rkkwan

No, but when I walked around all the major strip hotels last week, I found Excalibur to be the dumpiest of the new big hotels on the strip.

tenthumbs

Yeah, the friends I went with recommended it......they were disappointed, and even our teenagers were slightly disgusted. There was much eye-rolling on the part of my 14-year old daughter, and when two teenaged boys get bored, you KNOW it's bad!

As far as the joust at Excalibur~haven't been there, but we did do a Medevil Times-type thing in LA with our kids many years ago, and they LOVED it, especially when they found out there were no utensils and you got to slurp soup out of the bowl and eat with your fingers; however, I would wait to hear from someone who has seen that one personally. and recently!

mrwunrfl

Nothing new about Excalibur as it has been around for 20 years. But it is more of a family kind of place.

I think that a CDS show would be wasted on a 6 year old.

Circus Circus is still around. Free circus show. It is from that era when Vegas was trying to be family friendly. CC has 5 acres of indoor fun in Adventuredome:

All Day Ride Pass

* Regular Pass $24.95
* Junior Pass $14.95

Individual Ride Prices

Premium Rides - $7 each

* NEW! Disko'O (Spinning Ride) 48" minimum
* NEW! Special FX Theatre (4D Special Effects Film 36" minimum, under 42" must ride with a paying adult
* Canyon Blaster (Roller Coaster) 48” minimum
* Rim Runner (Water chute Ride) 48” minimum
* Sling Shot (Tower Ride) 48” minimum
* Chaos (Spinning & Tilting Ride) 48” minimum
* Inverter (360° Counter-Rotation Ride) 48” minimum
* SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D Ride (Motion Ridefilm) 42” minimum
* Lazer Blast (Laser Tag Adventure) 42” minimum

Large Rides - $4 each

* Canyon Cars (Bumper Cars) 54” min. to drive / 42” min. ride
* Sand Pirate (Swinging Ship) 42” min. / Under 48" must ride with a paying adult

Junior Rides – $4 each

* Frog Hopper (Jr. Tower Ride) 36” minimum, 58” maximum
* Miner Mike (Jr. Roller Coaster) 33” minimum, 58” maximum
* Thunderbirds (Jr. Plane Ride) 36” minimum, 58” maximum

Family Rides - $4 each
42” minimum height unless accompanied by a paying adult

* B.C. Bus (Bus Ride)
* Circus Carousel (Merry-Go-Round)
* Drifters (Ferris Wheel)
* Road Runner (Mini-Himalaya Ride)

All riders 33” and over must have a ride ticket

rkkwan

Sorry that I used the term "new". By that I mean it's post-Mirage. Excalibur opened in 1990, so it is indeed close to 20 years old.

Mirage opened in 1989, and is basically the property that defined the current strip.

SAnParis2

The Ex show could be fun w/younger kids + you get Dinner, which, btw, you eat w/your hands, no utensils back in those times ! Circus2 may well be the biggest dump on the Strip.

capxxx

We took the kids to the joust (6 and 11), and they loved it. You get to eat with no silverware, and see real horses and riders jousting. How cool is that.

tambennett

saacnmama- Circus Circus does have a great amusement park inside! Your son will like the rides and games. It is geared more toward small children! Just don't stay at the hotel! It's really old and outdated and will probably be the next hotel to go!

NewYork NewYork also has a great gameroom!

jbee

The Excalibur dinner show is a blast and there's always a ton of kids there. Have you also considered afternoon shows? They're generally less expensive and cater to families. I believe there are some magic shows, but then you also have ones like the Gregory Popovich Theater - trained cats and dogs (at Planet Hollywood in the Miracle Mile shops).

Criss Angel was terrible. The only good thing in that show was the dancing. There's very little cirque and the magic was unimpressive. Now if the dancers were featured more, I could give it my thumbs-up.

Last, I've found many of the shows to be very loud and I've started wearing earplugs when seeing them. I don't have kids, but if I did - they would be wearing earplugs to protect their future hearing.

saacnmama

jbee, thanks for the very important (for us) comment on the volume level! My guy doesn't like motorcycles, sirens, or any of those loud things generally assumed to appeal to his age group.
I'm leaning towards Mac King (afternoon) and Excalibur (6 pm). How loud are they? How loud is Nathan Burton?
What kind of food do they have at Excalibur? (I'm a vegetarian, but eat fish and dairy)
Do the acts at Circus2 have animals?

jbee

Of those three, I've only seen the Excalibur show so I can't help with the others. The Excalibur show isn't terribly loud, but there are a few pops and bangs that are a bit over the top toward the end. This is the part at the end where the "bad guy" comes out and they have a battle. It could be just a smidge scary for a young one, so be prepared for that - especially if he doesn't like loud, unexpected stuff. (All turns out well in the end though.) Again, I don't have kids so don't read too much into what I say, but I don't think it's worse than what I've seen in current cartoons.

The meal at the Excalibur is (or was last year) tomato soup, potato wedges, cornish hen, broccoli, and an apple pastry for dessert. A soft drink is also included. I'm not a vegetarian, so I haven't noticed or asked if they have an alternative meal. You can always call the Excalibur and talk to someone at the ticketing office - I've always found them to be extremely helpful.

I don't believe they have animals at Circus Circus. MGM has a lion exhibit as does the Mirage if you're interested in seeing animals. There's also the Secret Garden at Mirage, which isn't free but is a nice little zoo with unique animals and dolphins.

SAnParis2

ttt