My f’ing brother has decided to get married in Las Vegas next October. Aside from obvious cost on getting there is there much to do with a toddler? Jnroath will just have turned 3 by the time we would be due to go out. At the moment it looks like mrsoath and jnr will be staying at home and me going on my own. But floods of tears from my mum is making me feel like we all should be there. Help!

Sorry mods wrong forum.

It’s a dump. Sadly, I have to go a few times a year for work.

Go to the wedding, then leave as soon as you can.

I can’t imagine anything worse than pushing a buggy down the strip in 40+ degrees heat with stag and hen parties tripping over you spilling their margaritas on little Steveoath jr.

Yes it’s a dump. But it’s an experience. It’s absolutely worth seeing but it’s not for kids.

As above, really.
A monument to gambling, alcohol and crime.
Every taxi driver will offer you drugs.
Prostitution is openly tolerated.

Downtown is OK, at least you can buy essentials.

In all honesty, it’s one of the saddest and most depressing places I’ve ever been.

It’s basically Blackpool with less class and charm.

I know people who enjoy the place, but it certainly polarizes opinion.

Stay home.

Is your bro’s fiancee from there or is he just being an arse?

Leave mini_oath at home with family for 10 days and you and mrs_oath have a grown up holiday?

@thecaptain the later sadly.

It’s a destination I have no interest in going to. And initially responses really don’t fill me with hope.

(If you’re spending out on air fares) You could always stay at one of the nearest national parks in a lodge or something. I think Zion is a couple of hours away. Just drive in for the day.

This would be my advice. Or go and do something amazing in California

It’s totally unfair to impose a trip like this on your family. Unless you’re all minted or they’re paying for it. Properly tacky and scummy place to get hitched as well.

Wait until we have a couple of pages Vegas hatred then show him this thread.

Or go and do something amazing in California

This^ Stunning place.

If you can stick to the strip then it’s a bit of a ‘spectacle’ but you might get a bit of entertainment with the toddler – some nice fountains dancing to music, watching people on gondolas in one of the hotels etc.

I’d suggest an onver-nighter to the Grand Canyon but that’s probably not a toddler destination either.

Martin has it.
A colleague stopped there a few years ago with work, they were due to be there for 6 or 7 days i think. Ended up relocating to a national park a couple of hours drive away and travelling daily.

Says a lot that people will drive 4 hours round trip, to then sit in a car all day and test engines/gearboxes.

There’s certainly no point flying that far if you’re not going to base a holiday you want out of it – you’ll have paid out the bulk of the money just getting there.

Moneywise, I don’t know if it’s cheaper flying into LAX or San Fran, but I’d be renting there, doing a theme park for the nipper and heading out to LV for a day/night only, probably via Yosemite etc.

Personally I wouldn’t go.

Come to think of it, I didn’t go to my bro’s (2nd) wedding, when I would have had to travel a similar distance.

A monument to gambling, alcohol and crime.
Every taxi driver will offer you drugs.
Prostitution is openly tolerated.

Yes, but what about the bad points?

Let me put it this way. Next week I could be in Vegas for a conference or Gateshead. I chose Gateshead. Vegas is extremes as people above have said but I can tolerate it but only for short periods of time.

Vegas with a toddler? No way.

FFS though. Getting married in Vegas is something you do when you don’t care if your family are present. Asking your brother to take a three year old on a plane for eight hours, then onwards to the arsehole of the universe, is just lunacy.

If I couldn’t afford a decent holiday in the states, or didn’t fancy it, I’d say no, and your mum’s strongarming/emotional blackmail would be better aimed at the groom rather than you.

I’m afraid I have only the same as above to say about the place. I’ve been once a month or so for the last few months with work and it’s definitely not for toddlers. To the extent that smoking is allowed in reception and restaurants (certainly is in the hotel we get put up,in).

I wouldn’t go, especially with a toddler. Just say “no”. It’s a short word but some people seem to have never learned to say it.

Leave mini_oath at home with family for 10 days and you and mrs_oath have a grown up holiday?

Leave them both at home and take the bike out to Moab for a few days 😀

We were there month before last with our (then) 10 month old and were basically tethered to the hotel room. We stayed in the Bellagio and didn’t even get to see the fountains! Essentially a waste of three days of our lives. I did however play Blackjack for 20 minutes and triple my money, so there is that. I would like to go back to experience the spectacle of the strip, but it’s not super high on my list of priorities…

spectacle of the strip

I’ve flushed better spectacles than that.

If you manage to be away from the strip it’s not as bad. The Red Rocks/Summerlin area is less focused on gambling. Sadly as has been mentioned above there is a whole lot of smoking allowed, which is not what you want with a young ‘un. I agree with the suggestion above, if you have to go, go to the wedding then take your holiday in California or Utah.

Vegas is definitely something to do once, but maybe without a toddler. As soon as I read the OP, I was going to say exactly this:

martinhutch – Member
(If you’re spending out on air fares) You could always stay at one of the nearest national parks in a lodge or something. I think Zion is a couple of hours away. Just drive in for the day.

There are definately even more hideous places on earth (Dubai springs to mind), either;

a) Be straight with your brother and tell him he’s a bellend and don’t go.

b) Leave the kid and wife at home and go and embrace the tacky. Ride bikes in the desert, go shoot guns etc.

As mentioned up there, stay in California and do a road trip down for a few days or fly down (it’s a 1 hour flight from San Francisco)
Worst bit for me would be the 8-10 he flight with a toddler. It’s bad enough with a group of middle aged men !

I went for a friend’s wedding a few years back.

The entire place is painfully artificial and designed to extract money from you. When I went I was out of work and didn’t have any, so didn’t have the greatest experience outside of the wedding itself (and the only bit I actually enjoyed isn’t there any more). I can’t imagine how much fun it’d be with a young child in tow but I’d hazard “not much.”

If you do go, I’d suggest budgeting for leaving as much as possible and seeing the surrounding sights. I’d have loved to have done the Grand Canyon helicopter tour if I wasn’t on a budget of ten bob. But honestly, in your position I’d be telling him to sod off politely declining.

Personally I wouldn’t go.

+1

Them choosing abroad for their wedding means the risk that folk (who they’d like to be there) won’t come.

Their risk, your choice.

Over the border is utah, I was there for 3 weeks this October , the lift system in Park city runs till October and now has hundreds of miles of amazing trails, it’s a little cooler in moab and hopefully not enough snow so you can do all of whole enchilada, rampage will be on down in zion. There is lots of other stuff to do. If you can take the time make it a proper holiday and do the 2 days in Vegas.

Unfortunately we can’t make it into a big holiday. As i teach i have the october week and that’s it. I quite like the idea of zion for a bit and drive into LV.

We did it last year (also for a wedding/stag do) when our first was ~18 months old. She **** hated it, too bright/loud busy. Wouldn’t do it again, it’s not a place for toddlers. Or indeed adults unless you’re willing to accept that you need to spend to ‘enjoy’ it.

There is some great stuff nearby that’s not Vegas though, we went to some of the state parks (Valley of fire I think) a few hours north which were incredible. If you’re set on going it might be worth staying round there and just heading to Vegas itself for the wedding bit.

Depending on when the wedding is have a look at flying in and out of different airports and doing a one way car hire too.

And boulder Canyon was recommended for biking near by, red bull air race was also on that time of year

I thought Vegas is where you go to get married quickly/relatively cheaply as just the two of you, having a family wedding there is just bizarre.

Las Vegas is Spanish for “**** shitehouse”

stay away if at all possible

your brother is being an arse

The brother is not being an arse; he’s getting married where he wants to get married. He doesn’t have to do that somewhere suitable for his nieces/newlywed. The guilt trip is coming from the mother. OP just needs to MTFU and say “no, I’m not going”.

Exactly this ^^. Your mother is upset presumably because it’s not the wedding she envisaged for her son (ie, with the rest of the family not present). Stop press: the person who needs to reconcile that is your brother, not you.

Look at it this way. I got married at the beginning of the year, and the people essential to the wedding party – so best man, bridesmaid, both mothers and OH’s sister – had their accommodation paid for by me. Have they offered to foot your bill? Then you’re not essential.

If you are going to go, I would take the family and make a holiday of it outside of Las Vegas, even if it’s only for 5-7 days. Yes Las Vegas is tacky but you don’t have to stay on the strip. There are nice hotels towards Lake Mead and you only need to stay for the wedding itself.

As has been said Zion (Springdale) is less than 3 hours drive. If jnr can cope with 4-5 hours driving, the Independence side of Sequoia via Death Valley is remote and beautiful, or either rim of Grand Canyon are options, or even the Mojave desert should be reasonable heat-wise in October. The area surrounding Las Vegas has plenty of hiking / boat trips / natural hot springs / Ice Age fossil beds if you want to do less driving.

For Christs sake, it’s simple; toddler + long haul flight = HELL NO!!! I’d be amazed that anyone would contemplate this, for the sake of a holiday/wedding. Jeez. However, if you go yourself or with your other half, there’s LOADS to do within striking distance.