things to do in Vegas with children

[ronconcoke]

Hello, we are going to Las Vegas for 10 days in August (I know, it will be HOT!) to stay with family and I was just looking for any ideas of things we could do with our 5 yo (soon to be 6) DS. (We also have a 4 month old baby.) I've heard there's an aquarium and we will visit Hoover dam/lake Mead, the Grand Canyon etc but not sure what else? Thanks in advance

You're right it is going to be damn hot there in August. (It was 97 degrees F at 9.40am the last time I was there at that time of year).

Has your family made any suggestions?.

The aquarium you write of is at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino. I would also suggest you ride the LINQ which is Vegas's version of the London Eye. There is also the Las Vegas natural history museum and the Childrens Park at the Las Vegas Town Square.

Circus Circus has Adventuredome, a theme park, as well as circus acts. I'm going to Vegas in August too. Can't wait!

Siegfried & Roy's secret garden at The Mirage, top of Eiffel Tower, Linq high roller, aquarium at Mandalay Bay, gondola ride at The Venetian. There are Flamingos in The Flamingo, Circus Acts in Circus Circus, a kids area in Excalibur (although I haven't been there so don't know what it's like). There's a beach at Mandalay Bay too although I'm not sure if it's just for hotel guests.

We love Vegas, you'll have a fab time!

Great, thanks all - some good ideas here! I can't wait either....!

Excalibur is great for kids, shows, fairground type stalls, games etc.

Ours liked the bus tour, the Area 51 museum and the gangster museum. And just relaxing in the pool.

Pool at the Mandalay is for hotel guests only. Orleans has a (not free but not expensive )crèche. Never done Madam Tusards waxworks , some kids love the Bellagio fountains especially at night and the Bellagio conservatory is worth a walk through .
Make sure you buy water before hitting the Strip you'll need it.

I've stayed in Mandalay Bay...it was fabulous.

Got a fake beach with loads of sand too www.mandalaybay.com/en/amenities/beach.html

Can you try to stay there?

Hi ronconcoke,
We love Vegas and have taken our DS there whilst aged 10 months and 5 years, he loves it!!!!! Red Rock Canyon is worth a visit (straight out Charlston) and horse riding is an option at small town of Blue Diamond, when you are out there with Cowboys, the bright lights of LV strip seem a million miles away! Hoover Dam is worth a visit albeit will be very warm walking over as Vegas I believe is having a extreme heat wave at moment. If your son loves dinosaurs a few hours drive north can visit St George Dinosaur Discovery Site in Utah for dinosaur footprints which were discovered few years ago whilst farmer digging fields. Whilst there we were invited behind the scenes by guy restoring fossils and my DS got to touch a zillion year old fossil, definitely highlight of his holiday! On way back can visit Valley of Fire State park also. Agree with posters above re Mandalay Bay aquarium. We also visited Boneyard museum downtown which have all old signage and lighting from historic hotels. Downtown ceiling show at Freemont Street is free and worth a visit. Are you staying with friends or at hotel? Either way a swimming pool is chance for little ones to cool down and we found early morning hotel pool empty. Hope this helps, we are back in Vegas in October and can't wait!!!

Thanks for the responses! We are staying in a rented house with a pool, luckily. The dinosaur footprints and Gangster museum sound right up DS' street. We are also planning to drive to the Grand Canyon one day but thinking of leaving the DC behind as think journey will be too long and it will all be too hot for them? I'm BF DD but may just have to pump and dump that day....!

It's quite a long drive to Grand Canyon south rim
but if you haven't been before it's good to see and tick off your bucket list. Alternatively we once took my parents (pre DS) on a dawn helicopter ride from Vegas which landed down in Grand Canyon for lovely champagne breakfast. Alternatively if you do drive to south rim you can pick up a reasonably priced helicopter ride into canyon. Having a rented house (with pool) will be amazing. Means somedays the strip will seem like a million miles away!

Have lunch at the stratosphere

Even with a pool you will find that it's too hot to really be outside. We went in August and I remember the heat sucking the moisture from my eyes. We didn't use any pools it was too hot. But there are plenty indoor things to do at the various hotels and even the taxi queues are air conditioned.