family of 4 with teenagers

Well I guess I will start out in Las Vegas the flight and everything else before went great. After arriving 3/24 we checked into the LV Hilton at the airport. Had the StarTrek package. $54 a night per room included 2 tickets to Star Trek (not worth the $25 a ticket if I had to pay for it) and a meal at Quarks. Meal was good and fun. To avoid the trouble of repeating myself we hotel hopped. And had 2 rooms at each hotel. We had signed up for the Fastlane card from Dollar. Did not have to go to the counter at the airport just got on their shuttle and went to their lot. Was told they were out of the full size I had reserved and to pick out any van I wanted. I did and just drove to the gate they gave me my paper work and we were outta there. Went to MGM for our 4 free wagerworks buffets (wife and I both had accounts). Used the invited guest line and got right in. Heard it was a 45 minute wait without the pass. The food was very good and better than the Mirage buffet we ate later in the week however my wife's opinion is the oppisite. Then went and checked into the Hilton. Got newly remodeled rooms on the fourth floor. They were very nice exept one picture in the room we were in was hung upside down. We then crashed for the night. I went down to casino earlier and played a little Blackjack. The very next morinig I went to play some more and sometime over night they had changed all tables to "hit soft 17". Went back to room and gathered the clan and went to visit the strip. Picked up our 4 passes for the Dolphin habitat tickets courtesy of wagerworks. Toured Venetian, Paris, Aladdin had a Krispy Kreme at Venetian. All were very nice. Used our passes at the Dolphin was worth every penny we payed for it and went back to the Hilton for the Quarks meal. Then toured town in van. Did Star Trek. Fed kids McDonalds and wife and I went to Bellagio buffet again wagerworks. Was exotic. Bed time. Got up ate the Hilton buffet nothing special. Checked out of Hilton using TV. Went to Luxor and picked up wife and kids tickets for BMG. Then went to NY NY for the free roller coaster passes. Only son felt like riding. Gave other ticket away. He said it was ok not worth $10 though. Went to Mandalay Bay saw sharks. It is all the way in the very back of the property was a long walk. Wasn't as good as Shedd Aquarium in Chicago but better and cheaper than the shark walk at the Mall of America. Then checked into the Golden Nugget. All I can say is WOW. It is very nice. Service was the best of any place I have ever stayed at Vegas or not. Rooms were $49 a night and included a $50 bonus money we used for tickets to see The Amazing Jonathan. Rooms were connected in the North Tower and we were suprised to see them decorated differently. Ate supper at Main St. Station, it was my favorite buffet of the trip even though I had to pay for it. Son and I had to pee on Berlin wall. Took family to BMG they had 2nd row seats and loved the show. Next day had planned lunch for Warner Brothers at Venetian. Found out the Batman Studio part did not open for lunch so skipped lunch there and went to Harrah's buffet. We were handed $3 off coupons for the buffet outside and the "free" tickets to Mac King show. Ate buffet and they had prime rib and peeled shrimp on lunch buffet and banana foster for $6.99 each. Was very good. Got in a long line to see Mac King. They had maitre d' seating. We finally got to the front of the line slipped him $10 he asked if we wanted close or high I said close he took us to a table next to the stage in the middle. We had a fun time. Went back to room for some rest. Then went to Mirage for wagerworks buffets. Opinions above. Then went to see The amazing Jonathan. His assistant The psychic Tanya was very funny. Everyone enjoyed the show except Billy the poor guy he yanked out of the audience. Checked out of Golden Nugget and checked into Caesars Palace. $69 a night with $25 food credit. Got jacuzzi rooms in the Forum tower on the 3 floor from the top closest to the strip. Was rooms 8006 & 8007 had views of the fountains at Bellagio and Effiel Tower. Jacuzzi was in the bedroom of wife's and my room. We had mirror on the ceiling - we both should of dieted before the trip. Kids had Jaccuzi in the bathroom. Daughter could not get over the phone nxt to toilet. Only cost me $20 extra at check in you all know what I mean. Went to Rio in the afternoon saw Ron Lucas the ventriloquist. Was funny. Did not realize how many TV shows he had been on. He was very funny. Another set of "free" tickets. Free if you buy a coke for $6.95. Saw parade in sky then went to EFX Alive. Thanks wagerworks. They had a power failure as we were waiting for the show. They gave us a free round of drinks. 7:30p show started at 9:15p. Funny thing if the rest of casino has no power all the slot machines still worked. They let me pick up my tickets Sunday night when we arrived in town and they keep telling my wife she could not pick up here tickets till 1 hour before the show. We tried several times to get her tickets before then but were told to get them 1 hour before the show everytime. I got tickets in section 511 which were very nice tickets. We went to get the wife's tickets 1 hour before the show she got tickets at table 206 which was dead center 1 table back from the stage. The table that gets to High Five Rick Springfield. Show was alot of fun. Well I keep the kids and wife so busy I had very lttle time to gamble, oh well, I still had fun. We ate Caesars buffet for breakfast and went to see the fountain show at Forum shops. Checked out of Hotel and headed home 3/29. Can't wait till next time.

[ April 01, 2002: Message edited by: polockski ]</p>

 

Glad to hear you guys had as much fun as we did. That mirror thing cracked me up! It was a good thing we didn't have one in our room - same reason! I think that's why mirrors should stay on the wall - gravity does something different to your body when you are laying down as opposed to standing up! LOL.

Sounds like you had a pretty good time even if you didn't leave your $$$ in the casino.

How old are your kids? Did you run into any unexpected probs?

 

Wow,
Packed a lot into lthat vacation! Must have done your homework well! I am going with my daughter in april (1 of my 3 teens!) Mom won't fly so I decided to thake them one at a time. (I get 3 trips that way!)
Thanks for sharing your good times and experiences!

Jim

 

I laughed out loud at the mirror thing too. Maybe that would have been a good thing 20 years ago, but not now....

I just posted under the Show section that we're thinking of taking my mom and kids to Vegas next Feb. Did you take the kids to all the shows you mentioned above? What were their ages? What hotel did you like the best for your family of the ones you stayed at? Did you have any problems navigating the hotels with the kids and the off limits areas?

Great report!

 

Kids were 14 and 19. Everyone loved the Golden Nugget it was picked as the favorite hotel. Amazing Jonathan did use adult lauguage but was nothing the kids hadn't already heard at school or in movies. They do recomend that attendees be 14 for his show. They voted BMG and Amazing Jonathan as a tie for their favorites. The service at the Nugget was first class all the way. Kids saw all the shows. I skipped BMG to gamble my ticket money away. We didn't stop moving from the time we touched down and there was never a dull moment. I figured it was their vacation and one of the last few we would spend as a family group so keep them entertained and maybe they would want to go back. Figured wife and I would return someday after we dieted for 6 years and each lost about half ourselves and then we could enjoy the mirrors at Caesars as well as the rest of the city without the kids.