The Larison Family Las Vegas Vacation October 13 - 18, 2007
By Tim Larison Travel Agent and CLIA Certified Master Cruise Counselor (MCC)
With Contributions by Travel Agent Anne Larison
Cast of Characters: Tim, Anne, Andrew (age 13), and Joshua (age 13) Larison
Is Las Vegas a good destination to take your kids? We were to find out the answer to that question on our trip to Nevada during the boys' Fall break. In this report I'll discuss the family activities and shows we attended, our hotel, and other features of our vacation.
Family Activities
Most of our days were spent exploring the famous Las Vegas Strip. We also took a fun Hoover Dam tour on one day. We'll rate the activities from an "A" (best) to "F" (worst) scale. As you'll see we really didn't experience any bad activities, though some were better than others.
Gameworks
Next to the MGM Grand in the South part of the Strip, Gameworks is full of arcade games that can keep kids entertained for hours. We especially enjoyed the racing games (where the four of us drove cars on a simulated racetrack). The basketball shooting games were also fun.
Our Grade: B+
While Gameworks was a nice family diversion, we found other arcades (at Circus Circus and the Excalibur) to be nearly as good.
Anne's Take: After the adults have had their 'fill' of games, don't miss the 2nd level bar! There are comfortable chairs and televisions - a comfortable place to rest while the kids play on.
Andrew says:
Gameworks was the largest arcade I've ever seen in my life. It had every game you can possibly imagine, even the ones you can't imagine! It is better than your normal kind of arcade, because it has games that everyone will like.
Josh says:
Gameworks was great! I had a lot of fun there because it had like 100 games! There was air hockey, arcade games, racing games, and tons of other things too.
Circus Circus
We spend one morning visiting this resort that caters to families.
Our first activity was to watch the overhead circus acts above the arcade. The acrobats were quite good and it was interesting to see their performance from the perspective underneath a large net (closer to the action than what you may get watching a circus back home)
Next we spent some time in the arcade surrounding the circus performance area. Like Gameworks, there were many games here to keep kids occupied for hours. We liked best the "horse race" games here, where you rolled a ball into one of a group of holes.
The holes towards the back advanced your "horse" farther than if the ball entered a closer hole. Andrew proved to be quite adept at the game - winning several races. We came home with a new assortment of stuffed animals won from these games. The biggest family attraction at Circus Circus was the huge "Adventure Dome" - an indoor amusement park. We were impressed with the roller coaster, but we declined to ride it when we saw it had several "upside down" loops. We enjoyed other rides here including the bump cars.
Our Grade: A-
Circus Circus has lots of fun activities for families. While this resort is older we thought the amusement areas were well maintained, and the circus acts were of better quality than we expected.
Anne's Take:
Circus Circus is a lot of fun - and with a lot of fun comes a lot of loud! With the casino, arcade and circus going on it can get noisy. In addition to all the fun prizes and stuffed animals you can win at the arcade, there are many fun stores in Circus Circus. So if you are looking to some souvenir shopping with the kids, this is a place to consider.
Andrew says:
Circus Circus was amazing. It was like a carnival indoors. It had all of those carnival games where you win prizes like stuffed animals. There was also a circus that went on every 30 minutes next to the arcade. There were acts like trapeze, and person who climbs sheets….Anyway In the back of the hotel there was a huge indoor amusement park with a huge roller coaster. It went upside down almost 6 times. The bumper cars were also fun, even though my car broke down at the end.
Josh says:
I had a fun time at Circus Circus. There was a huge arcade and amazing circus shows featuring trapeze acts and music. The hotel even had an indoor amusement park! I went on the bumper cars and it was a lot of fun.
Shark Reef
This aquarium at Mandalay Bay was one of the best we have visited. We liked the audio "wands" that you were given when entering the attraction. As you looked at different exhibit areas you could enter a number on the wand and hear an audio description of the exhibit.
Our Grade: A
While not as large as some aquariums, Shark Reef had an impressive variety of fish and good viewing areas. Who would have thought we'd find a first rate aquarium in the middle of a desert?
Anne's take:
Don't miss the hands-on exhibit for kids (and adults, too). There were several baby stingrays in an open tank. The aquarium staff is available to answer questions and monitor the stingray, so it is very safe to get up close and personal with the baby stingrays.
Andrew says:
I thought this aquarium would be kind of bad since it was in a hotel and all, but I was wrong. We got these audio sticks to listen to about the fish. I learned about all of the different fish which was fun. They had an exhibit where you can touch the stingrays in the little pool. All the little kids enjoyed that. At the end you went in a "sunken pirate ship" and saw all the fish swimming around you. Part of the floor was glass so you could see the fish swimming under you.
Josh says:
This was one of the best aquariums I've ever been to. We all got audio wands that told us information about each of the different fish. One tunnel that I went through had a glass ceiling and walls, so I could see all the fish swimming above me. It was really cool!
Madam Tussauds http://www.mtvegas.com/
One of the most unique Wax Museums you'll ever see, our visit to Madam Tussauds was one of the highlights to our trip. The museum features life like wax figures of celebrities. Unlike other wax museums with the figures behind glass, at Madam Tussauds you can actually get up close to a wax figures and have your picture taken.
Our Grade: A+
Most of the wax figures at Madam Tussauds are very realistic. Standing next to the figures of John and Jackie Kennedy I got a sense of how impressive they must have been to meet in person. We took many photos here.
Anne's Take: I was the only brave one in the family to enter the Chamber of Horrors. Warning to families with young children: unless your child is familiar with haunted houses, you may not want to expose them to this attraction. I found it intimidating with loud noises and live actors portraying various characters. If you enjoy being scared-go for it!
Andrew says:
That was the creepiest and coolest museum I've ever been too. I had all these real people and celebrities made out of wax. I turned around a couple of times to see Elvis staring at me ,that scared me a few times. It was amazing at how realistic the wax people were, some I thought were the real person. Then there was this Chamber of Horrors thing that was near the end of the museum. Mom went in but I thought it would be too scary for me. The expression on her face when she came out told me everything. I got my picture by people like Joe Montana, Elvis, Lincoln, and Master Chief from Halo.
Josh says:
The wax museum had a lot of stars and celebrities made of wax. It was fun to take pictures with all the people I knew. I even got to be in a picture with Tiger Woods!
Comedy On Deck Hoover Dam Tour
Do you want an informative Hoover Dam tour with a twist? The Comedy On Deck tour may be just for you. Our standup comedian guide entertained us on the bus while we took a 45 minute drive to the Dam. Once at the facility we hooked up with the US Government's Discovery Tour where we learned interesting facts about the Dam and the surrounding area. Our Comedy On Deck guide then provided a walking tour over the top of the Dam, and filled us in on even more details on the history and construction of this huge edifice.
On our return trip to Las Vegas we stopped at Boulder City for a refreshing lunch and museum tour. Once back in Las Vegas we toured the Ethel M Chocolate factory.
Our Grade: A-
We had a few different Hoover Dam tours to choose from - we liked the Comedy on Deck tour for the light hearted bus ride, the wealth of historical knowledge shared about the Dam and Las Vegas, and the attention to detail. Our Comedy guide memorized the names of everyone on our bus, and worked us all into her comedy act on the long bus rides. I was impressed on the ride back from the Dam with the way lunch was handled - we chose our lunch selections on the bus and our lunch was waiting for us at a sit down restaurant when we arrived in Boulder City (the bus driver called in our orders during a stop at a scenic overlook outside of town). The quality of the lunch was very good (no doubt better than the buffets visited by other tours) The Comedy on Deck tour is priced a little higher than some other Hoover Dam excursions but we felt it was worth the extra money. The comedy may not be for everyone (hence the "minus" rating) as our guide playfully picked on some members of our tour more than others.
Anne's Take:
Our tour guide did make this a very enjoyable tour. The tour was also educational. We learned so much about the original purpose of the dam, the effort the workers went through to build it and how it is used and affect most of the Western States. We did come away with a deep appreciation for this marvel of engineering. You can never have too much chocolate either! Visiting the Ethel M Chocolate Factory gave us the opportunity to stock up on Ethel M chocolates and M & M candy and M & M paraphernalia.
Andrew says:
We had a funny tour guide on the Hoover Dam tour. She took us to places that other tour groups didn't go to. Inside the dam we looked all of the power generators and pipes. It was cool to see how large it was on the inside. We had to take an elevator to get in and out of the dam, and it was pretty tight.
Josh says:
Our tour guide was really funny and she knew a lot of information about the dam. We got to walk on the dam and get a great view. The lunch afterward was also very good.
Shopping
Las Vegas has some of the best shopping malls you will find anywhere. We enjoyed window shopping at the Forum Shops (next to Caesars Palace). Here we browsed in one of the largest toy stores in the World (FAO Schwarz). The malls at the Venetian, Planet Hollywood, and Mandalay Bay were also impressive.
Our Grade: B Shopping was a nice diversion from our more active tours; the architecture of the Malls (especially the Forum Shops) was amazing.
Anne's Take: In addition to shopping in the casino stores, there are other options on the strip, such as the Fashion Show Mall. This is a large mall located on the strip. It is located in the center of the strip with large flagship department stores such as Macy's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and others. Another unique option is the Hawaiian Marketplace. This outdoor market is modeled after the marketplace in Honolulu. I wouldn't have expected to find a little bit of Hawaii in Las Vegas.
Andrew says:
I didn't shop
Josh says: The Forum Shops in Caesars Palace was the best mall that I went to. I liked all the cool stores, especially the huge toy store with an ice cream shop in it.
Our Resort - the South Point Hotel and Casino
I had stayed at the South Point Hotel in 2006 for a business conference, and I thought at the time "if I ever brought the family to Las Vegas, this would be a good place to stay." My hunch was confirmed on this trip - we enjoyed the South Point very much.
The resort, like some other "off strip" properties, had more amenities than your average hotel. The 64 lane bowling center and 16 screen movie theaters were good child friendly features. Next to the bowling center was a moderately sized video arcade that the boys enjoyed. A "Kid's Time" child care facility was onsite with an hourly fee for kids aged 12 and under (not suitable for our 13 year olds but good for other families). The resort even had a large equestrian arena; we received free admission to a horse show during our stay.
Our room was large with two good sized queen beds, and a big flat screen tv panel on the wall. We especially enjoyed the flat screen tv as we watched our home town Colorado Rockies win the National League playoffs that week from the comfort of our hotel room.
We thought the resort's food was very good. The Garden Buffet was reasonably priced ($6 per person for breakfast, $7 for lunch, $12 for dinner) with many different selections. We found these prices to be less than what we saw at buffets on the Strip. One night we had a tasty Italian meal at Don Vito's, and we frequently had ice cream treats at Kate's Korner during our stay.
We felt the shuttle transportation from the resort to the Strip was inconsistent. At times there was little or no wait for the shuttle, but in the evening the shuttle waits were much longer. Our Grade: A- We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the South Point. While the shuttle transportation was frustrating at times, we felt the extra amenities of the resort were worth the inconvenience being located "off strip"
Anne's Take:
We have strict smoking laws in Colorado, so it took time to get used to the smoke in the casino at South Point. The layout at the hotel is good for families since the theatre, bowling alley, arcade and child care is in a wing near the rooms and you do not have to go through the casino to get to these amenities.
Andrew says:
Our hotel was really cool, It a lot of things to do so we never got bored. They had a bowling alley which had a lot of lanes. Also they had a movie theater, and they had movies that are in theaters right now. Our hotel room was big and had a huge flat screen T.V. on the wall, which was probably the best part about it. The buffet in our hotel had really good food, in many different varieties so everyone can get something they like.
Josh says:
The buffet in our hotel was really good. There was food from all over the world and it all tasted great! I never got bored when we were there because of the bowling alley, arcade, and movie theater.
Dining On The Strip
We ate most of our meals at our South Point hotel. While visiting the Strip we were able to find Food Courts that helped with our dining costs. The Excalibur (McDonalds, Krispy Kreme, Quiznos), O'Sheas next to the Flamingo (Burger King, Subway), and Circus Circus (McDonalds) each had fast food options we took advantage of.
The one family oriented "sit down" restaurant we ate at on the Strip was the Rain Forest Café in the MGM Grand. We thought this Rain Forest was only average - we preferred the food at the Rain Forest Cafes we have dined at in Disney World and Disneyland better. Anne's Take Don't forget to bring coupons from home, if you are a coupon family, like we are. We had coupons for Quiznos that we brought from home, which were good nationwide. Shows Tournament of Kings (Excalibur) A family oriented show we all enjoyed was the "Tournament of Kings" show at the Excalibur. This show featured King Arthur, Arthur's son, and six different "kings" competing in games of skill and waging battle against the evil black knight. The audience was divided into sections and cheered on as their "king" competed against the others. A delicious chicken dinner was served medieval style - no utensils allowed
Our Grade: B+
I thought the intricate horse maneuvers in this show were very impressive (the animals were well trained). This is one of the few Las Vegas shows that really is suitable for the whole family.
Anne's Take: I did enjoy the show which included comedy, action, even some dancing. Be sure to get what you need from the waiters and waitresses while they are near you. They move through the crowd quickly, delivering and removing dishes and really don't stick around long to find out if you have any needs.
Andrew says:
The food was very delicious in this dinner show. First they gave you some tomato soup and a Coke ( or water ) For dinner they gave a full chicken, broccoli, a roll, and some potato wedges. All of this you had to eat with your hands. The show was really exciting but cheesy at parts. There was a lot of Sword fighting and fights. You each had to cheer for your section, or your knight. We got the evil Dragon guy.
Josh says:
This show had a lot of action with jousts and swordfights. It was really entertaining and it had great food.
Mac King Comedy Magic (Harrahs)
As part of our Hoover Dam tour we received free tickets to Mac King's Comedy Magic show, performed in the afternoon at Harrahs. This was another good family show with Mac performing a number of impressive magic tricks, all done in a light hearted way.
Our Grade: B+
Anne's Take:
Our seats were located halfway back from the stage and all the way at the end of the theatre. We had no problem seeing the stage or the show, so there is not really a bad seat in the house. If you sit close to the stage you may be chosen to be part of the show - 4 people in the theatre were brought up on stage participating in the magic!
Andrew says:
This was a funny magic show and this guy did some really impressive tricks. Some of them you could tell what he was doing but others were pretty amazing.
Josh says:
The show had great magic and the magician was funny.
Elton John's The Red Piano (Caesars Palace)
Anne and I sent the boys to a movie back at our resort one night while we attended Elton John's The Red Piano show at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace. We had wanted to see Celine Dion in this venue, but her only show while we were in town was sold out. Elton John proved to be a good second choice.
The concert hall was very impressive. We had seats in the top few rows but we still found the view and the acoustics to be excellent. Elton John was in top form as he sang many of his hits:
- Bennie and the Jets
- Philadelphia Freedom
- Believe
- Daniel
- Rocket Man
- Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
- Tiny Dancer
- Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
- I Want Love
- Candle in the Wind
- Pinball Wizard
- The Bitch Is Back
- I'm Still Standing
- Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
- Your Song (encore)
Our Grade: A-
While Elton John's performance was excellent, we thought the visuals associated with the music detracted from, rather than enhanced the show. The videos seemed to go out of the way to display nudity (I guess being in Las Vegas the producers felt they needed to make the show more "adult"). The Red Piano is definitely not a show to bring kids to. Nevertheless we enjoyed the quality of Elton John's voice and piano playing skills, backed by a first rate band. It was also good to hear him sing most of his well known hits rather than lesser known material. I look forward to attending more concerts at the Colosseum on future Vegas trips (Bette Midler will replace Celine Dion as the headline performer here in 2008)
Anne's Take:
Not only does the theatre management prohibit photos from being taken, they take your cameras at the door. We didn't bring our camera, but we witnessed them taking cameras and storing them during the concert. This was a very large crowd, so I am sure it took some time after the concert to retrieve all of the cameras.
Summary
Is Las Vegas a good destination to take your kids? Yes! If you plan your days like we did and seek out family oriented activities we feel you can have a fun trip. If you are watching your budget Las Vegas is also a good place to visit - a vacation here often prices less than trips to other destinations. We did not have the time or resources to take a "big" family trip this Fall; our five night Las Vegas trip allowed us to experience a fun and economical family vacation.
Anne's Take:
Even on past trips, Tim and I have always looked for alternatives to gambling. We enjoyed this trip with our kids and learned more about Las Vegas in the process. One of the new features on the Strip is double-decker bus that goes along the strip and even into downtown. For $2.00 one way or $5.00 for an all day pass you can make your way down the Strip in comfort and save some of the wear and tear on your legs! We walked several miles our first day on the strip but once we started using the Deuce bus we found it a very fast and inexpensive alternative. We very much enjoyed our Las Vegas trip and look forward to returning sometime in the future.
Andrew says:
Las Vegas was better than I thought. Everyone thinks that it is just for adults but its not. It was one of my favorite vacations.
Josh says:
Las Vegas is a great place to go for vacation. I liked going down the strip and looking at all the themed hotels. Even though it seems like an adult place, there is a lot of activities for kids to do.