madfish

Craig6z

For the short period you expect to be in Vegas with your daughter, I wouldn't hesitate taking her. Recognize you wouldn't have an opportunity to gamble, unless you felt comfortable leaving a nine year old in the hotel room alone, for a short time (not something I advocate personally).

Remember to plan on the basis that it will be brutally hot. Even sitting near the pool in the shade can be draining for periods beyond a quarter hour.

madfish

Thanks for the response @Craig6z

I wouldn’t be gambling or leaving her in the room alone at all. I think I would be gambling with my life on my return home should I even indulge such thoughts!

Been looking at the options and have a handy table which shows that flying and ring based in LAS is better in terms of driving distance and time and the cost of driving compared to flying. Just need to be happy that this would be the right thing to do.

Lost

I would probably just drive it unless I got a really good one way car rental deal (unlikely in summer).

Driving times:

Phoenix-Las Vegas: 3.5-4 hours. Best route is to take I-10 west, AZ Loop 303 north and US 60 to Wickenburg, then US 93 all the way to Vegas. Very pretty drive, but middle of nowhere so bring water and mobile phones don't work on parts of the drive. US 93 goes right by the Hoover Dam so you could hit that on the way, but it will be HOT. Expect 100°F by 10am.

An alternate route is to take I-17 and AZ 69 north to Prescott, then AZ 89 north to I-40 west, where you'll join up with US 93 in Kingman. This will probably take closer to 5 hours, but there's a little more civilization.

Las Vegas-South rim: 3.5-4 hours. US 93 south to I-40 east to AZ 64 north.

South rim-Phoenix: 2.5-3 hours. Either AZ 64 south from Tusayan to US 180 east to Flagstaff, or AZ 64 east out of GCNP to US 89 south to Flagstaff. Then I-17 south.

Flagstaff is a beautiful college town in the mountains. It is also close (20 minutes) to the red rocks in Sedona. Your daughter might enjoy riding the ski lift up the San Francisco Peaks

Kingman is good for a gas, toilet, and In N Out lunch stop. There's no other redeeming value for Kingman

With 3 days and a nine year old I would skip Vegas and do Flagstaff (and the surrounding national monuments), Sedona, and the Grand Canyon. It'd just be too hot in Vegas to enjoy being outdoors at the Hoover Dam.

madfish

Lost

Gas is about $2.40/gallon here. On a 25mpg car that's about $0.10/mile

nnn

Took my 9 & 5 year olds to Vegas about a year ago, and they loved it so much we're going again in a couple of weeks. We take in shows, swimming, a trip to Circus Circus, good eats, etc. Both times booked a fountain view room @ Bellagio.

PlaneAdmirer

I took my then 14 year old daughter to Vegas to see the Human Body exhibit - the diced cadavers - because of how well she did in biology her freshman year. We also saw Penn & Teller since we were there. We stayed a mid tier property simply because it worked and I think the better hotels are someplace I should go with my wife. That's just how we do things and others do things very differently.

My thoughts are that she did notice that people were drinking everywhere at very early hours even on the train in airport from the terminal to the baggage claim. She did notice how people were dressed. She did notice the ads for various shows and strip clubs. All of things that we as adults sort of ignore or let fall into the background, she did not. She also loved the lobby of the Bellagio and walking through the Wynn. She loved the food. The people gambling didn't make sense to her since the odds don't favor the gambler - again, to each his own.

If you are simply going to fly to Vegas and then hop in a rental car and go, that's a lot different than exploring Vegas. Someone else mentioned just driving from Phoenix. I really find the West to be beautiful (I even liked driving across Wyoming just because the landscape is harsh and beautiful.

Lost

This is great information. While there are things for kids to do in Vegas, the days of Vegas being promoted as a kid friendly destination have gone by the wayside. Example being the prostitute cards handed out on the strip that everyone just throws on the ground.

I could recommend hundreds of different road trip itineraries depending on your specific interests. I get kind of jaded after living here for so long, but it really is beautiful everywhere in the southwest.

Loren Pechtel

None? We rerouted a road trip so we had no hotels booked. Oops--got into Flagstaff and couldn't find a room, period. We continued on our route, Kingman was the first place we found with a room available.

Lost

That's not exactly a glowing advertisement for Kingman

Vegas Vegan

I usually hand my car keys to my house guests and tell them "Knock yourselves out. Please wait for the red light runners to finish before you hit the gas on a green light. Oh, and turn off the porch light when you come back".

I don't go anywhere within 5 miles of LVB S

tmiw

I remember them handing those out when I was a kid, even.

That said, Las Vegas has definitely rebranded itself as a destination for people in their 20s, IMO.

lindaiah

Just tell her if it weren't for the people gambling, most (if not all) of the things she saw and did and enjoyed so much wouldn't be there in the first place...

AFAM-DFW