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March 2024 by Andrea Walker
Unless a Beluga whale is your favorite animal, I wouldn’t recommend. I thought the free Beluga show was very cool and informative but aside from the whales I was not impressed. The wild reef exhibit was beautiful but it was pretty small. The rest of the exhibits seemed very small and dark. Not super interactive or fun. I was really hoping for more for the price that we paid.Originally posted 03/03/24Edited to add on 03/19 : I was completely unaware that the aquarium was under a plan for construction and has more exhibits that are actually unavailable during the time of my visit due to this. They do also offer more interactive things, however they are seasonal so be sure to plan your trip accordingly. They are doing a 4 year course of construction which began end of 2023 and they emailed me to inform me of the changes they are making in hopes to have me return for a (hopefully better) visit after the construction is complete which I am very excited for.
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March 2024 by Sam
WASTE OF MONEY. over priced, underserved.Save the money and go to Cincinnati and visit Newport aquarium, MUCH cheaper and so much more. Sure this place has Dolphins, but good luck seeing them when everyone is eating on the lower level ledge where you can view them under water, same with the whale. Also, if you have a stroller because you have small kids good luck viewing them on the top deck you get pushed out. Finally, good luck finding a place to sit and eat. When your four year old looks at you and says the best part was seeing a sea turtle statue you know it sucked! WASTE OF MONEY
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March 2024 by Joel Cherry
I have been to several major North American aquaria and Shedd had plenty of cool fish but little to set itself apart from the pack besides the belugas, which were both captivating and depressing. In them I saw nothing less than modern man - circling endlessly and aimlessly in their carefully regulated and climate-controlled environment, cut off from the both the danger and the invigoration of the natural world.
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March 2024 by Amanda Parchman
I am currently dealing with a painful medical condition. While I physically have the ability to walk I can not walk long distances without ending up in excruciating pain. I am from out of town and had never been to the aquarium before. It says online that it is wheel chair accessible and that wheel chairs were available for rent so we thought it would be a safe option.While technically it was wheelchair accessible it is bare minimum and incredibly difficult. For starters the wheel chairs are not available at the entrance and while an employee can retrieve it for you , you are responsible for return which is all the way across the building from any ramps to exit out of. Getting around to the different exhibits took forever as there was an entire system of elevators that had to be accessed almost like a maze to get to everything. As I said before I can physically walk so when I needed to , like after returning the wheel chair, I personally had the ability to do so but a person who doesn't have that luxury would have a very difficult time.I feel like if you are going to advertise that you are wheel chair accessible you should actually be so have more readable maps and signs to understand the confusing elevator system. Especially when charging $50 a person
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March 2024 by Kywana Jones
We looked forward to this visit for a very long time, only to be disappointed. I felt like I was looking at aquariums at petco, very crowded, and the rude employee Jason who worked at the 4d show area was a real peach, EXTREMELY RUDE, and there were children present, jumped down an entire crowd of patrons throats because his doors malfunctioned at the 4d movie, ended our day horribly, and we only saw 3 mins of the movie. We didn't get to see the movie we paid for and everything was either over crowded or rushed, $90 for my family of 4 to eat, at least the burger was decent. We won't even talk about the elevator situation as I am disabled and had to wait long periods of time. Theres not enough sitting for patrons who cant stand for long periods of time, and belive its long periods of time. The penguins relaxed us, and the dolphin(dolphins get an A+) show was ok except we didn't know what time it started so we sat for an extended amount of time for a quick show. We came from Indiana and paid the out of town fee...a $300 visit, although we loved the animals, we won't be back. IF YOURE FROM OUTTA TIME...DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!
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March 2024 by Prasoon Vishwakarma
Aquarium is beautiful. They have maintained a unique ecosystem for each fishes and animals. Dolphin show was only 10 min long which was a disappointment.... Do try the experience of touching the star fish at this aquarium...
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March 2024 by Erick Lazaro
Letdown from past experiences, large area yet lacking in interactivity compared to other city aquariums.
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March 2024 by Kath Magee
UPDATE: I contacted them via email. They were very responsive and offered me a great resolution to the issues I had. I will be changing my rating.Brought my 10 grandkids and their parents. Not worth the money at all. Because we had strollers we had to constantly wait for the elevators and it wasn't a short wait. Then, it was so overcrowded we couldn't even get close enough to see some of the tanks. If you're going to charge that much money, you should put a cap on attendance at a much lower number. Also, some attractions were closed but the price was still the same. We won't be back.
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March 2024 by Octavia Martin
Thanks Great Time City pass app is great for this and includes two movies
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March 2024 by B. Nope
I was spoiled by this place growing up. I expected every city I visited to have an aquarium as good as this one. Alas, not so. Shedd Aquarium is one-of-a-kind and a must-see for everyone visiting Chicago.
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March 2024 by chris grimm
Very disappointed. Havent been here in a few years. What a joke. Over $50 / person to get in. The main tank in the center IS CLOSED. Did not see any sign saying that it IS CLOSED. PISSEDThe 3:30 dolphin show had people streaming in the entire show. Blocking the view and being loud. Waste of time and moneySigns - non existent. Confusing at entrance Confusing inside the museumShedd staff wrote me back to say ‘hey we are under construction’ and please please forgive us. OK THEN TAKE AWAY YOUR $54 ENTRANCE FEE!!!??Dont go there Period. A waste of your time and money. THEY CAN TAKE OFF THE ENTRANCE FEE WHILE THEYRE UNDER CONSTRUCTION RATHER THAN RIPPING PEOPLE OFF
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March 2024 by Наргиза Мураталиева
A cool place for adults and children, we have visited it 3 times already, we really like it, there is a wide variety of the aquatic world and its inhabitants, there are areas where you can touch marine life under the supervision of a specialist.I advise you to purchase an annual card, it allows 4 adults and 6 children to visit for free
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March 2024 by zimbalist cook
I love the Chicago aquarium
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March 2024 by Isabella Guerrero
Looking up where these water mammals come from, I found they have been here for decades bred to live and die in this cramped tank. I don’t think it’s good for 10-15 of these animals who travel miles to be in these small tanks for years on end with no vegetation or anything. It’s simply a glass and concrete tiny facility to die in. Also, the tanks with fish are very crowded and there is many which look as if they aren’t habitats but more of display cases. You can pet EDANGERED sturgeons though! So great. And they also have no where to hide in the pool. The people need to do more to take care of these tanks if they are going to have them cramped. It’s just inhumane and unnecessary to lock such smart creatures up.
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March 2024 by yi shan Hsieh
Disappointing because a quarter of areas were not open. We only took 40 min to tour around the whole site. The marine animal variety is few.
