First family trip to Las Vegas and LA - August 2022 - Day 2 Exploring the strip

[Milpston]

Index

So after our really long day yesterday and managing to stay up really late to beat the jet lag we had a nice lay in... right? Of course not! I'm not sure what time we first woke up but what I can say is that Emma and I had a walk to the car at 04:50 to collect a few more bits from it that we bought in Walmart last night.

This involved taking the lift down from our room in the Venezia tower, then a little bit of a walk before we could get a lift down to main lobby, casino or Grand Canal shops. We did find at some stage in the next couple of days that if we followed the corridor in the picture below right to the end we would eventually find a different route where we would take 2 lifts to the parking garage. It did avoid the lobby and main public areas so made things a little quicker.

The Venezia Tower Pools were also right off this corridor.

With snacks, water etc collected from the room Benjamin enjoyed a breakfast of champions at 05:20.

By just before 06:00 we were on the move. We had set the alarm this morning as we had breakfast booked at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris. The alarm was ultimately unneeded. We had a table booked for 08:00 but we were aware the restaurant opened at 07:00.

We soon found ourselves exiting The Venetian onto the strip into the lovely warmth. I have to, after the summer we have had at home, the acclimatizing to Las Vegas heat gave us no difficulties at all. In fact I think the few days we were in Vegas the temperatures were equal or higher back home!

We crossed the road outside the Venetian and headed down the other side of the strip.

Now, both of my kids are currently in an extended stage of finding any time of nudity or toilet humor absolutely hilarious! Walking past Caesars Palace was like a dream come true for them especially Benjamin!

To top it off he found a card on the floor which he was chuffed to pieces with! Not particularly child friendly but all good innocent fun to him. As a note, I remember getting these cards slapped in my hand continuously during my last trip to Las Vegas. I saw very little of 'card slappers' this trip. Not sure if they just didn't approach me with a family or whether there just weren't as many around.

By 06:30 we were strolling through the Bellagio having a nose around. We headed through the Lobby to have a look at the famous ceiling in there. We went through the casino. Whilst I knew we could walk through the casinos with the kids I read lots of account before leaving that you would get moved un rapidly if you so much as paused to tie a shoe lace with kids. We found no such issues and never felt uncomfortable walking through the casinos with kids. We even took some short cuts off of the main thoroughfares in various places and didn't get so much as a sideways look. Admittedly we never stopped in any of the gaming areas but we didn't feel overly restricted.

We headed to have a look at the conservatory which was the main reason for coming into The Bellagio this morning. I'd read it gets very busy and that first thig in the morning was the quietest time to take a look. We entered the conservatory at 06:40 and there was hardly anyone else around.

The conservatory is beautiful and very cleverly done. The kids enjoyed a short look around at the animals. Sally and I actually enjoyed reading the signs which explained what they were made from. Very clever and nicely done.

We were all starting to feel a little hungry so headed out the front of the Bellagio to make our way across to Paris.

We arrived at Mon Ami Gabi a few minutes after they opened at 07:00 It was no problem being a bit early we were asked if we wanted a table inside or outside. Obviously we elected for outside on the Verandah. I was really lucky as my back was by the patio doors and i had a lovely air conditioning vent blowing down my back

We sat and perused the menu whilst enjoying the strip location right opposite The Bellagio.

We ordered a bit of a selection. As usual the kids only really wanted to have their cereals that they would usually have from home. We had some juices, Sally her usual morning coffee that she can't live without and we got some plain pancakes for the kids. The food was excellent and we really enjoyed our first breakfast in a lovely location. I would recommend Mon Ami Gabi to anyone and it would be equally good for dinner with the fountains of The Bellagio directly opposite. It was pricey but not horrific for the location I didn't think. I have now summonsed the courage to look at my credit card bill from the holiday. Breakfast was £87.88 including a tip. Quite a bit for breakfast I think but when you bear in mind the location and the setting I can't grumble too much i don't think,

The service was also exceptional and very attentive.

We had a little stroll along the strip towards Flamingo. Along the way we saw the Las Vegas version of the walk of fame.

We then saw a couple of police officers sitting in their patrol car and the kids wanted to say hello. As the kids approached the officers got out and had a chat with the m both and were happy to have their photos taken with them.

They were really engaging with the kids and gave them a sticker each which the kids loved and both had to wear them on their T-shirts immediately.

We headed into Flamingo to go and have a look at the Flamingo habitat. It's pretty small but was something for the kids to see. They have feeding shows of various creatures periodically but we decided not to wait around.

Afterwards we had a stroll over to have a look in Caesar's. We wanted to have a look at the hotels on the northern part of the strip we were interested in today as we had a waterpark day planned for tomorrow. This would leave and third and final full day in Vegas to see the places we were interested in on the Southern part of the strip. We had a short look around The Linq whilst we were here with the plan to come back and do The High Roller at some stage.

By this point the kids were excited to see Caesars again which they now lovingly referred to as 'The Dinkle hotel'. They still call it this since we returned.

They enjoyed a roll around on the grass outside Caesar's.

I know the main reception area has been renovated since I stayed at Caesar's but I have to say none of it really rung a bell with my last stay here. We had an explore around.

We headed up to Mirage next. We had buy one get one free vouchers for Siegfried and Roy's but didn't end up going in.

I did visit the MGM Rewards desk to get a card just in case I did want to redeem any of Myvegas rewards that I had collected.

Sally had her first little go on a slot in Mirage putting $20 in Dragonlink machine.

She turned her $20 into just over $60 so was cuffed to bits. She had also made back half my losses from last night

On leaving The Mirage, one thing I remember was that it smelt very nice, we carried on walking along past TI. It's a shame the pirate shows outside have long since gone. We crossed the road and had a look around The Wynn. I do think this is a beautiful hotel which was brand new last time I was in Las Vegas. Unless the location puts me off I would be tempted to stay here next time. We did sit in a tram with the plan of using this to pass TI only to find out after a couple of minutes it didn't open until noon!

We spent a little look around The Wynn. There really are some beautiful bars and restaurants in this hotel. Sally put $20 in a Buffalo machine as we passed. No such luck this time.

After this we decided to walk back across to The Venetian. We entered The Palazzo end and navigated our way back through. The kids were hot and their legs were starting to ache a bit as we had done a fair bit of walking.

We headed up to the room to get changed as Emma wanted to go for a swim. We arrived down at the pool closest to The Venezia Tower about 11:15 so we had covered a lot of ground quite quickly this morning.

We had a lovely few hours chilled time by the pool. It was a massive step forward even getting Benjamin in the pool after refusing point blank to go in the pool on our cruise last year and refusing to do swimming lessons since. Hopefully he will change his mind when he returns home.

We then went back to the room and chilled out a little. I thought I'd better check what time the water oark opened tomorrow as we had tickets for Cowabunga bay. When I looked I was shocked to dee it was only open 17:00 - 20:00 in the evening. Initially I thought they'd changed their hours, which they do regularly, but the more I thought about it I decided I'd messed up with the booking. Unfortunately they were closed completely today so I had no way to try and change the tickets to the following day and I got no response from an email I sent them. Sally and I eventually decided we didn't want to miss out on it completely so decided we would go for the evening. It wasn't the plan and meant cancelling Lago tomorrow night but Sally wasn't too fused and we decided the waterpark was more important than the meal at Lago.

We had a table booked for The Cheesecake Factory in The Forum Shops at Caesars this evening so after showers and baths headed on over a little early.

I forgot just how long the walk was to the back of the Forum once you get in there but we arrived in time to watch the Atlantis show outside The Cheesecake Factory.

Emma found the loud noises and the fire a little bit scary

It's looking a bit dated now but enjoyable none the less.

The kids also enjoyed watching the fish in the big aquarium.

We headed into The Cheesecake Factory and only had to wait a couple of minutes for a table.

I had some steak, the kids had Pizza, cheese toastie and Sally had something else which I can't remember what it was at the moment.

The kids and I had some desserts as I had to give the cheesecake a go.

The kids had some ice cream and I think Sally just had a coffee. I will try and add the price later but it was reasonable enough. The food was pretty good and the service was good with plenty of refills of soda provided. The bill came to £106.73 with a tip - converted to sterling as I have got it off my credit card bill.

We then had the walk back to The Venetian. We arrived back in our room and started to settle around 20:00.

Just in time to watch The Mirage Volcano erupting from our room.

Just the small matter of 20745 steps recorded on Sally's phone today so god knows how many that would have been for the kids. No wonder we all flaked out pretty soon after this after a pretty heavy but successful first day!

[ClaireNJ]

Originally Posted by Milpston

Index

So after our really long day yesterday and managing to stay up really late to beat the jet lag we had a nice lay in... right? Of course not! I'm not sure what time we first woke up but what I can say is that Emma and I had a walk to the car at 04:50 to collect a few more bits from it that we bought in Walmart last night.

This involved taking the lift down from our room in the Venezia tower, then a little bit of a walk before we could get a lift down to main lobby, casino or Grand Canal shops. We did find at some stage in the next couple of days that if we followed the corridor in the picture below right to the end we would eventually find a different route where we would take 2 lifts to the parking garage. It did avoid the lobby and main public areas so made things a little quicker.

The Venezia Tower Pools were also right off this corridor.

With snacks, water etc collected from the room Benjamin enjoyed a breakfast of champions at 05:20.

By just before 06:00 we were on the move. We had set the alarm this morning as we had breakfast booked at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris. The alarm was ultimately unneeded. We had a table booked for 08:00 but we were aware the restaurant opened at 07:00.

We soon found ourselves exiting The Venetian onto the strip into the lovely warmth. I have to, after the summer we have had at home, the acclimatizing to Las Vegas heat gave us no difficulties at all. In fact I think the few days we were in Vegas the temperatures were equal or higher back home!

We crossed the road outside the Venetian and headed down the other side of the strip.

Now, both of my kids are currently in an extended stage of finding any time of nudity or toilet humor absolutely hilarious! Walking past Caesars Palace was like a dream come true for them especially Benjamin!

To top it off he found a card on the floor which he was chuffed to pieces with! Not particularly child friendly but all good innocent fun to him. As a note, I remember getting these cards slapped in my hand continuously during my last trip to Las Vegas. I saw very little of 'card slappers' this trip. Not sure if they just didn't approach me with a family or whether there just weren't as many around.

By 06:30 we were strolling through the Bellagio having a nose around. We headed through the Lobby to have a look at the famous ceiling in there. We went through the casino. Whilst I knew we could walk through the casinos with the kids I read lots of account before leaving that you would get moved un rapidly if you so much as paused to tie a shoe lace with kids. We found no such issues and never felt uncomfortable walking through the casinos with kids. We even took some short cuts off of the main thoroughfares in various places and didn't get so much as a sideways look. Admittedly we never stopped in any of the gaming areas but we didn't feel overly restricted.

We headed to have a look at the conservatory which was the main reason for coming into The Bellagio this morning. I'd read it gets very busy and that first thig in the morning was the quietest time to take a look. We entered the conservatory at 06:40 and there was hardly anyone else around.

The conservatory is beautiful and very cleverly done. The kids enjoyed a short look around at the animals. Sally and I actually enjoyed reading the signs which explained what they were made from. Very clever and nicely done.

We were all starting to feel a little hungry so headed out the front of the Bellagio to make our way across to Paris.

We arrived at Mon Ami Gabi a few minutes after they opened at 07:00 It was no problem being a bit early we were asked if we wanted a table inside or outside. Obviously we elected for outside on the Verandah. I was really lucky as my back was by the patio doors and i had a lovely air conditioning vent blowing down my back

We sat and perused the menu whilst enjoying the strip location right opposite The Bellagio.

We ordered a bit of a selection. As usual the kids only really wanted to have their cereals that they would usually have from home. We had some juices, Sally her usual morning coffee that she can't live without and we got some plain pancakes for the kids. The food was excellent and we really enjoyed our first breakfast in a lovely location. I would recommend Mon Ami Gabi to anyone and it would be equally good for dinner with the fountains of The Bellagio directly opposite. It was pricey but not horrific for the location I didn't think. I have now summonsed the courage to look at my credit card bill from the holiday. Breakfast was £87.88 including a tip. Quite a bit for breakfast I think but when you bear in mind the location and the setting I can't grumble too much i don't think,

The service was also exceptional and very attentive.

We had a little stroll along the strip towards Flamingo. Along the way we saw the Las Vegas version of the walk of fame.

We then saw a couple of police officers sitting in their patrol car and the kids wanted to say hello. As the kids approached the officers got out and had a chat with the m both and were happy to have their photos taken with them.

They were really engaging with the kids and gave them a sticker each which the kids loved and both had to wear them on their T-shirts immediately.

We headed into Flamingo to go and have a look at the Flamingo habitat. It's pretty small but was something for the kids to see. They have feeding shows of various creatures periodically but we decided not to wait around.

Afterwards we had a stroll over to have a look in Caesar's. We wanted to have a look at the hotels on the northern part of the strip we were interested in today as we had a waterpark day planned for tomorrow. This would leave and third and final full day in Vegas to see the places we were interested in on the Southern part of the strip. We had a short look around The Linq whilst we were here with the plan to come back and do The High Roller at some stage.

By this point the kids were excited to see Caesars again which they now lovingly referred to as 'The Dinkle hotel'. They still call it this since we returned.

They enjoyed a roll around on the grass outside Caesar's.

I know the main reception area has been renovated since I stayed at Caesar's but I have to say none of it really rung a bell with my last stay here. We had an explore around.

We headed up to Mirage next. We had buy one get one free vouchers for Siegfried and Roy's but didn't end up going in.

I did visit the MGM Rewards desk to get a card just in case I did want to redeem any of Myvegas rewards that I had collected.

Sally had her first little go on a slot in Mirage putting $20 in Dragonlink machine.

She turned her $20 into just over $60 so was cuffed to bits. She had also made back half my losses from last night

On leaving The Mirage, one thing I remember was that it smelt very nice, we carried on walking along past TI. It's a shame the pirate shows outside have long since gone. We crossed the road and had a look around The Wynn. I do think this is a beautiful hotel which was brand new last time I was in Las Vegas. Unless the location puts me off I would be tempted to stay here next time. We did sit in a tram with the plan of using this to pass TI only to find out after a couple of minutes it didn't open until noon!

We spent a little look around The Wynn. There really are some beautiful bars and restaurants in this hotel. Sally put $20 in a Buffalo machine as we passed. No such luck this time.

After this we decided to walk back across to The Venetian. We entered The Palazzo end and navigated our way back through. The kids were hot and their legs were starting to ache a bit as we had done a fair bit of walking.

We headed up to the room to get changed as Emma wanted to go for a swim. We arrived down at the pool closest to The Venezia Tower about 11:15 so we had covered a lot of ground quite quickly this morning.

We had a lovely few hours chilled time by the pool. It was a massive step forward even getting Benjamin in the pool after refusing point blank to go in the pool on our cruise last year and refusing to do swimming lessons since. Hopefully he will change his mind when he returns home.

We then went back to the room and chilled out a little. I thought I'd better check what time the water oark opened tomorrow as we had tickets for Cowabunga bay. When I looked I was shocked to dee it was only open 17:00 - 20:00 in the evening. Initially I thought they'd changed their hours, which they do regularly, but the more I thought about it I decided I'd messed up with the booking. Unfortunately they were closed completely today so I had no way to try and change the tickets to the following day and I got no response from an email I sent them. Sally and I eventually decided we didn't want to miss out on it completely so decided we would go for the evening. It wasn't the plan and meant cancelling Lago tomorrow night but Sally wasn't too fused and we decided the waterpark was more important than the meal at Lago.

We had a table booked for The Cheesecake Factory in The Forum Shops at Caesars this evening so after showers and baths headed on over a little early.

I forgot just how long the walk was to the back of the Forum once you get in there but we arrived in time to watch the Atlantis show outside The Cheesecake Factory.

Emma found the loud noises and the fire a little bit scary

It's looking a bit dated now but enjoyable none the less.

The kids also enjoyed watching the fish in the big aquarium.

We headed into The Cheesecake Factory and only had to wait a couple of minutes for a table.

I had some steak, the kids had Pizza, cheese toastie and Sally had something else which I can't remember what it was at the moment.

The kids and I had some desserts as I had to give the cheesecake a go.

The kids had some ice cream and I think Sally just had a coffee. I will try and add the price later but it was reasonable enough. The food was pretty good and the service was good with plenty of refills of soda provided. The bill came to £106.73 with a tip - converted to sterling as I have got it off my credit card bill.

We then had the walk back to The Venetian. We arrived back in our room and started to settle around 20:00.

Just in time to watch The Mirage Volcano erupting from our room.

Just the small matter of 20745 steps recorded on Sally's phone today so god knows how many that would have been for the kids. No wonder we all flaked out pretty soon after this after a pretty heavy but successful first day!

See more...

Oh WOW what a brilliant first day
Stunning photos and an amazing view from your room at night
I love that huge jar of cheese balls in bed 🤣🤣
So glad you went to Cheesecake Factory one of our favs, lovely food and reasonable too 😄

[Milpston]

We covered so many of the hotels that we wanted to see this first morning which really gave us a headstart for such a short Las Vegas stay.
Those Cheeseballs were a great buy and were kicking around our rooms for the whole holiday

Cheese cake factory was a really good choice for decent food that didn't break the bank. We ended up doing another visit to a different one.

[JoS]

Originally Posted by Milpston

We covered so many of the hotels that we wanted to see this first morning which really gave us a headstart for such a short Las Vegas stay.
Those Cheeseballs were a great buy and were kicking around our rooms for the whole holiday

Cheese cake factory was a really good choice for decent food that didn't break the bank. We ended up doing another visit to a different one.

See more...

I always seem to forget about Cheesecake Factory with it being tucked away in the forum shops. Thanks for reminding me, and we will make a point of going in November.

[Cutiepie]

Fab first day and I love Emma’s hat the kids did brilliant, there is so much walking in Vegas

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Cutiepie

Fab first day and I love Emma’s hat the kids did brilliant, there is so much walking in Vegas

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I think the hat was a Primark special

The kids coped really well with the walking in Vegas and really enjoyed it.

[JoS]

A great day. Some lovely photos especially of the kids. Had to laugh at Benjamin and the nudes at Caesar’s and the slapper card! So nice to see the volcano at Mirage from your window. Is it closing at the end of the month?. Gorgeous photos of the Bellagio conservatory. We have been staying at Wynn for our past few stays. We generally stay at 2/3 different hotels each stay. Wynn is just gorgeous. My only fault with it being is, I don’t think it’s the best location on the strip. You definitely made the most of your day, and seem to be enjoying it. We like Buffalo machine. We were quite lucky on our cruise last week and won a few hundred from a $20 bet. Thanks for sharing another good day. Looking forward to the rest.

[Rac20]

A great first day! You got so much done. Love cheesecake factory. Didn’t have room for cheesecake on my last visit though. 😩

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Rac20

A great first day! You got so much done. Love cheesecake factory. Didn’t have room for cheesecake on my last visit though. 😩

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The cheesecake was really good! Now that I’m back home and on a strict diet I could murder a slice or 2 of that 😛😂

[Bad Pink Tink]

wow you really covered a lot of ground. Ive stayed at The Bellagio and I love the conservatory area and the glass celing.