My husband's brother is planning an October wedding at The Luxor in Las Vegas, and of course, we're invited. We have one son who will be 23 months old at the time of the wedding. Our dilemma is whether or not to take our son with us to Las Vegas or leave him at home with his other grandparents. I've heard that Las Vegas has tried to become more family-friendly, but I'm not sure how truly child-friendly Las Vegas really is. We've been to Vegas before, and we're not big gamblers anyway, so the fact that our time in the casinos would be limited is a non-issue for us. Can anyone offer any thoughts or experiences with taking a toddler to Las Vegas??? We're not planning to stay at the Luxor but probably MGM Grand (where we've stayed before), the Paris Hotel, or the Bellagio. Are there some hotels that might help make our stay with our son more comfortable?
I got married in Vegas. We took my 5 year old now step daughter. It was not fun. She is a perfect little girl but Vegas is not child friendly. Naked buisness cards line the street, drunks staggering around, ect. We wanted to "see the sights", but with a small child that was more than difficult.
I'd say, if you can leave him with grandparents .. then I'd do that and enjoy the time with you and your husband. Plus, if either or both of you are in the wedding ... it may be difficult to tend to your wedding duties AND watch your baby.
Unless you're trying to stay longer and make it a family vaca ... then I'd let him stay home and have fun with his grandparents ... what 2 year old wants to sit through a wedding?! :-) JMO! :-)
I have to say that I agree with the previous poster. Las Vegas is really fun for adults but I would not take a child (especially a young one) there.
I have to agree with most everyone else. My husband and I lived in Las Vegas for 7 years and still visit regularly with our kids because we have family who live there and because we pretty much avoid the strip. Vegas has tried to become more family friendly and has improved from where it was 20 years ago but the bottom line is it is still an adult playland. If you are on the stip your little one is probably going to see more than you would like him to (some with very little clothing, people drinking, and lots of inappropriate behavior). If you do take him you can take him to the aquarium at the Mandalay Bay, Circus Circus, a nice lake and Hoover Dam does tours and are about 40 minutes, Mt Charleston for hiking and exploring are about 40 minutes from downtown or if you plan to stay for just the wedding you can drive to San Diego (Seaworld) or Anaheim (Disneyland) in about 4 hours.
Until recently, leaving our son with someone else wasn't an option, we just didn't live close enough. So, if you want to take him, I'd say go for it. We took our son to Vegas last year, he was almost 3. He enjoyed seeing the lights and all the action of the city. We're not gamblers either, so that wasn't an issue for us. We went to M&M World and Everything Coke and they were both fun. He loved the Bellagio fountains and we watched them for a long time. He also enjoyed the moving statues at Ceasars' Palace, he still talks about them. The funniest thing to us was that as we walked down the street the people handing out the calling cards avoided us like the plague. It just got funny watching them avoid us!
I can also see the advantage of leaving him with grandparents, but just wanted to let you know that if you decide to take him, it's not bad!
I would NOT take him. Las Vegas is not child friendly at ALL.
You can try to minimize his exposure, but every hotel and casino allows smoking - he will have tons of secondhand smoke exposure just from walking from your hotel room to wherever you're going. I hate going there myself for that very reason, I would NEVER take a child.
Not to mention that there are near-naked women on every billboard and taxi-cab...
It's really just not a place for kids...IMO.
