Stopped in while on the job…read more What a great place to bring kids both young and old. And to have it on the pier is perfect. After you spend a few hours burning the little ones out pop out and grab a bite. Employees are wonderful. So many things for the kids to do and see. If you have kids and you're visiting navy pier this is a must stop

This place is perfect for children and there are so many areas of play, creativity, and adventures…read more There is a lot to do and a lot to see, so you really can spend the whole day here. I'm from Houston, Texas and didn't like how we had to pay a non-residential entrance fee, which is more expensive. I feel like there should only be one flat fee. Also, the ticket price is so expensive, especially since we have to pay for the children AND adults. I mean, it's a children's museum so the adults HAVE to be there to accompany them. It's not like the adults come to play on their own. We come to play with the child. I just feel like adults should be free, or at least only pay like $5. On a normal day, it would not be reasonable to come here. I did see that they are hosting a Family Day when tickets are about $5 a person; that is an amazing deal and is so worth it. The hours are so short! We came on Thursday when the hours are 10-2pm. We came in at 11:30pm and I felt like we didn't have enough time! My boys wanted to play more; I wish we had come in earlier. So if you plan on going, I recommend going at 10am when they open, especially if you're going to pay full price. I didn't like how the hours are short and when it came to closing time, stations were shutting down early. At 1:45pm, the Cloud Buster exhibit was closed, which was disappointing because my boys wanted to go in there. A lot can happen in 15 minutes, so I didn't like that. The staff were all incredibly nice, sweet, and patient, though! They all kept their cool and were great at encouraging my boys, especially when climbing the Schooner. The museum reminds me of Montessori school, where it teaches independent play and discovery. I wish it included some facts and interactive play that reinforces the subject, like at a science museum. Overall, my two boys had a blast. They really enjoyed the "Play It Safe" and "Water City" exhibits. My favorite was Michael's Museum. I appreciated all the small messages of advice and reminders for parents in all play areas. It encouraged us and helped us understand the reasoning behind how children play or the purpose of the activity. From a child's perspective, this place is AMAZING, so I'm glad my boys enjoyed it.

I had a lot of fun here! We didn't buy tickets online and were able to buy tickets outside with the…read moregirl in line. This is definitely a gimmicky museum but you know that going in! You start your journey in the bar but you can end here too if you want to relax a little. They have fun alcoholic drinks and ice cream to buy (but the flavor of the month is free). You go from room to room sampling free ice cream and playing little interactive experiences. One room had mini golf and ice cream hot dogs (try it!!). Another had carnival games and temporary tattoos. You end in the iconic sprinkle pit that is on all locations. I deducted a star because it was a lot smaller than other locations and I felt it ended abruptly. I also wish they gave smaller portions because I saw A LOT of food waste.

This is the cutest attraction for kids with unlimited ice cream that offers unique ice cream…read moreflavors. My kids enjoyed the ice cream and the sprinkle pool. We will definitely be back on our next visit to Chicago. Also, we purchased the VIP tickets so we could arrive at any time!

Took the Art Deco tour yesterday, what a great way to learn about some of the history of Chicago as…read morewell as the gorgeous buildings!! Our guide was knowledgeable and kept the tour interesting. Unfortunately I flew out yesterday afterwards, but will definitely be back to check out the Center as well.

This is a rather small museum and when I was there there was like two exhibits to check out. The…read morefirst floor is 1/3rd gift shop 2/3 the Chicago exhibit. This exhibit has a cool model of the city and interactive screen that you can highlight different buildings. It's really amazing. However, there's multiple computers and if there's a crowd, as soon as you highlight the building you want someone else highlights the building they want and becomes really hard to really take it all in. There's a small series of panels on Transit orientated development which I really enjoyed. I'm not sure if those are always there or just currently there. They seemed rather new. There was also a piece on regular field with a model of the stadium and some interactive stuff to play with with a scoreboard. Overall the first floor was pretty good. Second floor is where I disappointment kind of hit. I guess they were in the middle of changing exhibits so there was only a small section to see and that exhibit didn't really resonate with me and didn't flow very well. It's worth checking out, especially if you have some sort of discount tickets like I did.

So many feelings. First of all I loved this WAY more than I thought I would. I HATE slime but my…read moregirls love it. So deep breath and who cares if clothes get ruined?! We went on Good Friday, lots of kids were off of school. We got the first time slot! Highly recommend this! The place is self guided and you can always go back to feel some more! If you think about germs and are easily grossed out, there's plenty of hand sanitizer around, or bring your own! But everyone is basically reaching in to feel the same slime you are. There's a small area the kids can take their shoes off and play in. Some squishes and slime they can go into (it's hard and doesn't stick to clothes!). They also have the "get slimed" station. I believe it's $30 and from the looks of it, it's just blue water. Didn't seem worth it to me. But my kids loved watching! The best part is being able to make your own slime! You can pick the consistency, smell and color! And as an added bonus you can pick out 3 charms! There's no food or drinks allowed in and they have a complimentary coat/bag check! Take a picture of your bag in case you drop your ticket! In addition, I find it hilarious that people are complaining about the price. Of course the place raises the price during peak hours. Now do I think $56 for a ticket is steep, yes! But plan ahead and always purchase tickets ahead of time! We paid $135 for 3 and were there almost 3 hours! We only left because we had lunch reservations!

If you see ticket prices online in your budget BUY THEM. Made the mistake of driving an hour a half…read moreto get there before close and the pricing almost DOUBLED. Family of 4 and paid $222 (the AGM on site didn't have a hospitable bone in their body and informed us "ticket prices hike due to demand") and didn't seem to care if we left or stayed. The museum itself is short lived. With a couple extra add ons for more $$$ The slime-tenders were a lot more pleasant than the AGM and made our experience more memorable. Also google is wrong and you can NOT pay upon arrival so that was misinformation as well. Overall 6/10 experience

I missed this at our last visit, so I made it mandatory on this one…read more It is a very interactive space, so it is great for kids and adults alike. Front desk staff are polite and helpful. They provided a discount for educators with my wife being a music educator at a prestigious music school. There were numerous authors I am fans of that were featured here. But Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are my favorites. I have read essayist EB White's work as well. Of course, Roger Ebert material is here too. You could try to write a story with fill-in blanks and see how close you are to the original. You can use an old skool typewriter for "fun and games" of the technology of the past. It is fairly priced for what it is and should take you about one (1) hour or less. I even got a complimentary book marker for a cool author.

This was my first time visiting the American Writers Museum, and I came here as part of a field…read moretrip. The museum is quite large and well laid out, with a lot to explore. If you enjoy reading or writing, this is a museum you'd likely appreciate. It's a good place to spend time learning and getting inspired by different writers and literary works.

We had so much fun here! I wasn't sure what to expect and we went here on a whim. The museum was so…read moreinteractive! The staff are so nice and offer to take pictures for you through the installations. Highly recommend

This was a super quick experience... 30-45 minutes max... but it was pretty neat if you like this…read moresort of thing. Basic illusions with some neat instagram moments. If you're expecting an afternoon of experiences you'll probably be disappointed. I think if you know what you're getting you'll probably have a swell time. Staff was friendly and helpful. Everything was clean and was in working order.

This was the most wonderful experience! I highly recommend it if you're in Chicago. It's located in…read morethe Willis Tower, so if you're going to the Skydeck it's a quick little jaunt over before or after. I wasn't sure what to expect, and it ended up being so much better than I imagined! All the people working were friendly, knew what they were doing, and helped us have the best experience we could have. I loved every part of it, and it was awesome tying in all the senses to color! The tasting one was so fun, I ended up guessing mine right! I think my husband and I had the most fun with the partner drawing activity, that's a keepsake for sure, haha! Other faves were the poem and balloon exhibit and of course, the ball pit. We came with our 6 year old nephew but I think the adults had more fun than he even did! It was fun to let loose and be a kid again. I was thankful for all the fun photo ops, it made it easier to get great pics without having our phones out the whole time. The only bummer was the ice cream. We paid $1 per person for it and it was just one tiny little ball with a wooden spoon, and I could taste the spoon more than the ice cream.

The Woman in the photo is a current employee at the Color Factory in Chicago…read more She made our experience TERRIBLE As soon as we walked into her location inside the ball area she greeted us rudely and spoke to our kids as if she didn't want to even be there. She does NOT like this job and does NOT know how to speak to children or treat them. It was our child's birthday with all her friends from school and kept rolling her eyes at them to the point where I finally approached her and told her the way she is talking and behaving in front of children is unacceptable Please get this girl proper training She is NOT cut for a job around kids Rudest employee I've ever met

I took my four year old here. We spent about 3 hours looking at the exhibits. He really enjoyed it!…read more The closest lot fills up immediately so we had to park in a lot about 10 minutes away. I believe it was around $30. We paid extra to see the 3d movie. I believe we saw the trex movie. My son wasn't that impressed. I could skip it. I liked seeing the dinosaurs, like Sue. Another favorite was the taxidermy. There's also a children's area which he enjoyed!

This is a fantastic museum!…read more They house the largest, most complete T Rex skeleton ever found. Sue is quite impressive and there is a very interesting exhibit dedicated to her and the life it is believed she lived. There are halls of animals, an ancient Egypt exhibit, an underground creepy crawly exhibit, a Native American exhibit, and lots more. Don't skip it.

Free and interactive museum! Can take pics and learn about our financials. Got take take home…read morepictures and some shredded money Fun fact: Cash is made of 75%cotton and 25% linen Best of all free admission, need to scan your bag before going in through security

As a Houstonian who was tired of paying extra non-residential fees to museums, I appreciated that…read morethis museum was FREE! This museum is super neat and more interesting than I thought. Not only can you see what one million dollars look like physically in different denomination of bills, they had different interactive stations. There was a game where you try to spot of a bill was fake or not, a station to place money under a special light to see the unique features on the bill, a short video to learn about how the cash gets received and processed, and much more! In addition, there is a section about the history of money and other interesting facts. I love seeing the old money and how it has progressed over time. The place have several cool photo opportunities. Before you leave, you can also grab a bag of shredded money as a souvenir. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this place! It's not big, but it's enough to enjoy after lunch or if you're bored and wanted something to do. This museum feels like a hidden gem. Don't overlook this place! I highly recommend giving this place a visit. *Adults need to bring a valid ID to enter.*

How lucky are we to live in a city that house the incredible, iconic, and historic artwork that…read morefinds a home within The Art Institute of Chicago. I've been here many-a-time throughout my years. Some highlights include: Georgia O'Keefe's NYC series and Henry Matisse's Jazz cutouts. Come here to see other classics such as American Gothic, Nighthawks, and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. You can spend a full day here, so plan accordingly. Also, if you live in Chicago or Illinois, consult your public library for free passes!

The decision to go to Chicago meant that I immediately began looking up landmarks from movies that…read moreI love, so obviously we had to make a trip to The Art Institute of Chicago. And was it incredible to stand in front of A Sunday on La Grande Jatte after watching Ferris Bueller for decades? Of course. It was an awe-inspiring experience that gave me literal goosebumps and even got me a little emotional. But the rest of The Art Institute is incredible, too. We barely scratched the surface and yet managed to see several iconic paintings -- including American Gothic and that famous Van Gogh self-portrait. Obviously we should've planned more than a couple of hours in the place. I feel like you could spend a week wandering around the place and you'd still feel like you hadn't seen everything. I really can't wait to go back someday.