To do in Vegas with 11 yr old?
 

Hi, we will be in Vegas for 3 days in Oct with an 11 year old girl.
What is there to do with her besides a flight to the Grand Canyon one day and maybe another morning wandering some of the amazing hotel lobbys etc. Speaking of, which ones would be the best to take her to?
thanks in advance

Hi mel,
I never went to the Grand Canyon from Vegas but if you put it in the search box, you might get info there, while waiting for someone to tell you here :)

Great casino/hotels for kids-
MGM Grand-Lions!
Mirage-White tigers!!
Venetian-Gondoliers!
Take her to Mandalay Bay, they have a really super Aquarium!
Take her to lunch at either Paris(Mon Ami Gabi) or Olives(Bellagio) and sit outside, watch the fountains ..
Ceasars Forums, there is this show..gods come out and talk and then the world ends...or something like that LOL...Animatronics, it is great fun for kids. *you can tell that I was not paying enough attention*

Have fun~

thanks scarlett, that sounds like a great start!

We had a great time hiking with our kids at Red Rock Canyon.

Our girls (11 and 13 at the time) got a big kick out of walking from hotel to hotel seeing all the different themes. They loved the shopping at Aladdin and Caesars, loved the decor at Excalibur and Luxor (and the moving sidewalks) and went ga ga over the indoor river at Venetian.

Its definately worth going to old Downtown Vegas for the "Freemont Street Experience". They've enclosed the whole street and they do this awesome lights and video show over your head every hour or so at night. The kids LOVED that. They also had a live band playing so the atmosphere was very festive and fun.

Don't miss the M&M store, which is next to MGM. You can buy M&M's in any color you can think of along with all kinds of M&M clothes and trinkets etc. Our kids each got a bag of M&M's in their school colors.

They also loved the Coca Cola store where we sat and drank a coke out of those small glass bottles from days gone by at the soda fountain area upstairs. They thought that was so retro and so cool.

We didn't do any big expensive shows or eat at fancy places, and our kids still thought Vegas was the best part of our trip (which included Grand Canyon, and Sedona as well) because it was so exciting and different from home.

The only word of caution I would give you is to be careful to not stop with your daughter while walking through any casino areas. My girls and I were standing there waiting for my husband and a security person asked us to move out of the casino area. Other than that, no big deal with having our kids there.

Good suggestions so far. I'll just add a few:

Excalibur has a dinner show with jousting tournament. They also have midway games that are pretty easy to win.

My kids enjoyed the view from the top of the Stratosphere at night.

If she is into shopping, she might enjoy the Aladdin Desert Passage Shops and the Forum Shops at Caesar's.

There is also an arcade near the M&M's store.

We took a helicopter tour from Las Vegas that actually landed in the Grand Canyon. I believe it was Papillon Helicopters. It was a while ago, though (pre-kids), so I'm not sure it is still offered.

Have fun!

Although it's not free, Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef is fantastic, better than some smaller aquariums (aquaria?). Next door (take the tram or the interior walkway) is the Luxor, which has several cheesy displays (like a "life-size replica" of Tut's tomb; on the same level are some fun things for kids, a very noisy game arcade, and a cool IMAX theater.

I left my 11 y/old home with my Mom for the first time in her life when it came to LV and I never regret it.
We went for a week and Grand Canyon was in my plans BUT...it is not doable in 3 days unless you going to drink lots of Red Bull that gives you wings!
You will be exausted instead of happy I think.
If you MUST take her - keep her looking up all the time...I wouldn't want my child to see all the naked girls advertising on a streets.
If you MUST take her - gondola ride in Venetian would be a blast. It is relatively cheap $13p/p and so soothing.
I would do both - lower and upper ride.
Also Ceasars - fashion and show.
Try that Buffet in Alladin - I couldn't, line was for about 3 hours wait (off season time) so it must be worth it.
Buffet in Paris - $26p/p but worth it not to miss (not as much food as design)
Mirage's walk around.

Have fun

mel1,

I almost forgot. This is just a friendly warning. You will be judged harshly by some on this board for even considering taking a child to Las Vegas. Look up previous "kids in Vegas" threads to see what to expect.

Have a great time! :)

Yes, be very affraid...lol
I did ask before I went and I was mostly told not to and I was NOT happy with these opinions. But I listened and was very happy I did.

Friends of ours took their children to see Lance Burton's show and were pleased - according to them it was family friendly.

They probably looked up all the time...lol

There's a roller coaster at New York, New York. You can also ride up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris. And there's the Big Shot on top of the Stratosphere.

My son was 12, the first time we took him to Vegas. He liked Mandalay Bay, Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, Circus Circus and the Excalibur arcade.

Circus Circus has a huge Adventuredome that has a ton of rides inside it. Fashion Show Mall, Forum shops or LV Outlets for a little shopping. Bonnie Springs (near Red Rock) to see the wild burros and go into the petting zoo and see some cheesy gunfights by cowboys. Ethel M's chocolate factory. Lied Childrens Museum. Madame Tussauds wax museum. Lake Las Vegas for a dinner cruise.

We brought our kids to Vegas twice and they loved it each time!!! All of the suggestions above are great and we did many of them, but they talk about the Tower and rides, especially the Big Shot, at the Stratosphere as being one of the highlights! The view is incredible!!!

I've gone to Vegas with kids and without kids and it's more fun without. For everyone.

You will all enjoy the Mac King show at Harrah's and the show on the gambling floor at the Tropicana.

One lobby you may not stumble on is the registration room at Paris; it has huge sparkling chandeliers bound to make the girl's eyes pop.

Had not occurred to me people would have comments about taking kids or not! Interesting. However, since we are coming from Australia, and visiting New York and Disneyworld too, Las Vegas is for the big kid (hubby), not for the little one. But I don't think we'll put her on a plane back by herself! lol! Thanks everyone for your input.

The best part of Vegas IS the part you can share with kids -- the surrounding desert. Ask the concierge at your hotel about guided hikes/jeep tours into the desert. I would also see Hoover Dam and since you have a daughter, how about some mommy/daughter pampering at a spa (manicures, pedicures, etc)?