According to the 2010 U.S. Census, approximately 19% of Americans have a disability that restricts at least one of the major activities of daily living.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) was a panacea in opening the country to those people with the most significant forms of disability. Still, its implementation has been slow in many areas, and few travel destinations have truly excelled at creating an accessible environment. Las Vegas, Nevada is one exception. With the majority of physical disabilities occurring at older age, Las Vegas, its hotels and casinos have long been poised to tap into the disability travel marketplace. And tap into it they have!
Transportation & Infrastructure
One of the most important measures of a city’s accessibility (for tourism) is its transportation infrastructure. Are adapted taxis available? Is public transit accessible and reliable? Are wheelchair users and slow walkers able to roll/walk the sidewalks? Las Vegas checks all of these boxes, which makes it easy for people with disabilities to move from place-to-place like other tourists.
ADA taxis with wheelchair ramps are plentiful and can be ordered on-demand, making Las Vegas one of the few cities in the world where this is possible.
Accessible buses connect Las Vegas Boulevard with Fremont Street, McCarran Airport and other parts of the city. Two bus routes, SDX (Strip and Downtown Express) and The Deuce, run up and down The Strip at regular intervals, with the latter operating 24 hours a day. Unlimited ride day passes are available for just $8 per day ($4 for people with disabilities) and offer a great way to save money on transportation in Vegas.
The wheelchair accessible Las Vegas Monorail makes 7 stops along the Strip on a route that runs from MGM Grand all the way up to SLS Las Vegas and Sahara Avenue. Tickets cost $5 per ride, or you can purchase unlimited ride passes from $12 per day. A number of free trams also operate along the Strip. The three trams/routes are: Mandalay Bay-Luxor-Excalibur, Bellagio-Crystals-Monte Carlo, and Treasure Island-Mirage. These are free to ride and will save you a lot of walking.
If you do prefer to walk or roll, you’ll have no problem doing that in Las Vegas. Sidewalks are maintained along The Strip and elevated walkways (with elevators) connect many of the top properties. Street crossings are well-marked and accessible, with some intersections using elevated pedestrian bridges to allow for continuous flow of traffic.
ADA Accessible Hotel Rooms
There are more wheelchair accessible hotel rooms in Las Vegas than in any other city worldwide. Having tested quite a few of them myself, hotels in Vegas run the entire gamut of ADA compliance – from partial to full, with a few properties going above & beyond. At Bellagio, you’ll find ceiling-track transfer hoists available in some adapted rooms.
One area where Las Vegas hotels really shine is in the detailed accessibility information provided during booking. For most travelers, the Las Vegas hotel booking engines provide enough information to determine whether or not a room will meet one’s access needs.
All of the Las Vegas casino hotels offer ADA guest rooms with either a bathtub or roll-in shower, with a few rooms containing both. And, unlike major brands like Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott, Vegas hotels take the ADA’s “dispersion” requirement seriously, offering accessible accommodation across many room types, including suites and rooms with balconies.
Casinos & Gaming
The Las Vegas casinos might just be the most accessible entertainment venues in the world. With gambling odds in the casino’s favor, they want to make it easy for every visitor to play games of chance, regardless of their physical abilities.
Whether you are a high-roller or a low-budget player, Las Vegas casinos offer something for everyone. From slot machines to table games, you’ll find accessibility everywhere. Casino hosts are happy to lend wheelchair users a helpful hand by moving chairs from the table or slot machine to make gameplay accessible. At table games, players with disabilities should be accommodated when asking for additional time to place bets or participate in the game. Should you have a need, speak up and ask for a reasonable accommodation that will make the experience more accessible to you.
If you to decide to spend time in the LasVegas casinos, check out Caesars Total Rewards | What is a Caesars Marketing Offer?
Related: Tips For Visiting The “Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas” Sign.
Entertainment
A wealth of entertainment awaits vacationers in Las Vegas, the city which is often called “The Entertainment Capital of the World.” Vegas staples like Cirque du Soleil (which has 7 shows on deck) run year-round, while musical artists come and go with residencies or one-time performances.
Among my favorites are Cirque du Soleil’s “O” and “Mystere” (at Bellagio and Treasure Island, respectively), the Absinthe variety show at Caesars Palace, Le Rêve – The Dream at Wynn Las Vegas and Penn & Teller’s magic show at Rio. If you’re looking for something a little more risqué, check out one of the many topless shows. While my favorite (Jubilee) closed last year, the X Burlesque at Flamingo, X Rocks at Rio and X Country at Harrah’s have received stellar reviews. Each of these venues have wheelchair accessible seating, with many shows offering tabled floor seating which is also accessible.
Beyond the performances, be sure to explore other activities: take a ride on the High Roller ferris wheel at The LINQ, go underwater at Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef aquarium, solve crimes at MGM Grand’s CSI: The Experience, or watch a volcano erupt at Mirage. I also highly recommend connecting with your inner superman on the SlotZilla Zoomline at the Fremont Street Experience. Elevating platforms make SlotZilla the most wheelchair accessible zip line experience in the world!
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re just getting started traveling with a disability or you’re a globe-rotting wheelchair user like me, Las Vegas is a destination that is sure to delight. With so many activities and experiences being accessible, you’ll never run out of things to do, and the city will never bore you. There’s something for everyone in Las Vegas, so hop on a flight and make the city your own!
For more information on disability-friendly travel, check out my website at www.wheelchairtravel.org.
Great article! There are many people who may hesitate to take vacation because of mobility issues. Accessibility opens up the fun to more people (and their loved ones) and there is something for everyone in Vegas.
Did you enjoy SlotZilla? That picture is terrific.
When you mentioned “ADA taxis with wheelchair ramps are plentiful and can be ordered on-demand”, is there a special phone # for them ? And is there one that will carry 2 scooters ? We are 2 people that use scooters because of mobility issues. But to get a bus that has room for 2 at the same time just doesn’t happen. Looking for alternative transportation, as we would like to go to Fremont Street again sometime. Last time we took only one scooter, the wait time was awful, and coming back we waited nearly 2 hours. Any information you can supply, will be appreciated.
Hi Sue, Nearly all of the licensed taxi companies have ADA vans, but I find the best way to secure one is to ask at the hotel’s valet/taxi stand.
Hi Sue, Nearly all of the licensed taxi companies have ADA vans, but I find the best way to secure one is to ask at the hotel’s valet/taxi stand. Most of the hotels have a couple of go-to drivers who they can call directly. Wait times via this method are usually under 15 minutes, in my experience.
Unfortunately, the ADA taxis with rear-entry ramps that are so common can only accommodate one wheelchair or scooter. As such, you would need to request two taxis. For airport transportation, you might consider a service like SuperShuttle, but I suspect the premium on a special non-shared ride to other destinations would be greater than the cost of separate ADA taxis.
One of the city bus routes does connect the Strip to Fremont Street. Because the buses can accommodate two scooters, that might be something worth considering!
On our Sept. trip, we tried the bus. We waited for 4 buses. As there was already one scooter on the bus. So we just gave up. to hot to wait. It wasn’t the wait at the hotel that was so long, it was for the return trip. We called the cab driver direct, more than once, said he’d be right there. 2 hours later he showed up. It’s not transportation to and from airport that’s the problem. Just getting someplace other than the strip is the problem…….for 2 on scooters…………
The wait for an accessible taxi can often be over a half-hour and even longer if you are a couple. My wheelchair breaks down, which means that my husband takes the back as his does not. On a busy day, you will wait a while, and the hotel’s taxi connections are not reliably faster than any you have. We got tired enough of the issue that we ended up moving very close to where we work, so we can just drive our chairs– but then we deal with vegas’ TERRIBLE sidewalks.
Re: Buses, the double-deckers can ONLY take two chairs, so if there is already one on, or someone refuses to change seats, they will again have to travel separately or wait. The one-story flex buses have three spots, however, and thus are more reliable. Bus drivers really hate doing two tiedowns, though, I can say from experience. They also tend to dislike service dogs.
It’s so-so. As disabled residents of las vegas, we can have very positive and very negative experiences in the same day. It’s getting better overall, however.
What throws off many things is that we are a disabled COUPLE. That means that often limited accessible seating/amenities/etc are not always available– the bus often can’t or won’t take both of us, limited accessible spots mean that if there’s a disabled passenger on, we can’t (not to mention that passengers are not required to move to free those spots up, and many refuse; many bus drivers absolutely hate to do the tiedowns and may simply not take you). The one table a restaurant might have that’s accessible won’t be available; even if one is, they might balk (illegally) at the service dog; they might assume we can’t tip well so the service is notably bad to us specifically, etc. Sidewalks are dodgy, curbs are often poorly interfaced with the street, streets often have serious potholes (yes, several on/intersecting with the strip), you’d be surprised how many hotels don’t have automatic doors and/or they often don’t work, which is also an issue with the elevators to the skybridges.
I hate being negative because many hotels pride themselves on being accessible, but the lack of tax revenue that goes to the city means that much of Las Vegas is not accessible at all: sidewalks are too narrow, power poles are set directly in the middle of the sidewalk, sidewalks may not be paved at all or are extremely uneven. I’ve actually been pitched out of my chair about a dozen times all over vegas, and had to go to the ER at least twice.
So, there are accessible venues, but Vegas really does need a lot of work, and is particularly difficult if you are a) a disabled couple and b) head anywhere immediately off-Strip.
Hi Sylv, on my own website, I always preface that I am not rating the livability of a city, but its level of accessibility for tourists. It is definitely interesting to hear about the difficulties of traveling with two wheelchair users. Cities with metro train systems would be seemingly more accessible from a public transportation perspective for that reason. And, coordinating the arrival of two wheelchair taxis must be a real hassle. I don’t suspect that one taxi driver would wait for another to arrive without starting the meter! Thank you very much for sharing your perspective – definitely some things for me to think about.