Viva Las Vegas, with kids?

Believe it or not, Frommer's Guide (the travel expert series) has a book called Frommer's Las Vegas with Kids
(you can do a title search on www.amazon.com and find it). We planned an entire week's worth of vacation there 2 years ago with 3 kids and we had a great time.

We also stayed at the Luxor with two adjoining suites and the kids had their own room (the doors between the suites made it like a 2 bedroom apt).

Aside from my recommendation to avoid the Treasure Island show (which was way too sexy for our kids), so long as you plan accordingly, you can have a lot of fun.

There are a lot of deals in Vegas during the summer months because it is so hot. As Arizonans, we usually tolerate it well, though.

Here's another saving grace - Ethel M's one and only chocolate factory is located just outside of Vegas (again, something we found in the book).

While moving along the strip, just keep yourselves on the tram as long as possible.

Good luck!

Mouse_tales is a discussion leader in the East Valley for arizonamoms.com. She spends most of her days juggling her duties as a mom, wife, and business owner. Her three little kittens range in age from 4 to 13.

I'll agree with Mouse Tales that there really is a lot for a family to do while in Vegas. We went for a week at Thanksgiving at weren't at a loss for things to do the entire time. We also never gambled and we don't smoke (though we probably did from the 2nd hand that week the few times we actually stepped into a casino). We stayed at Circus Circus (would choose a newer hotel next time, the smoke free floor had so many years of smoking in it, the smell will NEVER come out), and had we wanted to, we could have taken the kids to the indoor amusement park there, or to see the circus acts...we just never got around to it.

The day trip to Hoover Dam, Ethel M's, and Lake Mead were wonderful. We spent an entire day at a state park just outside of Vegas (Red Rock I think), hiking, scrambling over rocks, etc... There's also an Atomic Testing Museum that chronicles the history of nuclear reactions and the Nevada Proving Grounds. It's not for everyone, definitely educational both scientifically and historically, a partner with Smithsonian, but it has some very somber and emotional areas (at least for me).

There are two museums in N. Las Vegas, a children's museum and a Natural Science museum...both can be seen in a little over half a day.

Of course, there are the MGM Lions, the M&M store, the fish tanks in the lobby of and the zoo at the Mirage, somewhere there's a huge aquarium, the fountains at the Bellagio, NYNY, the Volcano, and the canals at the Venetian.

Our children were 4 and 9 at the time. I do understand the concerns about the scantily clad women. We did NOT go to the TI show for that reason. We instructed our son (the 9-yr old) not to take any papers he was handed. We tried riding the monorail, but found that it really wasn't all that convenient to get from the stops to the actual Strip and attractions. We never tried the tram, but vowed to the next time we "do" Vegas.

A great book that I found helpful (in addition to the Frommer's mentioned) is "The Everything Family Guide to Las Vegas" by Jason Rich...I got mine at Borders.

I'm sure this is more than you bargained for with your post, but family travel is my passion.

Enjoy!

Laurie is a work at home mom of two elementary aged children in West Mesa. She loves to travel, take pictures, and read (when there's time).

I have taken my kids to Vegas a couple of times. There is a lot of kid friendly things for them to do there now a days. We didn't cruise the strip with my kids, but we took them to Circus Circus (circus shows and amusement area), The M & M Factory (and a couple of the other retail stores) and we stayed at the Monte Carlo that has a wave pool and a lazy river. We brought a sitter so we could do "adult" things without their watchful eyes. I think as long as you are cautious and don't point out all the bad, kids don't notice what you don't show displeasurement with. After the last time we were there, my son got upset that the next 2 times I went with out him. He liked the fun things we attended!

"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."

My kids LOVE Vegas! They are 4 and 6.
We took them for 2 days over Spring Break on the way up to Park City, UT to ski. And again, 3 wks later for a weekend when my husband had a conference out at Lake Las Vegas.

The Hoover Dam was a great stop along the way. They love that. Especially in the winter when as you keep walking back across the time changes!!

Both times they loved going to Bellagio. We watched several fountain shows, and they liked the conservatory indoors w/ the lovely flowers even more (we spent an hour in there!). Like the restaurant in Bellagio - the casual one. One plate of chicken fingers was HUGE, enough for all 3 of us and only $8. Plus, it overlooked the conservatory.

We spent almost 3 hours at Mandalay Bay's Aquarium. We caughter several trapezee and acrobatic shows at Circus Circus. We even went over to Luxor, talked about the great pyramids, caught an IMAX movie, and then simply walked (indoors, through a mall) to Mandalay Bay to go to the Aquarium. Oh, and we also enjoyed an hour wandering rhrough the gardens at the Flamingo and seeing the fishes and flamingos there.

5 days in total, and the only thing we paid for was the aquarium and the IMAX show. Everything else was free!

But the BEST thing was going to the Lied Children's Museum on the strip, just north of Stratosphere. AMAZING! Oh, and FREE....b/c we are members of the AZ Science Center and just showed that membership card. We spent an entire morning there and the kids were captivated. Located in the same building as the city's public library.

Honestly, my kids never even noticed the placards or signs....except the one for the Blue Man Group - that they kept pointing out and want to go see next time we are in town. I have friends who've taken kids to that show and said their kids LOVED it!

Happy2BMommy, is a stay-at-home mom who just turned 40 (argh!) with a 7 yr. old daughter and a 5 yr. old son, and is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Scottsdale.