I have an upcoming work trip to Las Vegas and me and my husband were contemplating on making it a family trip. Our kids are 2 and 5. Would you do it or is Vegas totally inappropriate for kids that age? I haven't been there in a really long time so not sure how it's changed over the years.

Just went with 4, 7 and 9 year old this weekend for the first time since having kids.

All 3 enjoyed it.

It's off season for pools so most of the big resorts have them closed.

If you haven't selected a hotel yet, I'd do one of the kinds that doesn't have casinos right outside the elevators such as Nobu at Caesar's or the W at Mandalay. We stayed at the W and it was very quiet and enjoyable. Also, their bath tubs are gigantic and my kids enjoyed that in lieu of jacuzzi/pool time. Vegas this time of year isn't exactly pool weather anyways (highs were in the 50s).

We are from LA so we drove and had access to our car for the whole trip. If we were reliant on ubers and taxis I likely wouldn't have enjoyed it.

The kids enjoyed Adventuredome at Circus Circus. As a person riddled with anxiety, I recommend arriving earlier in the day. It became significantly more crowded as the afternoon passed, but was enjoyable at the beginning. It is incredibly noisy in there, it's a literal indoor amusement park with roller coasters inside. Entrance is free.

My kids loved the shark reef at Mandalay. Kids were $24 (under 3 was free I think) and adults were $27 if I recall correctly.

We also ate off the strip for a few meals. And we went to a place called Game Nest which is an arcade (similar to Dave and Busters) with unlimited game play for $12/hour. They have snacks available for purchase at a reasonable price, and no alcohol.

Some friends went to Discovery Children's Museum and enjoyed it. Dig This is also supposed to be exciting.

We didn't do any shows, our younger two don't have the patience and attention span yet. We also didn't go on the strip other than driving once. We took alternate and back routes to avoid some of the unpleasant and more adult leaning things the strip has to offer.

My kids are already asking when we can go again.

It was super uncomfortable taking my kids there. Even when we’d take a walk, there would be flyers littering the ground (kiddie eye level) all over with half-naked models in not-so-family-friendly poses, randos approaching to hand us those same flyers even though we had kids with us, drunk people weaving around dangerously, and the stench of smoking absolutely everywhere. Even when we’d find family-friendly sections of pools, there’d invariably be adults there or nearby in various states of drunkenness causing a scene. I think what made it difficult with kids was you’d be in a family-friendly-ish place, and drunk adults would always stumble in and cause me to be on high alert, so it wasn’t very relaxing.

We just came back with a 6 and 9. We watched three shows there: O show, mystere, and penn&teller shows. Kids actually love it and also love touring different hotels. Bellagio has great decoration and fountains show. We also went to Grand Canyon but that may be far dependent on your schedule

Some of the kid activities are gone, like the tigers and the dolphins. There’s still the aquarium at mandalay bay, I think. I don’t know if the pools are heated but my kids would love just to hang out at a pool all day. For 2YO that might be tough as I doubt any hotel has a kids pool.

Grew up going to Vegas as a family and loved it. On the strip the bellagio garden and fountain show, and the pirate show outside are cool, and circus circus has rides for all ages, the flaming habitat, and mandala bay sharks! off strip check out the lion ranch, container park, and dig this Vegas!

If your vote is a yes, we'd love any recommendations on activities the kids can do with their dad for a couple of days.

Personally I’d bring your husband and leave the kids

My kids (now 6 and 2.5) have been there a few times. There is plenty of things you can do. Kids enjoy the walks on the promenade (pizza stop and macaroon stop!), swimming pool is always fun, any fountains are for some reason super cool, views from big hotel windows are another attraction:) Arte Museum was good and recently we did the linq high roller. Valley of Fire is about an hour away - plenty of short walks. We did not do any shows yet cause my kids are quite active. Just get a good hotel on the strip.

Took my 4 and 2 year old back in October. They had a great time! Highlights were:
Bellagio fountain / lobby gardens / ice cream
Golden Knights hockey game
Pool

Going to Vegas next week with wife and 2.5-we’ve been there before since my in-laws live there. There is hiking, spring reserve and an aquarium we have planned

I’ve always been a fan of the statues at Caesar’s, neon museum is cool, area 15 during the day and the Wynn is always beautiful.

its probably fine, but at this age i would expect that its more likely to be mostly pool party time... there are some carnival/circus things, and arcades too.

2 and 5 are a bit hard, mostly the 2yo as their attention is less likely to be well held at exhibits and shows.

even 5 still feels a bit young for their actual enjoyment.

we went not long back with a 9 and 12, which was fine. there were a number of things they wanted to do and enjoyed.

start searching to see what sorts of things your specific kids would want to see/do.

mine wanted to go to the titanic exhibit.

We make a trip out of it every time since the company hotels are a 1 bd suite. They can go to the pool if indoor of course, grab a bite to eat, go to the mall, a movie, bowling etc. I hope you enjoy your trip.

It wasn’t vegas but i went out of state for a conference and brought my family.
Very bad experience since they would treat it as like leaisure travel and i’d be missing sessions at the conference 🫠