Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL

We planned a day using our City Pass on a Wednesday. We started the morning at the Field Museum. Then the afternoon at the Shedd Aquarium. Then the Adler Planetarium. On Wednesdays, the Planetarium is open at night. The CityPass included 2 shows. A great way to end the day (and rest the fee), learning about the solar system :-) It was just a bummer that the fog rolled in, so the telescope was not open.

Went to this with the City Pass. We also got 2 theater tickets included. We was Destination Solar System (better for younger families that teenagers) and Imagine the Moon. Could easily spend half a day if you go through all the exhibits in detail. My kiddo who is really loves space could have stayed all day, the others were good after 2 hours.

This place was a bit of a disappointment to me. Some of the negative reviews (here on Trip Advisor) argue that this museum is only interesting for children but, in my opinion, it doesn’t even come to that: I think the only public for this are space-nerd kids. To a regular visitor, this isn’t very attractive. It is not dynamic enough, the explanations are either over-complicated or over-simplified, and it doesn’t explore its more interesting topics (there are way too many rooms dedicated to instruments and technical data). Maybe it’s just me, but I would’ve made one room for each planet —even having different temperatures and colored light— instead of showing so many telescopes. Or imagine one room dedicated to black holes, for example: cold and with a constant 'empty' noise, where we could learn about their formation and their dangers in a way that doesn’t feel made for toddlers or for physicists. And don’t get me wrong; the museum mentions all of this, but in a rather simple format. The history exhibition is not any better. They briefly mention relevant people or civilizations that discovered something but, again, with no museographic efforts. Also, they don’t mention the Mayans in that part. I will say though that I liked the room where they talked about light pollution. Now THAT is well made! (And clear… and important) Really glad an environmental issue is being discussed in this museum, and showed to the younger audience as it is. I would also like to point out that for those whose first language is not English, I just don’t see this visit working out. Some parts have signs in Spanish, but then they suddenly disappear, like they forgot to translate the rest haha. And I don’t know if the movies/shows are presented in different languages throughout the day, but at least in the ones we saw (in English), they had no subtitles. Our City Pass ticket included two movies/shows, so we chose one about the Chicago Sky (and the stars that can be seen at night) and another one about the Solar System. The first one was in a big auditorium and it was more of a presentation, so a host would use a light to point at the screen and explain it. It was interesting, though I would’ve personally preferred it if it had been a 3D IMAX movie. I think that place is ideal for a more cinematic and immersive experience. The second one was in a smaller theater and, luckily, it was a movie this time, but it was —surprise, surprise!— childish. Which is a shame because the subject was really interesting. Lastly, I’d also like to mention that they don’t have any storage for wardrobe (coats or backpacks) —or at least they didn’t on the day of our visit— and during winter that is really uncomfortable/inconvenient, as you have to carry things around during your whole visit. Anyway. Despite everything, I didn’t entirely hate the Adler Planetarium, but I was expecting way more —and I also find it particularly disappointing because I know this place has the potential to be a bit better.

Boring would not waste money on this. We live in a small town in ky and our planetarium blows this place out of the water. HUGE waste of time.