Kids in Casinos

Randy, if your kids are little (under 12 or so), I recommend you check out the new Discovery Children's Museum. It opened recently, downtown next to the Smith Center, and the reviews have been wonderful. It made me wish I had little kids to take there, lol.

My grandchildren also enjoyed the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.

Like some comedian once said " Don't bring your kids to Las Vegas, I don't bring my hookers to Disneyland !"

Bob

Years ago we would take our child to Las Vegas, plus someone to sit with him in the evenings. When we stayed at Circus Circus, I remember seeing parents leaving there children on steps going in to the casino. They would gamble away and the kids falling asleep at 1:00AM on those steps. Poor parenting.

Those were not parents, just sperm donator and recipient.

The first time I took my daughter to Vegas, she was five years old. On the cab ride from the airport, she was looking out the window at all the billboards. She turned to her mother and said, "Is "naked" like the theme of this city?" We had a good laugh, and had to admit that her young observation was spot on.

Kid friendly leftovers.

Never can understand why parents bring the little darlings along.

There are some Hotel/Casinos where you can check in and go to your room without ever seeing the casino. Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch come to mind. That being said, without gambling Vegas is a relatively cheap vacation destination and there are numerous things for children to do. As Sue mentioned, there is the Discovery Museum by the Smith Center. There is also Wet and Wild Water Park which just opened. During the Holiday season there are the lights at the Speedway as well as at Ethel M Chocolate Factory, The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, the Conservatory and Chocolate Fountain at Bellagio, Mac King's show at Harrahs, Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire, Grand Canyon Skywalk, Tournament of Kings at Excalibur, Race-carts, the amusements and view from the top of the Stratosphere, etc. You could spend quite a longtime here and not run out of things to do with your children. While I agree that the billboards driving down the strip with the "Girls that want to meet you" message aren't the most wholesome family viewing, there are many things in our Valley that are worthwhile and can only be seen in this area.

Larry from Las Vegas, NV

I generally take my annual trip to LV in October. It amazes me to see parents with their (schoolage) kids in tow during this time. Back in my day kids were in school during October.

Not any more. Many school districts are on a modified year-round calendar, shortening the long three-month summer to six or seven weeks, and giving students and teachers a one week or two week break at the end of the first quarter and third quarter. Gives the schools a chance to catch up students who struggled at start of school, too. It beats the old agrarian calendar necessary when kids helped with the crops.

My husband and myself enjoy our trips to Vegas, which is when we get our gambling fix. We have taken our 3 teenage daughters to Vegas for a family vacation but we stayed at a resort on the strip, not a casino hotel. The only time our girls saw the inside of a casino was on our way to a show or dinner. They loved the shopping, grand canyon and cirque shows and thought the experience was amazing.