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Thread: Harrah's Ak Chin or Rincon? Early April with a 7 year old.

  1. #1
    Trying to plan a 4-5 day family trip next spring.

    My wife, 7 year old daughter and I spent 5 nice days at Ak Chin this past April. It was a nice getaway for our family. Great weather (we're from Milwaukee)! They've got the perfect pool for my daughter. It wasn't crowded at all and the movie theater/arcade/bowling alley next door was a nice touch. The Ak Chin casino was nothing special, but still fun after everyone went to bed.

    Rincon appears to have a really fancy pool. Though I'm not sure how warm it would be in April, and I wouldn't want to be there during the Adult Pool party nonsense. Is Rincon even remotely kid friendly?

    Has anyone been to both properties? How do the Casinos compare?

  2. #2
    I would avoid Rincon if a family trip

  3. #3
    Lol. I trust your judgement Alan. Enough said.

  4. #4
    I totally disagree with Alan.

    Rincon is great for families. I took my 12 and 16 year old son all summer long this year. Saturday is the only day that "sucks". Its adult only on both the adult and lazy river side. On Sunday's the pool is open until 10 and it's great fun for kids as it's not crowded at all. The lazy river changes colors and it's beautiful. It's also heated year long and it's "saltwater".

    You can also order drinks and food for your little diddo. They have chicken nuggets, hamburgers, nachos, tacos and you can order a side of fries that will feed your family and the one next to you.


    Ccerts. If your a high roller you'll want to ask for the Catalina suite. It's a beautiful two bedroom suite with a large living room and a huge balcony that overlooks the lazy river. I believe is 1500sf. By far the best suite I've ever stayed in. Same bathroom as the La Jolla with the separate shower jacuzzi tub. Your daughter will love to take a bubble bath with a little shampoo in front of the jets.

  5. #5
    My question about a family vacation at Rincon is simply this: what else is there to do besides the pool? There is no regular entertainment. You need to drive to get anywhere else. Anaheim, the beaches, LA and anything "else" is at least an hour away. There is no movie theater, no kids activities, no regular shows. Even going to Temecula for movies and bowling is a half hour drive.

    Rincon is a locals casino with a pool that is trying to reinvent itself as a destination with a convention center and it falls flat.

  6. #6
    If you are willing to drive a bit, Rincon can be fine for kids.

    Disneyland is 84 miles away, and Sea World is 48.

    Not much to do at Rincon itself, but what did your kid do at Ak-Chin for 5 days?
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  7. #7
    We are from Milwaukee, so a trip to LA might be fun with the family that's for sure.

    Although if we were going to do Disney, we'd go to Orlando since that's much easier to get to. Alan may be right that Rincon might not be near enough of the fun day kid things we'd want to do other than the pool.

    What did we do at Ak-Chin for 5 days (with a 7 year old) last April? It was a really nice trip!!! Each Morning we grabbed Dunkin Dounuts from in the Casino and then went to the pool. Then each day we took a side trip (see below) and at night after dinner went to the movie theater, bowling or the arcade all next door at the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center @ Ak-Chin Circle. Later at night when the wife and kid were in bed, I enjoyed the casino.

    Arizona Science Center
    600 East Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004

    Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch
    17599 E Peak Ln, Picacho, AZ 85141

    Phoenix Children's Museum
    215 N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85034

    Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium
    16501 W. Northern Ave., Litchfield Park, AZ 85340

  8. #8
    Ak-Chin is almost 40 miles from downtown Phoenix and Rincon is 46 miles to downtown San Diego. Not much different.

    There are a lot of fun things for children to do close to Rincon.

    San Diego Safari Park is 12 miles

    Lego Land is 23 miles

    I took my nieces to Gems of Pala many years ago and they loved it. 10 miles

    http://www.yelp.com/biz/gems-of-pala-inc-pala

  9. #9
    Originally Posted by Aaron View Post
    Ak-Chin is almost 40 miles from downtown Phoenix and Rincon is 46 miles to downtown San Diego. Not much different.
    Huh! Great post Aaron. Alan seemed pretty sure about avoiding Rincon with the family. San Diego Safari Park, Lego Land & Gems of Pala sound like fun day trips for us. The pool at Rincon looks great too. I'm a little worried about the weather in Early April (we're off Easter week) as there would be no guarantee it'd be warm enough to use the pool. Rincon might be more of a summer trip. Other than avoiding it on Saturdays (because of the adult pool parties) how busy is the pool in the summer? Looks really fun. My daughter would love it! Attached is a picture of her in April at the nearly empty Ak-Chin pool.


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    Last edited by ccerts; 09-11-2014 at 06:46 PM.

  10. #10
    Why not stay at a hotel near Disneyland and drive to Rincon when you want a night out? From Disneyland you are close to San Diego, the beaches and LA.

  11. #11
    I know there is a lot of controversy about Sea World, but I enjoyed our visit there. It is a bit expensive, though I got a discount for having a Southwest Rapid Rewards card. (I even gave my card, which I otherwise don't use, to a nice family behind me who seemed troubled by the price of admission.)

    Anyway, it took like 45 minutes to get there from Rincon.

    I've heard bad things about Legoland, though.

    Might take my son to the Gems of Pala, though.

    Early April weather should be fine at Rincon, especially in the afternoon. It's only the winter when it's typically too cold (or rainy) all day to use the pool.
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  12. #12
    Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
    Why not stay at a hotel near Disneyland and drive to Rincon when you want a night out? From Disneyland you are close to San Diego, the beaches and LA.
    Free Hotel (I'm assuming I'd get my room at Rincon comped. I have not paid for a room at a casino hotel for over 15 years). And like everyone here, I like to gamble. Going on trip with the family and staying at a casino hotel allows me some time to play when everyone is in bed. I also like to have a couple drinks when I play so that rules out driving to a casino.

  13. #13
    Originally Posted by ccerts View Post
    Free Hotel (I'm assuming I'd get my room at Rincon comped. I have not paid for a room at a casino hotel for over 15 years). And like everyone here, I like to gamble. Going on trip with the family and staying at a casino hotel allows me some time to play when everyone is in bed. I also like to have a couple drinks when I play so that rules out driving to a casino.
    All valid reasons.

  14. #14
    Rincon is my home casino. Huge draw for families is the amazing pool - and it really is amazing. As someone else mentioned it is heated all the time so every day is pool day. There are aleays lots of kids and families running around. There are many amazing attractions in SD. One that was not mentioned is the San Diego Zoo - it is world famous - one of the best zoos in the entire world and is only about an hour away. I have many friends that have annual passes to the zoo and to Legoland because their kids love both so much. Disneyland is NOT a easy trip - first off under the best case it is 1.5 hours from Rincon but that is absolute best case - the traffic between San Diego County and Disneyland is a Nightmare and unless timed just right will be horriffic. It would be crazy to stay in a hotel near Disney and try to do a day trip to Rincon.

    Just my 2 cents as a San Diego local if you want any other first hand info on Rincon or the area let me know!

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