When I tell people that our family went to Vegas for Spring Break they look at me like I have two heads. They try to regroup with an innocent follow up such as….are there things in Vegas for the kids to do? Oh, boy….the answer to that question is a resounding… YES! We even went to a fantastic Methodist church service on Easter Sunday in Vegas and Elvis was nowhere in sight!
First let me say I don’t like to gamble and I didn’t personally spend a dime gambling during the entire trip except for one slot machine at the airport on the way home…I lost $4. When I spend my hard earned money I want a guarantee that you are going to give me something in return! Even for me (way over the age of 21), going to Vegas isn’t about the gambling. Yes, my boys witnessed casino after casino and saw lots of people gambling but basically the casinos were just part of the scenery for us.
The sights: Although we were in Nevada, USA we feel like we visited Venice, Rome, Paris, & New York. The Venetian, The Palazzo, Caesar’s Palace, The Bellagio, Paris Las Vegas, and New York’s resorts have amazing replicas of the cities they represent and you really do feel like you have left Las Vegas to travel the world! Plus it is very cool to see “old Vegas” on Fremont Street and show the kids the first ever casino, The Golden Nugget and to take them to see the bird’s eye view of the strip atop The Stratosphere!
The food: Y’all already know The Burger Boy (my oldest) loves burgers but skinny as he is…he actually loves all FOOD! We pretty much put him in charge of figuring out where to eat each meal based on our activity plans for the day. Stay tuned for more details from him about the burger ratings but for now I’ll give you a list of the places we would definitely return to:
- B&B Burger & Beer in The Venetian Canal & Shoppes
- Trattoria Reggiano in The Venetian Canal & Shoppes (yummy filet mignon meatballs but not a lot of ambiance)
- Hash Hash A Go Go in The Linq (Huge portions, most food for our money hands down!)
- Mon Ami Gabi at Paris, Las Vegas (yummy french steaks, great view of The Bellagio Fountains…)
- Bobby’s Burger Palace at The Mandarin Oriental
- Gordon Ramsey’s Pub at Caesar’s Palace
- Giada’s at The Cromwell (Delicious and too pricey but my hubby and boys LOVE her so we splurged…turns out it is her one and only restaurant and is less than a year old.)
The thrills: The boys LOVED the thrills that we planned for them. The highlight was The Sun Buggy Tour where we FLEW through the dessert on dune buggies. My hubby and my oldest (AKA Mario & Michael Andretti) took turns driving during our hour long dessert thrill ride. The drivers definitely had a blast. My 13 year old also LOVED it…I was basically holding on for dear life. The Stratosphere Tower Thrill Rides were a close second place. Check out this photo
and you’ll understand why hubby and I chose to watch and not participate. Whoa…that tower is high! Thirdly, we were pleasantly surprised at the level of THRILL provided by the Big Apple Roller Coaster. It weaves in and out of the New York, NY Hotel & Casino so until you actually get to the top of the hill of the coaster you don’t realize just how crazy thrilling and loopy this fantastic roller coaster will be! It was awesome! We visited Circus Circus Adventuredome Theme Park but decided this venue is for younger kids. Oh, and our hotel pool at The Palazzo was very cool…not very “thrilling” but definitely cool.
The shows: If I told my boys that I was taking them to The Fox Theatre tonight to see Blue Man Group I think they’d respond with a million excuses to not go including homework and cleaning their room. So, I was worried that our big plans to see several Las Vegas shows was going to be a bust. It turns out my hubby is great at picking shows that the boys love but don’t break the bank. I picked the most expensive and we all loved it but I’m going to leave all the show choosing to my hubby next time. Here’s a list of the shows we would recommend:
- Cirque du Soleil “O” at The Bellagio (So very amazing…mostly underwater with a water stage that disappears and reappears and random)
- The Mac King Comedy Show at Harrah’s (We are still laughing about this show…hilarious and magical!)
- “V” The Ultimate Variety Show at Planet Hollywood (Funny and fun…we loved The Crazy Gouchos the best!)
- The Million Dollar Quartet at Harrah’s (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins together for one night….great show!)
- CSI: The experience at the MGM Grand (I LOVE CSI so this was a blast for me…the kids thought it was like being in science class…boring)
In the few days since we returned home, I have loved listening to the boys respond to questions about their Vegas Spring Break. Turns out they can’t pick a favorite thing because they loved it all equally…the thrills, the sights, the food and the shows! We had a blast and I just wanted to share with all of you in case you have an interest in doing something crazy….like going to Vegas with your kids!
My Parental Footnote: Please note that it is absolutely impossible to do any of the things my family did without walking through a casino and some are a little smokey at night. Also, I suggest that you don’t walk up and down Las Vegas Boulevard after dark with your kids. Vegas still has show girls and other rated “R” sights. We took cabs each evening after making this mistake the first night.