What If We Ran Vegas: Children Not Allowed

Full Disclosure: My parents actually took me to Vegas when I was about 13 or 14, however it was part of a larger trip out West. It wasn’t as if we flew in so my mom could put in 14 hours a day at the slots (Like she does now). That said, I actually did enjoy Las Vegas, it was at the beginning of the Disney-fication of the town, as the Excalibur had just been built, and we stayed at Circus-Circus. I liked to play at the arcades, and walk around and see these incredible giant buildings in the middle of the desert.

Boy how things have changed, although Circus-Circus hasn’t. Fast forward 15 years; the kid-friendly theme has come and gone, prices have gone through the roof, and even the Visitors Bureau’s (“What happens here, stays here”) motto promotes the risqué, sleazy side of things.

So, at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, or a child-hater, Vegas is most definitely not a place for kids. Do you want to try and explain this to your children?

Click to enlarge…


Anyway, a couple trips ago, I actually saw an unsupervised boy pick up a beer bottle from the side of the street and drink from it. I guess my argument isn’t against kids in Vegas, but for unsupervised kids in Las Vegas. There are things that a child might interested in town, such as the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, but these can be seen during the day, before the debauchery really begins when the sun goes down.

So, we aren’t about to tell anyone how to raise their kids, but at least until they are old enough to look after themselves, take them to the real Disney World (or here), and leave the Adult Disney World to those of gambling age.