The Other Side of Vegas

Quote: JohnnyQ

Wiz:

While I think I understand your point of view.....

I think it all depends on the attitude of the parents. If you want
to have a nice & enjoyable family vacation, and your focus is
on your kids, Las Vegas can be a great destination.

Great post. There are lots of family activities (and many that are free) in Vegas. The problem for teens, is what will they do on the next trip? As wonderful as "M&M World" is, it's not so wonderful the second time. Even, the Bellagio fountains, that in my opinion, are the single most amazing "free" thing in Las Vegas, aren't drawing the crowds they used to. Although there were plenty of folks walking on the sidewalk, there were still plenty of open spots on the rail during the show, even on a warm spring Saturday night.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I feel sorry for teens in Las Vegas. They are perceived as, and treated like, a nuisance; instead of the future casino patrons that they really are.

Shopping? While teens may spend a lot of time hanging out at the mall, that's because they are their with their friends, hanging out together. And fine dining? What teen enjoys that?

JohnnyQ's list is good, but most are good only as family vacation activities. How many teens would want to do any of that stuff on their own?

Quote: teddys

I think you have to be at least 45 to appreciate the wonder that is Gold Coast buffet. (I am not that age yet but sometimes I feel like I share the same mentality). The Imperial buffet unequivocally sucks.

Teddy, the best part of the Gold Coast buffet is it cheesy name: Ports O Call

I, too, enjoy the spread there.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Great post. There are lots of family activities (and many that are free) in Vegas. The problem for teens, is what will they do on the next trip? As wonderful as "M&M World" is, it's not so wonderful the second time. Even, the Bellagio fountains, that in my opinion, are the single most amazing "free" thing in Las Vegas, aren't drawing the crowds they used to. Although there were plenty of folks walking on the sidewalk, there were still plenty of open spots on the rail during the show, even on a warm spring Saturday night.

If most family vacations are like mine were, there is no "next trip". We always went someplace different, and it was a lot of fun.

Also, there are NO activities that teens really want to do with their family. Parents should be at least 5 nautical miles away at all times in public.

Quote: JohnnyQ

This is what we did AS A FAMILY during this trip...

Very good post! Those were some good suggestions. I have to admit I'm jaded and am sick of just about everything on your list. However, before I became that way, my kids enjoyed such things as the Adventuredome, Bellagio Fountains, gondola rides, and Secret Gardens a few times because they got bored with them.

One underrated Vegas area activity is the Bonnie Springs Ranch. Combining that with Red Rock makes for a great way to spend about six hours if you have kids.

Quote: Nareed

Vegas has a great many rather unusual entertainment options you don't find anywhere else, at least not all bunched together in a relatively small space. There are roller coasters, art galleries, museums, botanical gardens, small zoos (sort of), and whatever you call the more extremely themed hotels (I like just walking around Luxor, Venetian, Paris and Caesars looking at the architecture and ornaments). Plus gambling and the shows, not to mention shopping malls galore. And the scale of things is just diferent from what you find almost everywhere else.

What I'm saying is that casinos or no casinos, Vegas is in a class by itself.

New York certainly has better galleries and museums, and a wider variety of architecture. They have botanical gardens too, no idea which your average botanist would visit. They also have major sports teams and I think a minor theatre district hidden away somewhere, I forget which street it's on. They also have several famous stores/districts and tons of specialty markets. And trips to the outer buroughs cover the zoo and roller coaster. [Coney Island only operates from Easter to Labor Day though, so maybe we should call that .5 roller coasters.]

Both have money themed streets and the Statue of Liberty. Vegas gets a win there for combining them.

A fairer assesment might be that Vegas isn't in a class by itself, but it's a pretty small member of the class of big cities. I don't think it competes with NY, London, Paris, etc. in terms of non-gaming attractions but it comes pretty close for the population difference.

Quote: TIMSPEED

Personally, the last time I went to Vegas (for 5 days) I BARELY gambled at all..there's just so much to see in Vegas, gambling comes second (all the casinos are cool in their own right just to WALK through them, then all the free attractions, then the paid sights like RedRock, Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, etc)
I dunno about it being a place for SMALL kids, but I would say 13-21 would be allright. (Although maybe I was just mature for my age?)

Once I went with a few people that don't gamble, so I gambled for approximately 1 hour of the entire 6 day trip. I'd not been since I was a child, and there was so much to see. I told them, "Don't worry, I can gamble in AC whenever I want." Vegas really wasn't offering anything (placing a sports bet isn't really sitting down, gambling, and spending time) that I can't do in AC.

Quote: Wizard

One underrated Vegas area activity is the Bonnie Springs Ranch.

Update: We went to Bonnie Springs Ranch a couple of years ago based on a Frommer's or Fodor's guidebook recommendation. Unfortunately, it apparently had slipped quite a bit and/or the price had gone up. It
was OK, and I saw that it had lots of potential but unfortunately that was NOT being used.

Also, the horseback riding guides were a bit on the rude side. If my wife and daughter were
experienced horseback riders, we wouldn't have been there. Maybe the guides were just having an off day.
So my recommendation can only be luke-warm.