Vegas Family vacation tips
 

Our family of 4 (boys 15 & 13) are planning a trip out west later this year. We plan to overnight in Vegas 2 different nights. Any suggestions for family hotels and entertainment? I have not explained about the prostitution flyers yet!! Good, cheap hotel for family would be great. We would like to take in a show if possible. Thanks for any help!!

We did a similar thing a few years ago ....

Blue Man Group is an obvious show choice for your bos. Ours thought the joust dinner at Excalibur was lame.

Any hotel on the strip will be great -- we stayed in Excalibur one night and Luxor on the return trip, for 49 and 79 per night. Just pick a place offering a good deal on the web, you won't go wrong.

There are several over-the-top video arcades -- Gameworks in MCM is impressive, and the grownups can play PacMan and Asteroids.

It is fun to walk around and see the free stuff -- the fountains at Bellagio, the fake gladiators, the pirate show, the flamingos, etc.

Thanks for the info capxxx. We will be in town hopefully long enough for the boys to have a good experiencs. Hopefully I can find an active/current list of shows or just sight-see all the lights.

mes3

It's also fun to go into one of the magic shops and buy a trick. They take you into a back room to show you how it works and lets you practice.
I hope you'll also be heading out to Red Rock Canyon. That was the highlight of our trip to LV.

I would recommend MGM. They frequently have good deals, they have an excellent arcade, and they also have a fantastic pool area which your teens should love.

Vallry of Fire an hour north of Las Vegas is also a wonderful place for hining with great scenery.

We went to the atomic test site museum. My 13 year old daughter thought it was really cool. Reinforced some of that Physical Science she'd been studying all year in a fun way.

She still likes telling people what item got the geiger counter making the most noise.

Don't worry about the flyers! They will find you in any hotel! (what is there to explain to teenagers? let them educate you!)

Where is the atomic test site museum?

Aint it the truth, Faina!

The atomic test site museum is just a few blocks off the strip at :

755 E. Flamingo Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Telephone: (702) 794-5161

It has a good web site
http://www.atomictestingmuseum.org

I may send my guys over there, while I play at Terribles next week. :-)

Thank you mowmow.

Hi mes3

By 2 different nights, do you mean that you will spend one night there while passing through one direction and then another night later on when passing through again?

The (possible) good news is that you aren't going to see a lot of anything in just 24 hours.

While Circus Circus may seem like an obvious family choice, avoid it at all costs - with the one possible exception being to visit the Adventuredome amusement park.

The previous mention of Luxor is a good choice. They frequently have good deals, have some fun things for kids to do (like the arcades and IMAX rides) and are in a good location to take advantage of other kid friendly / family friendly attractions.
Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay is next door. Excalibur is next door the other direction (Mandalay Bay and Excalibur are an easy walk from the Luxor, but there is also a free monorail connecting the 3 places).
You will also be close to New York New York (with another good arcade and roller coaster) and MGM Grand (with the Lion Habitat). M&M World and Coke World are also close by. If you don't get past those areas, you probably won't find the flyers you are trying to avoid (and they are sex workers / exotic dancers, not prostitutes - prostituion is illegal in Las Vegas).

If you stay at the Luxor for one night (South end of the Strip), you will probably want to stay at the North end (or off-Strip) to experience something a little different. The two places that come to mind are TI (Treasure Island) and the Rio (off-Strip). Again, both tend to have reasonable rates and a family freindly atmosphere. The Sirens of TI is a free sexy pirate-esque show that might be appropriate. Blue Man Group is across the street at the Venetian. Mystere is a Cirque du Soleil show at TI. It may or may not be of interest to your boys - you would cerainly have a better sense than anyone else.

Rio is off-Strip but has a free shuttle to Caesars, Bally's and Harrah's, so access to the Strip from there is easy. It is more of a locals casino. They just opened a Lucky Strike bowling center there (I think it has 10 lanes). Penn and Teller have a show there...

Have Fun,
Mark

Been out of town for 10 days. Thanks for the advice. We are going to start our vacation at Vegas and make the loop around the G.C. including, Phantom Ranch, SR GC, Monument Valley, Paige, N.R. GC, Bryce and Zion and finally back to Vegas. Will ask for advice on trip later.

If your boys like thrill rides, I highly recommend the free fall on top of the Stratosphere. It's scary and fun, even tho it only lasts a few seconds. And you get great views! The rollercoaster up there is boring tho, don't pay the extra money for it.
For shows, we saw Cirque's Mystere and loved it! And I can't remember any parts that wouldn't be appropriate for teens.
Also, check lasvegasfamilies.com for lots of ideas. They have listings for arcades, book stores, parks, family friendly shows and more. Have fun!

There are hotels like the Orleans and the Gold Coast with bowling alleys & movie theatres for kids...but with just 1-night stays you'll barely have time to check in, have dinner, and walk some of the sights. Go with the lowest rate you can find and keep in mind that Sun-Thurs nights are half as much as Fri or Sat in Vegas.

Not sure how it is nowadays, but flamingolv.com used to be one of the only hotels not charging $30 extra for each kid in the room.

We did 1 night last week at the Orleans, before moving downtown for 2 nights for a reunion. Anyway, we had fun bowling at the Orleans, and have enjoyed the movie theatre on a previous visit. It still is a casino hotel though.

It appears the Orleans is charging $15.- per person (adult or child), over the stand 2 people per room. Up to 4 total. So a room that is $50.- for 2 people would be $80.- for a family of 4 (plus tax and resort fee of $5.- at the Orleans).