16 Tips for Las Vegas with Kids

 

Excalibur Hotel, Las Vegas (looks a little bit like Disneyland!)

I was never that interested in Las Vegas. We had planned a visit to the Grand Canyon on the end of a trip to Disneyland and had a few days to spare in Las Vegas as a base. It wasn’t until I started reading about what exactly was in Vegas that I found the place more and more intriguing. In the end I could not wait to visit. It seemed to me a big colourful playground - for adults and kids. Where else can you stroll down the road and see the Eiffel Tower and then 5 minutes later the Statue of Liberty. There is quite a lot to do there besides the obvious casinos and gambling. Shopping for a start – there are bargains galore! Genuine savings of 75% off. But what is Las Vegas like for kids?

One piece of advice I received when visiting for the first time with kids was “What is seen, cannot be unseen” so you need to use a bit of common sense where to take your kids around Las Vegas. So here are my tips for Las Vegas with Kids:

1. Stay somewhere central - I’m talking about a themed hotel between the Luxor and Treasure Island (somewhere in between is ideal). We stayed at the Luxor which was a little bit too far out. The hotel is in the shape of a pyramid and the windows to outside were quite bizarre – they were slanted not 90 degrees. Another bizarre thing about the Luxor – there was no fridge included in the hotel room. That’s right all you got was an ‘ice bucket’! I think this was another way for the hotels to entice you to eat solely in their hotels.

We stayed at the Luxor Hotel

Inside the Luxor Hotel. Felt like a bee in a bee hive. The hotel is huge. You can see all the rooms lit up.

Circus Circus is generally considered the ‘kid friendly’ hotel - but I wouldn’t recommend staying there as its miles away from all the free activities of Vegas. You will basically be stuck there unless you take a taxi or bus to central Las Vegas. Stay central. You can always do a day trip to visit Circus Circus to see their famous free Circus instead.

2. Do most of your sightseeing during the day with kids - Generally, walking around in broad daylight is fine. There are people who hand out on the main street ‘naked cards’ advertising shows, but these are not handed out to the kids directly or to the parents if they are accompanying kids. At night time there is a lot of people on the footpaths and it can get quite crowded. Some buildings (and the contents within) are lit up at night so you can see inside - so be wary of that (what’s seen cannot be unseen), however as your generally walking from A to B, and there are so many people, your little ones are quite likely to miss any ‘details’ as they are just trying to walk forwards around people.

The MGM Hotel

The Excalibur Hotel

3. Make sure you visit M&M’s world - It is next to the MGM Hotel. There are 4 floors of M&M’s merchandise including a 3D film which is fun and free. If you sign up to the official website before you go – you can get greater discounts on your chocolates.

M&M's World

4. Visit the Coca Cola Store – this has a lot of Coke merchandise it in it. No movie though.

5. Make sure you visit the New York New York hotel and Hershey’s world - The buzz inside is pretty cool plus there is a rollercoaster that wraps around the building for those thrill seekers. If you are staying in this hotel apparently the glass is soundproof from the screams as the people go around in the rollercoaster. Also there is Hershey’s world just outside which is well worth a visit. We managed to get 75% off Hershey’s chocolate in the after Easter sales! Bargain.

The New York New York Hotel

Don't miss a visit to Hershey's World, just outside the New York New York hotel

6. Visit the Venetian Hotel - This place has gondola boat rides (they cost $29 USD per person) and the lines are quite long. But we had a nice time looking at the gondolas and taking in all the scenery – and the sky! The gondoliers sing half way through the journey. It was a very memorable experience for us as whilst we were watching on one occasion, a random person next to us suddenly burst into an Italian opera song (and was very very good) as the gondola’s went past. I am not sure if this was staged. I felt like we were serenaded to by this absolute stranger. They seemed to burst with passion for the place. I have no idea if they were famous or not – only that they were very good. This experience was extremely memorable. Be warned though – a lot of staff did not know the way ‘out’ of the hotel! So we had a lot of fun trying to escape this hotel.

Inside the Venetian Hotel (that isn't real sky!)

7. Caesars palace - I loved it here so much we actually went back for a second viewing. Shopping and more shopping here. There are mega huge Roman statues, some of the statues move and more. And the ceiling is amazing. For the kids there is a huge fish tank to look at – but filled with ruins amongst the fish. A marine archaeologists dream.

Loved Caesars Palace!!

The 'Sky' inside Caesars Palace is amazing. Beautiful

Plenty of Photo opportunities in Caesars Palace

The Aquarium inside Caesars Palace

8. Earl of Sandwich (a kids favourite) is located in Planet Hollywood Hotel and has free drink refills - You can go online and join their loyalty email list to get discounts. Totally recommend for people with kids that are fussy eaters. It is open around the clock and the meals are cheap.

9. Rainforest Café is now located in the Planet Hollywood Hotel - This place gets mixed reviews for food but with kids is certainly worth a look for the entertainment value. You can see for free audio-animatronic snakes, crocodiles, large fish tanks and other wild animals.

The Rainforest Cafe is always a lot of fun

10. Watch an erupting Volcano - This is found at the Mirage Hotel and it gets crowded here. Check times on the official Mirage Hotel website for details, but generally the volcano erupts three times a night 8:00 PM, 9:00 PM, 10:00 PM. It is quite loud – and a spectacle to watch!

An exploding Volcano

11. Treasure Island and the Avengers exhibition – You can view two pirate ships which are the relics of what used to be a popular free live pirate stage show (that was discontinued). The ships are lit up at night. The hotel now however has the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. which is an educational exhibit showcasing the world of The Avengers. Suits all ages. Check the official website for details of discounts.

Lit up boats out the Front of the Treasure Island hotel

12. Watch the Fountains of the Bellagio - There are many shows at Las Vegas. Not all are kid friendly but there are some shows that are great for kids. Free entertainment for all ages however is the Fountains of the Bellagio. Every 15-30 minutes (depending upon the time of day), this Fountain show in front of the Bellagio hotel comes to life. Worth a look twice – once during the day and once at night. The fountains move to the music, sometimes to opera music so its kind of romantic. With all the Italian architecture you do feel like you are in Italy.

The Bellagio Fountain - is very popular

This is the view of the Bellagio Fountain - from the Bellagio Hotel!

13. Hotel Pools - We didn’t end up going in the pools at the Luxor. We saw them – but they closed early – like 7pm (when we were out and about during the day). They were also an enormous walk from our hotel room –where you had to cross the actual casino to get to the pool. I have heard that pools in Vegas generally are not heated – a cynic would say to entice you back to the gambling tables and not remain at the pool. We found the pools incredibly crowded – like packed like sardines. You could pay extra to go in the more ‘elite’ pools (which were empty).

14. Beware Resort Fees - We had to pay a ‘Resort’ fee that we were not told about when we were booking! I think it was like $20-$30 per day. This covered ‘free Wi-Fi’, a newspaper and use of the aforementioned pool we never used!! Just be aware of this extra charge when you book. With regards to the newspaper – this was not delivered – you had to go to the newsagent yourself to get it!

15. See some fun art sculptures - Many of the hotels have very interesting art displays that kids would love. The Bellagio had a floral display when we were there. But other hotels had giant insects that moved and large tubes of water that ‘flowed’. Quite bizarre things and all the kids I saw were totally engrossed in the artwork.

Every Hotel has very unique statues and exhibits to look at. Fun for the kids to see

My daughter loved it here. The Wings moved.

16. Do not miss the Grand Canyon - This is totally a wow moment and do not miss this experience as its totally awesome. After having spent the previous two weeks at Disneyland our family were were totally up for sitting on a 4 hour bus ride to the Grand Canyon. Just be very selective which travel company you travel with (what is their itinerary, how long do you actually spend in the park, where exactly is the lunch spot etc). You can read more about our day trip to the Grand Canyon here: https://themeparktravelguide.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-grand-canyon.html

Do not miss the Grand Canyon. Its incredible and no 2D picture can ever do it justice. You can see the people on the cliff on the left hand side.

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