John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

We had a City Pass so we were able to see the show, special exhibits and a 4D movie. Get there right when it opens because it is CROWDED. The Jellies exhibit is cool, but it was so crowded it was hard to spend time reading/learning with the kids. The movie was fantastic and our 4 yr old loved it. Take snacks/water to avoid the cafe and crowds there. So many cool things for kids here that we would go back for sure.

Took our grandson on his first trip to Chicago. Had an amazing day and got to see everything we wanted to see except the dolphins and that was because of the new baby that was born over Memorial Day weekend. Big crowd but purchased the City Pass for the 3 of us. Great Deal if you are planning on doing the major tourist attractions. Loved the Beluga Whale presentation and the Jellies exhibit was unbelievable. Yes, it was a little expensive and since we live in Vegas the food prices and drinks were less expensive that what we pay for stuff at attractions here. My tag line is "unhappy in Vegas" but certainly was not unhappy with our trip to Shedd.

To Look it form outside, it’s a big building, but not at all worth making a visit to Shedd Aquarium. When you enter here, you will realize that, it’s even nothing to compare with a modern home aquarium. I had my visit to Milwaukee County Zoo, along with you see lot of animal and have entertainment, there is a nice and almost equivalent aquarium when you compare fish tanks, even they have Jelly fishes. In Shedd aquarium I really felt that I was wasting my time to see nothing. They collect $35 for entry, it's too much. You can go to Milwaukee zoo for $12. For namesake there is a 4D theater, at times it sprinkles some water on your face than a typical 3D theater. Guys, don't waste time here, you will never have a 4D theatre experience. Finally I think with million or half a million dollars they have built a nice looking space of shark show, but do you know what you see there, about 15-20 mins ads, then their self intro, intro for sharks.. that's it, you will hardly see shark's jump, I think once.. it's very bad if you are not sitting very close, then you can observe it. I had my visit to this place in 2012 Independence day, I saw lots of adds on buses, cars and hundreds of hoarding about Shedd Aquarium Jellies in downtown places, but what do you see there? tank size which is even not equivalent to your car windshield with couple of jellies, where you don’t see them? Instead of spending dollars for adds, I think they should think about making a sense to the visit. I would suggest, don't plan for visiting Shedd Aquarium in your Chicago trip, you will be disappointed surely.

I was told by family to get to the Shedd Aquarium to get the tickets for the dolphin show first thing in the mornin. So I arrived at 9:05 to get tickets. It was $110 for 4 adults and1 child to get in to see everything. First off all it's wasn't worth the money. It's a run down aquarium. And we went to the dolphin show 15 mins early and could not find a seat. They had a huge section reserved for field trip kids.We talked to 2 different attendants working the show and they could of care less if we found seats or not. So then I went talked to the customer service person and come to find out they over sell the show all the time. Avoid this place if you can.

The reefs are fantastic as were the jellyfish. Whole family enjoyed the day. The Aquatic Show was disappointing-TOO much talk-not enough action. Kids AND adults got bored. The Local Waters was a little lame,too. Missing many of the sport fish from the lakes and rivers in this area. My family of fisherman like to see them. It was all TOO expensive. BEST ADVICE: But tickets and print online-GO EARLY- when we left at 2:00, it was getting very crowded. Bring your Lunch. We ate outside(May)-very nice and a great view.

It has been a while since we came to the aquarium and unless we hear things have changed, it will be our last. We will be telling all our friends who visit Chicago to stay away , too . We arrived before 9 am and waited 45 minutes to buy our ticket ?! Compare that to the Field Museum which was 10 minutes . After getting our ticket, we had to wait in another line to get in to the museum. Why ? Because they were taking pictures of everyone coming in . We didn't want this and had to tell them 3 times politely that we didn't want it and then could hear rude mumbling as we pushed by without getting our picture taken. The last straw is the staff . One of the tanks obviously had a problem . Water was leaking down the front and I tried to tell 3 different people with staff shirts on about this. They all told me that I should go to the front information desk and tell them myself ! Shouldn't someone who works there be concerned about it ? I figured if they weren't concerned, then neither was I . Sad to see such a nice place run the way it is now.

First if you must go, buy the City Pass, it will you save you a 2 + hr wait in line to buy tickets, and when say this I'm not kidding! Second, the City Pass will get you into all the attractions like the 4D show. the water show ect. Without the City Pass you will be stuck to just the aquariums, or you will have to purchase everything seperate which is quite costly. The place is way overcrowded with people, the water show lasts maybe 20 min. tops and the whales and dolphins do not do very many tricks. the 4D shows are geared more for young children, so if you have teens i would skip this attraction. Save your time and money for something else in Chicago, or save it, and visit Sea World.

There is so much to see and it really is cool. I have been to a lot of aquarium's and this is my favorite. Makes sure you see the dolphin show.

Some nice displays. However my family with 4 children couldn't afford to see extras. My children had to just watch as discounted tours went into the shows. Why can't they have a reasonable Family Price??? $100??? My kids are learning at a young age that working for a living is a bad idea in America One other thing that is very Troubling the Great lakes display has about 10 species Native to the lakes. No Trout, No Muskie, none of the fish that will be most effected by Illinois decision to leave a cannel open that will be the source of many invasive species entering the Lakes. Great custodians of our enviorment....

This is a fun, entertaining, and educational place to visit! It's a little pricey, but there are coupons available if you take the time to pick them up. As a previous review said, it gets quite busy, and gets a bit clustered, but the aquarium displays are well worth the short wait. The dolphin show was awesome! The animals and their trainers put on a great show! We will definitely visit again on our next trip to Chicago!