Sphere

The Sphere at the Venetian is the most technologically ambitious entertainment venue ever built, and for families with older kids who can appreciate the experience, it is genuinely unprecedented. The building itself is a spectacle visible from much of the Strip — a 366-foot sphere covered in 1.2 million LED pucks that forms the world's largest LED display, called the Exosphere.

Inside, the 17,500-seat venue features a wraparound LED screen that covers the entire interior surface — floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with a resolution of 16K x 16K. When a film plays, you're not watching a screen in front of you; you're surrounded by it. Seats have haptic technology (physical sensation feedback synchronized to the content) and some shows include scent effects.

The Wizard of Oz experience and 'Postcard from Earth' nature documentary are the currently available family-appropriate shows.

For kids who are into technology, film, or immersive experiences, this is something no other venue on earth can currently offer. The scale is fundamentally different from IMAX or even dome theaters — it's an order of magnitude larger and more enveloping.

Practical reality check: tickets start around $60+ per person and go up significantly for premium seats and concert events. For a family of four, this is a $250-400+ experience before food and parking. That's the reality of a venue that cost $2.3 billion to build.

Children under 8 may find the scale overwhelming rather than exciting. The experience is best appreciated by older kids, tweens, and teens who can contextualize why this technology is remarkable. The free alternative — viewing the Exosphere exterior from Sands Ave at night — is worth doing regardless of whether you buy tickets inside.