We had the best time visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo during our visit to Chicago. Our son loves…read moregorillas so we were so excited that he was able to see them! The zoo is well maintained with excellent exhibits. We enjoyed seeing all the animals. We spent 3 hours and got to see so much. They also have several places to eat or grab snacks. We had such a great time!

Lincoln Park Zoo is a good free zoo. I've only been to... 2? 3? zoos. I can compare it with St…read more Louis, which isn't fair. Instead, the best of the things I saw. Variety of animals: Decent Favorite buidling: The bird house had a few species per exhibit Improvement needed: Penny flattening machine was not working and needed an out of order sign/service Best animal exhibit: Giraffes and zebras are together and something about the staging made the giraffes really "pop" Honorable mention: Lions (easier to see these lions than the lions at the St. Louis Zoo) I saw a number of signs about exhibits being empty of occupants because of animals sometimes needing privacy. We didn't see the farm area. One of my companions ordered a Chicago (hot) dog and seemed to like it.

It's always so much fun going to the zoo. This is one of the more bigger shoes here in Chicago. And…read moreI think it's the first time I've been here again in like 8 years. I was so happy that I was able to experience feeding the giraffes and that they actually feed them a whole Leaf of lettuce it's a bit of a on the pricey side $15 you get about half of a bunch of lettuce but to be able to feed them the whole Leaf it was amazing because other places you would only get like strips of carrots. We were there a bit early and so most if not some of the animals were all out and that was so nice to see so I did enjoy it a lot. The only downside was the food the food trucks were closed and so the only choice we had was the outdoor one in the cafeteria until we did choose the outdoor one and the line wasn't even that long but the two boys that were there I guess they were new and it was a part-time thing it was so disorganized that we waited almost an hour for our food. The food was okay for Zoo food but I would eat it again it's just the long wait. But this suit was amazing I highly recommend feeding the giraffes I wish they also offered more animal encounters like feeding the goats and whatnot but I would definitely be coming back. Happy exploring!

Having visited zoos in various parts of the USA, I would rate Brookfield Zoo somewhere in the…read moremiddle. It has both strong and weak points. The wide scope of their collection is impressive. The newer and recently refurbished habitats, particularly Tropic World, The Living Coast and The Swamp, display animals in remarkably naturalistic settings that have been enhanced and updated through the years. I visit Brookfield Zoo maybe every 5 or 6 years, and what frustrates me the most is the significant percentage of attractions that always seem to be closed for renovation. Or, for whatever reason, some categories of animals might not be available for public viewing. How odd that this zoo has not had any elephants since 2010 (also, they no longer breed baboons). During our most recent visit, roughly one-third of the attractions were unavailable and some of the public areas appeared neglected, e.g. cracked pavement and uninspired landscaping. The Roosevelt Fountain centerpiece may look impressive from the air, but at ground level the tall weed-like growth pretty much obscures the view. By comparison, the flora at the Milwaukee Zoo is more attractive. A long-overdue overhaul of food services was completed since my previous visit. Graze Kitchen offers a varied menu which includes - surprise! - healthy options. A chicken salad wrap, although not cheap, was actually one of the better meals I've experienced at a zoo. But this venue should have been centrally located; instead, it's an arduously long hike from any entrance gate. Other options, albeit with limited menus heavy on junk food, are more accessible. Outside vendors include The Original Rainbow Cone, which has two food trucks stationed inside the park this summer (ask for directions). The gift shops with their generous play areas for children are very inviting. Although subsidized by tax dollars and private donations, this zoo is expensive. Parking runs $17-$20 on top of admission, which ranges from $24 to $33 (much of the pavement is in deplorable condition). Once inside the park, there are additional fees for special attractions such as the butterflies, the dolphin show, and the Hamill Family Play Zoo. Scooter rental costs $35. Considering that portions of the park are in less-than-pristine condition and several attractions might be closed for whatever reason, the cost of spending a day here is excessive. We rode on the 30-minute Motor Safari tour ($6). We had hoped this tour would include the furthest reaches of the park, but the route was shorter than we anticipated. The aging trams put out a noxious exhaust; replacement with battery-powered vehicles is long overdue. Moreover, the tour guide misinformed visitors by stating that camel humps contain water. Egad, no, they contain fatty tissue (Google it)! Given the great distances that have to be covered on foot, I think it would make much more sense to replace the Safari tour with shuttles that operate on a fixed route every 15-20 minutes, with step-on/step off stations throughout the park (included in the admission price).

We visited the aquarium last December and it was starting to snow. So, it was the perfect timing to…read morewarm up inside. The aquarium was super busy because so many family thought alike and prefered indoor attraction during the snowy day. We bought the ticket on site and it was quick despite it being so busy. The aquarium was good size. We spent about 3 hours to walk around most of the display and saw most of the shows. My favorite part was the beluga tank near a small corner with seatings where we had our snack there. It was so serene and calming. The dolphin show was good and my kid was amazed at how smart the dolphins are. The touch tank was exciting too. We touch sea stars and small sharks. Overall, it was a good aquarium and attraction for the whole family.

We loved visiting the Shedd Aquarium with our son! It was his first time visiting an aquarium so it…read morewas so fun to see him take it all in! There is so much to see and explore. One of our favorites was the beluga whale exhibit. They are so mesmerizing to watch! We could have sat there and watched them forever. The penguins were also so much fun to see. Our son loved them! We also enjoyed the interactive exhibits where he got to pet the stingrays. There was so much to explore and see. We had the best time. We were there for about 3 hours and it was plenty of time to explore the entire aquarium.

I took an injured bird I found in my yard there. They heal many types of animals. It is a great…read morecommunity resource.

Agree with Rob H. This place is so sad now. It used to be among our top five favorite places, but…read morethey need to tear down that waste-of-space building and make the full-grown trees and nature come back right now! We don't need more strip-mall crap! We need trees, flowers, grasses, meadows, creek, and pond. This place used to have them all, but now you might as well go to chucky cheese.

My GF and I purchased a Groupon for the Chicago Photo Safari and we chose to shoot at Millennium…read morePark. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes into the session, it started to rain so the group (around 10 of us) fled into the Chicago Cultural Center for the remaining time. I thought the CCC was interesting for about an hour but definitely did not have enough interesting areas to fill up a 3 hour photo shoot. This brings me to one of my complaints-the safari was supposed to be 3 hours, but it was only about 2 hours and 20 minutes. I'm sure it would be a better experience in Millennium Park but if you are planning to make the safari rain or shine, you should have a better back up plan. Also, b/c the CCC isn't brightly lit, this limited the settings people could use while taking pictures. Our instructor - Scott - is a student at Columbia and he had a good personality and did his best to engage the students and help them. I thought it was helpful that he had an iPad that allowed him to pull up a picture that illustrated the concept that he is explaining. He also was knowledgeable re photography. The one complaint regarding Scott is he clearly was out late the night before and still smelled like stale beer. Not a big deal to us, but I can see how that might bother some people. I think this class would be useful for someone that has a DSLR and only shoots in automatic mode or in program mode without understanding what is actually happening in the program mode. I'd say the majority of the class fit into this description. But, if you have a basic idea of how to set the exposure, what depth of field and what ISO are, I'd skip the safari and just walk around Millennium Park. The 3 stars is based on the Groupon price and if you are an absolute beginner. If you paid full price the rating would be a 2 stars.

My Mom and I bought a Groupon and did the Millenium Park daytime safari. I live out of town, and…read morethought this would be a fun way for us to spend time together while I was visiting for the holidays, and it was! The MP safari was beginner level, which worked well for my mom who was borrowing one of my DSLRs for the first time. As a more intermediate DSLR photographer, I got more familiar with my new camera and was able to talk lenses and other advanced topics with the instructor and students with the same DSLR Rebel I had. But the most beneficial thing for me was the fact that we spent so much time photographing the same subject (the Cloud Gate) over and over. Other yelpers lamented that there wasn't enough subject matter to photograph, and although that is true, the real benefit to the repetition is that you can take the same shot over and over and adjust your settings each time. Then when you go home, you can load the shots into the computer and compare the settings for each picture, and try to learn more about what settings work in which conditions. "Setting intuition" is something that I struggle with and having a slow tour through MP has already helped me to better predict how to set my camera for different lighting conditions. I would certainly recommend Chicago Photo Safaris to (1) beginners who own or have access to a DSLR camera or (2) intermediates who are either looking to become more familiar with their DSLR or use the safari as a way to experiment with settings, take home the shots, and critically evaluate them. The MP safari was NOT for folks who (1) want to take a bunch of pictures of different things, (2) don't own a DSLR or other digital with shutter speed and aperture controls, or (3) are easily bummed out by being outdoors on one of Chicago's many less-than-perfect days or indoors in one of our many old, under-lit buildings. As for me, I would seriously consider another Chicago Photo Safari when I'm in town in the future.

I've been here multiple times with my family. It's a nice small zoo, but the first time I've been…read morehere with the new setup this year. If you're in the area and you need a place to bring your little ones highly recommend. We can at bad time while it was lunch time and the workers needed a break but always a good walk as a parent and a lot to see.

This is a cute little zoo that's best for kids under 5. It's very small and takes less than an hour…read moreto go through if your kids are older. I'm docking a few stars because they let way too many people into the petting zoo area at one time, especially when they only have a few goats to pet. I also docked a star because the walk over to the playground and picnic table area is unnecessarily long because they have the shortcut path blocked off.

Colin came to our mosque this past weekend. We had the show outdoors and it was such a hit! He kept…read morethe kids engaged and it's very interactive. Also, his price seems pretty fair. Would highly recommend.

We had an amazing experience with Crosstown Exotics! Mike came to our high school class that works…read morewith preschoolers, and he was absolutely fantastic with both our little and big kids. He was incredibly educational while also being funny and engaging, which kept everyone interested the entire time. The kids loved getting to see and learn about the animals up close, and you could tell Mike is truly passionate about what he does. It was such a unique and memorable experience for our class. Everyone had a great time, and we're already looking forward to having him back next year. Highly recommend!

A very clean smaller zoo. Kids are free and adults cost $12 each. If you are in the area it might…read morebe worth checking out! This is a good zoo to checkout with small children. There's coyotes, deer, cows, horse, llama, goats, chickens, and ducks. It's a little unclear if you can pet anything as the signs say "we bite." Does that mean pet at your own risk? I just assumed don't do it at all. It also wasn't clear if you could feed any of the animals outside a 30 min window that was listed on a flyer hung up.

Small zoo in the suburb of Chicago that offers free admissions in December. Kids can spend about an…read morehour or so to check out all the different animals, from chicken and rabbits, to racoons, llama, and Canada lynx. The newest additions are 2 coyotes. The lights turn on at 3PM. They also sell Christmas tree and weaths in December.

This was such a cute outing with our friends! Our toddlers had a lot of fun walking around and…read moreseeing all the animals, as well as playing at the park. There was a splash pad too, but we didn't make it that far unfortunately. You could easily spend a couple of hours here! Good suburbs gem

The animals are visible and cared for . We saw staff taking care of the animals, the enclosure…read morelooked clean, some animals were off site for the season but enough for my toddler to enjoy.

Children were so excited to see all the animals. Fantastic place for adults and children to visit.read more

Absolutely wonderful - Healthy happy animals, and…read morebeautifully taken care of ! A joy to visit and... I will return