My sister works at Shedd, so she was able to use her employee perks to get us in free. Otherwise it would cost $24.95 for an adult and $17.95 for a child (ages 3-11). I do recommend that rather than going up for a day trip. It might be nicer to do a long weekend in Chicago and buy the Citypass, so you can see so many more things at a much cheaper price. Since the new Shedd exhibits just opened last week, the aquarium is very crowded. Crazy crowded. If you go, it's better to get there right when they open and to order tickets through Ticketmaster and have them held at the will call box. The line to buy tickets at the Shedd was well over an hour wait, and therefore, not child friendly. There was nothing to entertain the kiddos as their families moved through the line from outside in the rain (at least they had a covered area) and into the entrance of the aquarium. Will call took about 15 minutes -- much better.
We started our trip in the new Polar Play Zone, a key part to the renovations. The PPZ is underneath where the main pools are for the dolphins and the belugas. It also houses the Penguin exhibit. Old displays were removed and new kid-friendly ones were installed, including a tide pool touching area (one with real living sea life for gentler kids and one for model sea life for less gentle or nervous children), a penguin dress up area complete with eggs for kids to hold on their feet and faux ice slides to go down, as well as a submarine with lots of buttons to push, gears to turn and periscopes with real polar life to look at. X-man loved the submarine because it came with "swim diver" tanks.
The areas looking into the marine animal pools also had low-to-the ground, wide ledges for kids to sit on and watch the animals come by. X-man spent a lot of time being very observant of the dolphins swimming.
He was also very fascinated by the Wild Reef exhibit. You take an elevator down into the exhibit, which is a bit chilly, but is pretty much like descending into a giant tank. You're surrounded by sea life on two sides, but you can also walk on a glass floor and look down at a group of rays and look up at the ceiling and see fish swimming over you. This exhibit also housed some pretty exciting sharks and a wave tank.
The areas looking into the marine animal pools also had low-to-the ground, wide ledges for kids to sit on and watch the animals come by. X-man spent a lot of time being very observant of the dolphins swimming.
X-man has entered a new phase. We seem to be moving on from our obsession with air travel and space travel and obsessing over the world under the sea. The Shedd was a great trip for us, but my sister suggests going after Labor Day and before Thanksgiving when the crowds have slowed down. We decided against going to see the new dolphin show and the 4-D movies because of the crowds. And truthfully, we were there from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. and by the time we walked back to the parking deck (right next to Soldier Field -- parking is $16) X-man was very tired. He was asleep 20 minutes later and slept the 2 1/2 hours back to Champaign.
One really great improvement at Shedd, besides the exhibits, was that they added the BubbleNet Café. It has the typical fried fair and a Pizza Hut, but it also has a variety of salads, fresh fruit, yogurt and more healthy options. There are also new bathrooms EVERYWHERE now. And for a mother that has a child that is potty training I was really grateful. The one time we stopped to use the potty, X-man was so excited he wouldn't let me into the stall. "I'm a big boy!" he said rushing in and locking the door.
He went in, used the potty, flushed the toilet, came out, pushed the special step-up for kids down, washed his hands and put them under the really loud hand dryers that were exceptionally fast working and walked out the bathroom door -- like he was a pro.
Overall, it was a great way to spend a day with my boy.
No comments:
Post a Comment