Making a Fool of Myself at 550 Feet~A High Roller Review

I really want to be a fun mom. In my fantasies, I am totally the cool mom who is the life of the party. In reality, I much more often look like a lady who needs a shitsu massage and a stiff drink, stat. This is particularly true when I am traveling with my kids.  It’s not that I don’t have loads of fun seeing the world with my clan, but the responsibility of keeping up with four people while managing the logistics of everything from accommodations to attitudes makes me tense.  I don’t think I come off as outwardly grumpy (most of the time), but I am certainly not the fun mom I want to be.

This was certainly the case when we took the kids to Las Vegas. I had high hopes for our Vegas experience. It was the first time we had taken the kids and they were thrilled with the lights and the spectacle of the Strip at night. By day, the glimmer definitely disappeared.  I had remembered my trip to Vegas as a young person being filled with popping in and out of Casinos to see the free attractions and enjoying the sites. Our experience was that many of the free things (hello Sigfried and Roy tigers!) were no longer free, and the ticket prices were prohibitive for families.

When in Vegas…

Family Fun, Vegas Style

As the world’s largest observation deck, it was impossible to miss the High Roller standing 550 feet above the The Linq Hotel and the rest of the strip. It is just the kind of Ferris Wheel you would expect to see in Vegas.  Not only was the rotating wheel of space-like pods an intriguing attraction, it was also a much more affordable choice. To ease the strain of entertaining the family in Vegas, the High Roller offers a Family Pack that includes 2 adult and 3 child tickets, plus a souvenir toy and juice box for each child to enjoy on the 30 minute ride.

The High Roller is comprised of 28 enclosed and air-conditioned pods with wall to wall windows to allow panoramic views of the Strip, the valley and the mountains .Each pod can hold up to 40 passengers each, but families and groups can enjoy a private ride when the lines are short, as they often are during the day. From boarding to exit, the entire experience is about 30 minutes long, with in-cabin video and music to point out the sights below and the altitude as you climb high above the strip.

Our High Roller Experience

After grabbing our tickets and snaking through a maze of ticketing lines, we were finally close to the pods and almost ready to board. The final stop before boarding is a bar, where you can grab whatever libation suits your fancy before you board. At this point, we had been walking all day, and I could definitely feel the fun mom façade I was trying to keep up slipping away.

Once aboard the pod, the six of us spread out to look out the windows and see the 360 degree views. The ride was seamless and not at all jerky, and if not for the on-screen reminders that you are climbing higher, you might not even notice the movement. Near the apex of the ride, the Strip in all its gaudy splendor is on one side and the mountains and valley are on the other. The kids were excited to point out the landmark hotels we had trudged past, as the reminisced about the morning’s slightly uninteresting events.

At the 15 minute mark, we hit the top and we were back on our way to the surface when something came over me. It worked its way around the pod like a zeitgeist and soon we were in the middle of the biggest dance party in family history At 550 feet, there was no one to watch, with judgment, as two old parents did a very sad running man. There was no one to look on and embarrass the teenagers. It was just us-our silly, sometime ragged little family. And so we danced. We danced like no one was watching-because they weren’t And laughed.  And danced.

Maybe it was the relaxation of the High Roller, or the fact that everyone was contained and I didn’t have to worry about losing anyone. Or maybe it was just the jovial music and the fact that riding to 550 feet in a glass pod deserves a party. Whatever it was, I’m glad it happened, not only for the memory, but to remind me that I do have a bit of that “fun mom” in me somewhere. I know it is said that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” but we definitely need to find a way to take the fun we had on the High Roller that day and bring it out when we are at home.