playing for nickels.

Let's see, what did we do? (It's been almost 8 years.)

The M&M store
The glass flowers hanging from the ceiling in the Bellagio
The dancing fountains at the Bellagio
The Pirate show
The Star Trek experience
Several shows (magic, excalibur, and I don't remember what else)
Just explored all the hotels.

We went to Hoover Dam after we left Vegas, but you could do that as a day trip.

There were other things we did, but I can't remember what else. I think your daughter would have fun.

 

[Gigi22]

IMHO Las Vegas is not a kid-friendly place at all, although it may be marketed as such. We were there once a number of years ago for a week--way, way too long for an adult if you neither gamble nor play golf. We were bored silly during the day. We did try to attend all the shows that we could, but those were uniquely evening/night events, and we did get to see a lot of great entertainment. DH and I have agreed that, should we ever go again, 4 days would be the utter max for us. What really freaked me out was what I will call the un-Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo boutique in our hotel (which I am not going to name here, but it was a major high-end hotel on the main drag)--where you could get your 4 year old daughter the full Las Vegas glamour treatment--one of those lovely normal childhood experiences where they do hair, full makeup, nails, and sparkly un-Disney gown, with a glamour photo shoot at the end. I found the whole concept of dolling up little girls like this truly distasteful, and was left wondering who exactly this service was designed to appeal to?

 

[bearlyanne]

If you have some cash to blow, staying at the Mandalay is nice because they have a wave pool.

My not to be missed suggestion for that age group would be the Predators Aquarium which is also at Mandalay. Way cool

There are some fun day excursions from the area too, like dunebuggies in the desert or trips to the Hoover Dam or Lake Mead (which is awesome!).

My friends also did a blimp trip that flew over the Strip with their family and they still talk about it ...endlessly .

 

[CC12005]

I'm off today to Vegas with my kids, so I don't have time to go a lot into detail. But if you do decide to go, stay away from the Pirate show at Treasure Island as previously suggested. 8 years ago it was a great family friendly show, they made it very racy a few years ago. Stripper like pirate wenches shimming around on ships. It is great for kids for 2-3 days. If you are careful. You'll feel like you want to stay longer, but that's when you're likely to travel more off the beaten path and run into inappropriate territory.
Regarding street vendors with the escort cards along the street. Usually the center of the strip it is not too bad, but the farther along you get down the strip towards Planet Hollywood and beyond the worse it gets. Same in the other direction past Treasure Island. They stand in front of the hotels, not the back.
If you are super sensitive to her seeing anything inappropriate, you'll have a heart attack. If you keep close to her you can help steer or distract her from most of the big stuff. HTH.

 

[sk!mom]

IMO and I'm not a particularly conservative parent- leave the kid home. Vegas is one of my favorite cities to visit but it's not for kids. Vegas tried to market itself to families a few years ago but have since given that up. It's an adult playground. Most of the shows are too adult for children and you will be surrounded by adult images on billboards, flyers, etc... the moment you step off the plane. Last time we went the Thunder from Down Under (in the form of large posters everywhere) greeted us at the airport

Even concerts are often more adult than an artist would put on in other cities. Elton John's Red piano concert a few years ago was one of the best ever but I'm sure those who brought kids regretted it.

 

[DbleTheFun]

Not conservative here either, and take our kids everywhere.... EXCEPT Vegas. It is the one travel destination I would never think about bringing kids to, and it boggles my mind when I see kids there. What kid wants to be in a smoke filled casino, or doused with perfumy scents in oxygen pumped hotels? What kid wants to be dodging drunk idiots on the street day/night with open alcohol? What kid wants to sit around while their mom shops til they drop? What kid wants to sit in a swanky restaurant having food they cant pronounce and have their parents pay WAY to much for? What kid wants to be told they are going to the circus, only to go to an uber expensive acrobatic performance without a single animal?

All kidding aside,

Let them stay home, they will have more fun... and SO WILL YOU!

 

[DisneyMom2008]

We took our 2 kids a couple of years ago (ages 9 & 11 at the time) and they loved it. They ask if we can go back for again. We stayed at the Flamingo and it was great. They have several pools which the kids loved. They also enjoyed just walking around looking at all of the hotels at night. We did not have any problems with the "slappers". When you are walking with kids they will step back and not hand any cards to you. I would suggest renting a car or buying a 24 hour duece(bus) pass, it is alot of walking.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I've never been to Vegas, and I am pretty conservative, and I don't think that either I or my kids would enjoy it. To each his own, but it is not our cup of tea.

 

[FergieTCat]

Let's see, what did we do? (It's been almost 8 years.)

The M&M store
The glass flowers hanging from the ceiling in the Bellagio
The dancing fountains at the Bellagio
The Pirate show
The Star Trek experience
Several shows (magic, excalibur, and I don't remember what else)
Just explored all the hotels.

The Pirate show is no longer family friendly (scantily dressed women) and the Star Trek experience is gone.

I think Fremont Street is interesting, especially at night. They have a light show on the ceiling.

 

[wondermomamy]

My husband and I love Vegas when we go alone. A couple of years ago we took our older kids, then 12 and 14. We aren't super conservative, and the kids had fun and ask to go back. But never again.

They still joke about the guys on the streets with the cards, and it was sooo expensive. We didn't really think about how much more it cost to take kids before we left, but since kids don't spend time in the casinos, we had to entertain them with day trips to the Grand Canyon, shows, museums, shopping...it all added up.

We had originally planned to stay in Vegas for 3 days and then spend 3 to 4 days at Disneyland. I wish we would have stuck with our original plan.

I'm sure with planning it could have been done cheaper, but we seriously could have bought a car for what that vacation cost us.

 

[PaulaSue]

No, not kid friendly

 

[MrsPete]

Vegas WAS promoting itself as a family destination a few years ago, but I think they've stopped that campaign. It wasn't very truthful. There is SOMETHING in every hotel that's family-friendly, but those somethings are smack-dab in the middle of a whole bunch of "not for kids" stuff.

We flew into (and out of) Vegas last summer on our western national parks driving trip -- mainly because it was a cheap flight.

Our kids were really looking forward to seeing Vegas, although they knew ahead of time that we'd be censoring what they were allowed to see and do. They didn't enjoy it nearly as much as they'd expected.

Things they did enjoy:
We stayed at the Mirage, and they loved S&R's Secret Garden (zoo with dolphins and big cats). This was very expensive, and we wouldn't have done it if we hadn't had free tickets with our room.
A few shops; particularly the M&M store.
They LOVED the show Ka! at the MGM Grand. It was very expensive but worth every penny. The entire family loved that experience.
We also enjoyed meals at the Rainforest Cafe and BLT Burger, which we don't have at home.

Things they did not enjoy:
The uber-smokey atmosphere in the casinos (they weren't allowed "in" the casinos, of course, but they had to walk through to get to our room elevators). In fact, Vegas is smokey everywhere, even the sidewalks.
It was 117 degrees when we were there, and the pool was so full that literally every chair was taken. It was worse than a cruise ship in regards to chairs. And people were USING them, they weren't chair-hogged. In addition, people were almost stacked on top of one another in the pool. Anyway, we paid $$$ to stay at the Mirage because we thought the pool would be a big draw for the girls . . . and we didn't really use it at all. The Mirage needs a bigger pool to handle its large number of guests.
Seeing the guy digging through trash cans and drinking the last swallow of beer from bottles, though it was a learning experience for them, and we talked about it later. They saw a few other things along that line too; things they're not used to seeing at home.
Walking long distances between hotels to see this and that. They were not "wowed" by any of the cool stuff in the hotels -- the lions at MGM, the Eiffel tower, etc.

 

[Pakey]

I am on the Las Vegas strip for business or personal trips about every other month. I am a very liberal parent but I do not think the Strip is the best place to take children. I have seen fights, drunk people puking while walking on the sidewalk holding their large drinks in the souvenier towers, scantily clad women, and yes, those guys handing out the stripper cards. I've seen all of this in the middle of the day and worse things after dark. There will be plenty of drunks at the pools.

Las Vegas gave up the family friendly theme many years ago and a lot of the family type of attractions they had have been removed. There are still some attractions but they are of a short duration and require a lot of traveling from hotel to hotel to see them (the hotels are about a half mile apart from one another).

 

[DCbride]

We love Vegas as a couple. We even got engaged there. This year we are considering taking DS who will be 21. And even then we aren't sure we want to take him.

The pools are great- but you can find great pools at any resort any place in the world. There are the white tigers and lions, but again, why not just do a day at a zoo? Personally, I think that there are much better, more kid friendly places for you to travel with a young teen. Places where she can have family time but also some time hanging out with kids at a kids club type resort.

When we go as we are not big gamblers, we enjoy walking around (think EPCOT without the cool CMs) the great restaurants (if DD is a basic teen food group eater, not a big deal for her) and the sports bars (placing minimum bets on football games, etc).

 

[weswife]

Hi, We went to Vegas in 07. It was a great trip for my family! My kids were 19,14 and 8 at the time. Yes, we saw the cards we kept walking and they did not bother us. We stayed at the Monte Carlo it was beautiful! Our kids enjoyed seeing what Vegas has to offer, all the lights and machines. We ate great places! We went to the Spice Girls tour that was amazing!!!!!! Not a place I would visit often but we do plan on going again!I guess its a personal decision for each family.

 

[DOOM1001]

It's not really kid friendly,but there are plenty of things for kids and adults who don't gamble to do.many of those things are however pretty expensive,$12-$14 to ride a rollercoaster seems excessive as are many of the other non gambling attractions.I think you can spend a week or two without gambling and not get bored,I spent a week and I don't gamble.We did a Grand Canyon bus tour,toured all the hotels,saw a couple of shows,strolled all the shopping centers,went to downtown and saw the Fremont experience as well as the fountains at Bellagio and ate at several of the buffets.If you're not into gambling it's not a vacation destination you want to go every year but it's a cool place.They probably should crack down on those guys with the stripper ads.