I have to admit I was a bit anxious to take my kids to Vegas, especially The Strip. I had heard you couldn’t look up or down without something inappropriate – this was not the case on our trip…
Of Course, we had to stop by the Las Vegas Temple. We actually stopped there at the beginning of our trip on way to St. George/out of town. Note to self: If we are ever back here (which I doubt unless we fly in to go back to Bryce Canyon) there is a Pollo Campero on the way to the temple! I was too early when we went by so it wasn’t open, but man! Had I known…
After our National Parks stops, we went back to Las Vegas for a few days. We decided to try seeing the Strip, because it seems like you should at least see it once! Well, we’ve seen it once now, I see no reason to ever have to go back! It just wasn’t that interesting…
We parked at the Venitian because it was FREE – my favorite price! We then walked down the strip to the Coke and M&M Store. This was a longer walk than I thought it would be -oops!
Now, we went FIRST thing in the morning. We were seriously just about the only people around. This is probably why we didn’t see all the things people warned us about on the strip? I don’t know. But it wasn’t that bad. Everything was clean or was being cleaned. So I guess, if you have kids, do first thing in the morning!
The M&M Store was the kid’s favorite thing on The Strip. They LOVED the FREE 3D movie – again my favorite price! On the top level of the store is a great view of The Strip too. Highly recommend a stop here!
Across the street from there is the Hershey Store. We’ve now been to Hersher PA, the NYC store, and now the Las Vegas Store! They have cool Hershey sculptures and of course, FREE chocolate! However, no free movie, so the kids didn’t like it as much.
Next stop was the Bellagio! The Chihuly style art piece in the lobby was AWESOME! Their Botanical garden inside was beautiful – probably my favorite stop of the Strip! Plus, FREE! Well worth a visit!
The last stop was the one my son REALLY wanted to see. He wanted to see the free Atlantis show in Ceasar’s palace, as he’s read all the Percy Jackson books. I looked ALL over the internet and their website to find times – to find nothing listed, so I assumed it ran continuously. Apparently – at least when we were there – it runs every hour on the hour. We got there 15 minutes after the hour. Now it takes a LONG time to walk through the maze that is Ceasars palace all the way upstairs and to the VERY back of the building for the show. Going anywhere else to wait for the show and we wouldn’t have made it back in time. So we went in search of food.
OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS! If you think Disney is expensive, you haven’t tried to eat food in a Vegas casino. I thought it was supposed to be cheap?? Those days must be OVER. We went to the food court in the Ceasar’s Palace Casino. I bought 2 slices of cheese pizza and a drink for $19. My husband got an entree at the Chinese fast-food spot for another $19. So almost $40 later and we barely had enough food for a lame snack. *sigh* Lesson learned. Do not eat on The Strip! We ate more at our Condo after we left and thank goodness I had brought lots of snacks!
After our insanely expensive snack, (we refilled those darn drinks several times) we went back to the show. We put the kids up front so they could see the show well (we were like the first people there). They also have their free Aquarium in the same spot – if you want to check it out while you wait. I would never walk that far into the building just to see the aquarium. It is not that big and not that impressive in my opinion. I swear the ones at Rainforest Cafe are bigger and more impressive.
The show finally starts and the sound is AWFUL. You can not understand a word they are saying. Their website said they just re-did the show too. Then, one of the animatronics had a flaming sword – that was malfunctioning. The flames were going down his arm. My husband and I were hoping he’d light on fire. No such luck – darn it!
After the show was over, we asked the kids if they could understand anything closer up. Nope – they couldn’t understand it either. Yeah… Not only did I spend a ton of money on food to wait for this show – the show REALLY sucked. So yeah, don’t think I can recommend it. Stick to the M&M Store and the Gardens at the Bellagio.
After the show, we walked across the street back to the Venetian and headed back to our Condo, where we spent the afternoon swimming.
So while we did not encounter what people warned us about, I still see no reason to ever go back to the Strip in Las Vegas. We’ve seen it, now we are good! Ha! Guess when you don’t gamble or drink, it just isn’t that interesting. There are MUCH better places in this beautiful world to explore. But I guess at least we can say we’ve been there now!
