Shedd Aquarium Reviews

Creepy critters, slimy snakes, beautiful sea life. Souvenir shop need more cool shirts in adult sizes. Why should the little kids only get them?

Plan to wait in line, it helps a little if you purchase your tickets in advance. There are lots of noisy school children here and many of the exhibits do not have seating. The aquatic life is amazing and the staff have done an amazing job to create realistic habitats with lots of living plants. The jelly fish and seahorses are always my favorite.

Been here quite a few times. Amazing exhibits, great food options in site, planning our next trip from Michigan already.

Fun way to spend a few hours in Chicago. The baby beluga was adorable. It would come up to the surface and talk to us!

Absolutely a must visit in Chicago. Such a well run facility with so much to see and do.

We've been to many aquariums, but this one does have some different exibits than all I've been to. We were able to actually touch huge lake stergeons and the Amazon river exibit was one of my favorites there. It wasn't our family favorite aquarium, but we enjoyed still enjoyed it and felt it was worth the time and money. The building itself is really amazing and climbing those beautiful stairs...historic chicago.

Great for kids! Land and Sea show is wonderful. Staff are friendly and helpful. Definitely worth a visit.

This was my first time going here and it was a lot of fun my 2 daughter's (4 & 2 year olds) loved it too! Their 4D movie was awesome to

Best thing ever. After I spent 2 droning hours in the biting chills of Chicago, I was moved over to a totally different line that, don't worry, was only one hour! Amazing. Plus, when I left the aquarium, it was so full of dust that my snot was brownish-black. Always nice to have a souvenir... Anyway, all in all, I had a great time. Would come again!

Great aquarium experince at a reasonable price. Next to a lot of other tourist attractions well within walking distance on a day with good weather. Displays and attractions for both children and adults.

So much fun! Lots of different options: hands on, movies, shows, etc! A great fumily fun day!

Nice place to visit with a family on a cold day. $$$ tickets. Thing that really gets me is dolphins, whales, sharks, penguins in cages/aquariums/tanks... They arent meant to be like this. They should be in the wild. No matter how much they are "cared for" with "positive reinforcement" for their shows these all belong in the wild allowed to travel thousands of miles, no thank or trainer can simulate that. close down.

Nice place. Would be better to have first come for the shows so we could have seen one. Kind of pricey.

I attended the Shedd for their summer weekly jazzin in the Shedd event. The even usually runs from around 5-10pm. It was very crowded, maybe because it was the first one of the year. The exhibits are great; they had dolphins, sharks, otters, stingrays, etc. There are 4 bars around the entire Shedd area but they all had very long lines. It about 45mins to get a drink. Overall a great place to visit. They also have outdoor terraces that provide a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline and Navy Pier. Jazzin is a Wednesday event so you also get to watch the fireworks from a great angle.

Top American aquarium. Great exhibits of reefs, rivers, and oceans throughout the world. Kid friendly and accessible.

My absolute favorite attraction in Chicago. The location is gorgeous and the building is setup nicely. The aquatic show is a must. I feel that it use to have more but with SeaWorld having issues it could have affected here as well. Wish they had a tunnel to go under the main tank or the ocean tank. I like those on other aquariums.

There is a great variety of different sea creatures to look at. I would recommend getting the city pass, so that you can easily save money on sightseeing in Chicago.

It was a beautiful experience. Well worth the money.

This is the best aquarium I've ever been to. You can witness the animals from beautiful views. The trainers are very friendly and helpful.

Had an amazing time. I must go if you're in Chicago

Great exhibits, cafe and plenty of bathrooms. Lockers for coats $ 5-8. Parking $25...but we used uber which was so simple! Purchased tickets online so no waiting(highly recommend). Citypass is a fabulous idea if you'll be here long enough to visit the sights!

Great aquarium experience. My kids and wife had a really fun time. We spent about 5 hours walking around and checking out as many exhibits as we could. We'll have to come back to see the sections we missed. The cafe was really good with mostly healthy options that everyone enjoyed. I would highly recommend checking out the Dolphin show. It's free with paid admission and well worth your time. The kids had a blast.

Amazing experience! Beautiful & relaxing to see all the fish. The whole family loved it!

Had an amazing time woth the family. The live dolphin show was entertaining as well as the 4D movie. Entire family enjoyed all the exibits, especially the hands on exibits allowing you to pet the stingrays and starfish.

The Shedd Aquarium is one of my favorite museums. I always have a great time. A definite must see.

Waste of money! So crowded you can't even walk. Took an hour and a half just to see 1 thing. We left.

Everything was great especially their little dolphin show

What an amazing experience. Clean, colorful and the beautiful recycled sealife art was really cool! The view of the Chicago Skyline was Gorgeous and made for a great photo Op!

Lots of different creatures to see, but a very busy place! Check out the 4D movie while you're there! Glad they had lockers so we didn't have to tote coats around.

A classic and must do wether you are visiting or live in Chicago

Great place! They have such amazing exhibits and the layout is wonderful. They have amphibians and spiders as well! Our favorite part was petting the stingrays as well as watching the belugas train! Staff are very helpful and the gift shop is full of cute (albeit expensive) merchandise. Look at the architecture in the lobby to see amazing sea designs!

Good collection of water animals but I had visited Newport acquarium which is beautiful than here. As for me I like to recommend here than Shedd.

Great place i loved it especially the dolphins show

A very nice place to see underwater life, great for kids and families. Pretty crowded.

Huge aquarium with so many different exhibits.

We went here on a weekend so the lines were super long to get in but they did move fast. The aquarium is huge with so many different exhibits and detailed information about each. The staff is also around and are very helpful if you have any questions.

If you have a city pass, you get discounted rates to enter. You can easily spend couple of hours here. Highly recommend.

This is a fabulous aquarium. They put on a spectacular dolphin show, run fun movies, and have so many underwater creatures to view.

Great place to see aquatic creatures from around the world, while also enjoying Chicagos architectural history. The placement on the lake front, and proximity to the Alder Planetarium allow for a great day of activites in a compact location.

So much more fun than I expected it to be. Took my nephew and he had a blast.

Shedd Aquarium is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago. Always full of tourists. It is very exciting to visit Shedd Aquarium. It contains 1500 species including fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects. I recommend visiting Shedd Aquarium if you are visiting Chicago. Have your camera with you to take pictures.

Crowded and quite expensive, but very fun. Everything is organized well and you see fish from all over the world. I would recommend going in the summer as there is more to do. It's geared towards kids.

Really nice place. The workers helped out a lot and really wanted to help people out. The behind the Sense tour was really fun and you get to see other animals there besides fish and alligator.

Was a fun time the beluga whales was worth seeing for me. Something you wont see in the wild for most people. Parking was close also.

We loved it, everything was organized well. We did the penguin experience. Highly recommend

one time is saw this huge crab there.one of my best memorys at this place.
i also got a cool look'n shark plush.
10/10 would go again just for the crab.

its always fun learning! Go learn something new and support the local aquarium!

Just completely breath taking every time im here. Any body would love this. They allow u to touch a stingrays, a starfish, a sturgeon what an a experience.

I was visiting Chicago from out of state this past week August 1st I went to the Shedd aquarium. It was a bit pricey to get in but it was worth it because of the things you get to experience. The staff was actually very nice and pleasing, I was able to meet one of the young workers which were in high school and the amount of professionalism that they had was impressive and he seemed to really like his job. He was able to tell me about the stingrays and he would answer all the questions I had asked and also recommended that I should touch the other things that were at Shedd which was also really fun. I would come again the next time I m in Chicago!

A great place to go visit! Make sure you come early because it gets crowded very quickly. The shark exhibit is a must see along with the glow-in-the-dark jellyfish!

Love it more every time we go! The kids keep asking "when are we going back?"! I suggest bring snacks and pack a lunch, food is pricey but overall a really great, educating experience for the entire family!

Amazing collection of underwater species. Fabulous staff you can tell they care about their animals. Great family experience...

My first aquarium experience. It was a great one. Had city pass, so had 4D show and dolphin show too.

Loved the experience visiting shedd again. Specially my daughter was so excited to touch stingrays.

This is my first real aquarium visit, so I'm pretty easily impressed. This place is large and has a wonderful variety with interactive touch screens that tell you what things are. My only issues are the general price (my family came on free day, BUT if my family of 3 came during a normal day, it could cost us over $100 just to get in) as well as the lack of nearby parking. Even the paid for parking, is a bit of a walk away. And my last problem, is the location. Driving through Chicago just is not my cup of tea. The actual visit to the aquarium though was very pleasant.

Liked the aquarium very much. My baby enjoyed a lot viewing sharks, beluga whale and all aquatic creatures. Had amazing experience by touching stingray. Nice place to be.

The Shedd Aquarium offers a fun family event with a unique opportunity to see the diverse marine life of our world! The Dolphin show was entertaining, the 4-D shark movie was sensational, and the total experience was wonderful. Great for kids or as an easy afternoon date experience.

Its a good experience for children to see and touch fish. Its is expensive but to see this many sea creatures from around the world, it is Very expensive to maintain. Still worth it, I highly recommend!

Great place! Amazing exhibits, knowledgeable staff, and outstanding views of Lake Michigan.

It was really disappointing. Nothing at all like I had expected... It was too expensive too! 100+ for two adults?? Plus the exhibits were plain & boring. Not worth the money at all. The milwaukee museum is honestly better than this & Ive been there many times.

Great place for educational and environmental awareness.

The Amphibians exhibit was awesome. Definitely buy tickets in advance. The aquatic show isn't very exciting but the 4d show was great

Always fun always helpful kinda disappointed in the dolphin show this time but still amazing

I love all the variety of fish the shedd has! Also a great place to get out of the sun and cool off for a while! If you don't want to wait in line to buy tickets, order online and get right in.

It was really expensive for the amount you get to see. The dolphin show was OK but I have seen better... I suppose I was expecting too much for the price of the ticket.

Best aquarium I have ever been to. If you don't like the smell of fish don't go. Smells awful.

Very nice view of city from the Shedd Aquarium. Nice collection of aquatic animals. Shows are ok although not comparable to other big aquariums.

The overall experience was really good. The reason I give it a one star is because at the food court they did not serve fish sticks, which as many people know is a staple for most dolphins.

We were about to get in line to get tickets when we realized we could save some time and buy online. While punching in our info to purchase, a fantastic employee named George stopped to talk to us briefly. He told us that for an extra $20 each, we could go on a behind the scenes tour to see a lot of extra stuff. He took us to a different area to buy our tickets with no line, and then escorted us to the dolphin show starting soon after we arrived. We were amazed by everything already to this point, but after George found out we were celebrating our daughter's 7th birthday, he brought her a stuffed dolphin as an extra gift in top of what he'd already helped us with. The dolphin show was amazing, and we even saw a sea lion and a hawk!

The behind the scenes tour with Regan was phenomenal. I'm so glad that George was there to recommend it to us! We were able to see some of the animals that weren't on display as well as the hospital area and learn what it takes to become a vet for a zoo or aquarium!

Not only did we see and experience amazing things, we were able to touch sting rays, sturgeons and star fish!

Our daughter says this is the best day ever!

I would not call it the best Aquarium I have been to but it is on the Short list. I love how this place takes an in depth look at the Great Lakes and the ecosystem that we live in. Check out Nickel and discover his interesting story. It is a must to take visitors to.

Really pretty facility and have more animals than just fish. I wish there was more variety in exhibits however. If you love otters and penguins don't skip them!

It was okay not much to say about it there is not much to see or do and is very expensive for 1 plush toy is $20 .

Always a great time. Love seeing and learning about our water and the animals that are connected with it.

Love this place, became members this trip to be able to return again.

One of the nicest aquariums I have ever been to, what a fun day!

Went with my Mom for her birthday, this is my second trip to the aquarium. My top advice: show up 15-20 minutes prior to opening and buy your tickets ahead of time online. Got in fast and was able to enjoy a little quiet time in the exhibits before the mess of people got in. No one watches their kids and people are very self centered so hard to enjoy once the mass is in. Really should consider an adults only night or something. Got really warm, so dress in layers. Over all, exactly what you'd expect visiting an attraction in a big city. Staff is generally polite and helpful. Bring your own food and snacks, or you'll pay for over priced ones inside.

Birthday celebration, it was crowded that day, but we had an awesome time. The most important thing is the birthday boy had a great time !

Beautiful display of fish,very educational. It was worth the money to enjoy the experience!

Loved Jazzin' at the Shedd. The music was great. It was awesome to walk around and experience a variety of exhibits. The views from the patio are amazing looking over Lake Michigan. Overall, we had a fantastic time!

we have been members for few years now, I think in love this place more than my kids do. we always have a blast here and we always use Chitown Limobus to make kids trip super fun.

We showed up at 10:30 and it was perfect! We caught the fish feeding, a great educational 4d show about sharks, and an awesome live show with dolphins and a funny sea lion. After that we spent hours touring the exhibits and found surprises around every corner.

This was our first visit with my daughter in a wheelchair. _rental was free but would not have been possible without an extra adult being it is not a curbside service. We were luckily able to pay for valet parking ($26) although I was surprised how full it already was and suggest you get there earlier than we did (10am)

We were able to experience most everything (some small tanks were higher up and difficult for my daughter to see in) There are many elevators and they are generally small and crammed which does get frustrating.

Outside food and drink are welcomed and there are an abundance of awesome places (benches) to eat.

We all loved our trip and agree the dolphin/sea lion show was the highlight.

Tip:: show up to EVERYTHING EARLY.

Everything was really cool except the dolphin show. Watch Planet Earth about the oceans and you'll get the gist of it. They just play a movie during the dolphin show. Speaking of planet earth, that's all the 4D Coastal Predators thing is. The only difference is that they squirt water in your face every few seconds and it's 3D.

A beautiful place with all the amenities in place, polite and service oriented staff. Huge collection of aquatic life and displays variety of under sea life. Dolphin show is mesmerizing and enviroment cleaning messages are the take away from the show. Good spot for family and kids will love to be there. Worth every penny and time spend there. Lot of parking spaces available. Go and enjoy the underwater life there.

Beautiful aquarium but the staff is very disrespectful and the waiting time to enter the aquarium is ridiculously long..They are very disorganized and don't have enough staff to provide quality services to all visitors. I don't want to come back soon.

Great Aquarium museums with rare species exhibions!

Plan on spending at least 2-3 hours at this aquatic adventure. Our family felt the add on 4d options were family friendly @4.95 each. Must see dolphin show.