Tahoe/Reno etc. for 7 yr.olds?
 

Hiya all! Hope you had a nice summer.

We'll be skiing in the Lake Tahoe area 12/29-1/6. Any suggestions on other things to do for cool 6/7 yr. old kids? We'll have a car so driving is no problem (well, assuming no blizzards of course). Virginia City, Carson City, Reno, anywhere around Lake Tahoe. Oh, no gambling for the kids.... Gracias!

We go up to Truckee each summer, so the beach and rafting won't work for you. But one thing our daughter enjoyed was the Arcade at Boomtown. There are games, indoor rides and the 3-D motion theater. We have done this every summer since she was about 4 (she is 12 now). Pick a week day: less crowded. Virginia City was also fun for "junk" shopping.

Have fun.

MY

Gracias MY! That Arcade sounds like fun, we'll definitely go one afternoon.

Any Cowboy stuff (Bonanza)?

Last season, there was a laser tag place in south Lake Tahoe near the Heavenly gondola.

Virginia City is known for their old time saloons and shops. There's a lot to do and look at from antique shops to restaurants to candy shops where you can see them making the candy in front of the window.

If you go to Reno, you can stop at Circus Circus. They have a midway area on the mezzanine floor where you can play games and if i can recall they used to have various circus acts perform there. Parking should be no problem. Circus Circus is attached to the Silver Legacy and the Eldorado, so if you find parking at either place you can walk through on the upper concorse to either casino. If you go, you will probably want to look at the planetarium-like sky they built where the 3 casinos meet. They usually have some kind of christmas show playing around the clock - I'm not sure if it will still be up when you go. There's also Wild Island in Sparks, which is usually open in the summer as a water park, but has a race track, mini golf and I think arcade too. You may have to call them for hours during the winter.

Tahoe, I'm not extremely familiar with but you can take a cruise around emerald bay, go see a show, or take a sleigh ride. There's also an outlet mall, I think in S. Lake Tahoe. Although, if you take a day to drive around Tahoe, you'll find many quaint little towns that you might want to stop in. Gambling is pretty hard to avoid unless you're on the California side. There's even slot machines in the 7-11. But unless you linger too long in one area with your kids, they're pretty good about moving you along.

I hope that helps. Have a good trip!

Boomtown is fun and has an OK buffet. I wouldn;t come down to Reno JUST for the Circus Circus, it's not THAT great, but if you wanted to gamble a bit it would be OK. If the kids were older I'd say, put them in the Arcade and go gamble for awhile if you wanted, but personaly I would not leave a 6/7 year old by themselves..so, I think Virginia City would be a better choice. There is also lots of history there...it's more than just a bunch of junk shops. In it day, Virginia City had over 20,000 people living there, they had visits by all the famous entertainers and politicians etc. of the day. The silver taken out of there built San Francisco..names like Stanford and Sutro are common to both San Franciso and Virginia City...and the silver also helped finance the northern armies during the Civil War. There also is a nice museum in Carson City and there is also a train Museum in Carson City that is informative and fun. As mentioned, Truckee is a fun town for a few hours. Wild Waters, in Reno, is closed in the winter but I did ready that they were adding some sort of activity center that would be open all year, but NOT having young kids, I'm not really up on that. Hope there is good snow for your visit.

Too late for Bonanza tours, it was sold to... a land developer? Try a search of this forum through Google.

Check out Caesars South Tahoe, they might have some circus performances.

Tks y'all! Will certainly look into all those great suggestions.

BUFFETS, I've heard some of the Hotels put on a mean show at ridiculous prices.... Any fist-hand opinions?

Gracias.

Ice Skating Rink in Reno, Nice? Safe at night?

Gracias!

the best place for buffets would be the eldorado hotel casino in reno, they offer chinese, italian, mexican and american dishes in one seating, like for lunch, dinner... the desserts are world class... lots of different types of salads... cheapest is circus circus...

i used to live in reno, i miss the food :-)

most casinos have arcades but please don't leave your kids alone in them, bring a sitter or something. reno is not so safe anymore. 10 years ago you could leave your kids, but not these days.

I posted on your other thread that the rink opened last night. 5.00 adults, 3.00 kids. yes it's safe at night..it's full of families. I don't remember how late they are open. I haven't been to a buffet downtown in a long time. I think the Eldorado is pretty good, I know their higher end restaurant Bistro Roxy is excellent, but not really a place for small kids. If you want to drive south on Virginia street a couple of miles, the Atlantis has a really good buffet. They are on the corner of South Virginia and Peckham Way. They have chinese, mexican, carving station, make to order ceasar and hot spinach salads, huge salad bar, soup, and a zillion other things. Prices are competative. Food is NOT as cheap as the "old" days.

Thanks again ethannadine & crefloors!!!

Skating sounds like fun, did it once 30 years ago and fell, again and again!

Now all we need is colder temps and Snow*())&%##%$%

All the best!