Museum of Science and Industry, Illinois, United States

5James G 5:00 PM Jul 4, 2022

Huge, Impressive Museum: Appeals to Persons from Young Children to Senior Citizens
The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry is a huge museum with a variety of things that can appeal to persons of various ages from young children to senior citizens. I enjoyed visiting it on Sunday, June 19th, 2022. I was there at 9:30 a.m. when the doors opened and remained till the closing time of 5:30 p.m. Furthermore, I could easily have devoted another full day to the museum without seeing it all. In addition to a large number of free exhibits included with general admission, visitors can pay extra to see several other things. I paid extra for two of those optional items. I paid to tour a model of a coal mine and to tour a German U-505 submarine that was captured during World War II. Since I had some experience with coal mining, the mine tour didn’t impress me as much as it probably would many others. But I still liked it. The German U-505 tour fascinated me. It was informative and entertaining. In addition to the paid tour, large displays about the submarine can be seen free of charge. I devoted over an hour to viewing them before the tour. Among many, many other things at the museum, I saw human fetuses in various stages of development with placards describing them. I stepped into a booth to experience 80 mph winds. I saw displays of the chemical elements with descriptions of them and their uses. I saw two train locomotives, stagecoaches, early automobiles, a street car, a large variety of bicycles from various years, a 100,000 watt light bulb, model ships with accompanying placards about the history of water travel, a large model train display with accompanying placards about the train industry history, and farm equipment. I rode the #6 Jackson Park Express bus from downtown to 53rd Street, and I enjoyed a tasty, reasonably priced breakfast at Valois Restaurant on 53rd Street which opens early in the morning, before walking perhaps five blocks to the museum. Buses do go to within a block of the museum though. Touring this museum was probably the #1 highlight of my Chicago visit. I urge visitors to Chicago to seek to schedule a day or two (or at least ½ day) for visiting it if their schedule permits.

4Amanda A 5:00 PM Mar 5, 2023

Enjoyable Science museum with lots to see and do
We had a great time here with our three kids ages 8, 6, and 3. We arrived at opening around 9:30am on a Friday. Easy to park and get in. We stayed for almost 5 hours and still didn't do everything. My kids loved the Idea Factory (which is basically a kids play place for 10 and under). My husband and I really liked the U-505 Submarine. Overall, lots of cool exhibits and interactive things for the kids. We did not do any of the exhibits that have an additional fee, but found plenty to do and see without doing these. The Museum Kitchen had ok food - my husband really liked the chicken sandwich, but the mac n cheese for kids was average at best. As expected it is very over-priced, so would recommend packing a lunch. We spent $46 for a chicken sandwich, chicken tenders & fries, and 2 kids meals.