Shedd Aquarium, Illinois, United States

4jpete02 5:00 PM Jun 30, 2022

Great Aquarium but you pay the price
You kind of have to be in the right frame of mind when you visit here. There is more to see and do here than at other large aquariums (National Aquarium in Baltimore or the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta). However, there are also several drawbacks. This is Chicago’s most visited attraction and the crowds range from crowded (on weekdays) to call the Fire Marshall (on winter holiday weekends). The building echoes and it will be loud with screaming kids. Most of the aquarium dates from the 1930’s, which means the building is beautiful inside but also means you have a lot of small tanks in the galleries and lines can form to see the fish in the tanks. The entrance was chaotic even with the city pass. There are two lines but no signs indicating which line was the city pass line. City pass line saved no time because you still have to be in the ticket line to exchange your city pass reservation for tickets and the 4d show selection and time (included with city pass). Arrived at 10:05 for a 10:00 reservation city pass time and didn’t get into the aquarium until 10:45 due to the slow moving line. That is unacceptable. Why can’t you get your ticket and pick out the 4d movie time online with your city pass? The newer part of the aquarium is a lot easier to maneuver around and has beluga whales, sea otters, and dolphins. It also has a small stadium area where you can see an animal show (whales, otter, or dolphin) every hour on the 1/2 hour; however, they don’t tell you which animal they will be presenting, which is weird. Everything here is also expensive. Non resident adult is $40 for admission (if you don’t have the city pass) on top of $30 parking. Public transportation is difficult because the subway/el lines don’t run by the museums. There is a bus you can transfer from at the nearest El stop. There is a food court, which serves ok but expensive food. Had a hot dog and chips for $10 (does not include drinks.) Overall, if you have the city pass, and like aquariums, it is worth the hassle to come here. Otherwise, you may want to skip.

3Aisling F 5:00 PM Mar 21, 2022

Poor organisation
The exhibits are great but the organisation is poor. You have to book a time slot to go in but at 10:45 they are still letting people in with tickets for 09:00. You arrive and there's a massive queue with no signs to say why the queue - for people particular time slots, no tickets etc. And there's no limit on how much time you can spend inside so what's the point on limiting how many people can arrive at a certain time. No doubt covid will be used as the excuse but we're so far passed lockdowns it's a weak excuse.