24 Hours in Las Vegas With Kids

Follow my journey on Instagram as we have visited Las Vegas a couple more times since this trip. We made a point to find things to do on the strip that our kids could enjoy. For more things to do in Las Vegas with kids, check out my other blog post.

What to do in 24 hours in Las Vegas with kids

In this blog post you will find details on visiting the below places in Las Vegas with kids:

• Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign

• MGM Grand Hotel with multiple pools and a lazy river

• New York New York Hotel’s The Big Apple Coaster

• Sweet treat at Dapper Doughnuts

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign

Cost: Free

Address: 5100 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The first thing you should do when you get to Las Vegas is take your picture at the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. This spot is open 24 hours daily. Parking near the sign is FREE but there are limited parking spaces. Once you park you will typically wait in a long line to take your picture in front of the sign. Reminder, in July the temps can get up to 114 degrees or higher. It is a dry heat, so it is manageable but very hot! There could be about a 30–40-minute wait to get your picture taken. People are typically willing to take your family photo in exchange for taking their pictures.

MGM Grand Hotel

We stayed at the MGM Grand hotel on this Las Vegas strip. What a beautiful and extravagant hotel it was! This was the biggest and fanciest hotel my kids have ever stayed at so they were excited. Our hotel room had two queen beds. The room was about the same size as other hotels we have stayed at. The rooms were extremely nice and clean. We choose not to get a room with the strip view to save money and do you ever really spend a lot of time in the room anyways? No!

Cost: Room prices vary. Average stay is $79 to $255 for a basic room per night based on time of year and how many people in each room.

Address: 3799 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas

Parking: self-parking is $18 to $23 per day in the MGM parking garage

Oversized vehicle parking at Excalibur Hotel only. Cost $30 (for vehicles under 30 feet) to $50 (for vehicles over 30 feet) per 24 hours. It is about a 15-20 minute walk to MGM Grand Hotel.

The hotel is huge and it is likely you will get lost a few times like we did. There are signs that guide you but they can be confusing. If you have children just remember not everyone dresses modestly. You will see way more skin on people then you want your kids to see, but just kept moving.

Oh and just so you know, kids are not supposed to be in the Casino unless passing through. My husband allowed one of my kids to push the button on a slot machine and he was scolded by an employee, oops!!!

AS A TRAVEL AGENT, I CAN HELP YOU PLAN THE PERFECT LAS VEGAS ITINERARY! LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU WANT TO GO, AND I AM HAPPY TO HELP YOU PLAN! EMAIL ME AT ADOPTINGLIFESJOURNEY@GMAIL.COM FOR A FREE TRAVEL QUOTE.

MGM Grand Hotel shows

There are SEVERAL SHOWS to enjoy while at the MGM Grand Hotel. Enjoy the KÀ by Cirque du Soleil. This show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino uses acrobatics, multimedia, martial arts, and puppetry to tell the story of twins on a dangerous journey to fulfill their destiny. Book your Cirque du Soleil tickets online.

Maybe you would prefer to experience the high-energy, high-tech performance of Jabbawockeez, one of the world’s most influential dance troops, with their signature white masks, this multi-talented, award-winning hip-hop dance team has been mesmerizing audiences with dynamic shows for over a decade. Book your Jabbawockeez tickets online.

Stock hotel room photo from guestreservations.com

Food within the MGM Grand hotel

Eating at the Food Court proved to be full of long lines and expensive fast food which is to be expected inside a Las Vegas hotel. We ate at Johnny Rocket’s and Pan Asian Express and enjoyed both meals. There is limited seating for the amount of people that were in line. You can take your food back to your room if you prefer or do not want to wait for a table to open up.

A few of the current restaurants at the food court are (Summer 2023): Pan Asian Express, Bonanno’s New York Pizzeria, Hagen Diaz, Nathans Famous Hot Dogs, Tacos N Ritas, Johnny Rocket’s, Original Chicken Tender. Hours vary.

Other restaurants on site: Starbucks, Cabana Grill, Pieology, Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, TAP Sports Bar, Greek Sneak, Hakkasan Restaurant, Blizz Frozen Yogurt & Desserts, MGM Grand Buffet, Nellie’s Southern Kitchen, Crush, Morimoto Las Vegas, and more.

Gold lion in the lobby at MGM Grand Hotel

Swimming Pool at MGM Grand Hotel

We chose the MGM Grand Hotel for its swimming pools. We knew the kids would want to swim before we left Las Vegas so we chose a hotel with a pool. The pool was the largest outdoor pool that I could find on the strip. It has several large swimming pools and a lazy river with a waterfall. Swimming at this hotel was so fun and felt so refreshing in the heat.

Pool hours: 9am to 5pm daily. Lazy river open 10am to 5pm daily.

Tube rental: $25 a day. You can bring your own tubes or just walk/swim the lazy river without a tube. Water is about 4 ft deep. There were a lot of grasshoppers in the lazy river which we had to avoid as we swam otherwise it was a nice area to be in. The kids enjoyed the small waterfall to jump into as they swam. 

Cabanas can be rented if desired for $1,250 and up. Daybed were $300 and up. Other seating options are available.

New York New York Hotel - The Big Apple Coaster

We decided to walk the strip to see the sites. The first hotel we went into on our walk was the New York New York Hotel which is where my husband and I stayed during our honeymoon.

The older kids and I went on the The Big Apple Coaster. A person must be 54” to ride the coaster. This is an action packed ride which goes over 67 mph, has a 180 degree twist and a 203 ft drop. It was way more exciting than I anticipated.

Cost: $19 per person. I was worried the ride would be really short but it was longer than expected and the kids loved it.

Hours: Monday to Thursday 11am to 11pm and Friday to Sunday 11am to midnight

Tickets: Can be purchased HERE

After we rode The Big Apple Coaster we continued to walk the strip. As it was later in the evening, all of the stores were closed so we just enjoyed walking the strip and seeing all the pretty lights. The later you walk the strip the less G rated the environment gets! It was really hot walking, even at night, which is to be expected so we always get water bottles for our walk at Walgreens. At Walgreens you can also buy Las Vegas souvenirs or Las Vegas post cards.

Breakfast at The Dapper Doughnut

The next morning we ate at The Dapper Doughnut for breakfast which was within the hotel. They make tiny doughnuts made to order. You get to pick the amount of doughnuts and what toppings you want on each one. Each kid was able to watch the doughnuts being made and get their own personalized box of doughnuts. This was pricey but it was a special treat for the kids. They are no longer in the MGM Grand Hotel. Check their webpage for details.

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Check out time was 11am and it was time to head to Santa Cruz, CA. I was able to check out online which was super easy and saved some time. We definitely loved this hotel and would stay here again.

This was one of our kids favorite parts of the trip. They often talk about going back. Check out blog post West Coast Trip Part 3 for more details on our stay in Santa Cruz. From the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas on our 8 day west coast trip in 2019!

Enjoy the journey,

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