Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!

How to Vacation in Vegas with Kids!

When I told people that I was moving to Las Vegas (with kids) most people looked at me like I was crazy. I also had some others tell me how much they hate Las Vegas and how repulsed they are by it. The truth is, I have grown to love this place and all the hidden treasures it offers for quality entertainment. I can understand that if you were traveling to Vegas with no plans and put yourself at the mercy of Las Vegas Blvd, you may leave feeling like you had a negative experience, but the truth is, it can be great if you have a plan and a list of what you want to do while you are here.

One of my sister in law’s (Heidi) friends is planning a trip to Las Vegas for Spring Break and has children that range in ages and was looking for some “family friendly” tips. As I was telling Heidi some of my ideas, she mentioned that this might make for a great blog post because there are always people looking for how to do family vacations in places such as Vegas. The truth is, Las Vegas definitely has activities and “visuals” that may not be family friendly, but the trick is having a plan, and going to Las Vegas Boulevard with a purpose and an itinerary. There really are a great deal of activities and things to do in and around Las Vegas Boulevard and the weather is beautiful 95 percent of the time so you can count on some warmth and sunshine!

Hotels & Accommodations

First and foremost, regardless of where you stay, one of the greatest perks of Vegas is that the parking at the casinos is FREE. Yes, you read that right, FREE. The casinos want you to come inside and spend money so they lure you in by allowing you to park in their spacious garage for FREE (fabuless!). If you have the willpower (or complete inability to gamble and make any money) like myself, this is really a great perk! I love parking at the Cosmopolitan or Aria because they have really neat modern lots that tell you how many spots are open on each floor on a computer screen so you aren't racing around and obnoxiously screeching your tires at 5 mph trying to find a spot. Parking is plentiful in Vegas!

In terms of where you are going to sleep...there are a ton of hotels in Las Vegas. I would recommend more of the newer hotels at the south end of the strip. If you stay at hotels like Circus Circus, the Harrahs, etc. you are more in party central. If you have kids, it can be overwhelming and there might be moments where you want to blindfold them☺ If I was traveling to Vegas with kids, to be honest, I wouldn’t stay on the strip. My absolute favorite hotel for off the strip is Green Valley Ranch. This hotel is very pretty, located across the street from an outdoor shopping mall, and has a great pool. The pool has a beach sand entrance which is GREAT for kids and is honestly, just awesome. If you aren’t staying here but want to go here for a day with the kids, you can pay $20.00 per adult and use the pool facilities which will get two kids in with you under the age of 12 and $10.00 to use towards the outdoor grill while you are there. If you do stay here and it happens to be summer, make sure to check out the outdoor mall across the street, they have movies on the lawn in the summer, which is super fun for the kids and adults! They also have some fun shops, live music, and some other fun restaurants such as Elephant Bar, P.F. Changs, Cheesecake Factory, and Settebello.

Green Valley Ranch Resort

On a side note, most of the hotels make you have a room key to use their pool. If there is a hotel on the strip that you want to check out for their pool facilities, call ahead and ask what you can do to use the pool. Most of them offer a plan where you can pay for the day. I will warn you that you will see it all when you are at the pool so if you have young boys (or girls) and want to shield them a little bit, Green Valley Ranch will be your better option – it is a little more family friendly.

Shopping
Town Square
Town Square is a really nice outdoor shopping center at the South end of Las Vegas Blvd – they have fun restaurants, great shopping, and a cute outdoor play area for kids. Our favorite is to let the kids play and/or ride the little train and then head over to Yogurtland next to Old Navy for dessert. In the summertime the play area can get crowded, but it does have a splash pad which the kids all love. Right outside of the play area is a grass area which is great for a little afternoon picnic and hanging out watching the airplanes fly over your head (the airport is really close by).

The Premium Outlets
Just off of the strip on the side where the stratosphere is (the North end) – they have great outlet shops and it is an outdoor mall. If you are going to go, I would go in the morning because it gets really busy and crowded in the late afternoon and evening.

The Forum Shops
In Caesar’s Palace – all high end shops but fun to walk through. There is a huge H&M if you like that store (one of my favorites to browse). There is also a huge fish tank outside of the Nike store which is convenient if you want to shop for running clothes (like myself) and let your husband hang outside with the kids ☺

The Sugar Factory
There are two different locations for the Sugar Factory in Las Vegas. This place is great if you have girls – of all ages. It is exactly what you picture a candy store should look like – and there is a restaurant attached to it if you want to grab lunch as a family. This candy store is a stop for every celebrity who passes through Vegas so there are lots of celebrity photos in the store as well as signature lollipop holders (kind of expensive, but cute).

Activities
Shows
There are a ton of really great shows in Las Vegas. One of my favorites is the Terry Fator – All Hits/No Lips show. It really is entertaining and a clean show. I think there is an age restriction (such as no children under the age of five) but if you have older children and want to do a show, I would recommend this one – very entertaining! Note – the theatres at most of the shows are NOT large so you don’t have to buy the best seats to get a good view. You could have the back row and still feel like you have one of the best seats in the house. Keep this in mind when looking to purchase your seats. The Cirque shows are all also great and very entertaining – if you are coming with the kids, stay away from Zumanity – it is the exotic sensual side of the Cirque de Soleil shows☺

Pre-photo of the theatre of Le Reve at The Wynn Hotel

When you are on Las Vegas Blvd, look for little kiosks that offer “show tickets for tonight” or discount tickets. These are reliable and can provide great discounts to the sometimes overpriced shows.

The Springs Preserve
The Springs Preserve is a fun little place off of the strip (very close by) that offers a little bit of learning and outdoor adventure for kids. You can bring kids of all ages to The Springs Preserve because they have a great deal of activities that all kids will enjoy. There are reptiles, a fox, bunnies, etc. to view outside and then they have an indoor space center where kids over the age of 5 can ride on a space ride. They also have computers setup where they can make their own spaceship (perfect for the older kids in your group). There is a cute playground with sand and a train to play on as well as reptile bones to dig for - my boys were in heaven here! There are great areas to sit around the outdoor park where you can bring in a picnic lunch. There is a cafe that offers decent meal choices for both kids and adults with salads, sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit, etc. If you know you want to go more than one day to this park you may want to look at buying the annual pass, could save you money. Kids under the age of five are free - well worth it if you have younger ones!

Red Rock Canyon
Red Rock Canyon is amazing and worth doing with the kids. There is a children’s trail that takes about 45 minutes usually and is fun to do – I have a three year old and four year old and they love it. It is about 20 minutes from the strip. The children’s trail goes up to a little natural waterfall and the kids love it. Take the time to walk through the visitor center with the kids. There is a panoramic window which really captures the beauty of Red Rock and there are a few lizards and exhibits for kids inside that both of my boys have always seemed to enjoy.

Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam is out towards Boulder City. With young ones I wouldn’t do the tour because it may be too much but it is fun to drive out to and take some great pictures. If you have a car with you or are renting a car, it is worth taking the trip. Once you finish at Boulder City. Park on the Main Street in Boulder City and explore this cute little town. It will amaze you that a little piece of old town America exists so close to the Las Vegas strip. One of our favorite activities is walking through the antique shops and stopping to get candy at the Candy Store. If you do Hoover Dam on a Saturday or Sunday, look up the Boulder City train before you go. They take rides throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday and the boys love it. The McDonalds across the street is really nice and has a great play area if you are looking for a quick lunch after the train☺

Bootleg Canyons Flight line
We haven’t done this yet but it is on the list. If you are going to venture out to Boulder City for the Hoover Dam, look up the Bootleg Canyons Flight line. They offer an amazing zip line experience which I have heard amazing things about.

Lake Mead
Also out near Boulder City is Lake Mead. If you go into Lake Mead, ask for directions to the docks and bring along a cheap bag of popcorn, bread or crackers. My kids love to stand on the dock and feed the "carp" fish. Hundreds of them will come to the surface and it is pretty incredible to watch!

Mandalay Bay
The Shark Reef Aquarium is a great place for kids. I will say that it is not huge and you can walk through it pretty quickly, but if you have young boys or kids interested in sharks, it is worth doing. There is an exhibit where they can touch the stingrays and the main shark-viewing tank is at the end and looks like a sunken ship. My boys stay in that room for about an hour just running from window to window. As locals, we bought an annual pass, which was definitely worth the money for us. Children ages 4 and under are free so keep that in mind if you are deciding if it is worth the money.

Vegas Indoor Skydiving
My husband did this when we were in Orlando (I am starting to think he has all the fun as I am writing this!) He loved it and it was one of the highlight events of his trip. They offer the same experience here in Las Vegas and children are able to do it as well (with age restrictions). This could be a great afternoon activity to get you out of the heat or change it up a bit.

Exhibits
At the Luxor, the have the Bodies & Titanic Exhibit. These also cost money but are great for older kids – they are very educational and interesting. Always fun to throw a little hidden education into your Spring Break, right?

Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Not far from Las Vegas Blvd is the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year for father’s day, I bought my husband a ride along in one of the racecars. This was super fun for my husband and my kids enjoyed watching. A great gift for the thrill seeker in your life☺ They do have packages that you can buy so if it is something you are interested in doing, make sure to look it up ahead of time and get it on the schedule so you don’t miss out!

Coca Cola Factory
This is one of our favorite things to do when we have company come into town We go upstairs and buy the tray of different Coke from around the world and try the different flavors and then we usually share a cherry coke float because they are HUGE. It is fun to watch people squirm when they take a swig of the less delightful flavors☺

M&M World
Kids all love it and it is next door to the Coca Cola Factory. It is basically just a giant M&M store☺ It is a great place if you are looking for a quick gift to bring back for children or a friend.

The Fountains at the Bellagio
We usually park at the Bellagio and watch the fountain show and then go inside and see the conservatory and how it is decorated. They change the decorations each month so if you have seen it once, go see it again. It is beautiful and is always changing. My favorite is the fall because it smells like pumpkin and is decorated like a beautiful fall harvest. Living in the desert, I miss the leaves changing in the fall but the Bellagio fills that void a little bit for me☺ Behind the conservatory there is a little bakery where they have really delicious crepes and other desserts and it also showcases the worlds largest chocolate fountain which is fun to see.

Roller Coaster at New York New York
There is a height restriction so usually it is kids ages 10 and older that are allowed to ride but my nephew went when he was in town and he LOVED it.

Characters on the Strip
If you just walk down the strip – usually by M&M World and Harley Davidson, there are always lots of characters on the strip such as Transformers, Hello Kitty, etc. They do like to be tipped if you take a picture so we usually watch from a distance☺

Dining
Go on Restaurant.com before you come to Vegas and if you have a Smartphone use the application on your phone so that you don’t have to print off the coupons. Restaurant.com allows you to purchase gift cards to restaurants on the strip (and throughout the country). Most will advertise that you pay $10.00 for a $25.00 gift card (off of a purchase of $50.00 or more). Before purchasing, google restaurant.com promo codes and you can usually get that $25.00 gift card for as low as $2.00. Recently, we went on a date night to Strip Steak at Mandalay Bay and paid $4.00 for a $50.00 gift card off of a bill of $100.00. Our bill came out right about that, and we left only being responsible for half of the check - something many visitors are unaware of - very rarely do you SAVE money when you are in Vegas:) We get a lot of great deals for restaurants in Vegas and you will save a lot of money.

Eating with kids can be tricky on the strip because a lot of the restaurants are either fancy or super expensive – some fun options include:

Town Square (different restaurants that are family friendly like California Pizza Kitchen)

Cosmopolitan Hotel – there is a pizza place with New York Style pizza that is really good. You will have to ask someone at the hotel where it is because it is supposed to be a “secret”. Also at the Cosmopolitan there is Holsteins which is a semi upscale burger place with great milkshakes – it is fun and low key. It gets a little loud at night because the club is outside of the restaurant but that is one of our favorites.

Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Milkshake (without the alcohol)

Hash House a Go Go (in Imperial Palace) – great breakfast place but the portions are HUGE so plan to share. There is a Restaurant.com coupon for this restaurant right now.

(this was the kid's menu bacon waffle - it was huge!)

Luvit Ice Cream – There is a homemade custard place that is kind of a “locals only” place because no one knows about it. It is right next to the stratosphere and is cash only. I will warn you that it isn’t the greatest surroundings but it is delicious. If you are going to go, don’t walk there, make sure you drive because it will seem a little “shady” but it is worth going and so yummy!

Serendipity 3
This restaurant is cute and fun with the kids – lunch hour is much better than dinner hour because it usually is a very long wait at night. The portions are huge and the prices are mediocre so if you have kids, encourage them to share. It will be more than enough.

Rainforest Café
There is a rainforest café inside of the MGM Grand Hotel. I remember being little and begging my parents to wait for two hours so that we could eat at the Rainforest Café in Tysons Corner. I can’t believe how mesmerized I was by the place, but all kids seem to love it.

In n Out Burger
I was 99.9% vegetarian until I was introduced to In n Out Burger. It is still the only burger that I will eat and not only will I eat it, I crave it. There is an In n Out Burger close by the strip. If you haven’t had it, try it, you will love it. If you have had it, go fulfill the craving – it is THAT good!

Eating off the Strip
There are a lot of places not far from the strip if you are willing to venture off a little bit. We live in Henderson and we have a lot of the usual restaurants as other states out west. Some of our favorites are: Five Guys, Café Rio, Panera Bread, etc.

Around Las Vegas
I have been amazed by the parks in Henderson/Las Vegas. Before traveling here, if you know you are going to go off the strip at all, take some time to go through the Clark County website and look up some of the local parks and trails. They really do have amazing facilities and my kids play for hours and hours without getting bored.

For more family friend tips and information or discounts on shows and attractions, check out Vegas.com. This is a great go to reliable source. There are a lot of sites out there that offer ticket discounts but I am not sure which ones are trusted.

If you are planning to travel to Las Vegas with kids and have any questions, please feel free to contact me – I would be happy to help!

sincerely fabuless, Las Vegas.