We have taken our children to Las Vegas twice now & both times the four of us have had a blast.

I purchased an inexpensive 3 ring binger & made a page for each hotel on the strip. Next I listed what there was for MY family to do, & included addresses, phone numbers, prices & times.

On the inside pockets I included free coupons that I printed out on the internet.

The preperation made planning each day a snap.

Our first stop was the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors center. The staff were both knowledgeable & friendly. They have TONS of information on just about any attraction you may be interested in. Some of the information even have coupons included! Their public restrooms were the cleanest I have EVER seen.

Our kids are ages 6 & 3. They really enjoyed the Bellagio fountains, the wax museum, M & M's World & the 3-d movie there as well as the Freemont Street Experience.

The surprise attraction that they enjoyed was the Pinball Hall of Fame. They got a kick out of the Pink Elephant located between the airport & Mandalay Bay as well as the Mermaid show at the Silverton Hotel.

The smut peddelers didn't bother us once with the kids in tow.

To cut down on the cost of food, we carried snacks & bottled water in a backpack with us. The food prices are pricey on the strip so look for coupons.

The best value for our money was found at Ellis Island Brewery & Pub. The food was good, the prices were resonable & the portions were plenty big for our family. Ellis Island is located behind Bally's.

We did one paid attraction per day during our stay.

The first was the wax museum at the Venetian. Using our 2 for 1 admission coupon, witht he kids being young enough that they got in free, the four of us saw this for $25.00. The kids especially liked the Blue Man figures, Alvin & the Chipmunks as well as the American Idol displays.

The second was Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. The kids LOVED the touch tank & the walk through tube here. We went about 90 minutes before closing & the place was nearly empty. We also took advantage of the deal of a reduced buffet price with the admission to the reef. Both the reef & the buffet were GREAT! I recommend it highly. We got to enjoy sea food while kids got gourmet pizza.

The last paid attraction was the Adventuredome at Circus Circus. We got wristbands for the kids & as it turned out, that was good thing. There wasn't much the youngest could ride, but she was enjoying going between three rides she COULD ride.

My husband and I and our friends just returned from a 3 night stay at Bellagio. It was a very nice property. Would definitely stay again!
Things worth reviewing:
Dinner at Sensi Restaurant in Bellagio-excellent
Dinner at Olives in Bellagio-bad
Dinner at Wynn's Hotel buffet-excellent
Cher at Ceasar's-skip
Lots of fun to people watch and gamble!

Stayed at Bally's from 5/10/09 to 5/15/09. Have been going to Vegas annually for over 10 years, & the effect of the recession is obvious. Normally it takes about 1/2 hour to go thru the taxi line at the airport. This time it was less than 5 minutes. Hotel employees reported many layoffs, & taxi drivers said that their income was way down. Taxi fares cost a lot more money compared to last year. Taxi fare from the airport to Bally's was $16.10 before tip. I am a very modest gambler with limits of $250/day. Nevertheless , Bally's comped me for 4 nights & charged $40 for the 5th. The offer was for the South Tower, but a $20 tip when registering upgraded me to the North Tower. By the way, this works at every hotel I have stayed at on the strip. I found the slots much looser than in the past, & actually made $200 after many hours of gambling. On the negative side, the Paris breakfast buffet has gone down hill. The price was $16/person, which the old Paris buffet would have been well worth it. This time, you were told no butter unless you were a VIP. The danish were limited to one type, instead of the usual 4 or 5. Not even a prayer would have saved the Eggs Benedict. Planet Hollywood & Bellagio were as great as ever for the same approximate cost. Visited the M Resort & ate at their dinner buffet. We all thought it was the best in Vegas, even better than Wynn's. Had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris & it was very good. Also ate at the Pasta Shop & Restaurantee & highly recommend it. If you go there, ask the waiter for his advice. Keep away from the Rio buffet unless you are staying there. They have a new system for paying involving the use of a machine to collect your money or credit card, & it can take an awful long time to get through it. Hotel guests can enter via normal means. We were told that the manager hated it as they were losing customers, but he signed a 5 year contract & is stuck with it. Saw Jersey Boys & the Fab 4, & both were great. All in all, I love Vegas. Hap Fairman

I went to Las Vegas with some friends in April 2009. We stayed for 4 days. Most people I know that go to Las Vegas on a regular basis stay for a long weekend, but we added the extra day to see the Grand Canyon (which is totally worth it!).
We stayed at Harrah's which was also worth it due to it's incredibly central location. The first thing I noticed was that the plane landed right beside the strip. The feeling of unreality started at that point. It is very easy to navigate. The town was obviously built for tourists. Buses, cabs, service personnel are all over the place.
We spent the first day walking in one direction of our hotel and the second day walking in the other. Lots of walking, and at one point it got tiring even though we're all very fit. Wear good shoes, and take the escalators when you can. On our last day we went to all the places that we missed on the first 2 days.
The free shows were all not as good as I thought they would be, and even a little cheesy, this included the Mirage volcano, the Treasure Island siren song (VERY cheesy and MTV video like, and if you want to see the ship that sinks don't look at the ship that the show starts at. The ship that sinks is around the corner) Also the Bellagio fountains, were neat but not breathtaking. The Forum shops attached to Caesers Palace has a show every hour about Atlantis which is interesting but again, not incredible. Inside the Miracle Mile shops attached to the Planet Hollywood hotel is a fake rain shower that is pretty neat and seems to catch everyone by surprise.
The most memorable experiences were taking the tour up the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Las Vegas and going to Madame Tussauds wax museum.
Besides these 2 experiences, the hotels themselves are interesting on their own, without their cheesy free shows. I couldn't believe the architecture and the detail that went into them. Most memorable and authentic were Caeser's Palace, Paris Las Vegas and even New York New York. Also the outside gardens of Mandalay Bay were incredibly beautiful and not packed with tourists when we went. We also went to the Shark reef Aquarium, which I wouldn't suggest anyone go unless they have never been in an aquarium before. It wasn't anything special. I have visited Aquariums before and nothing stood out and I'm not sure it was worth the long line up to get in and the admission fee. (not to mention the hordes of strollers and little kids running around)
The most beautiful hotels were the Bellagio, Paris Las Vegas and definately the Wynn, with the beautiful mosaic floors.
We also went to Freemont Street which was interesting, but again the light show was nothing to write home about. It was more interesting seeing the old craps tables and this is where I saw the most "stereotypes" of the kind of people you think of when you think of Las Vegas. That in itself was interesting.
The Venetian was pretty inside, but stank like old lady perfume which all my friends found kind of sickening. Still, we tried to ignore it because it was interesting to see the indoor gondoliers and the architecture that seems so authentic.
A few things, I'v never seen in reviews: The drinks are very expensive. One mixed drink was 10$ typically. But you can drink on the street anywhere, so we just bought some rum and made our own drinks. The line-ups for dinner can be very long. We never ate in the Buffets, and tried to avoid fast food, but seemed to eat in the Mirage a lot. Good food but long waits for it. So go before youre hungry. Also if youre looking normally careful of harming the environment, in Las Vegas, you will have to put your thoughts aside. I found nowhere to recycle our plastic or glass and even our hotel (Harrahs) didn't offer a program where if you hang your towels up they won't replace and wash them. Not sure about other hotels. It was hard for us to adapt to that aspect of the vacation.
I think everyone should go to Las Vegas at least once, because it truly does have something for everyone. It IS cheesy, but in a way, there are areas that are beautiful, and you forget the cheesiness when youre looking at a pretty pond with waterfalls (Mandalay Bay, Mirage and the Wynn) or a calm blue lake (Bellagio) or an incredibly diverse indoor garden with butterfly sanctuary (inside Bellagio) or even the hypnotic drone of the machines in every casino that you need to walk through to get to where youre going. The sheer imagination that went into creating this strange oasis in the desert is what really grabbed me.