Guidelines: Las Vegas and Your Kids

What you need to know before visiting Las Vegas

Exposure to Adult Oriented Material

Adult Oriented means SEX ADVERTISEMENTS, plain and simple.  While prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas and Clark county it is NOT illegal to advertise Escourt Services and shuttle services to areas where prostitution is legal.  Furthermore it is completely legal for Sidewalk Trolls (Our term for the low lifes that distribute the material) to pander away.  Las Vegas City council has been over this issue many many times and somehow constitutional arguments aside it persists.  What does this mean?  It means you'll likely be solicited along the strip to take a handout featuring these advertisments.  It's highly annoying.  But if you have never been to Las Vegas you need to look out for it.  These materials are also available in Newstand boxes along the strip.  If offered do NOT put out your hand or you'll have it stuffed right at you.  These flyers/booklets contain Topless women in suggestive poses.  You've been warned.

Where are all the Kids Activities?

The waterslide that used to be on The Strip is gone.  A prominent Family Fun center Gone!  MGM Grands Kids Oriented Attractions... you guessed it GONE!  There is only 1 Mini Golf location in the city.  Read on...

The reality is this; Las Vegas isn't a Kids Town. Sure 5 or 6 years ago there was a little Media Push by the Casino PR teams to portray Vegas as a more "Family Friendly" destination, but the reality was then as it is now - it's simply not true.  We walk up and down the Strip, in and out of Casinos, and seldom see much in the way of "Kid Friendly" activities. Our goal here is not to portray Las Vegas as this great Family Vacation Destination; rather to showcase what really is of interest and available to families.

If you want to use Vegas as a jumping off spot to the Grand Canyon or Lake Mead it's a great place to stay for a couple of days.  And yes there are some swimming pools your Kids will really enjoy (Assuming you are a Guest at that Hotel).  The IMAX stuff is neat, and maybe if you are into Arcades a trip to Circus Circus is warranted.  But we can guarantee you that 10 minutes after watching the lions asleep in the glass cage at the MGM or the 10 minutes it takes to see the Bellagio Fountain show, your kids will likely be bored.

We are not here to discourage you, but you need to know the facts.  So hopefully you'll find our guide useful and informative.  And while we make every effort to get out and about town; Las Vegas is a place of rapid change.  If you visit a venue, a restaurant, an amusement that we have not listed - drop us a note and let us know.  It's our job to make the experience of visitors like you better.

About our Advertising on KidsinVegas

First off we try to make our Advertising Space as unobtrusive as possible.  And we also to to make the ads as relevant as possible.  We know Ads can at times be annoying, but it's the Advertisers that provide the revenues we need to keep the site going. Unlike some Vegas sites we don't have any special "Backend" arrangements. This is a good thing; it allows us to remain unbiased in our reviews. It takes a lot of time and effort to construct and maintain a site like this - even though it may look small on the outside, there is so much work that goes into it. We hope that the ads that run are of interest to you and we do in fact appreciate each and every person who takes the time to utilize our Advertisers when seeking "Deals".

The Casino Gaming Areas

Children may "pass through" the casinos, but only when accompanied by an adult. If you let your children roam the Casino hallways unattended your are asking for trouble.

Las Vegas ENFORCES Curfew on the Strip

Las Vegas has (and readily enforces) a curfew for anyone under the age of 18.  In general (although it varies slightly by day of the week) children under the age of 18 MUST BE off the streets by 9pm.

Should you really bring your Children to Vegas?

Las Vegas is and always will be an Adult Playground - it's simply become more accommodating to families as evidenced by these quotes from the Las Vegas Review Journal:

• "Our attempt at being hospitable to everyone has been interpreted as our desire for people to bring their children, and that's not the case," - Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage.
• "There are things for people of all ages to do, but we're not marketing to teens. You should never get Las Vegas mixed up with Disneyland." - Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage.
• "Certainly, Las Vegas has become more of a family destination, but it's a fact of what the destination has become that people can find plenty of things to do," said Richelle Thomson, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "We're not directly marketing Las Vegas to children."

What do other parents think of their Las Vegas Experience?

If you don't see what you are looking for on these pages be sure to visit the Las Vegas Discussion Forums and post your questions there.  We will do our best to answer your questions personally whenever possible.  Here is an excellent post by a Father of 2 who will soon be making his 5th trip to Las Vegas with his 2 Children... he calls it Kids in LV 101 and it contains a wealth of first hand experiences of what to do with your kids in Vegas.  Forums are a "Virtual Goldmine" of relevant information just waiting for you to mine.

How much should you Budget for Vegas Family Fun?

Although some events are free be prepared to spend at least $20-$75 per child/per day for a fun Las Vegas kids activity.  An all day pass for admission to Circus Circus "Adventure Dome" (Their 5 acre Theme Park) is currently $22.95 per person.  Should you choose to spend a few hours there then move on to the rides at the top of the Stratosphere you'll see how easy it is to burn through a $100.