gamesetmatch

Dear Fodorites:

Help - I haven't been to Las Vegas in over two decades and I need to find cheap entertainment for 14 -15 yr. old soccer players and need to find cheap eats for the team. We will be there over Thanksgiving weekend and will be staying near the Convention Center.

What are the best inexpensive or free attractions? I am planning on taking everyone to see the Bellagio fountains, Caesar Palace Forum and NY NY. (I am basing this on the postings that I have read here and other places). Does this sound ok? Any other suggestions?

Also, any suggestions for decent quality meals - I am looking for suggestions for lunch and dinner. I need to find good value, good quality food. I am thinking that sit down restaurants might be better than buffets because buffet prices are high to cover for all of the people who eat a lot. We could do a sit down restaurant for dinners but not lunch. Our group will be about 20 people total. I have read that the usual kid oriented buffets are terrible (Excaliber and Circus Circus).

I would greatly appreciate any help that you can give.

Thanks.

gail

Certainly not a Las Vegas expert - am more an expert on teenage athletes.

Go with a buffet - you will encounter all sorts of issues/complaints/preferences with food choices and restaurant styles. A buffet avoids these issues, teenagers can eat as much as they want, and you also avoid the "dividing the check" trauma involved in dining with any large group.

Specific buffets - I'll leave that to others.

beanweb24

How about the Pink Taco at Hard Rock? Very good food, and very reasonably priced (I especially love the Rajas and Potatoes tacos...yum). Here's the link to their menu:

http://www.hardrockhotel.com/uploade...tMenus0805.pdf

You would have the added "cool" benefit of being at the Hard Rock and getting to wander through the gift shop.

Some of the players might enjoy the M&M Store...they could get M&Ms in colors to match their jerseys.

Also check out www.vegas.com - here's a link to a bunch of "free attractions" ideas.

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/freeattractions.html

nytraveler

I would think buffets would be the perfect choice for 14/15 year olds. If they're anything like my brother and his firends were - they're the ones that will be eating 3 times as much as anyone else. (Sit down meals were often a problem with that group because there just wasn't enough food for some - they'd be at Mickey Ds 2 hours later.)

Can't comment on buffet choices - since we don;t do that- but my understanding is that most of them are VERY inexpensive vs actual restaurants.

wsoxrebel

I took a similar group last year. Just remember that the casinos don't want the kids anywhere at all on the gaming floor unless they are walking fast on their way somewhere. Any kind of loitering will get a stern escort out of the area.

Summary - you are going to freak out at how much LV has grown, changed, and how expensive it is now. One money saving tip that helped us was to go to the buffet at the tail end of a meal. The cashier charges that meal's price and you save money by still being able to eat the next meal's entrees for the earlier meal prices.

This is a link to the buffet prices http://www.a2zlasvegas.com/food/buf-list.php3

I recommend the buffets at Luxor for better than average and reasonably priced meals (ALL food in Las Vegas costs much more than it did 20 years ago) It is located in their basement.
Breakfast $11.99 + tax 6:30am- 11:00am
Lunch $12.99 + tax 11:30am - 4:00pm
Dinner $17.99 + tax 4:00pm - 11:00pm
Also the Luxor has an IMAX movie theatre and King Tut museum onsite.

The Fashion Show Mall near Treasure Island (TI now..) has a food court.

Mandalay Bay has an outstanding aquarium but it is somewhat pricey. I think it is worth the money though.

The Coca-Cola store has different flavored colas from around the world which the kids liked to try. You have to pay to sample but it is something unique to do.

Caesars had a fun iceskating rink which was reasonably priced = maybe $10?

At NYNY, your group will like the ESPNZone. But it is not like the other ESPNZones where you can just hang out - they have a $10 min/hour to spend policy. Also the kids cannot go in on their own.

Star Trek experience at the Hilton would be fun. At Excaliber, their Medieval times show would be fun, but again it is not cheap.

Hopefully your kids will enjoy gawking at the sites and riding the trams. Otherwise, prepare their parents to send $$$

gamesetmatch

Thanks everyone. I should clarify that this is a girls team so we might not eat quite as much as some of guys would. (Although some of them can pack it in! my daughter included) Do the buffet recommendations still hold true?

I think that I have blown it as far as estimating the cost of lunch and dinner! Although we come from a nice suburban area, I am getting some flack from the parents for the high cost of the trip. Therefore, I am under pressure to stay on budget.

Maybe I need to cheapen up more for the lunches -- are there subways or Quiznos around the Las Vegas strip area? Someone else suggested finding food courts. Any further thoughts?

Thanks!

beanweb24

The Fashion Show Mall has a food court. So does the Venetian...see the link below (scroll down to the bottom). The Venetian is fantastic for wandering anyways - I'm sure the girls would love to see the gondolas winding through the shopping area.

http://www.venetian.com/shoppe/directory.cfm

I don't think that the buffets are a good budget option for 14-15 yr old girls. For dinner, you're looking at around $20 avg per person (or more) - not really "cheap eats" if parents are concerned about budget.

There's also a food court in the Aladdin's Desert Passage mall.

NY NY has some fast food choices in the Coney Island Pavilion.

Have you checked out www.cheapovegas.com? There's a food link for every hotel reviewed -- might help you a little bit.

gail

The girls on my 15 year old daughter's sports teams can pack away a disgusting amount of food in-season.

While the quantities for girls may not be as much as boys, the food "pickiness" might be more of an issue - at least with my daughter's friends there is always someone on some new or weird meal plan - vegan, low carb, high carb, salad and bread only, plus they all seem to eat a lot of dessert if it is around.

Might not eat every meal at buffet - and probably would not bother for breakfast since kids that age often don't eat much before noon.