Since the demise of the much-lamented Wet 'n Wild back in 2008, Las Vegas has been pretty poorly served waterpark-wise. Grandiose plans for a huge water-themed resort-casino called Las Vegas Wet were first announced in 2005 and would have reintroduced major water attractions to the Strip. The last time we checked in with the company behind it was in 2008, when the anticipated opening had been pushed back from 2009 to 2011 and a spokesman told us that "the financial crunch that has been plaguing the country has slowed us down a bit." That project can now been considered history -- it no longer even has a website.
The only spash pad we know of in town the Fun Zone Water Park at the Rhodes Ranch private residential community (located out at the 215 and Durango Drive). It's a 10,000-square foot water park with features that include a lagoon pool with wading areas, speed slides, kid slides, rope bridges, multiple squirt gun stations, and a 1,000-gallon bucket that fills and tips every half hour, not to mention cabanas, a lap pool, and several spas. The bad news, however, is that its open seasonally to residents and their guests only, so unless you have a friend who lives there, you're out of luck.
That's the story with the several of the most kid-friendly hotel pools in town, too, including Mandalay Bay Beach (which is consistently voted best pool in Vegas), and the newly remodeled Excalibur pool, which are both guest-only. The Flamingo and Tropicana both have large pool complexes featuring multiple lagoon features, and are open to non-guests, however (the former for $20; the latter is free). The Tank at the Golden Nugget features a water slide that runs through a shark tank, which we've still yet to try but sounds fun. That's open to the public for $20 for non-guests ages 12 and older, $5 for kids 11 and under, and free for those 2 and under.
As far as public pools are concerned, the best for your purposes would be Desert Breeze Park (at Spring Mountain and Durango), which features a play structure and two water slides. Click here for more information, times, and prices.
Other than pools, there aren't that many options that spring to mind for children as young as yours. There's the indoor Adventuredome amusement park at Circus Circus, where there are "family" and "junior" rides for $4 each. Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage could be fun for the whole family ($15 for adults; $10 children ages 4-12; those under 3 accompanied by an adult are free), as could Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, which features sharks of all kinds, along with sawfish, giant rays, endangered green sea turtles, piranha, moon jellies, rare golden crocodiles, and a petting area.
M&Ms World, located in the Showcase Mall next to the MGM Grand describes itself as a "28,000 square–foot, four–story monument to chocolate" and "the perfect family excursion," so that's another option. Unfortunately, your trip is just a few days premature for catching the Children's Summer Film Festival at Springs Preserve, where they'll be screening three Disney movies daily from July 22-25, with show times at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. each day.
We hope this gives you some suggestions. You can find details of all these locations in the relevant areas of our site -- check out Cool Pools for all you need to know about the pool scene, while details of all the rides, attractions, and exhibits can be found in the LVA Visitor Guide, where you can also find details about childcare, should you happen to want a little "adult" time during your vacation. Have a safe trip!
