Shedd Aquarium Reviews

Was a great experience although I still wish they had the tunnel aquariums.

Very nice aquarium, a better experience can be achived if you purchase the tickets only, it will save you time. There is a good variety of animals, apart from fishes, you can find anacondas, arapaima fish, and you can even touch lake sturgeons. Pretty unique experience. Totally worth the price, great for family fun and teaching kids about the oceans and animals.

Way too hot inside. Needs some air movement. Otherwise good but overpriced slightly. Still interesting. Friendly staff.

Great aquarium! Lots to see. We love the giant salt water tanks throughout. It can definitely be a busy place. I was surprised that today wasn't so bad because it was a free day for IL residents (which was awesome because food and parking add up quickly) The touch tanks were super cool! The dolphins have a huge area to swim and seemed very happy. Fun day!
It's our 2nd favorite aquarium. Definitely worth the trip.

Me and my kids loved it! There is lots of fun things to do to keep kids and adults entertained!

It s not the best but nice to visit if you have kids or interested about fish and sea world. We just watched dolphins show and not bad but very short. I was hoping to find games for kids and toddlers to play and learn at the same time. I liked what they offer from food in each section.

Very nice little disappointed with dolphin show remember it was better in 2000 when last visited. Employees very helpful.

Free day was TOO crowded. We showed up right when it open so up until 12 it was amazing! After a flood of people came in I didn't feel safe w my children.

Awesome, lots of fish and other aquatic stuff to see!!

So good!!!! This place is so amazing! Definitely recommend visiting!

Thr best aquarium ive been too! The beluga whales are the best!

Our family absolutely loved the aquarium. Beautiful displays of fish and animals, the dolphin show was fantastic and the sea lion was a highlight ! Staff there was friendly and helpful. our kids (4 and 1) loved every bit of it... SO much to see. We looked at most of the exhibits and it took a little over 2 hours. Our favorites were the shark exhibit and the interactive ones (you can touch a star fish and a sturgeon!)

Amazing aquarium full of wonderful exhibits. I had the chance to see a large variety of animals, fishes, mammals and reptiles. It was definitely a great experience.

It was so nicely organized and clean. Loved the hand washing stations after being able to touch some of the fish.

Quite possibly the best aquarium I ve been too. They have a very wide range of exhibits. A little pricier than others but with the cost.

So much fun, website was super helpful for planning!

I can never get here early enough. But had a great time ... I loved watching the stingray in the big tank in the center. The whales down stairs looked magical. So pretty and big. At the end of the day we did get to see the deal getting fed. And tricking a little bit. I'll have to go again. I want to see the jelly fish.

Not as impressive as they make it out to be. Specially if you have been to some of the biggest aquariums in the world. It's also extremely pricey at $40.00 for non Illinois residents each adult and $30.00 each child. I will never go back due to the lack of "bang for the buck". Not worth the $40.00 charge or as the "owner" replied..." Contribution "

Our family had a great time at Shedd! As suggested by many others and even on their website, buy your tickets ahead of time if possible. There were long lines for people buying tickets. We purchased ours online and walked right in without waiting in lines. Be prepared as this place gets crowded and was crowded on our visit. Overall it was a great visit and our family enjoyed it.

Awesome... It's clean , spacious, aquatic presentation is amazing.
Food is good.. It's kids friendly

Great day out for kids and parents alike. Spend the extra money and do all the exhibits including the 4d movie and the beluga show. Its worth it. But eat after. The cost for food there is astronomical.

The shedd aquarium is a world class aquarium. Great for kids and adults! They are doing great with social distancing and keeping the exhibits open and clean. Seeing all the fish and other creatures is a lot of fun and exciting to see.

My family really enjoyed time there. We spent almove 7hrs but still missed some areas. It wasnt easy to tour with stroller because evelators were really slow. Other than that, no complaints about this place. Will visit again if we have a chance.

This place has been a centerpiece for a long time! What can I say!?

A must stop in Chicago. Plan on a couple of days for an overview.

Five stars for the dolphins otters and the cute Belugas....but a bit expensive.

Beautiful, giant, and well maintained. The kids with me enjoyed themselves for hours.

Wow! First time seeing dolphins, whales, seahorses, and seals! So much to see and a live performance show with dolphins, penguins, and a seal! Also 2 pics of your family taken with green screen for only $25! Kids loved it! Will come back!

I remember coming here often as a child. Great way to learn about aquatic life and how these different species thrive. Can be pricey depending on the size of your group, but another highlight of the city.

So much fun
My kids loved it

It was so hot inside it was uncomfortable. Was amazing to see everything. We had a good day at the aquarium. Very pricey day though.

Best Aquarium in Chicago. If you are near by a must and should visit place.

Amazing! Simply amazing! All the creature habitats were unbelievable. Electric eels, huge fish, sharks, turtles, puffer fish, etc! The live show was worth seeing! Love the dolphins but also, we learbed a lot about how the aquarium saves injured animals and we met a couple. I could spens two days walking through the areas and still not appreciate each section fully!

Great place to take the kiddos and they have so many neat exhibits to see! The dolphin show is really spectacular and the beluga whales are really talkative!! Definite must see if you are in the area!!!

The layout and design is not conducive for parents with strollers. The signage will be confusing for first time visitors.

This aquarium is huge! You could spend the whole day there and still have more to see. The workers were very informative and helpful. I would highly recommend this place to everyone!

Great experience!!! Little different to visit during Covid.

The dolphin show was amazing and the exhibits were impressive. Lots of fun even for a family with teenagers.

Outstanding facility with great exhibits. The whole family had a great time.

Took advantage of the free weekday admission offered to Illinois residents, was not disappointed. Went on Monday, no crowds, my kid was able to get up close to everything. Dolphins and Belugas we're very active. Parking at North lot was expensive ($20) and kind of a long walk in the cold, but it was nice and warm once inside. Can't wait to take advantage of this offer again next year!

My family and I simply love it here. We try to visit as often as we are in town.

Very nice aquarium. Also, nice views of the lake and City.

Beautiful beautiful beautiful!! Fun fun fun! Meant for everyone in the family! First time visit and definitely would come back!

Great and beautiful aquarium! So many different creatures and places to explore.
The dolphin and sea lion show was so much fun.
We spent half the day here and were able to see everything.

We spent the whole day here. I recommend coming right when it opens so you have enough time to view everything. It was an amazing facility and we had a lot of fun. The show was a lot of fun to watch. Love how they decorated it for Christmas.

We went to the aquarium, it was really cool with a large variety of displays that we weren't able to see all of because they closed not long after we got through the line. The line is the reason for only 4 stars, waited about 45 minutes just to get into the aquarium, there was only one person doing tickets for GA people and one for people who have season passes. Besides the long wait time it was still worth it to see the animals.

The aquarium is ok. I entered for free and I'd say it is an ok acquarium. But I'd never pay the 40usd that the ticket costs. The are some big fish, very few sharks and the beluga whale is something different and worth it. Nonetheless,The best thing in the aquarium is the views of lake Michigan.. those are truly amazing.

Impressive displays. Especially enjoyed the live reef downstairs

Lots of fun to visit even during high tourist periods. Plan for 4 hours or so to see everything.

Lots of different animals and good simulations of different environments and ecosystems. Tons of rare marine life you can't see in other aquariums. Giant isopods, a sturgeon touch pond, a dolphinarium and beluga whales. Be sure to stay for at least one of the marine life shows. The animals are adorable when performing.

Some of the exhibits could have used a clean when I was there, but that's understandable given the difficulty of doing so. Long lines when I was visiting even for fast track, but still much better than normal lines.

Very busy some of the staff was great, couldn't really see the fish for the crowd in the way if you're going to spend this much money make sure it's not a busy day you won't see much if you don't want to deal with the crowd. Beautiful architecture though very lovely

Shedd Aquarium is an amazing place to go because of all of the great and wonderful things like the beugol whales and the dolphin show that I got to watch when i went to the aquarium. There is also a food court to eat at and of course there is a wonderful gift shop to buy a variety of items from stuffed animals to coffee mugs.

As a fieldtrip it was very unorganized! But other than thay it was ok!

There wasn't a good place to find the times for all the shows they offer. It would have made for a better experience.
There is a lot to do there and you can easily spend the majority of your day there. The food was good, but a bit expensive. They allow you to bring your own good and water.

Staff were really nice, the animals were so amazing. 10/10 recommend

Although it has been some time since I visited the Shedd during regular hours, I recently attended a formal event held at the facility and I can say that it greatly exceeded my expectations. When my group arrived at the Shedd we were allowed to walk around the building and view all of the exhibits. Although we were the only ones in the building, it seemed that everything, except for the shows, was open. In addition to this, refreshment stations had been set up at convenient locations and the staff were without exception friendly and helpful. After that we proceeded to dinner. The seating had been arranged around a large cylindrical tank, giving guests a great view of the various fish during their meal. Although the food was served buffet style it was absolutely wonderful and well worth a second plate. The entire experience was excellent and very memorable. The only reason I chose to give it four stars is that I did spot three cockroaches near where food was served. However, especially seeing as that was after I ate, the rest of the evening seemed to make up for the possible lack of cleanliness. I would like to think that the roaches were an unfortunate one time incident and for that reason highly recommend the Shedd as a venue for formal occasions.

Dolphins! And sharks! And whales! And piranha! And everything else awesome in the water.

Best aquarium ever! All ages would LOVE it, we spent about 2.5 hours there but could've stayed a lot longer!

Kids love the Shedd. The staff was very friendly. We got to touch a Starfish, it looked soft and spongy but was hard like a rock. I loved the Dolphin show.

It was so packed that it was difficult to navigate. The plastic art was a great statement about pollution. The exhibits were well maintained and very beautiful. There was a place to get food, but it was not healthy. Great for all ages. Fairly wheelchair accessible.

Went on a free Illinois resident day and it was surprisingly not too busy. Was able to see everything we wanted without having push around to get a good view. The flow of the building allows for easy viewing of all exhibits without missing anything. Skip the dolphin show, even if it is free. Kids will love the polar play zone! Lots to do and you get a fantastic view of the beluga whales.

Shedd Aquarium was very nice. The parking is a distance to walk, so be prepared for a long walk.

I actually lost my phone at Shedd on a Sunday. 15 minutes after talking to Security,I received call that they had it! Love Chicago

Great place for kids and adult alike. You will not regret. I learned a lot about Illinois fish species. Dolphin show is great. If weather permits, I recommend looking for unattended parking few blocks away to save $$.

This place is fun! Lots of different species and they also have a 15ish dolphin presentation included in the ticket. A bit pricey (almost $80 for two adults) but Chicago residents can get it discounted.

If you get there early it s great
Otherwise they are BUSY

Absolutely amazing, educational and fun. Loved the exhibits and especially the dolphin show. My favorite thing was petting the live stingrays! Recommend!

Animal exhibits are amazing as ever, some heavy cleaning however would not hurt so that some critters can be seen more clearly

One of my favorite places in Chicago. You have to see the dolphin show while you're here. They also have some great interactive displays.

Awesome displays and beautiful animals, but if you are planning on eating with the family while you're here ....the food and dining areas were a big disappointment.

Lots to see. A great way to spend the day. The live show is educational. The food on the lower level is reasonable for the area. I like to sit and watch the fish swim around on the upper level and the dolphins on the lower level. The penguins are cute as well. Of note Granddaddy (who is a lung fish) has been there since the 1933. I like to go every few months.

Good shows, good exhibits, 40.00 entrance fee but I heard that is the average price with the other aquariums around the country. Food is pricy but you can bring your own lunches. Usually alot of kid groups are there so it is not quiet. They do have garbage and debris that came from out of the sea that they made into art. Very good attraction. Beautiful views of the lake and the Chicago skyline. A must see when you are in Chicago.

The staff are very attentive and informed. All touched surfaces were being cleaned frequently. And they do a great job directing the flow for social distancing.

I have never seen so many fish and reptiles in my life. This far surpasses the National Aquarium in Baltimore for species, exhibits and awe factor. My favorite was seeing the 10 day old beluga whale calf play with the mother. Cafeteria was okay, the soda machines had no fizz to them though. Price was normal for being inside of such a museum. My big complaint would be about the patrons. Parents... keep your kids close! Don t let them cut people at the glass. It specifically states not the walls to look after the kids and not allow them
To cut or bang on the glass. It s a good way to catch a knee to the face when they cross cross out of the viewers. Also... turn the flag off on your phones! Don t be the fool who can t read and leaves the flash on. It happens like every 3 minutes on exhibits and the guides have to stop their show to tell someone to stop. Simple etiquette would go a long way to navigating for a better experience.

Beautiful aquarium, need 3-4 hrs to explore the place. Keep track of the show times, so you don't miss the dolphins and seals in action.

By far this is the most beautiful aquarium in the USA. Go and see the dolphin show and be captivated at the view looking over Lake Michigan. This place will keep you busy for a good few hours so bring snacks. And, book in advance so you don't have to wait in the line.

Always busy when we visit...but the vast array of animals, and the knowledgeable staff make the visit enjoyable

STINGRAYTOUCH STINGRAYTOUCH STINGRAYTOUCH STINGRAYTOUCH STINGRAYTOUCH STINGRAYTOUCH but with one hand

Great 4D show, bubble and air made difference. I got shedd aquarium dolphins show, excellent, thrilling and interactive.

It was beautiful & my 1st time visiting this place. Must come again.

You must visit the Shedd when you re in Chicago. And you have to pet the gorgeous and playful stingrays!

The Aquarium is extremely nice and a really beautiful place for adults and children. I would like to say I was very disappointed that the Aquarium had an event planned on the date that I was there and they closed early. Shedd's Aquarium, if you have a planned event and will be closing early you should offer discounts for those who planned their vacation for that time. I felt bad for the family that said they paid well over $200 and wasn't able to to see the top half of the Aquarium. Please consider that in the future. Also, the price of parking was outrageous, we drove back to our hotel and we had the pleasure of using Lyft. After the Aquarium we took a Lyft to downtown Chicago and did some shopping and sight seeing. We had a great time in the windy city. We will come back.