Looking to get your Las Vegas thrills outside of the casinos?
Want a way to really get your adrenaline pumping on your visit to Sin City?
Las Vegas has much more to offer than just gambling, drinking, and live shows. Many hotels, especially family friendly ones, offer thrill rides, amusements and fun that will make you feel like you are vacationing at an amusement park.
Las Vegas Thrill Ride Discounts
| Rank | Coupon | Discount | Get Deal |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Exotics Racing – Ferrari, Lamborghini | 18% Off | Get Deal |
If you want to be whipped around on a rollercoaster, dangled above the Vegas Strip, or fly over Fremont Street, you’ve come to the right place!
Circus Circus Adventuredome
Thrill Rides and the Adventure Dome- Circus Circus
Adventure Dome at Circus Circus in an amusement park within a hotel. There are five rides offered here throughout 5 acres of amusements that are sure to get your heart pumping and adrenaline rushing.
All day ride passes are available that allows guests unlimited rides on all Adventure Dome attractions. In addition to the thrill rides below, Adventure Dome offers hours of fun for the entire family with carousels, junior/child appropriate rides, 4D theatrical rides featuring your child’s favorite cartoon characters such as Spongebob and the Ice Age cast, laser tag, midway games, an arcade, rock climbing walls, and clown shows (which could definitely get your heart pumping as well).
Adventuredome inside Circus Circus.
Canyon Blaster Coaster
Canyon Blaster is the only indoor double-loop-double-corkscrew roller coaster in the world and rushes riders at 55 miles per hour through the dome.
El Loco Coaster
El Loco Roller Coaster
El Loco roller coaster climbs a 90 feet ascent before plunging riders at 1.5 vertical G’s through twists and turns that will leave you breathless.
Sling Shot
Sling Shot shoots riders up to the tower at 4 g’s before plunging them all the way back down resulting in an adrenaline rush you won’t soon forget.
Chaos
Chaos is a premium ride that whirls riders with intensity in three different ranges of motion to leave you dizzy and definitely not underwhelmed.
Inverter
Inverter flips riders over and under with a constant 360 degree g-force action.
Big Apple Coaster at NYNY
Big Apple Coaster
Big Apple Coaster at New York New York – Ride the first roller coaster in the world to showcase a 180-degree heartline maneuver that twists and dives riders over the New York New York Hotel and Casino.
Riders will find this attraction on the second floor of the hotel, riders must be over 54” tall to participate and couples can even take the plunge and get married on this thrilling coaster featuring 144 feet drops, loops, twists, and hills, and speed of almost 70 miles per hour.
Thrill Rides at the Stratosphere
The Stratosphere Hotel is known for their thrill rides sitting atop the 1,000 feet tall building. These rides are not for everyone, with the height and age requirements for each.
Big Shot in Las Vegas, image credit: Stratosphere hotel.
The Big Shot
The Big Shot, built as the tower steeple on the very tip top of Stratosphere, shoots strapped in guests to the top of the steeple and then plunges them 160 feet at four G’s back to the bottom. This ride is like the ones you would find at carnivals and state fairs, with one huge difference—you’re 1/5 of a mile above ground.
X-Scream
X-Scream is a giant seesaw arm that dangles riders over the edge of the hotel, also from the very top and then drops the angle even more once over the edge to make you feel like you are about to plunge to your death. This ride is terrifying!
Insanity
Insanity is the scariest ride of all at Stratosphere. You aren’t enclosed in this thrill ride like you are when riding the X-Scream or Big Shot. This ride puts guests in a swing like contraption and spins while positioning riders so that they are staring 1,000 feet below to the ground. Visitors on the strip can hear the screams from this ride from ground level. If you’re looking to really get your heart racing, this ride will do it for you!
Sky Jump
Sky Jump is the newest ride offered at the Stratosphere and allows riders to jump off a platform 829 feet up and dive 108 stories below. This is not your average skydiving experience as there is no parachute to break your fall. Riders are strapped to a zipline (which does have a breaking system) as they fly all the way to the bottom. This facility is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest commercial decelerator descent facility in the world with speeds topping 40 miles per hour.
Desperado Coaster
Desperado at Buffalo Bills – Buffalo Bills is located about 40 miles south of the Vegas Strip in Primm, Nevada. Desperado is open to riders Friday through Sunday who are 48” tall. This ride is one of the most affordable in Vegas with full day wristbands offered for children and adults.
The coaster is one of the tallest and fastest rides in the United States with a 209 foot peak and plummeting descent through a tunnel at a whopping 90 miles per hour.
If that wasn’t scary enough, riders are also whipped around a 155-foot spiral drop at 4 G-force. This ride is not for the weak and weary, the rattling can be nerve wrecking and the drops are terrifying!
Slotzilla Zipline is an exciting ride in Downtown Las Vegas!
Slotzilla Zipline
Slotzilla – Fremont Street Experience – Located in downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street, this exciting zipline is offers two flying experiences. Riders can fly on the lower zipline or soar on the upper zoomline.
The ride starts almost 80 feet in the air at the top of the world’s largest slot machine and lands flyers about halfway down the promenade near Four Queen and Fremont casino.
Riders who opt for the Zoom line, start even farther up at 110 feet and whisks riders all the way down Fremont Street to the Golden Gate Casino superman style.
Check out the video review of the Zipline.
Vodoo Zipline Las Vegas, image credit: Rio Las Vegas
Rio Zipline – Rio
The Rio Hotel features two towers with a zipline connecting them 50 stories up. You and a friend can sit side by side and soar 70 seconds from tower to tower getting a unique, open-air view of Sin City. Voodoo Zipline goes up to 33 miles per hour.
This ride is so dangerous that riders must sign a waiver before getting on and present a valid. There are also weight restrictions and all riders must be 48” tall. Children can ride if they meet the height requirements with parental permissions.
Vital Vegas had a nice overview of the ride when it first opened: Las Vegas Zip Line Takes Visitors to New Heights: VooDoo Zip Line Opens at Rio
Image credit: Zero G website.
Zero G
Zero G – McCarran Signature Air Terminal – If you’ve ever wanted to feel like an astronaut, visiting Vegas and flying into McCarran Airport is the perfect way to do so. Zero-G departs from the signature terminal at McCarran and features a weightless experience floating without the effects of gravity.
Riders board a modified Boeing 727 that fly passengers through 15 parabolas that create 30-second intervals of weightlessness. Parabolas simulate your weight on Mars, the moon and finally zero gravity. This isn’t a ride for just anyone however. Boarders must be at least 8 years old and have almost 5 thousand dollars to spend on this up in the air thrill.
Slides at Wet and Wild Las Vegas, image credit: wetnwildlasvegas.com
Wet N Wild Las Vegas – Waterpark
Wet N Wild is a water theme park offering several different rides that are family friendly including slides like canyon cliff that plunge riders 33 feet per second, the Constrictor that has many tight twists and turns, the Rattler that can accommodate 4 riders on a raft and a 360-foot descent, a half pipe, a raceway slide, slideboarding, and the Tornado that spins a four person raft through slides to experience zero gravity. There are more than 25 slides total and 20 acres of theme park to explore.
Las Vegas Motor Speed Way
Have you dreamed of being an extra in the fast n furious, or have a passion for Nascar or drag racing? The Las Vegas Motor Speed Way gives adults the chance to race exotic cars such as the Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Huracan, McLaren 570s, Porsche 991 GT3, Corvette C7 Z06 and others, around 5 laps of the track.
Spend enough money here over the course of a year and you can be a part of the VIP Diamond Club that can include concierge pick up by helicopter from your hotel and access to the VIP lounge where celebrities like Michelle Rodriguez frequent.
Vegas Indoor Skydiving
Vegas Indoor Sky Diving
The Vegas indoor sky diving facility is open 7 days a week and is the first indoor sky diving facility to open in the United States. Visitors will defy gravity as a 1,000-horsepower motor keeps them floating in the air and creating a freefall experience that simulate 120 miles per hour winds. This thrilling attraction is safer than jumping out of an airplane and lets you experience skydiving indoors without a parachute. Groups and team building activities are common here with classes starting every 30 minutes! Block up to an hour for 20 people or enjoy the ride for 3-6 minutes by yourself.
Vegas Mini Baja Chase – Sunbuggy Fun Rentals
Get out of the city and out into the desert landscape of Las Vegas with Sunbuggy Fun Rentals. Join in the Vegas Mini Baja Chase that features an off roading adventure in dune buggies. Visitors will chase one of the expert dunies through the sand dunes and aggressive terrain.
This experience is billed as the best near-death experience in Vegas and has been featured in film and television shows. 1 and 2 seat buggies offer the best experience; however, larger multi-passenger buggies are available for families. The course is 15,000 acres and only 15 miles from the strip.
High Roller at the LINQ
High Roller Ferris Wheel – The LINQ
Although this Ferris wheel may not be the scariest ride for thrill-seekers in Vegas, the High Roller Observation wheel is the tallest in the world at 11 stories high. This is one of the newer attractions on the strip having opened in 2014.
Each cabin holds 40 riders and you can choose cabins with or without an open-air bar with a bartender included. This ride takes 30 minutes for one full rotation and offers 360-degree views of the Valley and Strip. Riders in the bar cabins must be 21+ but the ride is open to all ages.
Whether you are looking to defy gravity, be spun through roller coasters at 4 G force or fly through Fremont street, the ultimate thrill rides in Vegas can be found throughout the strip and all over town in and around Sin City.
Tom Hamilton - Author
Hi, I am Tom, and I love Las Vegas. You may see me lounging at the pool, catching a late-night show, or trying my luck at craps while out in Las Vegas.
I hope my tips and information can help people plan an enjoyable vacation and do so while saving money.
