Could Las Vegas really be a family town?

LAS VEGAS
Could It Really
Be A Family Town?

By Ray Chatelin
Photos by Toshi

Say what? Can Sin City really be a place where families are not only welcomed, but encouraged? Is The Strip more in keeping with Disney World and Epcot than with the sinful pleasures the mind conjures up whenever the name, Vegas, is whispered?

Sad, but true. Las Vegas, billed as America’s “Sin City” and where promotional ads claim “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, has actually transformed itself into one of the nation’s brightest playgrounds for family and general entertainment.

And in the process it has become a place where children of all ages can find their own levels of enjoyment – a mid-desert carnival of pleasures more in keeping with Disney than with its old reputation of sin, booze and dice.

Yes, it is still a city that never sleeps, where you can gamble all night and see nightclub acts designed for adults, especially in the downtown core around Fremont Street where some of the older casinos and hotels attract hard-core gamblers. But go uptown to The Strip where the biggest and the brightest mega-hotels are located and it’s a far different world.

Here is a Vegas where families are pampered and where young people can delight in a fantasy world of lights and sound. In fact, Vegas now makes more money from its entertainment than from gambling. One of the biggest draws is Celine Dion, the Quebec singer who manages to pack her Caesar's Palace 4000-seat, $95 million theater every night for a family-style show of singing and dancing that includes a cast of 59 performers, musicians and vocalists.

And if you simply want to walk, you can experience New York, Paris, or Venice without ever seeing the inside of an airport. But the illusion of Vegas being the hotbed of life’s more prurient pleasures lingers on and the anticipation of these delights are more in the mind than in its reality.

This fabulous, brightly-lit, high-tech city was just a dusty watering hole 70 years ago. Since then it has undergone a massive transformation from a strip-mall of gambling halls into one of the hottest vacation spots for the entire family. Yet, that initial image of the city still lingers in many minds.

It has continued to lure visitors from all over the world even with increased competition because of its ability to change. And its most important change in recent years has been to modify its image as the ultimate adult playground into a first class resort styled destination with something for everyone in the family.

Now in addition to casinos and adult styled entertainment there are numerous theme parks, arcades, museums and shops for children. Las Vegas is second only to Walt Disney World as the favorite vacation destination in the United States, drawing some 30 million visitors and estimates show it will exceed that number this year.

Some three million kids now are accompanying their families to Las Vegas every year. Where else can they climb the Eiffel Tower (Paris), watch a volcano explode (The Mirage), stroll the ancient streets of Rome (Caesars Palace), see pirates battling (Treasure Island) or be surrounded by lions (MGM) -- all within a couple of blocks?

For visiting parents who would love the chance to gamble, now reliable day-care options are so much fun the kids might not want to leave. As a parent with children, you do not have to be staying at the hotel but must remain on the premises while your child is in day-care.

And you needn’t be a high roller to feel pampered in Las Vegas and due to the low cost of rooms, food and entertainment, a vacation in Las Vegas can be very affordable with rooms averaging $103 a night. Of course, if you want to really drop a bundle, you can. Rooms that room at $1,000 a night are also available.

Even with its family focus, the city is still one of the most exciting entertainment destinations you can travel to in America with headline shows like Mama Mia, Phantom of the Opera, Mystere, The Producers, and Cirque du Soleil being just a few of the packages available. In addition entertainers like Elton John, Tanya Tucker, Barry Manilow, Natalie Cole, Tony Orlando, Smoky Robinson, to mention just a few, appear at nightclubs and casinos throughout the year.

Grand shows with plenty of glitz and flash can be found at the Luxor, MGM Grand, NewYork-NewYork, Harrah's, Rio, Stratosphere, Monte Carlo, Treasure Island, Maxim, Riviera, and the Sahara just to name a few.

No matter what your taste or family needs, you’ll find an activity for everyone in what has become one of America’s great family destinations.