Adler Planetarium Reviews

Great planetarium with informative exhibits and high quality shows. Best one I have seen so far internationally. Recommended for adults and older children that can stay quiet during shows.

Visited the planetarium in August. Had a truly magical experience. Ben at the front desk was absolutely amazing and helped us track down new tickets when we lost our original ones! Thank you for going above and beyond!!!

Very entertaining, there is an area for children to play. Various exhibitions, documentary videos. A cafeteria with a rich menu, a rest area and a viewpoint towards Lake Michigan. The well-seen visit to the planetarium takes about 3 hours. With Citi Pass tickets, you save costs on tickets to this and other places of interest in Chicago. One of the best trips I've ever done !!

So, just got home from the adventure - and, hundreds of dollars later, feeling so robbed by the experience - feel I must voice a complaint. This place is the definition of unorganized confusion. The staff is complacent at best, if not simply rude, additionally. Nothing is clearly labeled - on the map, at the ticket desk, nor signs throughout the building: wandered around in circles, passing by one broken interactive exhibit after another, only to finally arrive at the correct theater, and find it to be a 2D projection (showing a film could have watched on youtube or DVD from library, and worst of all), on a screen smaller than any common cinema. When asked a staff member for the "Dome 180 degree experience" had been informed - upon glance at my tickets, that we'd only paid for one show - thus missed out on the one thing we'd came there for. (PS: if you're outside in a line that never seems to move, its because they have only one disinterested staff member guiding the mass of people foolish enough to pay the ridiculous addmission prices). I wouldn't go back to this dishoveled mess of chaos for free. And last thing: note that, most positive reviews about this place attribute their feedback to the 'exterior' view; now, what has that to do with anything!?

Awesome place. Interesting for all ages. Spent a few hours here. Will visit again.

The breathtaking view of the city of Chicago from the Adler Planetarium and the Astronomy Museum was the first planetarium in the western hemisphere.

What appeared in the image is not just a beautiful background of the city, the wonderful sculpture that can be seen at the entrance of the observatory is titled The MAN ENTERS THE COSMOS is a bronze sculpture made by Henry Moore.

It is definitely an incredible space to spend the day admiring the view and all that the planetarium has to offer from shows, wonderful exhibits loaded with quite interesting and fascinating information.

My son says it has awesome star shows, there is a giant telescope and the staff is very friendly. We did the Astro Overnight and it was a fantastic experience.

I went to Shedd and then to the Planetarium and I have to say I wasn't super excited anymore. Maybe because I prefer animals, instead of planets. But I felt like something was missing at the Planetarium. I have to say the lady at the front desk was very patient though. She even gave us a discount so I could enjoy the same rides my brother and sister-in-law had in their citypasses.

Love the Adler - its a classic old Chicago building and if you've never been to a planetarium you're in for a treat! Learn about the sky and the cosmos from a comfy chair and see how the sky looks at any place on the planet at any time in the past or future. Don't miss it.

A must see place in CHICAGO. Needs a whole day to relax an enjoy this place.

My favorite place to take guests visiting Chicago. Time lunch here for sure! You get a million dollar view of the skyline & lakefront with a modestly-priced but healthy & tasty luncheon choices. Make sure you see the sky show in Grainer Theater --the finest, most immersive technology of any planetarium dome in the world. You will almost feel like you are traveling in a spaceship through space, exploring the universe. Adler hosts a special evening for 21+ crowd on the third Thursday every month. This is a super value. See unlimited sky shows, exhibits, look through telescopes, listen to music and lectures, light food fare and special cosmic-inspired drinks, AND see the skyline at night for the best vantage point in Chicago other than by boat. I love the Adler Planetarium.

We had such a great time here and we got to see some amazing things. This place is amazing for families and being around lake Michigan helps with view and makes it all even more amazing. Parking was a breeze and was very easy to get thru. We enjoyed out time here.

My four year old loved the planet explorers and skywatchlive was amazing and informational

I enjoyed the show they had while I was there. There was the obvious stuff about the milky way galaxy, but I also liked learning about nearby star clusters. The voiceover was done by a professional actor, so it made for a good production. The price was worth it, I would recommend this to my friends and family as a good place to go to learn about space and our nearby stars. It's amazing to think of the stars that are billions of miles away and see this described visually through the presentation. I am a big fan of Galileo's scientific discoveries, and liked to learn a little about the history of Astronomy as well. Anyways, the video was good and it covered your full vision. If you are interested in space and astronomy, then this is worth checking out. I even stayed afterwards to ask some questions to one of the people at the door about Neptune and Saturn which are some of my favorite planets.

Space is cool! A little hard to get to in terms of parking but otherwise awesome.

A wonderful place to visit with friends and family whether you've never been here before or have visited many times before. The staff was wonderful, the information was informative, and the history was rich. I hope to make a similar trip down the line in the future.

We probably wouldn't have gone to the planetarium but we bought the City Pass. We walked over at visiting Shedd. We were pleasantly surprised at how fun this was. The City Pass voucher includes 2 shows - we chose Planet Nine and Cosmic Wonder. Highly recommend purchasing the City Pass.

Rich variety of educational and cultural experiences on offer here presented in a fun, engaging manner and grand manner. Great place for kids and adults alike.

my review is completely for the view outside adler planetarium. I have never been inside planetarium.

Cute beach right outside the planetarium. Great views of the city from here.

Warm weekends are tough! Avoid busy days in the heat or risk heat stroke in the line out the door!
The planetarium itself is very nice with major historical exhibits from the 1930s, 1960s, and the recent history of unmanned missions.

This is a fantastic place to spend time with the family. The domed theater provides and awesome and inspiring time. The interactive exhibits and the variety of exhibits provides fun for all ages. The Historic Atwood Sphere is a great walk back in time and is worth the visit. Overall the facility os clean and large enough that even when it is crowded there is still enough room to move around and see everything.

The first time I went here, I didn't explore as much as I should have and didn't realize how big it actually was. Years later, I went back for Adler After Dark with a friend and had a blast. There's so much to see and learn about, and Adler After Dark is a great opportunity to experience all of it if you don't want to share your experience with hordes of children. The view of the skyline from the planetarium is also top notch.

Disorganized, small, dirty, unimpressive. Staff is super nice though. And the view outside is beautiful.

This is a fantastic place to spend time with the family. The domed theater provides and awesome and inspiring time. The interactive exhibits and the variety of exhibits provides fun for all ages. The Historic Atwood Sphere is a great walk back in time and is worth the visit. Overall the facility os clean and large enough that even when it is crowded there is still enough room to move around and see everything.

This is a great place to spend time with your family. Plenty to do and see for everyone. Their collection of artifacts is amazing. Great views of Lake Michigan and Navy Pier as well!

Very informative and a super great view of the Chicago skyline

Lots of cool stuff to see and the show was pretty good. Beautiful view from the lake is a plus!!

it is worth to visit, is very interesting the attractions all of them.

Had a blast going here! My love of both science and technology were kindled here learning about the vastness of the universe!

The place may not be as great as new age planetarium, but definitely a great Piece of wonder considering it's time of commission almost 9 decades ago.

The shows are highly informative and quality screening.

Thanks to the great people who donated a great sum, for the science sharing center.

I am such a science/Astronomy fanatic and I love this place. I started going to the Planetarium since middle school and over 14 years later, I still go there. I love the place, the shows, the staff. Price wise it's not expensive and I beleive you get discount if you live in the area, must show id.

The planetarium is very beautiful, it is a mandatory visit for all those lovers of astronomy and stars

So bad . Completely out of date exhibit. Save your money

A good museum. It just always feels like it's missing something.

The view of Chicago from their cafe is amazing. They have lots of informative movies on space. There are a lot of activities for little kids. It s a good place for school field trips.

Great place to learn about space but it's tiny. You could see everything there is to see in less than half a day

every wed. we go for the teen hangout space it is AWESOME!
WAFFLES WAFFLES WAFFLES!

Friendly Environment, Great Food, Good True Facts, etc.

No matter how much you know about the Universe, you can always learn more. The speakers in the star galleries are excellent, fun and engaging. If you're over 21, make sure to go to Adler After Dark, when the planetarium is open late and serves alcohol! Definitely a fun evening!

A hidden gem of the city, I'm confident that this place spurned my interest as a kid in space ships and engineering. A fascinating place for kids and adults alike.

The planetarium was a blast. I loved all the exhibits. I would defiantly go there again.

world-class city.
world-class planetarium.
world-class staff.
... see you there ;)

Wasn't bad. Better for kids cause it's more for them. I did enjoy the show.

Ill admit I've only been here once but I was SO IMPRESSED! we took my brother for his birthday and he had SUCH a great time! I"m more into museums but I have to say i was pleasantly surprised by what a great time I had here. I recommend it even if your not into space/stars.

Feels dated. They closed a big part down for a private event without telling you when you purchased tickets. The show was terribly produced. The universe is amazing and this place didn't take advantage of the subject matter.

The Adler Planetarium was a cool place to visit. The history exhibits were very nice and gave a lot of historical facts.

Had a GREAT Visit, 1st time there in over 50, Liked it so much, totally Different. YES, we JOINED

Good flow of exhibits, great views of the city, informative AND interactive, friendly staff. Could probably get through the whole thing in a full day, good thing they have some rotating exhibits.

Great exhibits and shows for space nuts and people space nuts drag in here. A little pricy, but worth the money.

Spent all day watching the shows; they were about an hour long. One had technical difficulties during the show.

I LOVE IT HERE!!! Also, A++ Pokemon hunting grounds. 10/10 will go ad infinitum.

Awesome. Very sad we couldn't spend more time here, but we were on a time limit and we sped through everything. We did two sky shows and definitely recommend the Planet Nine. I'm not sure if I agree that there's another planet out there (considering its proposed orbit compared to the orbits of the other eight planets), but it was very interesting to learn about these new discoveries and the hunt for planet nine. I would also recommend a jacket for the theater. Very cold, but the chairs were very comfortable. We also did the Atwood Sphere, and our guide was awesome. The entire experience is 10 minutes and fits 8 people at a time. The sphere is mainly the constellations, but the guide was very interesting and informative. We covered a lot of questions and information during our 10 minutes. This is a great place to bring kids and I highly recommend it.

Awesome experience in the Adler planetarium today. Make sure you purchase the skyshows + Atwood Sphere for a great time!

Very good place for learning experience and exploring the planet with my kids!

It's a nice planatarium. However, if you don't buy the extra stuff, you run out of things to see rather quickly. I got in with a free ticket, but I don't think I'd return if I had to pay full price.

Cool science museum to take the family to.
They have different kinds of specials prices all year round, make sure to ask.

I remember some of the areas from my childhood field trips. Which was interesting as I never thought I had been here before.

I regret going on a Friday, wasn't a fan of the children running around.
The show we we're going to see was sold out sadly.
My companion would have rated it over fives stars if possible.

It's not huge, is interesting. I would probably have rated higher had I been able to see the sky show.

Others probably enjoy it more than I do.

Wonderful place to learn more about the universe we live in.

Great place to go one of the places people visiting Chicago should go

Nice place by the Lake. Gets a bit crowded on the weekends.

Amazing location!! Great view of Chicago's skyline and Lake Michigan. Fun play areas for the kids inside. Best part is seeing a show in the dome theaters.

Its a planetarium!! So many great things to see and do. Space nuts rejoice!! Shows are not to shabby and its never too crowded. Amazing views of the lake!

One of those places that makes our lakefront spectacular. It has an exceptional staff. The exhibits confirm the heroic status of some of our astronauts. Watch the visiting kids aspire to that level.

Explore the Universe at the Adler Planetarium. The first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, the Adler is home to interactive exhibitions, thrilling theater experiences and world-class collections.
Use you Chase Private Client arts and culture card for the following...
* Complimentary general admission for you and one guest
* 50% discount on Sky Shows for you and one guest

This is a great place for a date if you're both little geeky. There's a lot to see in the star display in the room is wonderful. There's a lot of exhibits that you can actually play with stuff and the jumping pad the launch of the rocket is also really fun. Totally recommend for a nice afternoon.

visited Jan 1st using Chicago Travel Pass

extremely good value with Travel Pass, a lot of things to see, the shows are great!!!!

would definitely visit again as didn't get a chance to tour the whole planetarium

Shows are good; permanent exhibits in the museum are not worth the entry fee though.

One of the most beautiful Planetariums I have ever been to. Planet Nine made my jaw drop!

Hmm, well first I will say I was a bit let down overall with my experience @ Alder Planetarium, now it may not be completely fair to compare the following to each other, but I had just visited the planetarium in Salt Lake City a few days ago (prior) and it was far better than Alder. For one SLC's planetarium was completely FREE!!!!!! Alder admission at a bare minimum is $12, which is not bad at all but you just can't beat FREE. Plus the difference between them, SLC had much more to offer in way of hands on learning in my opinion in comparison. But what really turned me off while visiting Alder planetarium was that not once but TWICE while inside the planetarium with what had to of been within 30 minutes of each other did the fire alarm just start going off. Now I am not sure caused the alarm to go off, but it went off and it kept going off each time and minutes would go by before it would be turned off. Not how I want to spend my time at all. GET IT TOGETHER STAFF. Honestly after about 5 minutes of blaring alarms the second time I decided to just leave... def. not worth my time to wait around for a third "drill". Probably would not go back for a second visit as I said SLC was a far better planetarium - again in my opinion. The only thing Alder Planetarium did have was a cool exterior and a solid view of the skyline of Chicago... aside from that.. don't go inside.... its a WASTE.