Are you planning a family vacation in Las Vegas, Nevada and looking for best family friendly shows to see in Las Vegas? There are a lot of family friendly shows in the city, some of them are ticketed and some are absolutely FREE of charge. I put together a list of these shows for you with detailed reviews, which I hope will be helpful in your Las Vegas family vacation planning.
At the end of this article I also put together a list of tips on how to get discounted tickets for shows in Las Vegas, both online and in person.
This is the first of my upcoming trilogy of articles about family vacation in Las Vegas. If you are planning a December trip to Vegas definitely check out my article Christmas Vacation in Las Vegas and if you plan to explore beyond the Strip (which I highly recommend) definitely check out my 10 Best Road Trips form Las Vegas article.
Family friendly shows in Las Vegas: TICKETED SHOWS
One of the most famous family friendly shows in Las Vegas are the ones produced by Cirque du Soleil. There are seven Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas but not all of them are appropriate for kids.
Mystere (at Treasure Island)
Mystere is the best family friendly show in Las Vegas for many reason. First of all, the plot of this show is a whimsical story that seems to take place in a fairytale land. Second of all, one of the main characters, a clown, that appears in between the acts, plays the role of a baby, a big, clumsy, funny baby. My kids absolutely loved the clown and everything about Mystere.
One other thing that is important to mention about Mystere is that it is one of the most affordable Cirque du Soleil shows so it is also family budget friendly.
Le Reve (at the Wynn)
Le Reve is an aquatic show with a focus on acrobatics and divers. It is appropriate for kids of all ages but it is one of the most expensive Cirque du Soleil show so it is not too friendly for the family budget.
Ka (at MGM Grand)
Ka is a show about the glory of battle, the war and victory. When we inquired with Cirque du Soleil about this show, we found out that it is not appropriate for kids under 7 years of age but if you have older kids, they will enjoy it.
“O” (at Bellagio)
“O” is a beautiful show, unlike anything else you have seen. This is the second Cirque du Soleil production that is an aquatic show, which includes acrobats and synchronized swimmers. In comparison to Le Reve, “O” puts more emphasis on synchronized swimming, while Le Reve has more emphasis on acrobatics. The only thing that prevents “O” from being firmly placed among the best family friendly shows in Las Vegas is its price. It is the most expensive Cirque du Solei show there is and therefore it is not family budget friendly
Cirque du Soleil’s musical shows such as The Beatles LOVE and Michael Jackson ONE would be of interest to older kids, mostly teens and tweens but not for young children.
Zumanity and R.U.N. are not family friendly Cirque du Soleil shows.
Tournament of Kings (at Excalibur)
Tournament of Kings is a medieval show similar to “Medieval Times”. If you kids love knights and horses they will definitely enjoy this family friendly show in Las Vegas. And the best thing? Dinner is included with the price of the ticket! You typically get a soup, a Cornish hen with potatoes and an apple pie for desert. Please, note that there are no utensils provided (you are supposed to eat with your hands as was custom during medieval times) so if this is not your style you may want to bring some utensils with you.
Starting from the middle of November and through the month of December Tournament of the Kings takes on a Christmas-y turn and becomes a holiday show. Expect many surprises and even the falling snow!
Las Vegas Magic Shows
Las Vegas is famous for its magic shows, most of which will be more appropriate for older kids and adults. One magic show that is universally considered suitable for all ages is Xavier Mortimer’s Magical Dream at Bally’s. The show consists of more than a dozen acts which are all family appropriate magic plus a little bit of comedy. The artist is very sweet and entertaining which is probably what accounts for his appeal for the young and old alike. See a preview of Xavier Mortimer’s Magical Dream show below:
Gregory Popovich’s Comedy Pet Theatre (at Planet Hollywood)
It is hard to go wrong with a clown and his beloved pets: highly intelligent and trained cats, dogs, parrots, doves and even mice. Gregory Popovich is a graduate of Moscow Circus School and we, Russians, believe that Russian circus school is the best in the world, the same as our ballet school. So if someone tells me that a performer was trained in a classical Russian circus school I can guarantee you an excellent show!
Family friendly shows in Las Vegas: FREE SHOWS
There are a lot of short 15-20 minutes shows all over Las Vegas, most of which are family appropriate. Many hotels/casinos on and off the Strip try to entice people to visit them by organizing these shows. You do not need stay at any of these hotels to be able to see their shows.
Dancing Fountains (at Bellagio)
Fountains dancing to music in front of Bellagio hotel is probably the most famous free family friendly show in Las Vegas. The fountains start dancing daily at 11 am. The show lasts for about 15 minutes and it is accompanied by various musical numbers. For instance, during the Christmas season the fountains are dancing to your favorite Christmas tunes.
Volcano Eruption (at MGM Grand)
The volcano in front of MGM Grand hotel erupts every evening, typically at 6 pm, 7 pm and 8 pm. This show is about 10 minutes. It is generally family friendly but all these bursts of fire may be a little overwhelming for very young children. Our then four year son was a little scared.
Circus Acts (at Circus Circus)
Circus acts are always great family friendly shows in Las Vegas. At Circus Circus hotel these shows run every day from 11.30 am to 10.30 pm on the hour on Mondays through Thursdays and every 45 minutes on Fridays through Sundays. There are various shows throughout the day, at least half a dozen different shows each day, each one only repeated a couple of times. So you may come back several times during your visit to Las Vegas and see a new show each time. Check the current schedule of acts HERE.
Mermaids (at Silverton)
Silverton hotel has a 117,000 coral reef aquarium that is an attraction in itself. But on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays it is visited by mermaids 3 times a day. The mermaids do some tricks int he water and interact with audience. For exact mermaids swim times visit Silverton website.
Streetmosphere (at the Venetian)
The area of the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian is famous for daily free performances by almost 40 different musicians, vocalists and living statues. There is no specific schedule, just take a stroll along the Grand Canal and see who you will encounter. Each time your experience may be different. All performances are family friendly.
Viva Vision (at Freemont Street)
Viva Vision is a spectacular lights show projected on the World’s largest (1500 by 900 feet) screen suspended 90 feet above Freemont Street. You can enjoy a variety of light shows with dazzling, high-resolution imagery and state-of-the-art, 550,000-watt, concert-quality sound. The shows usually run from 6 pm till 1 am every hour on the hour for about 6 minutes.
Tips for getting discounted tickets for ticketed family friendly shows in Las Vegas
If you are planning to take the whole family to a ticketed show or two in Las Vegas, it may become rather pricey. So how can you save money on family friendly shows in Las Vegas? There are only two valid strategies to score discount tickets for shows in Vegas:
Strategy # 1 for buying discounted tickets for family friendly shows in Las Vegas: Buy tickets on-line in advance.
There are several legitimate websites to check out and compare prices for Las Vegas shows. The most popular is Best of Vegas.
Specifically for Cirque du Soleil shows, check Cirque du Soleil’s own website, which leads you to the show location sites that often have deals. Just click on the show you are interested in and follow the link. Two years ago we bought Mystere tickets on their website for $46 p.p. for a section with good view of the stage. Today while I was putting this article together, the tickets for Mystere (for the same seating section) were sold for $48 p.p. on Cirque du Soleil’s website and no other site could match this price, I checked (the second best price I found was $68 p.p.)
Pro Tip: The best time to buy discounted Las Vegas show tickets online is Black Friday and the following week. Many discount tickets website run special promotions this time of year. For instance, Best of Vegas has $15 off $100 deal on Black Friday weekend and the Cyber Week that follows in addition to offering already discounted tickets.
Strategy # 2 for buying discounted tickets for family friendly shows in Las Vegas: Buy tickets in person the day of the show.
Tix4Tonight is a famous Las Vegas establishment. It sells half price tickets for same day shows. Yes, you may score very nicely priced tickets but there is a risk that there may not be tickets available for the show that you want to see or if you want to buy tickets for the whole family, they may not all be for the seats located close together.
If you are flexible regarding which show to see and if you are fine with not the most optimal seating arrangements then Tix4Tonight are definitely worth checking out. They have nine booths in town at the following locations:
North Premium Outlet Mall
Hawaiian Marketplace
Bally’s Grand Bazar Shops
Fashion Show Mall
Casino Royal
Town Square
Showcase Mall
Planer Hollywood
Giant Coke Bottle
Family friendly lodging in Las Vegas
If you are looking for family friendly hotels for your family vacation in Las Vegas, I highly recommend Embassy Suites by Hilton
. It is located away from the Strip but very close to it (on a street that runs one block away parallel to the Strip). Embassy Provides free shuttle to and from the Strip from early morning till evening and it takes less than 10 minutes to get to the Strip.
Embassy Suites amenities are great for families: 2 separate rooms in every suite that sleep 6 people comfortably, FREE made to order breakfast, FREE reception in the evening with drinks and snacks and FREE parking. In addition to all that Embassy Suites in Las Vegas is very reasonably priced – we stayed there a couple of time and we never paid more than $135 per night. The image below will take you directly to the hotel’s website to check out amenities and prices:
To check out current best prices on other hotels in Las Vegas, use Booking.com:
If you found this information about family friendly shows in Las Vegas useful, please do me a little favor and share this information with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂 Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I post many more cool photos and videos about our trips than I could include in a blog post and organize some nice giveaways!
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