Las Vegas with Kids?

In the summer of 2013 we took a monster road trip vacation to visit tons of National Parks and some other places along the way.  Las Vegas, Nevada was a logical stopping point along our route.  I must admit though, I was not excited about it in the inital planning phase. I can understand the appeal of Las Vegas for adults, but we were taking a family vacation.  I was skeptical.  But it was the best place to stop and recharge for a couple of days along our journey, so I started my research.  It turns out that there really are a surprising number of things to do for families in and around Las Vegas.

We didn’t actually do most of the things on this list, so I can’t give you a first-hand guide ( like I prefer to do), but I thought that this was a helpful list for planning a trip to Las Vegas with kids:

Las Vegas with Kids :

If you want to spend some bucks -

• Indoor theme park with tons of rides - Adventuredome at the Circus Circus casino hotel
• Nevada’s largest waterpark – Wet n Wild Las Vegas
• Stratosphere Tower casino hotel has an observation tower and thrill rides (like free fall and a rollercoaster)
• Big Apple Roller Coaster and Arcade at the New York New York casino hotel
• Discovery Children’s Museum – a hands-on indoor museum for kids with lots of exhibits
• Gondola rides at the Venetian Hotel
• Red Rock Canyon – This is an easy drive away. We’ve done this before & I highly recommend it…beautiful
• Score! Interactive Sports Exhibit at the Luxor
• Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay
• Madame Tussauds wax museum
• Las Vegas Natural History Museum 
• Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage
• Seeing the views from the top of the Eiffel Tower 
• The Farm – animals and market
• Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion – at the Springs Preserve
• Tournament of Kings dinner show at the Excalibur
• There are many kid-friendly shows like the Blue Man Group
• Las Vegas Mini Grand Prix
• El Dorado Canyon Mine Tours

Free Things to do in Las Vegas with Kids :

• Mermaid Show and Aquarium at the Silverton Hotel and Casino
• M&Ms World Las Vegas - free unless you buy something!  This one we actually did do
• The fountains at Bellagio water show
• Ethel M Chocolates Factory Tour
• Town Square Children’s Park
• Volcano ‘eruptions’ at the Mirage
• Watch the magicians at Houdini’s Magic Shop
• Visit the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat

What we did in Las Vegas with the kids:

Our plan was to find a family-friendly resort hotel with a great pool & just swim for 2 days straight.  We had already been traveling for weeks, and doing lots of hiking and exploring.  We wanted a place to rest and recharge, so we chose to stay at the Tahiti Village (using AAdvantage miles), which is off of the strip (this was a positive for us with the kids).  It had a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and a separate bedroom and living room. There was also a huge pool AND a lazy river. The customer service at the hotel was awful, and I would never stay there again & would not recommend it, but it worked for our plans for relaxation and swimming.

Las Vegas with Kids!

We did visit the Las Vegas strip one evening & went to MGM.  We ate at the Rainforest Cafe, which is always a favorite with our kids. We also walked over to the M&Ms store (and bought a bunch of candy, naturally).  Our personal preference was that we didn’t want to expose our kids to too much of the Vegas strip at their ages.  I know that this is a controversial topic, as I read a ton of back and forth about it on various Tripadvisor forum threads. Lots of people feel very strongly about this.  We weren’t die-hard against it, but just felt it was the right decision for our family to avoid it. This is America, thankfully, and you have the right to choose what works best for your own family.

Las Vegas M&Ms Store!

Have fun in Las Vegas with your kids!