Las Vegas

[malks222]

surveyor said:

Any idea's on do's and don'ts with Kids.

We off next month staying at the Mandalay Bay with our 9 year old daughter. We have a little backup as my parents are along due to us getting married, and after 5 days we are off to Florida.

But I've recently heard a horror story about not being served any alcohol (not looking to get drunk with the daughter but a beer would be nice).... I've seen that she (or wee..) are not allowed to loiter in the casino's but we are allowed to pass through to get to the hotel etc....

Any other tips?

Go somewhere else on holiday??

In all seriousness i've been to vegas 4 times and absolutely love the place, but really dont see why people would take kids there, because there is very little for them to do.

new york new york is probably a good start, they have the rollercoaster (dunno if kid will be tall enough though) but also lots of amusements/games etc... to play on which the kid will find fun.

stratosphere again has a few rollercoaster/rides things up on the roof. plus it has a pretty spectacular view of the strip. or the sky jump thing off the side of the building.

go to downtown vegas- they have a big zip wire thing down there, plus the light show at night.

shopping malls- miricle mile at planet hollywood or the forum at ceasars, massive places, with loads of shops, should kill a bit of time. lots of icecream stands etc....

venetian for a gondola ride?

playing by the pool? just watch out because it is pretty damn warm out in the direct sun light, also dont know what hotel your stay at, some pools getting quite busy and they play music all day and folk drinking etc.... where some pools are more relaxed.

trip out to the grand canyon/ hoover dam. helicopter would be more expensive but a lot quicker than the bus, the bus trip would be a quite a long day trip even for the kid.

family friendly shows- circue du soleil (on at a lot of hotels), penn and teller (think this is family friendly show out at the rio?), britney (residency at Planet hollywood), blue man group (on at venetian)? the sirens of TI (free show at treasure island, lots of inuendo, but kids will like the pirate thing)

other things i've heard of but no experience of- theres a pin ball museum, could go to the cinema, m&m world, ice bar at mandalay bay, the old neon signs museum/graveyard.

dont have any experience of whether they serve or dont serve you booze if you have kids, but there's loads of restaurants etc.... that will be fine with kids in them.

failing that, get her a fake ID and see if she's any use at counting cards!

[Far Cough]

cheers for the recommendations. Went with Maverick Tours in the end who seem to get great feedback online through Trip advisor etc etc

Seems all the tour companies do similar type stuff but the prices are all over the place. Oh well , you pays your money and takes your chances !!

Now ... whats next ? .......... Oh yes ..... GUNS !!!!

[Kenty]

At Las Vegas speedway is the Indy/NASCAR experience, I drove an Indy car, no gears, push start and you have keep up with the pace car or he slows down, too close and speeds up. My lap average was over 150mph so not pedestrian! It was quite expensive - about $250 for the 10laps or so. Really enjoyed it though, still talk about it 8yrs later!
Looks like it has changed a little and no pace car now.
http://www.andrettiracing.com

[VTECMatt]

Just leaving now, Mandaley Beach is possibly the best for kids. I know you have booked but as a parent this is one place we would never take ours.

There is a water park I saw advertised, aquarium is ok, guess could go karting but isn't that much to do. Children are not allowed to wait in the casinos, they can walk the main routes but will be moved on. Not allowed in the bars either.

Absolutely loved it, full review on my return, off to board to New York.

[VTECMatt]

Far Cough said:

Can anyone recommend a company to do the Grand Canyon , Hoover Dam and Lake Mead combo. Just had an email from Virgin rep who is trying to flog a trip that uses a light aircraft from Henderson to get to the Indian reservation and land in the canyon then bus shuttle to the various points including Skywalk. Price is 300 dollars each which is about 200 dollars cheaper than the ones I have seen on the net but there are hundreds all offering slightly different things. Its a minefield and obviously want to get it right first time ???

Trip above is 6 hours which is about right for what we want. Some are 12 hours FFS ( probably 3hrs each way on a coach - no thanks )

We took the The Sundance helicopter tour which was really good on Saturday, we then hired a car McLaren 650S to do Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and Red Rocks. The helicopter tour was cool, but I wanted to see HD, Lake Mead and think if I were to do again would drive it isn't that far.

Edited by VTECMatt on Tuesday 21st April 18:36

[Super Slo Mo]

Hoover dam is 30 or so miles away, that's almost walking distance .

Vegas makes a good base for getting out in the car for a few days. Death Valley is amazing, and easily doable in a day.

There were quite a lot of kids there last weekend, I guess there's plenty of stuff to keep them entertained. There's an indoor fairground up at Circus Circus, although it's a bit of a walk from the big hotels in the main part of the strip. They've got some great classic 80's video games in there too.

[surveyor]

VTECMatt said:

Just leaving now, Mandaley Beach is possibly the best for kids. I know you have booked but as a parent this is one place we would never take ours.

There is a water park I saw advertised, aquarium is ok, guess could go karting but isn't that much to do. Children are not allowed to wait in the casinos, they can walk the main routes but will be moved on. Not allowed in the bars either.

Absolutely loved it, full review on my return, off to board to New York.

If we were not getting married we would have left her with my parents.... As we are she wants to be there.

[VTECMatt]

Well we both said if we were to bring ours, think you are staying in the right place, enjoy

[Guffy]

We're leaving tomorrow for our first trip to Vegas, currently using an app to learn Craps

We're staying at the Mandorin Oriental for a week, but not seen any feedback on here about it.

I have a hanker to hire a V8 corvette for a day and drive to the GC as herself won't take a chopper (oo err), i realise it's desert, but are there any tourist attractions on the way? Otherwise i'm going to have trouble selling the idea if it's straight drive to the canyon and back.

[Sonic]

Yes the Hoover Dam is on the way and is pretty spectacular.

It's basically a 5-hour / 300 mile trip each way. If I was you I'd book that corvette for 2 days and do a mini road trip staying in Flagstaff or somewhere in the area.

Enterprise is basically $400/day all-in for a C7 Corvette Stingray which includes 150 miles and is $0.75 per mile extra.

[David Beer]

I have stayed many many times .. Only for two nights each time. My opinion the best in Vegas, in fact back there July 4/5. I always use hertz for Camaro SS convertable, got it 23 days this time.

[nigelonich]

If there is one 'MUST DO' it has to be a helicopter trip with picnic landing in the Grand Canyon.

You have to spend money in Vegas to get anything from it really.

Veags isnt for kids so take them somewhere else first.

[br d]

nigelonich said:

If there is one 'MUST DO' it has to be a helicopter trip with picnic landing in the Grand Canyon.

My partner is out there at the moment, she texted me an hour ago to say she had just booked up this very trip.

[Guffy]

We've booked a corvette stingray for tomorrow (Misses won't fly in chopper), trying to decide whether we do the following:

Drive between Hoover Dam, Lake Meade and Red Rock, spending an hour or two at each attraction

or

Visit the Hoover Dam for an hour in the morning, then a long drive to grand canyon national park for a few hours, then getting back to the strip for about 10pm (Think this would be about $900 all in factoring additional mileage and gas).

What say the PH Brethren?

Don't really want to stay at Flagstaff as we've already paid for a lovely hotel, (Not tight, just don't like wasting money )

[VTECMatt]

Last week it took me 5 hours to drive to the Hoover Dam, Lake Meade and Red Rocks with stop offs in the 650S, great route but think if I hadn't done the helicopter I would drive to the Canyon :up Just check on the hire agreement that you can use in both states I'm sure it is fine though.

Matt

[Super Slo Mo]

Guffy said:

We've booked a corvette stingray for tomorrow (Misses won't fly in chopper), trying to decide whether we do the following:

Drive between Hoover Dam, Lake Meade and Red Rock, spending an hour or two at each attraction

or

Visit the Hoover Dam for an hour in the morning, then a long drive to grand canyon national park for a few hours, then getting back to the strip for about 10pm (Think this would be about $900 all in factoring additional mileage and gas).

What say the PH Brethren?

Don't really want to stay at Flagstaff as we've already paid for a lovely hotel, (Not tight, just don't like wasting money )

$900 sounds a lot, it's less than 600 miles round trip and fuel is half the price of ours. However, it took us 13 hours to get there and back, although being on bikes we had to keep stopping to run around and warm up (and drink coffee). You're looking at around 5 hours each way in a car I reckon, although you'd want to break that up a bit just to stop it being too arduous. Grand Canyon at sunset is spectacular, but it'll get you back to the strip a bit too late I think. There's a relatively short walk along the top of the canyon that's worth doing, I wouldn't venture into the canyon itself as it's quite a tough walk, but more importantly, you'll end up sweaty and dirty, and it'll make for an uncomfortable return journey.

Having said that, either of your planned trips would be great.

[Guffy]

Now that was a fun day, didn't make it to the GC, but had a great time driving the Vette (Brand new!) between Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Fire Valley, what a noise it makes on full chat!!

[GreigM]

malks222 said:

Go somewhere else on holiday??

You see this repeated often about kids and vegas but couldn't disagree more. There is tons of stuff for kids to do and with a bit of sense you can easily fill their time. I would recommend a car hire though as Vegas is soooo much more than just the strip. I'm typing this in Vegas right now from a 5-bedroom house a 5 min drive from the strip that I'm renting for £65 a night. I'm here with wife and child under 5. Never had a problem getting alcohol at a meal. Remember Vegas is a city with a million people - there's all the facilities and amenities any normal city of this size would have for kids, and a lot more. For example:

All the strip attractions - fountains,volcano, gondola rides, good shopping, good food
Wet n Wild water park
Playpark, train ride and water fountains at Town Square
Downtown container park
Assorted municipal water parks(http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/Depts/parks/Services/pages/Aquatics.aspx)
Bodies exhibition
titanic exhibition
Hersheys world
Shark Reef
Secret Garden
Flamingo habitat
assorted waterfalls etc
the primm rides (log flume, rollercoaster), circus circus rides, stratosphere rides - all depending on age etc

and if they are old enough - lake meade, valley of fire, drag racing at lvms etc

add to that all the stuff that adults like to see all the colours, sites, sounds, lights are all very stimulating to kids - my 4 year old loves the colours and flowers in bellagio's conservatory, loves all the monorails he can get on and is best friends with the komodo dragon at shark reef. I just tend to hit the strip in the morning/early afternoon to avoid the crazies.

This time of year is good, its quieter and temps are ideal, it does get too hot in summer.

I don't drink (much), don't gamble, am here with the family and have a great time in Vegas.

[prand]

GreigM said:

You see this repeated often about kids and vegas but couldn't disagree more. There is tons of stuff for kids to do and with a bit of sense you can easily fill their time. I would
All the strip attractions - fountains,volcano, gondola rides, good shopping, good food
Wet n Wild water park
Playpark, train ride and water fountains at Town Square
Downtown container park
Assorted municipal water parks(http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/Depts/parks/Services/pages/Aquatics.aspx)
Bodies exhibition
titanic exhibition
Hersheys world
Shark Reef
Secret Garden
Flamingo habitat
assorted waterfalls etc
the primm rides (log flume, rollercoaster), circus circus rides, stratosphere rides - all depending on age etc

and if they are old enough - lake meade, valley of fire, drag racing at lvms etc

add to that all the stuff that adults like to see all the colours, sites, sounds, lights are all very stimulating to kids - my 4 year old loves the colours and flowers in bellagio's conservatory, loves all the monorails he can get on and is best friends with the komodo dragon at shark reef. I just tend to hit the strip in the morning/early afternoon to avoid the crazies.

Ha ha, these are all the things I'd leave the kids at home to get a break from! I'd be absolutely gutted going to Vegas and having to just do the above, then go back to the hotel room to watch movies when the kids went to bed. I'd be climbing the walls knowing I could be out blowing a chunk of cash on the blackjack and roulette tables, eating and drinking and partying to the early hours, then lying by the pool drinking cocktails until I felt up for more.

Hmmm, maybe it would work if you rang one of those nice ladies on the cards you are given to do some babysitting, they say they do room visits?

[mikey k]

Guffy said:

Now that was a fun day, didn't make it to the GC, but had a great time driving the Vette (Brand new!) between Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Fire Valley, what a noise it makes on full chat!!

That's me sold!
Time to plan a few weeks for next year or Autumn!