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Kids Korner |
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| Quick—Where can you see the New York City skyline and the Eiffel Tower, take a ride on a Gondola, travel back in time to Ancient Rome, or stay inside a giant pyramid—all in one place? We're talking about Las Vegas, of course, home to 17 of the country's biggest, craziest looking hotels. Of course Las Vegas is known for gambling and kids aren't allowed in casinos. But there's a lot more to do here and outside the city than gamble, from checking out these humongous hotel swimming pools to touring Hoover Dam, climbing on the rocks in the desert at the Valley of Fire State Park, and waterskiing on Lake Mead. The Grand Canyon is only a couple of hours away too. Visit www.travelnevada.com to get even more ideas. |
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Did You Know?
- There really are giant red rocks. You can see them at Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park, each just outside Las Vegas. The rocks are millions of years old! There are lots of short hikes and places to climb. At Valley of Fire, you'll find ancient petroglyphs and hidden canyons. Just remember sunscreen and plenty of water. Check www.desertusa.com for more information about Red Rock, Valley of Fire State Park, and others desert attractions.
- Besides people-watching, there's a lot of other free entertainment in Las Vegas. See the Volcano eruption at the Mirage (www.themirage.com), the flying trapeze artists at the Circus Circus Midway (www.circuscircus.com), and the free clown shows at the Adventuredome (www.adventuredome.com).
- The famous all-you-can-eat Las Vegas buffets first started back in the 1940s when one casino owner decided to offer a $1 Midnight buffet to keep gamblers in the casino. Today, nearly every resort has one.
- There are lots of exotic animals in Las Vegas, and they're not just at the zoo. Check out the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay (www.mandalaybay.com) teeming with exotic fish, the Chilean flamingos and African penguins at the Flamingo Las Vegas wildlife habitat (www.flamingolv.com), the dolphins at the Mirage (www.themirage.com), and the Lion Habitat at the MGM Grand (www.mgmgrandhotel.com).
- It sometimes gets up to 115 degrees in Las Vegas during the summer. That explains why visitors plan to spend a lot of time at hotel pools!
- Vegas Vic, the giant neon cowboy that towers over Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, is the world's largest mechanical neon sign. Read more about Vic at www.neonmuseum.org. Check out the Fremont Street Experience with 12 million lights, giant LED screens, and free concerts (www.lasvegasexperience.com).
- Camels were used as pack animals in Nevada throughout the 19th century. There is an annual camel race in Virginia City, a small historic mining town in Nevada that used camels as pack animals during its mining days. The race started as a prank by newspaper editor Bob Richards in 1959 but editors of the San Francisco Chronicle printed a notice about the winners, not realizing it was a joke. The following year, Richards revived his joke and printed a notice about the coming “races.” The Chronicle called his bluff and hired some camels to compete! Suddenly, the make believe race was real, and today attracts 50,000 people to the small town every year.
- The Hoover Dam was first conceived to help control the Colorado River, which flooded Southern California farmland. The waters that the dam holds back form Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the world. It is so big that it's a favorite spot for water sports (www.nps.gov/lame/). Hoover Dam actually contains enough concrete to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York! Take a tour of the dam while you're in Las Vegas (www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/).
- Everything stays open here all night—restaurants, dry cleaners, and even wedding chapels. Tens of thousands of people—including celebrities—come here to get married because there's no waiting period. Michael Jordan got married in Las Vegas along with Dennis Rodman, Bruce Willis, and Demi Moore. Even Elvis was married here!
- Las Vegas is a 21st Century Boom Town. More than 5,000 people move to Las Vegas every month. That explains why you see so much construction everywhere. But the kids who live here don't spend a lot of time on the strip. They do the same things as you—go to school, play soccer and baseball, go to the mall, and hang out with their friends.
What Other Kids Say You Should Do While In Nevada . . .
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Meet: Katie Jackson (age 13) and her brother, Christopher Jackson (age 11), who live in Las Vegas, NV. They are the children of Las Vegas Customer Service Agent Sharon Jackson.
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They say: Las Vegas is not what everyone thinks it is. There is so much more to do than just gamble. Las Vegas has some of the best shopping and restaurants in the world! Nascar comes here every year in March, for the Las Vegas 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It's a huge sporting event.
Don't miss: Hiking at Red Rock Canyon or Valley of Fire. Be sure to visit the Lake Mead Recreational area for water skiing, boating and fishing. The carp in Lake Mead love it when you feed them popcorn. If you come here during the winter months, be sure to catch a Wranglers hockey game. They are awesome!
Don't Go Home Without: Taking the Ethel M's factory tour in Henderson. They make the best chocolate! You have to visit the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, and if you're here during the holidays, go to Mt. Charleston for a horse drawn sleigh ride through the snow.
Best Places to Eat:
- Rainforest Cafe
- Lucilles Barbeque
- The Seafood Buffet at the Rio Hotel and Casino
Best Places to Visit Outside of Las Vegas:
- Mesquite
- Bonny Springs, old ghost town
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Kids, Tell Your Parents . . .
- You can walk through hotel casinos but please don't linger. Hotel security agents will ask you to leave as soon as they spot you.
- There are plenty of fun activities the entire family can enjoy in and around Las Vegas. The website www.lasvegaskids.com is a good resource, as is the city's official tourism site, www.visitlasvegas.com and www.vegas.com. There is even a Frommer's Guide to Las Vegas With Kids.
You Won't Get Bored If You . . .
- Go to a show. There are magicians (Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo Hotel, www.lanceburton.com and Xtreme Magic at the Tropicana, www.tropicanalv); Cirque de Soleil's elaborate productions (try Mystere at Treasure Island, www.treasureisland.com); Broadway hits like Hairsprsay (at the Luxor, www.luxor.com), or the ever-popular Blue Man Group (at the Venetian, www.venetian.com ). Check www.lasvegasweekly.com for more possibilities.
- Learn something at exhibits like the reproduction of King Tut's Tomb in the Luxor Hotel (www.luxor.com), Russian art at the Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum at the Venetian (www.venetian.com), and the traveling art exhibits at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. (www.bellagio.com).
- Take a tour of Ethel M Chocolates in Henderson (www.ethelm.com) where you can eat your samples outside in the largest cactus garden in Nevada. Choose your favorite kind of M&Ms at M&Ms World on Las Vegas Boulevard with its bewildering array of colors.
- Snap photos with the rich and famous (facsimiles of them anyway) at Madame Tussuad's Las Vegas (www.mtvegas.com), or check out Liberace's pianos at the Liberace Museum (www.liberace.com).
- Get out of the heat at a museum like the Lied Discovery Children's Museum (www.ldcm.org) with a new “Desert Discovery” exhibit for young kids and the Las Vegas Natural History museum (www.lvnhm.org).
- Ride bumper cars and coasters at The Adventuredome at Circus Circus, a five-acre indoor amusement park, where there's a huge swinging pirate ship and clowns to make everyone laugh (www.adventuredome.com).
- Picnic and hike at Mt. Charleston, just 35 miles from Las Vegas where temperatures average 20-30 degrees cooler, especially at the top where the elevation is nearly 12,000 feet! (www.fs.fed.us)
- Visit a national park. Zion is 158 miles north of Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon is 210 miles away. The Grand Canyon is about 300 miles away and there are helicopter tours available from Las Vegas (www.nps.gov).
- Dive in the water at Lake Mead National Recreational Area, just 25 miles from Las Vegas, with more than 500 miles of shore line where you can swim, water ski, boat, fish, and scuba dive (www.nps.gov/lame/).
- Catch a foul ball watching the Las Vegas 51s minor league team, a AAA affiliate of the LA Dodgers that plays at Cashman Field near downtown (www.lv51.com). During basketball season, the UNLV Rebels are always a big draw (www.unlvrebels.collegesports.com).
- Check into a hotel that welcomes kids and—especially during summer—has a lot of pool action. The best include the Mandalay Bay (www.mandalaybay.com ) and the adjacent Four Seasons (www.fourseasons.com) which gives you access to the all the Mandalay Bay's pools; the Hard Rock (www.hardrockhotel.com) with its Rock n' Roll memorabilia; the new exclusive Wynn Las Vegas (www.wynnlasvegas.com), and the Bellagio, which—be forewarned—won't even allow kids on the property unless they're staying there (www.bellagio.com). Check their websites for deals or try such websites as www.hotels.com or www.quickbook.com.
Other Kid-friendly Hotels Include . . .
- The Hyatt Lake Las Vegas Resort and the Ritz-Carlton Lake at Las Vegas (www.lakelasvegas.hyatt.com and www.ritzcarlton.com). They are 17 miles south of the strip with lots of family activities like kayaking, sailing, and a man-made beach—far removed from all of the glitter and hoopla. Kids are really made to feel like VIPs at these hotels! Consider paying extra for concierge-level rooms so breakfast, snacks, and drinks are complimentary.
- The MGM Grand Hotel has a lion habitat and gigantic pool area with pedestrian bridges, waterfalls, and more (www.mgmgrand.com).
- The Orleans Hotel and Casino has a commercial childcare facility and a huge video game arcade (www.orleanscasino.com).
- Caesars Palace where the kids can get their picture taken with Cleopatra and scale a rock-climbing wall. You can shop till you drop at The Forum Shops that were built to look like an ancient Roman street (www.caesarspalace.com).
- Circus Circus, where clowns, trapeze artists, and dancers perform under the big top and kids can play Midway games. There's also an RV park. (www.circuscircus.com).
- The Excalibur Hotel & Casino has a Renaissance theme and is considered a good value. The kids will love the waterslides (www.excaliburcasino.com)!
- New York New York has its own roller coaster (www.nynyhotelcasino.com), while Paris Las Vegas offers the chance to go up to the top of the 50-story replica of the Eiffel Tower (www.paris-lv.com).
- There are also plenty of chain hotels including AmeriSuites (www.amerisuites.com) and Embassy Suites (www.embassysuites.com).
See Past Editions of Kids Korner.
By: Eileen Ogintz, Author of Taking the Kids™
