Las Vegas Family Vacation Ideas & Discounts?

[jwalk03]

We are taking our kids (11 & 6) to Las Vegas for their Spring Break in March. My wife and I have only been to Vegas once and this was without kids. We have a 3-BR exchange for Marriott Grand Chateau.

Looking for suggestions on things that will be fun for the kids to do. Any shows you would recommend?

I know in Branson there is the purple building with 1/2 price tickets I learned about from TUG. Anything like that with Vegas ticket discounts?

We are going to take a day trip over to Death Valley National Park for sure, and likely a day over to Lake Meade as well. (We are big national park visitors so that is always a goal on trips.)

 

[jwalk03]

Were also big Hell's Kitchen fans so we are going to eat there. Any other restaurant recommendations? (Hopefully ones that are cheaper than HK!)

 

[TheHolleys87]

DH and I don’t like cities or smoky casinos, so when we visited Las Vegas some years ago (with my sister and her husband, to see Beatles Love) we looked for things to do away from the Strip. (We did watch the Bellagio fountains dance, visit the M&M store, and ride the roller coaster in New York, New York.) We enjoyed our visits to the following, which may or may not appeal to your kids:

Home

Ready to explore the history of nuclear testing & its impact on popular culture? Visit the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas today.

www.atomicmuseum.vegas

Red Rock Canyon | Las Vegas, Nevada

Red Rock Canyon features a one-way 13-mile scenic drive, a Visitor Center offering information and interpretation about recreation opportunities, hiking and trails, wildlife, vegetation, geology, cultural resources and much more.

www.redrockcanyonlv.org

Valley of Fire State Park | State Parks

A geologic wonderland, world-renowned Valley of Fire has 2,000 year old petroglyphs carved into massive red sandstone formations in the Mohave Desert. These stunning and unique sandstone formations were formed from shifting sand dunes 150 million years ago.

parks.nv.gov

 

[sue1947]

another vote for Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire. We also did Death Valley as a long, but doable, day trip.
For Valley of Fire, take the more scenic route past Lake Mead vs the freeway.
Red Rock had a very robust activities program of walks etc. Check to see what is currently offered.

 

[mzd6socal]

A few places we enjoy -
Pinball Hall of Fame
Ethlel M Chocalate
El Dorado Canyon

 

[davidvel]

Not sure when you were last in Vegas, but the strip is not the best environment for kids. (Unless your kids enjoy seeing barely dressed women, strung out addicts, and being handed pamphlets with ads for strippers and hookers.) I would look at things out of Vegas proper as some have suggested. Don't get me wrong I've been to Vegas hundreds of times, and am going in a few weeks, just didn't want you to be caught off guard.

 

[Passepartout]

See Hoover Dam- if you want the tour, go EARLY! It's FCFS and they stop giving them out when elevator capacity is reached. Bellagio conservatory is good. Fremont St. Experience is fun, but might be a bit adult for the 6 y.o. The older one will see worse on TV.
There are TKTS booths with discount Tix, but they only sell vouchers, so that means going to the venue to get the real tickets at the box office. PITA with parking as it is

Definitely go to Red Rock Canyon. Death valley is meh.

The kiddos might get more from the resort pool than L V. itself.

Look up museums that are open. There is one place with old Vegas neon signs. It was kinda cool to me.

Lots of cool stuff off the Strip. Lots of uncool stuff on it.

Jim

 

[DaveNV]

Vegas.com and vegas4locals.com have less expensive tickets to shows. They often have on-the-day tickets for cheap.

Any Cirque du Soleil show is worth seeing. There are several to see in LV. I think "O" and KA would appeal most to younger kids. https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/las-...Qna6UkI77wXxP1kSSpIz9YMDf4J3BSfkaAtqSEALw_wcB

If your kids like magic, check out Shin Lim's show. He's incredible. Do not (repeat DO NOT!!) waste time or money on David Copperfield. Huge disappointment. We went with friends a few months ago, and it was absolutely THE worst magic show I've ever seen. He needs to retire - now!

The Neon Museum is pretty cool - go at night. https://www.neonmuseum.org/

New York New York casino has a roller coaster and such. https://newyorknewyork.mgmresorts.com/en/entertainment/the-big-apple-coaster-and-arcade.html

And if you have really deep pockets (and nerves of steel) the top of The Stratosphere has rides that will scare the hell out of you. https://thestrat.com/attractions/sk...S_0IfESS7gGXKv0ItjQ0__6oERkXBfPsaAtKkEALw_wcB

Valley of Fire is amazing - great hiking, and an easy drive from Las Vegas. Totally great for kids. https://parks.nv.gov/parks/valley-of-fire

Dave

 

[Luanne]

We love Cirque shows. One of our favorites, have seen it at least two times, is "Mystere". I was kind of overwhelmed with "O". We also saw the Beatles "Love" but that is my least favorite.

 

[DaveNV]

I'd rethink Death Valley. It's cool to drive through if its on the way, but otherwise is not so great. A long distance to get there, just to have the kids say, "Is that all there is?"

Dave

 

[Krteczech]

There is several hotels and casinos with indoor aquariums. Some are free and fun for both, children and grownups. I recall Siverton Casino free aquarium. Also, long drive, but interesting place Cathedral Gorge State Park.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Not sure when you were last in Vegas, but the strip is not the best environment for kids. (Unless your kids enjoy seeing barely dressed women, strung out addicts, and being handed pamphlets with ads for strippers and hookers.) I would look at things out of Vegas proper as some have suggested. Don't get me wrong I've been to Vegas hundreds of times, and am going in a few weeks, just didn't want you to be caught off guard.

@davidvel , I agree with you. Taking young kids to Vegas isn't a very good fit. It can be made to work, but it still isn't a terribly good fit.

Hiking the Valley of Fire and Red Rock are wholesome things, but the 6 year old may find it challenging to keep up with the family or may have to be carried. If the kids were a little older, I'd suggest the Mob Museum, the Atomic Energy Museum and the Shelby Cobra museum (free). But, again, the 6 year old may not find it too interesting and the parents would want to read some of the plaques to explain what the exhibits are about. Perhaps there is a water park that would be fun - - but that depends on having warm weather. Tahiti Village has a nice lazy river that is fun for kids, when the mgmt. decides to keep the water temp up to the temps that they advertise on the internet. Maybe a person can get a day-pass to TV for the kids.

Somethings that the kids may enjoy: water show at Bellagio, Circus Circus acts, the High Rolller, Pen and Teller (or other) magic act. I looked at the Marriott GC activities and most seem to be geared towards an adult audience. But I know that they do have an activities area for kids and might have a few juvenile activities.

 

[PigsDad]

Does your family like to golf? There is a Topgolf only a block away from Marriott Grand Chateau and is a fun, family-friendly activity. And even if the kids have never swung a club, it is a fun activity of trying something new.

Kurt

 

[b2bailey]

There is an excellent Children's Discovery Museum that your 6 year old would love if the 11 year old could tolerate.

 

[Passepartout]

There is an excellent Children's Discovery Museum that your 6 year old would love if the 11 year old could tolerate.

+1 on this! We took the youngish grands and had the most trouble getting their great Grandpa out of the place!

 

[JerseyDeb]

I'd rethink the day trip to Death Valley. Hubby and I did that from Vegas a few years ago. It's a very long drive. Plus the park is so large you will still have a ton of driving once you get to the entrance. The distances between must see points in the park are significant. We only scratched the surface in a day. We left our resort super early and returned very late. The roads there are pretty remote and I wasn't comfortable driving back in the dark.

I'd second Valley of Fire and Red Rock. Much closer and beautiful. A day trip to either will not wipe you out from a long drive. If you really want to do a National Park Zion is closer than Death Valley. We did a day trip there from Vegas on one trip.

Hoover Dam was also a nice trip. Hubby is an engineer so it was a must see for him. I found the tour fascinating too.

Whatever you do enjoy the family trip!

 

[DaveNV]

We also saw the Beatles "Love" but that is my least favorite.

We saw Love when it first started, and it was great. Took my sister two years ago, and they've completely reworked it - and it wasn't nearly as good. Still the same music, and a lot of the same props, but the storyline has been altered. It used to be a kind of progression of The Beatles' story - now it's a disconnected hodgepodge of things. I doubt I'd pay to see it again.

Dave

 

[Luanne]

We saw Love when it first started, and it was great. Took my sister two years ago, and they've completely reworked it - and it wasn't nearly as good. Still the same music, and a lot of the same props, but the storyline has been altered. It used to be a kind of progression of The Beatles' story - now it's a disconnected hodgepodge of things. I doubt I'd pay to see it again.

Dave

What made Love our least favorite was that it seemed to focus on the music (which is great) rather than the acts. We have seen most of the traveling shows and also saw Corteo, one of the permanent shows in Orlando. To date my favorites are still Alegria, which was the first show we saw, and Mystere. But so many wonderful ones.

 

[DaveNV]

What made Love our least favorite was that it seemed to focus on the music (which is great) rather than the acts. We have seen most of the traveling shows and also saw Corteo, one of the permanent shows in Orlando. To date my favorites are still Alegria, which was the first show we saw, and Mystere. But so many wonderful ones.

Since "Love" and even "One: The Michael Jackson Story" are Cirque shows about named people, I'd expect the shows to be different than a typical Cirque show. (We loved Allegria, and all the other traveling shows we've seen, clear back to La Nouba, the permanent show at the old Downtown Disney in Orlando, a million years ago.) What ruined Love for me was there was no cohesive storyline anymore. It was ONLY about the music, and activity on the stage related to that. (Maybe that was the version you saw?) Definitely not as good as it was originally.

Dave

 

[Luanne]

Since "Love" and even "One: The Michael Jackson Story" are Cirque shows about named people, I'd expect the shows to be different than a typical Cirque show. (We loved Allegria, and all the other traveling shows we've seen, clear back to La Nouba, the permanent show at the old Downtown Disney in Orlando, a million years ago.) What ruined Love for me was there was no cohesive storyline anymore. It was ONLY about the music, and activity on the stage related to that. (Maybe that was the version you saw?) Definitely not as good as it was originally.

Dave

It was La Nouba we saw in Orlando. We may have seen Corteo somewhere else. There have been so many. We saw Love a pretty long time ago, maybe 10 years?

 

[DaveNV]

@jwalk03 This is from the Vegas.com ticket site, received this morning.

https://view.email.vegas.com/?qs=08b473ce3c518010e83c99fcf9fe321ea6d09813492a123c595cc6e56a04a85e5685defc3d9098141c3717c75f94d4f603700f8faf0d61e8

Dave

 

[ScoopKona]

Looking for suggestions on things that will be fun for the kids to do. Any shows you would recommend?

We are going to take a day trip over to Death Valley National Park for sure, and likely a day over to Lake Meade as well. (We are big national park visitors so that is always a goal on trips.)

1) Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay is great for children. It's the only predator-only aquarium in the country.
2) Death Valley should be full of wildflowers this spring, thanks to the massive (for the area) amount of rain.
3) Lake Mead isn't worth your time -- it's almost dried up and there isn't much to see. I'd skip it and find something more scenic. (Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon, etc.)

I've worked at roughly half the restaurants on the Strip. And pretty-much every steak house. Las Vegas does two things well: 1) Ridiculously expensive, high-end, best-of-the-best-ingredients fine dining; and 2) cheap hole-in-the-wall off-the-strip ethnic food joints.

I much prefer the latter. Anyone can make foie gras and actual Kobe beef taste great. Takes no effort at all. I much prefer the holes-in-the wall that serve grandma Chang/Rodriguez/Pho/Chutima's dishes.

 

[BennyBoy00]

We did a tour that went through the Nelson Ghost Town, into a mining cave, and then a motorized raft trip upriver from Nelsons Landing to Willow Beach on the colorado river. That was an amazing trip and we even saw bighorn sheep on the side of the cliffs.

You can also find tours that will launch either a motorized raft, kayaks or canoes at the Hoover dam giving you an awesome view from the bottom of the dam and then take you down river to Willow Beach. If you're adventurous, you could rent a boat or kayak at willow beach and explore up or down river from there. Willow beach to Emerald Cave is 2 miles upstream from willow beach in a kayak and you can take the kayak into the cave for some really cool light effects at certain times of day.

 

[jwalk03]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! Now I need to plan something!!

 

[nomadio]

Hi @ScoopKona. Re your comment: I much prefer the holes-in-the wall that serve grandma Chang/Rodriguez/Pho/Chutima's dishes. Anywhere in particular?

@jwalk03, we are taking our kids for spring break also (11 and 14). Thank you for starting this thread.