9 Great Places to take kids in Las Vegas

We recently got to take our family on a quick trip to Las Vegas. With a family of six, our kids’ ages ranging from 6-15, we thought it might be difficult to find places to suit everyone, but we were wrong!

There was SO MUCH for our family to see and do! We had tons of fun and I wanted to share with our readers some great places that are family-friendly in Las Vegas!

We partnered with MGM Resorts to bring all these great family-friendly vacation ideas to our readers. We received complimentary experiences at some of the venues. All opinions are my own.

Mandalay Bay Hotel

Staying at Mandalay Bay was such an awesome experience for our family. We could have stayed only at the hotel the entire time and had plenty of family activities to keep us occupied for our entire trip!

Everyone had a favorite part. The beach/pool experience kept us occupied for hours every day. As you walk through the hotel, there are so many hidden treasures, one we found was an extremely detailed sand sculpture that was amazing!

In their forum shops we found a fun candy shop Lick which of course we had to try out. We also ate at their delicious Bayside Buffet which had plenty of food choices for our wide range of interests.

The hotel room was spacious and clean, a wonderful retreat after all of our fun each day. We were impressed by how helpful ALL the staff that we encountered were.

Staying at Mandalay Bay will definitely be top of our list next time we come to experience Las Vegas! We also found out that when you are staying at the hotel and paying for parking ($15/day), it gives you parking at all the MGM properties while you are there (which is about half the strip!)

Mandalay Bay Beach

What a fun oasis in the middle of the Las Vegas desert! The Beach is an adventure all in itself! Everyone was entertained for hours each day at the various attractions at Mandalay Bay Beach.

My 10 year old was in heaven with the wave pool. He never wanted to leave, and although my 6 year old wasn’t quite tall enough for the height requirements for that one, we spent time in the kids’ area next to the wave pool and still got to experience the waves coming through.

We had so much fun in the Lazy River. We did it both with tubes and without and went around numerous times. There are two “Lagoon” pools that are HUGE and a fun swimming area for all our kids while I sat in the chairs and enjoyed a poolside beverage.

We didn’t even count how many spas were speckled around the beach area to enjoy. The sandy beach made you forget that you were in the middle of the desert, and felt more like being seaside.

There are various cabanas/daybeds/chairs that you can rent and have a space to call your own, but there are also plenty of chairs around to relax for a moment in-between fun adventures. Mandalay Bay Beach was one of the highlights for all four kids for the trip–we’ll definitely be heading back here again!

Haus of Gaga

Our family LOVES music and have some favorite Lady Gaga songs, so we were pretty excited to see all the amazing outfits that Lady Gaga has on display at Haus of Gaga (at Park MGM). Everyone picked a favorite “look” of Lady Gaga’s and were even shocked to see her “meat dress” on display!

We realized that sometimes seeing the videos of her in the outfits doesn’t do justice to how extravagant the outfits really were. She wore ballet toe-shoes that were over two feet tall!

Her Lobster Hat (not sure if that’s what she calls it, but it’s aptly named by my six year old) was crazy huge, we don’t know how she kept it on her head! You’ll have to go check it out with your family and let us know which outfit was your favorite at the Haus of Gaga.

Tournament of Kings

We were so excited to take the kids to see a Vegas Show, and Tournament of Kings (at Excalibur) was the perfect Dinner Show for our family! The show involves the audience for a completely immersive adventure.

It transports you back to Medieval Times where you get to pound on the tables, cheer for your “King”, boo the opponents, and EAT WITH YOUR HANDS! My boys were especially excited to eat an ENTIRE CHICKEN with their hands!

The food was absolutely delicious and there was so much that we couldn’t eat it all (don’t worry-we made sure to finish the dessert)! The show was so engaging, we loved the competition, fighting, dancing ladies, magic (and so much more but I don’t want to give it all away…)

My six year old decided he is going to be a “jouster” when he grows up (I’m really not sure where one would go to school to gain that type of education…) Needless to say, the Tournament of Kings evening event was a total success for our family!

Big Apple’s Virtual Reality Roller Coaster

Seeking thrills on the Las Vegas Strip? Our fifteen year old had the Big Apple Coaster (at New York-New York) on her bucket list and was so excited to be able to cross that one off.

We’ve been to various theme parks and have ridden quite a few thrill-seeker roller coasters and the Roller Coaster at the top of New York-New York was one of the top ones we went on! Not only, does it start at the top of a gigantic resort, it goes HIGHER! Thrills for days!

The unique part of Big Apple Coaster is that you can ride it normally, seeing the views of Las Vegas throughout the ride, or you can put on a Virtual Reality Headset and experience the ride in New York! Both my teens were all smiles walking off the coaster. After riding, we spent time hanging around the game center in New York-New York.

My kids were pretty excited to be able to play some games (after walking through all the twinkling lights of the Casinos and not being able to play any of those). There was a huge variety of games from skee-ball to immersive Star Wars games. We tried them all! It was a BLAST for everyone!

Shark Reef Aquarium

An aquarium in the middle of the desert? We were so excited to see the hidden treasure that Mandalay Bay offers at their Shark Reef Aquarium. 14 amazing exhibits give you an immersive experience with these amazing predators.

Our family saw sharks that we’ve NEVER seen before at other aquariums we’ve visited. We got to pet stingrays (and found out that they rotate the animals and sometimes you can pet horseshoe crabs or even sharks!) and saw that they even have an up-close encounter where you can feed sea turtles and sharks!

There are more than 2,000 animals displayed at the Shark Reef Aquarium, and that includes 15 different species of sharks! You have to check out the Guitarfish when you go, I had seen pictures of one before, but it did not prepare me to see how awesome it was in person!

There are a few parts throughout the aquarium where the animals are above, below and ALL AROUND you! What an experience!

La Pizza e La Pasta at Eately

One of the places that I was most excited to explore was Park MGM’s Eately! I had heard about Eately in New York and Chicago and was so excited to experience authentic Italian dining in Las Vegas! It is a large Italian Marketplace with over a dozen eateries.

I think I could have spent an entire day trying everything they have to offer there. There are even hands-on cooking classes that you can take there (it’s on my list for next time!). We ate at La Pizza el La Pasta and were blown-away at the adventure for our tastebuds. We wanted to try everything and were not disappointed at all.

When you go, make sure you try something from their Mozzarella Bar-it’s amazing! If you want a suggestion, try the TAGLIATELLE con Ragù alla Bolognese, it was DELICIOUS! We also tried their MARGHERITA RUSTICA pizza and ate every single piece…no leftovers to take home.

Make sure you leave some space for dessert, their cannolis are divine! I wish we had more stomach space to enjoy all Eately had to offer.

KISS Themed Mini-Golf

We found another music-inspired attraction that our family had to check out. There is Glow-In-The-Dark KISS themed mini-golf at the Rio. 18 holes of awesome fun while your shoes, clothes and even teeth glow amongst the KISS themed art displays.

They even have a KISS radio station playing all kinds of classic rock KISS songs. If your family hasn’t been to mini-golf in a while, you NEED to go check out KISS Mini-Golf while you are in town.

Crazyshakes at Black Tap

In the city where over-the-top is the norm, your family needs to check out the Crazyshakes at Black Tap at the Venetian. Beware, there is NO WAY you can eat one all by yourself. We all shared milkshakes and still didn’t finish them (we may have eaten a bunch of their fries too-the sweet potato ones are ah-mazing!)

We actually got into a “family dispute” about which Crazyshake was the best. I’ll let you in on a secret–it’s definitely Brooklyn Blackout, but my kids would say either Cookies ‘N Cream Supreme or Cotton Candy were the best…

Our family had such a BLAST exploring some great attractions at Las Vegas. There are so many more adventures to be had next time we’re in town that is fun for the ENTIRE family!

Please tell me about your favorite family adventure in Las Vegas so we can try it out next time!