Las Vegas spent part of the 1990s trying to be a family-friendly destination. That failed fairly spectacularly.
It turns out that gambling and kids don't mix all that well.
That does not mean that families never visit Las Vegas. Circus Circus still caters to people forced to visit Sin City with their kids who aren't looking to be the folks you have to report based on the flyers about abandoned kids you see on hotel counters all over the city.
The Las Vegas Strip has a handful of family-friendly activities like Hershey's Chocolate World at MGM Resorts International's (MGM) New York New York and M&M's World next to the MGM Hotel & Casino. In addition, MGM's Mandalay Bay has a water park/pool complex that's aimed at all ages, but these are generally exceptions to a city that has become PG-13 at its tamest, and quite often hard-R.
Now, Walt Disney (DIS) has plans to take on Sin City and make it a little more Sing City.
Image source: Walt Disney
Disney Animation Comes to the Las Vegas Strip
Walt Disney Animation Studios has partnered with Lighthouse Immersive Studios, the producers of the blockbuster Immersive Van Gogh, to develop what they're calling the Disney Animation Immersive Experience. The immersive experience will debut in Toronto in December and will open in Las Vegas at The Shops at Crystals in March.
"Creating iconic animated stories for all ages for nearly a century, Walt Disney Animation Studios will join forces with North America’s top creator of experiential projection exhibitions to present the music and artistry within Disney Animation’s canon of films—from hits of today like Encanto, Zootopiaand Frozen, to all of the classics including The Lion King, Peter Pan and Pinocchio. Audiences will feel like they’ve entered the incredible worlds of beloved Disney characters and become one with them," the two company's shared.
The Las Vegas installation has a planned 12-week run, but the hope is that it will extend much longer than that.
“The collaboration with Lighthouse Immersive is a first for Disney Animation,” Walt Disney Animation Studios President Clark Spencer said in a statement shared with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s a dream to bring the best of animated storytelling together with the top experts in the immersive art experience. We can’t wait for audiences around the world, of all ages, to experience the great moments from our legacy of feature films in this incredible way.”
The show uses synchronized wristbands that flash different colors based on what's happening in the show at any given moment.
Las Vegas Isn't Welcoming Families Exactly
While Las Vegas has not returned to its 1990s goal of becoming a family destination, it has moved away from strictly marketing itself as a place where adults do things they don't do while at home. The Las Vegas Strip still has its fair share of scantily clad showgirls and men dressed as shirtless police and firefighters, but it also has a steady supply of Mickey and Minnie Mouse knockoffs as well as people dressed as the dogs from PAW Patrol.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) actually plans to make an all-ages arcade a feature at its revamped Bally's, which will be rebranded under the Horseshoe name.
But, while parts of Las Vegas have become a little more family-friendly, Caesars' Cromwell, located on the Strip and the brand-new Circa on Fremont St. are 21-and-over only properties. Las Vegas remains someplace you probably don't want to plan a family vacation to, but it has become more hospitable to bringing the kids along when you have a work reason to be there.
