Tips for Visiting Las Vegas Next Week?

Mandalay Bay is a great pool for kids. Might be the best. Its just plain huge. And it has a sandy beach. It also has both a river raft and a wave pool. You can also check out the Shark aquarium there. I think its discounted if you stay there.

There's like a little shuttle tram that goes from Mandalay to Luxor to Excalibur. You can cross the bridge to NYNY and then again to MGM grand. NYNY has a roller coaster. So you can basically travel between all these places 99% indoors by walking and pretty quickly.

Not sure what you are into but the Cirque shows are good. Everyone I took to O in Bellagio loves it and I liked the Michael Jackson show in Mandalay.

Haven't been to a buffet in a long time but the Wynn I know is quite good and I hear good things about the Wicked Spoon in the Cosmopolitan. If you're into racing you can check out the new F1 exhibit with simulators. Its just East of Planet Hollywood on Harmon.

Also the Sphere Postcards from Earth show is quite impressive and good for kids. Its at Venetian (technically just behind it).

 

A terrific experience is the Atomic Museum on East Flamingo. It's an affiliate of the Smithsonian and an entertaining and informative exhibit. I'd say one to two hours to enjoy it all. A free experience that is always sensational is The Conservatory at Bellagio. If you want to expose your kid to a big slice of American history, there's the Pinball Hall of Fame just south of Mandalay. Just one note of caution at the pools. It's June. The earth is close to the sun. You're in the desert. Clouds are not in abundance. You can easily burn the daylights out of human flesh in under and hour.

 

I've not been downtown to the Mob Museum but it also is well liked by visitors.

 

There is a Punk Rock Museum there as well...

Just know that 'fees and taxes' are going to add a crapload of $$$ to your room rate every day.
Might triple the rate.

 

The Mob museum is a fun experience but might be a little too violent for a 12 year old. There's some graphic photos and you might have to prep your kid for it. Then again, by that age most kids have seen a million grisly murders on video games, movies and TV so what do I know. The Neon Museum is a very cool experience if you go downtown but all of the retro mid century signs might not mean much to a 12 year old. At the top of Mandalay (64th floor) is a venue (I think kids can get in, it's a bar) that is fun to visit at dusk. You can look north as all of the Strip neon comes on. You also look straight down at the Luxor beacon. It's not for me but you can try the High Roller behind the Linc (giant Ferris Wheel) or take an elevator to top of fake Eiffel Tower at Paris for big view of city. You could do same thing at the Strat but who would want to? For God's sake, do not get roped into a helicopter tour of The Grand Canyon. Even though most of those flights return safely it is a defilement of the sacred GC.

 

Greenbergs in NY NY makes a pretty good pastrami sandwich ask for it on rye grilled in butter.