Thrifty Vegas for the family?

[RX_EVOLV]

My thoughts on saving $$ and stretching your dollars:

1) Look for hotels at hotwire.com, but be aware of resort fees (which could be $25USD+/night) so read the fine prints carefully
2) Stay off strip. Everything is more expensive on the strip.
3) Buy coupons like Groupon and Travelzoo to save on food and attractions
4) Depends on the kind of cars you are renting, Turo.com might be cheaper
5) Some pools might not open til mid-April to make sure you double check with hotel.
6) Get your show tickets or dinner vouchers at the Tix4Tonight booth when you get there https://www.tix4tonight.com/

That said.. if you dont drink or gamble, and not planning to go to any big shows (as they are $$) or eat at nice restaurants (also $$), there isn't much to do in Vegas. The Dam and Grand Canyon is only going to keep you busy for half a day (and it's SOO windy at the Grand Canyon you probably won't stay long), and maybe half a day at the outlet mall. Other than that I honestly dont know what else you would do with the kids.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Vegas is super friendly for kids these days, you just need to treat it like a family vacation instead of a bender.

It's ok for kids to see things like homeless people and street performers, they're going to be more influenced by how you act there, not other people.

Oh.


I didn't know that.

[spikerS]

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My thoughts on saving $$ and stretching your dollars:

1) Look for hotels at hotwire.com, but be aware of resort fees (which could be $25USD+/night) so read the fine prints carefully
2) Stay off strip. Everything is more expensive on the strip.
3) Buy coupons like Groupon and Travelzoo to save on food and attractions
4) Depends on the kind of cars you are renting, Turo.com might be cheaper
5) Some pools might not open til mid-April to make sure you double check with hotel.
6) Get your show tickets or dinner vouchers at the Tix4Tonight booth when you get there https://www.tix4tonight.com/

That said.. if you dont drink or gamble, and not planning to go to any big shows (as they are $$) or eat at nice restaurants (also $$), there isn't much to do in Vegas. The Dam and Grand Canyon is only going to keep you busy for half a day (and it's SOO windy at the Grand Canyon you probably won't stay long), and maybe half a day at the outlet mall. Other than that I honestly dont know what else you would do with the kids.

Thanks for the tips, I will look into those! exactly what we were looking for.

Yeah, we know the kind of things that go on on the strip. We will probably go check it out during the day, but you won't catch us there after about 3pm. We are looking for more fun activities like the pools, the big ferris wheel / london eye thing, water parks, grand canyon, hoover dam, museums, outlet mall, Hershy's factory, stratosphere tower, museums and such.

I am not worried about NOT finding enough activities and such for us over 4 days. And while there is a lot of scummy stuff going on there, both Baygirl and I have been there in the past, we know what's up and how to avoid the douchbaggery. This isn't a thread asking "should we take our kids to Vegas" but rather, "we are going, we are looking for tips to maximize our fun."

[D'z Nutz]

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We are looking for more fun activities like the pools, the big ferris wheel / london eye thing, water parks, grand canyon, hoover dam, museums, outlet mall, Hershy's factory, stratosphere tower, museums and such.

A couple things I wanted to do when I was there a few months ago but never got a chance to:
- Neon Sign Museum
- Downtown Container Park
- Red Rock Scooter tour
- Hoover damn bike tour

There's also a pinball museum if that's your thing

[BavarianBeast]

Zion is a must do IMO. Even if your kids can't hike, just going to Canyon Overlook trail and walking 15 minutes is spectacular.


Assuming your into cars, getting your kids a ride with the professional drifter at Exotics Racing is a ton of fun @ $99.

NYNY Roller Coaster is fun for kids and there's a massive arcade at the entrance.

[Homerrca]

Haven't been to Vegas but a few friends went and they mentioned the mob museum as a place to check out. It's supposed to be a large building and can take a while to go through but that is an option. When I get down there I want to check out the classic car junk yard and maybe even pick up a ride to restore.

[RX_EVOLV]

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Thanks for the tips, I will look into those! exactly what we were looking for.

Yeah, we know the kind of things that go on on the strip. We will probably go check it out during the day, but you won't catch us there after about 3pm. We are looking for more fun activities like the pools, the big ferris wheel / london eye thing, water parks, grand canyon, hoover dam, museums, outlet mall, Hershy's factory, stratosphere tower, museums and such.

I am not worried about NOT finding enough activities and such for us over 4 days. And while there is a lot of scummy stuff going on there, both Baygirl and I have been there in the past, we know what's up and how to avoid the douchbaggery. This isn't a thread asking "should we take our kids to Vegas" but rather, "we are going, we are looking for tips to maximize our fun."

Fair enough.

A few more little things:

1) If you shop at Macy's, you can go to the Visitor center, tell them you are from Canada and show your password, and they will give you a 10% discount card on almost everything: https://www.visitmacysusa.com/visitor-savings

2) If you join the premium outlet mall rewards program ahead of time, you can get a 'VIP" coupon book with a bunch of coupons for all the major stores at the outlet mall.

3) There are alot of happy hour specials around, so keep an eye out for them

4) This is an obvious one but staying midweek is ALOT cheaper than weekends, and the crowd is 'better' for kids since it'll mostly be business people there for conferences, rather than to party.

5) We used to do this all the time. Since some restaurants (e.g Aria) have a breakfast buffet that turns into a brunch/lunch buffet at a certain time (9-10am), we would go in at the tail end of the breakfast buffet for the breakfast rate, and then just wait for them to turn everything over to lunch Sure we are counting pennies at this point (~$5-8 savings per person) but hey.. why not.

[Xtrema]

Stay off strip and rent a car. Much cheaper than staying on strip.

Still don't know what good places to see for kids. Most attractions on strip requires going thru gambling floor, so make sure your kids are ok with smoke and seeing gamblers. It's not as family friendly as one think. Especially if they are not close to or being teens yet.

Hoover Dam would be interesting and may be some outlet shopping (not great since CAD was in toilet), grand canyon is quite a drive out unless you are flying out. May be the aquarium at Mandalay Bay or that Medieval show at Excalibur.

I would go somewhere else or just ditch the kids so you 2 can have some fun.

[P_D]

My son had a blast in Vegas, M&M store, Avengers Adventure, Circus Circus, Dinner show at Excalibur, and Blue man group ..... there is all kinds of stuff we didnt even get to. I would need a full two weeks to hit all the fun stuff.

[Tik-Tok]

As for off-strip places to stay. We were at the Tahiti Village (using a friends time-share), and it's pretty good for kids. The swimming pools are stupid shallow though for adults (like 4' deep I think), but great for wading around in a tube.

[suntan]

I had some in-laws stay here: https://www.tahitivillage.com

They liked it.

[colinxx235]

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Only people at any pool in Palm Springs, Phoenix, Vegas at this time of year will be Canadians.
But a lot of pools are closed at any large hotel because it's too cold for most travellers.

AirBnB in Phoenix. Better plan with kids, IMO.

I went to Palm Srings in March 2 years ago for the Indian Wells tourney. Was almost 40 degrees, I'm sure more than just Canadians were hitting the pools.
My parents are snow birds there and once you hit early March the temperature gets up pretty damn nice for pool. And even in February when its low 20s almost all the places have a heated pool if its a bit of a colder spell.


But yah, I'm -1 for kids in vegas. If they want to see some things/pool. I'd suggest San Diego maybe? then at least you can go hit the zoos, much warmer etc. Palm Springs has the weather and cheap flights, a couple water parks/mini golf/go kart things around to do. Otherwise yah joshua tree and hiking is an option.

[Manhattan]

Phoenix was the most boring place I've been to in America. I get the weather part but there is nothing else interesting unless you drive up to Sedona.

[Rocket1k78]

You'll have a blast in vegas with the fam. We did a trip to disney a few years ago with 3 families and stopped in Vegas for 3 days and it was a fun time(kids were 4-8). The strip can be a shady place but for the most part its not that bad. You can save money by staying off the strip but then you gotta drive everywhere and park. Id for sure stay on the strip and more in the middle that way you guys can just walk out and do whatever.

[89coupe]

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Hey all,

Looking for tips and advice on Vegas and how to keep costs down. Looking to do 5 days in vegas with Baygirl and our 2 kids. Booze and gambling isn't a consideration as none of us really drink or gamble. We are looking forward to a nice swimming pool and taking in the sights like Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon.

What is the best way to make the dollars stretch? Anything from booking flights, hotels, attractions, etc... Since we are already paying ~30% premium due to the dollar exchange rate, we are looking to find ways to make those dollars go that little bit further. For example, i seem to remember that flights are so much cheaper if you depart somewhere in Montana, but I don't recall where from...

any advice?

Vegas is not a place to take kids.

[Tik-Tok]

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Vegas is not a place to take kids.

Gotta laugh at everyone saying this. Just because YOUR Vegas adventures don't include child-friendly things, doesn't mean there isn't an absolute shit ton to do there.

There's more to life than drinking and strippers.

[ExtraSlow]

Vegas has a ton of kid friendly things. Unless your little snowflakes will melt if they see a truck or a card with strippers on it. Of if visual exposure to gambling or alcohol will send them down a lifelong path to degeneracy. If that's the case, I'd say they are doomed anyway.

It could be a great opportunity for honest and open conversations about realities of the world we live in. That's my opinion.

[Euro838]

Depending on the weekend, you can get flights on Westjet right now for $300 or less return and direct. I am heading there this weekend with my kids for that price which makes it a cheap weekend getaway flight-wise. Allegiant flies out of Kalispell and Great Falls, Montana but that's a 5 hour drive from here!!! Definitely not worth it as they charge for everything. You are better off to take Swoop out of Edmonton.

The best value meal I think you can get on the strip is Earl of Sandwich in Planet Hollywood. Basically get a hot sandwich combo (which includes unlimited drink refills) for about $10. For some reason this location is $2 cheaper than the one at Caesar's. If you want pizza, then check out Pin-up Pizza just outside PH or the hidden pizza place on the third floor of Cosmopolitan. Gordon Ramsay's burger is a reasonably priced for a celebrity named restaurant.

Buffets seem to have really crept up in price as they are probably around $40-$70 per person. That being said, they are probably still better value than a high end restaurant that will probably be about $100 per person. Bucchanal's at Caesar's is probably the best buffet I think but I think that is $70 per person now.

There is an Inn-and-Out Burger and a white castle on the strip. I personally think white castle is gross but it's cheap.

Not sure if you like Pho but I would recommend to NOT look or try it on the strip, no one I know has had success.

As others have said, it probably won't be warm enough for pools and other outdoor activities until the end of March but there's still activities for kids to do (but will cost $$$). If you rent a car and do not have high enough Mlife card, then all MGM properties will cost you to do self-park. Other kids stuff to do on the strip would be Circus Circus, coke store, m&m store, Hershey store, etc. There is a movie theatre at Town Square which is an interesting area to walk around in but that's at the south end of the strip. If you are into panoramic landscape photography, then check out the Peter Lik gallery at the Venetian. There's the E-sports arena at Luxor too. At the Fashion Mall, there's a Marvel's Avengers STATION exhibit but it's not really cheap.

Anyways, in contrary to what others might say about taking kids to Vegas, it's not that bad and if you are willing to shell out for concerts, events and fine dining, it's actually a very fun family experience!

[Misterman]

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Depending on the weekend, you can get flights on Westjet right now for $300 or less return and direct. I am heading there this weekend with my kids for that price which makes it a cheap weekend getaway flight-wise. Allegiant flies out of Kalispell and Great Falls, Montana but that's a 5 hour drive from here!!! Definitely not worth it as they charge for everything. You are better off to take Swoop out of Edmonton.

The best value meal I think you can get on the strip is Earl of Sandwich in Planet Hollywood. Basically get a hot sandwich combo (which includes unlimited drink refills) for about $10. For some reason this location is $2 cheaper than the one at Caesar's. If you want pizza, then check out Pin-up Pizza just outside PH or the hidden pizza place on the third floor of Cosmopolitan. Gordon Ramsay's burger is a reasonably priced for a celebrity named restaurant.

Buffets seem to have really crept up in price as they are probably around $40-$70 per person. That being said, they are probably still better value than a high end restaurant that will probably be about $100 per person. Bucchanal's at Caesar's is probably the best buffet I think but I think that is $70 per person now.

There is an Inn-and-Out Burger and a white castle on the strip. I personally think white castle is gross but it's cheap.

Not sure if you like Pho but I would recommend to NOT look or try it on the strip, no one I know has had success.

As others have said, it probably won't be warm enough for pools and other outdoor activities until the end of March but there's still activities for kids to do (but will cost $$$). If you rent a car and do not have high enough Mlife card, then all MGM properties will cost you to do self-park. Other kids stuff to do on the strip would be Circus Circus, coke store, m&m store, Hershey store, etc. There is a movie theatre at Town Square which is an interesting area to walk around in but that's at the south end of the strip. If you are into panoramic landscape photography, then check out the Peter Lik gallery at the Venetian. There's the E-sports arena at Luxor too. At the Fashion Mall, there's a Marvel's Avengers STATION exhibit but it's not really cheap.

Anyways, in contrary to what others might say about taking kids to Vegas, it's not that bad and if you are willing to shell out for concerts, events and fine dining, it's actually a very fun family experience!

Tacos and Ritas in MGM is a great value meal as well.

Not sure how well known it is? But Buffets almost all have daily pass bands you can get. At the Luxor we went for breakfast which was around 30$ I think, but the day pass was only 55$ IIRC. Then you can get all 3 meals in the buffet if you want. Best value for single meal is hands down the Bellagio breakfast buffet though. 22$ and they be serving red velvet pancakes. Love that one.

[89coupe]

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Gotta laugh at everyone saying this. Just because YOUR Vegas adventures don't include child-friendly things, doesn't mean there isn't an absolute shit ton to do there.

There's more to life than drinking and strippers.

I guess if you are comfortable walking down the street with half naked women standing at every corner, parading their ass and tits off in front of your children.