Myself and another lady are bringing our 7 girl scouts (age 13) to Chicago via train. I have several questions and hoping for advice.
1. Should we take the City Bus to our hotel or rely on the free trolley?
2. What can you tell me about the free trollley. We were planning on using it quite a bit. Does it get too full?
3. We purchased the Go Chicago Card, now I am having 2nd thoughts. What is the down side to the Go Chicago Card?
Here is our itinerary, any thouhts?
Sunday - arrive 4:00 p.m.
Monday - Museum of Science %26amp; Industry, eat lunch there then on to Shedd Aquarium
Tuesday - American Girl Place, shopping and lunch
Art Institute, Navy Pier (or possibly Sears Tower then Navy Pier), do the rides, maze, Skyline Boat tour, supper
Wednesday - Field Museum, Hop on/off Trolley, Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain, Millenium Park, shopping , supper at Rock-n-Roll McDonalds
Thursday - Sears Tower (if not done Tuesday), depart for home
I will appreciate any help you can give me.
7 Girl Scouts, 5 days - planning advice
1. If there%26#39;s space for your group + luggage on a free trolley, go for it. If not, the CTA bus can be your back-up. I tend to beleive that there won%26#39;t be room on the trolley. They tend to fill up.
You might want to consider CTA visitor passes for your visit. Check transitchicago.com for details. You can purchase them at Union Station or order them ahead of time.
2. See #1.
3. The downside is that depending on how much use you get out of the card, you might have been better off purchasing individual admissions.
I would replace Sears Tower with the John Hancock Observatory. IMO it%26#39;s a better view since your closer to Lake Michigan. Plus it%26#39;s in a better location from a tourist standpoint.
You need a 1/2 day minimum at the MSI. A full day would even be better. It%26#39;s huge.
7 Girl Scouts, 5 days - planning advice
%26lt;%26lt;1. Should we take the City Bus to our hotel or rely on the free trolley?
--- Depends on which hotel?
2. What can you tell me about the free trollley. We were planning on using it quite a bit. Does it get too full?
--- In my experience, you can usually find some space.
3. We purchased the Go Chicago Card, now I am having 2nd thoughts. What is the down side to the Go Chicago Card?
--- There%26#39;s really no downside unless you aren%26#39;t seeing many of the attractions offered. You have to consider the cost of the card versus the the cost of the attractions you are seeing. The Shedd alone is $23 for adults.
Here is our itinerary, any thouhts?
Sunday - arrive 4:00 p.m.
Monday - Museum of Science %26amp; Industry, eat lunch there then on to Shedd Aquarium
Tuesday - American Girl Place, shopping and lunch
Art Institute, Navy Pier (or possibly Sears Tower then Navy Pier), do the rides, maze, Skyline Boat tour, supper
Wednesday - Field Museum, Hop on/off Trolley, Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain, Millenium Park, shopping , supper at Rock-n-Roll McDonalds
Thursday - Sears Tower (if not done Tuesday), depart for home
I will appreciate any help you can give me.
%26gt;%26gt;
I%26#39;d consider something like this:
Monday: Shedd/Field (which are right next to each other.) Navy Pier in the evening. Maybe it%26#39;s just me, but the combo of direct sun and crowds makes the pier feel like it%26#39;s baking during the Summer. An early evening visit may be a bit more pleasant than the middle of the day.
Tuesday (plan 1) a combo of: the Peggy Notabert Nature Center (admission cost; they have a live butterfly exhibit that%26#39;s really quite beautiful), the Lincoln Park Conservatory (beautiful flower shows/exhibits - free), the LP zoo (free) and the Chicago Historical Society. All these things are really right near one another in the Lincoln Park area, not terribly far North of the North Michigan Ave. area. On the way back, AGP and shopping or AGP and Boat Tour.
Tuesday (plan 2) AGP/Shopping/Boat Tour/Millennium Park %26amp; Art Institute.
Wednesday: Museum of Science and Industry. Keep in mind the MSI is a bit of a ways South of the city and to budget a bit more time to get there. If you don%26#39;t do the boat tour Tuesday, a boat tour via the Chicago Architectural Foundation or Wendella (both operate from different sides of the Michigan Ave. bridge) later in the afternoon/early evening.
Thursday: Sears Tower on the way to the train. You could also see Millennium Park on the way, depending where you%26#39;re starting from.
I think what you have planned is doable in the days that you have and you can change things around if you wanted, but I think the main thing is that I would have the MSI by itself and combine the Shedd (which I%26#39;d go to first in the day and as early in the day as you can) and the Field.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
1 %26amp; 2. The free trolley system is fine - if you time when you use it. During peak times, the trolleys have a very good to definite chance of being full. IMHO, too many people are depending solely on the free trolley system and then getting upset about all the other people also using it. (IMHO, these same people complain that *free* places and events have big crowds as well. Please! If they are free, they will have big crowds if you go at the peak time - take it as a given.) My advice: Get CTA visitor%26#39;s passes - you%26#39;ll more than use them during the course of your stay (especially since you are on a timed schedule due to the Go Chicago cards - see B below).
3. The down sides of the Go Chicago card are that:
A) Only the general admission for the museums are included in the cards and not the entrance fees for the special exhibits - which, I might add, are the *stars* of the show wherever you go.
B) They are only good from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., I believe.
C) IMHO, some of the best attractions (such as the Chicago Architecture Foundation%26#39;s River Cruise) are not included in them. However, the card does include a CAF walking tour.
The upsides of the card are that you don%26#39;t have to wait in those long lines at the museums for entry - unless, of course, if you want to go to a special exhibit.
So, if you were planning on visiting a number of the museums and the attractions included in the card, they pay for themselves. You just have to do the math by comparing the general admission for the museums plus the fees for the attractions to see.
Inasfar as your schedule, IMHO, you are trying to do too much in a limited time. Assuming this is because you want to do as much as possible included in the card.
For example, the Museum of Science and Industry is HUGE and will take the better part of a day. (Recommend the special exhibits there. They will be timed entry, by the way.) I%26#39;d suggest that you forego the Shedd Aquarium on Monday and go to Navy Pier in the late afternoon and evening. Since the card only includes admission up to 5:30 p.m., if you are taking the cruise because of it - you%26#39;ll need to get that in before the deadline.
Tuesday starts out OK but then in the afternoon, you have a lot on the agenda. If you go to Navy Pier on Monday, you can mark off those items, unless you want to go back for any reason. You can always go to the Sears Tower or John Hancock Observatory in the later afternoon (the Art Institute closes at 5 pm) - but remember the admission is only good on your Go Chicago card until 5:30 p.m. By the way, Millennium Park is immediately north of the Art Institute, so that is an option as well after the AI.
Wednesday: Now do the Shedd first thing in the morning (plan on 3-4 hours, including special exhibits - and I highly recommend that you go to the special exhibits here) - then the Field Museum (literally right next door to the Shedd) in the afternoon (again, special exhibits). By the way, both of these museums and the Adler Planetarium, all in Museum Campus - and Buckingham Fountain - are ALL in Grant Park. You can walk back through Grant Park, past Buckingham Fountain to Millennium Park very easily. (It%26#39;s about a mile walk.) When you are in Millennium Park, do go up on the Serpentine Walkway for some interesting views.
One last suggestion...you are right not to plan anything on your first day - however, IF the train is on time and IF you have enough time and energy after checking in, you do have a little time to go to the John Hancock or Sears Tower then. However, what I%26#39;d just suggest is to take a walk along the Lakefront Path and relax for your next upcoming (and busy!) days.
Have fun!
Hi,
I am NOT a Chicago expert....our first trip is next month. I am however a HUGE American Girl fan %26amp; have been collecting tips on visiting the store. You do not say when your trip is......I highly recommend getting reservations ASAP if you plan on eating lunch there. You can also request a personal shopper upon entering the store (or call/e-mail ahead of time to set up a meeting time). They will check you out in a personal shopper%26#39;s area (no long lines!), hold your packages for you and answer any %26amp; all questions you may have. This service is FREE and they are not allowed to take tips. They can help ensure that you %26amp; your group have a wonderful experience. It is my understanding that they do not stay with you the entire time, but regularly check back with you. If you aren%26#39;t going until late July or later I can tell you about our personal experience (we will be there mid-July)
I can%26#39;t wait to experince AG with my daughter (10 years old) and I can only imagine how amazing it would be with seven girls!
I hope your trip is wonderful!
Bren
Thank you so much for all your advice. We are staying at Hotel 71 so it looks like the City Bus or free trolley will work for us depending on crowds. We are trying to keep costs to a minimum as this is quite an expense for some of our girls.
As for the American Girl, we do have reservations for lunch but I had not heard of the personal shopper, thanks for the tip!
Good advise on the Shedd and Field the same day. I was just trying to get MSI out of the way since it is the farthest attraction for us and then work our way back. But it sounds that I need to schedule more time for MSI and therefore will not get enough time at Shedd. I will look at that more closely.
Thank you again so much!
I don%26#39;t know what free trolley routes you plan to take, but our one experience on the free trolley to the Navy Pier was not good. We got on the trolley at State and Illinois, so there weren%26#39;t many people on yet. As we continued down Illinois, the trolley started getting really full and we had lengthy delays at each stop with the hordes of people wanting to get on. I felt really bad for those people without seats because they were crushed! Then, at the end of the evening, it took forever for a trolley to arrive for our return trip.
We bought our CTA passes the next day, so the next time we went to the Navy Pier, we rode the bus. It was uncrowded, air conditioned and quick. A much better experience.
I understand why you don%26#39;t want to have to pay for transportation, but just be aware that the trolleys may be more crowded and slower than the buses. If the girls are prepared for this, then there%26#39;s no reason not to use the trolleys. However, I agree that you might want to use public transportation for your trip to/from your hotel as the trolleys are not equipped to carry people with luggage.
Finally, try to get to the museums right when the open. They get very crowded early and it was nice for us to have an hour or so to enjoy the museums without the hordes. Since you plan to go to the Shedd Aquarium after lunch, be prepared for it to be very crowded.
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