Visiting Las Vegas in July

[kkfinley]

My DH has a conference in July at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on the strip. Due to the military per diem we have booked a room at the Marriott Grand Chateau. He will flying in on Sunday and myself, my mom, DD11, and DD8 will fly in on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, we plan to go to Hoover Dam and visit several of the hotels on the strip. The main stops being to see the fountains at Bellagio and the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel. On Friday, we will leave Las Vegas to tour Yosemite, San Francisco, LA, and Disneyland.

My husband has to fly home from Vegas since that is where the conference was held. We will have another half day to visit the strip before flying home.

What other activities would you suggest with 2 children or do we have too much planned already?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Disneykatz]

Hoover Dam may be the only thing you want to do in one day depending on how much you want to see & how much time you want to spend there. We just went there a couple weeks ago around 10am-ish & it took about 40 min to get there, we did the dam & power plant tour, looked around the outside of the dam for awhile, had lunch, & then drove up to the viewing area for the new memorial bridge & walked across that & back & it was probably around 5:30ish by the time we got back to the strip & were tired out!

The Bellagio fountains are always fun to see & they run often & late into the evenings. The top of the Eiffel Tower is cool & is a great view but I prefer going to the top of the Stratosphere, it has the great views & you can watch people go on those crazy extreme rides off the side of the building, plus part of their viewing area is indoors with windows also.

Another thing we just did for the first time which would be good for kids on your half day on the way home is the Springs Preserve, it was pretty cool, it is just off the strip.

 

[kkfinley]

Thank you so much for this information. I will have to add a trip to the Stratosphere to the list. DD8 has her heart set on seeing the Eiffel Tower so I guess we will do both. She keeps asking when we are going to Paris to see the real Eiffel Tower, like maybe for her birthday in March.

The Preserve looks really nice. We will check that out too.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

[bcla]

It's going to be hot outside, so try staying indoors as much as you can until evenings. I've walked down The Strip during a summer day, and if I were younger I would have complained about the heat. However, if they're conditioned for hot summers, then it might not be an issue.

I liked the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City. It's not a museum per se, but it's affiliated with the main Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. They have no indoor exhibits. Everything they have is outdoor, including several train cars/locomotives and about a one hour train ride. And they also retrofitted their Pullman passenger cars with A/C. I'm used to the rides at the California State Railroad Museum, and when it gets too hot they stop the excursion rides because they have no A/C.

http://museums.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=409&Itemid=124
http://www.nevadasouthern.com

It could be something that might be visited between Las Vegas and Hoover Dam.

 

[wiigirl]

It's going to be hot outside, so try staying indoors as much as you can until evenings. I've walked down The Strip during a summer day, and if I were younger I would have complained about the heat. However, if they're conditioned for hot summers, then it might not be an issue.

I liked the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City. It's not a museum per se, but it's affiliated with the main Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. They have no indoor exhibits. Everything they have is outdoor, including several train cars/locomotives and about a one hour train ride. And they also retrofitted their Pullman passenger cars with A/C. I'm used to the rides at the California State Railroad Museum, and when it gets too hot they stop the excursion rides because they have no A/C.

http://museums.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=409&Itemid=124
http://www.nevadasouthern.com

It could be something that might be visited between Las Vegas and Hoover Dam.

 

[kkfinley]

One of my concerns while planning this trip was the heat in Las Vegas. My husband originally wanted us to fly out with him on Sunday but after looking at the temps from last year, I didn't think that the girls would enjoy being outside and walking the strip for 4 days. My mother is also very sensitive to the heat and will not want to be outside much.

I did notice that there is a monorail that connects several of the hotels. The girls enjoyed riding the monorail in DC a couple of years ago. Has anyone ridden it recently? Is it worth it?

 

[bcla]

One of my concerns while planning this trip was the heat in Las Vegas. My husband originally wanted us to fly out with him on Sunday but after looking at the temps from last year, I didn't think that the girls would enjoy being outside and walking the strip for 4 days. My mother is also very sensitive to the heat and will not want to be outside much.

I did notice that there is a monorail that connects several of the hotels. The girls enjoyed riding the monorail in DC a couple of years ago. Has anyone ridden it recently? Is it worth it?

Haven't tried the monorail. The main issue is that it only operates off The Strip between buildings. I heard they originally wanted to place it on The Strip using towers, but apparently some of the casinos didn't like the idea since it would have blocked views of their buildings from across the street. Their stations are all located in the back of the casinos.

The Hop On Hop Off tour bus might be a good option, but it's pricey. However, you would get access to more stops, which would be right on The Strip.

http://eng.bigbustours.com/lasvegas/home.html

Also - I didn't check your schedule. The Railroad Museum only runs on weekends, so I guess that's not going to be possible.

 

[Pakey]

My last time to Hoover Dam was in July two years ago and it was 113 degrees that day on the dam. I'm from Central CA and used to the heat but the visitors I was escorting had a terrible time of it. They were complaining that the bottom of their feet were burning through their sandals just walking on the sidewalks.

I've ridden the monorail and it might be fun for a kid for a novelty but I'm not sure why. You see parking garages and buildings, not much more. Also, it's pricey, slow and quite a hike to get to it from whatever hotel you start/stop from.

 

[usnuzuloose]

My last time to Hoover Dam was in July two years ago and it was 113 degrees that day on the dam. I'm from Central CA and used to the heat but the visitors I was escorting had a terrible time of it. They were complaining that the bottom of their feet were burning through their sandals just walking on the sidewalks.

I've ridden the monorail and it might be fun for a kid for a novelty but I'm not sure why. You see parking garages and buildings, not much more. Also, it's pricey, slow and quite a hike to get to it from whatever hotel you start/stop from.

One day we will have to meet. I go through your area a lot. I love taking the bus up and down, the strip. I know they are crowded at times but it beats driving or walking...

 

[bluedevilinaz]

The Deuce and SDX buses on the strip are relatively cheap(check out www.rtcsnv.com for pricing) and are air conditioned so it makes travel on the strip easier. It's MUCH cheaper than the monorail or taxi's and safer than walking in the heat. It is VERY hot in Vegas in the summer and very dry due to the low humidity(it is in the middle of the desert after all ). Make sure you drink a LOT of water and bring hats and sunscreen. The average summer temps are over 110 in July.

I would recommend seeing Blue Man Group if you have the time/money for a show as the kids will love it, going to the conservatory at the Bellagio, doing Fremont Street one night and watching the canopy show, maybe doing the zip line on Fremont as well. I wouldn't recommend doing much outside until later in the evening when the sun has gone down or very early in the morning(before 9am) though. Mandalay Bay has a HUGE wave pool that is neat also. The Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour is also a cool thing to do and is only about 15 minutes east of the strip.