Really great museum! Extremely interactive! The docents were so kind and patient with our five year old son. We ate lunch on site and it was delicious! The museum is huge. Don’t try to see it all in one visit. We did the vortex exhibit, transportation, coal mine, and the mirror maze. It was plenty for one visit with a five year old. The only drawback is that so many exhibits are extra money.

Wow, this is a really cool museum! We took the kids (5,7) and they had a great time. The place is really big and had lots of cool exhibits. The kids loved the Idea Factory and the storm science sections. The ice exhibit has a block of ice the kids could touch. The submarine exhibit is really impressive. They have a nice food court where we went for lunch. We spent almost the whole day there as there was so much to see and do. Highly recommend. Fun for the whole family.

Be sure to reserve admission tickets, and if you want to visit any special attractions within the museum, best to book those also. This is a popular spot for school tours, be prepared for lots of youngsters. The location makes it more difficult to visit but well worth the ride out. We particularly enjoyed the U-boat tour, one of a kind. Worth it in advance to look up the movie now only available on YouTube: Attack and Capture: The Story of U-Boat 505. Also did the coal mine tour. Interesting history lesson. Food availability a challenge as the hours of the cafeteria are very limited. The vending machine prices are outrageous. Great place to wander. We did find a number of areas frozen in time, for example, the bicycle exhibit has nothing after 2013 as if there haven’t been any advances since then!

This place is great! I took my almost six-year-old, and he had an amazing time. So many cool exhibits and things to see. My only complaint is that it already cost enough money to get in there and then there are multiple exhibits inside that you have to pay extra for. They also have a nice cafeteria. Again it’s expensive, but that’s what you find at most museums.

While still amazing, it was more run down that we have ever seen in the past. The big trains area was worn and dusty and could use some love. Several exhibits were under maintenance. The glass in the mirror maze was covered in fingerprints (so easy to find your way out). The bathrooms were all clean and we had a snack at Stan's Donuts and the donuts and coffee were excellent. Overall its still a great museum and a great visit just not as well up kept as it has been in the past.

Museum of Science and Industry...or Museum of Nerds and Geeks? Railroads, airplanes, cars, bicycles, genetics, cloning, global warming, robots, mice, chicks, ocean pollution, endangered spaces, energy, boats, farming, history, and on and on...this is not for everyone, but it was for nerd like me! The coolest thing was the World War 2 German U Boat! The massive submarine was still largely intact and well restored. Seeing it from the outside is awesome, but to go inside you must take a guided tour which was $18, and so worth it for history geeks like me, especially since we had only 3 people in our tour! $26 for adult entry. Unfortunately this museum closes rather early at 4pm, even on a Saturday...should be at least 5pm?

This place was huge & spectacular. We didn't know about the underground parking so we parked in the lot, used QR code to pay, $20 for 4 hours. You don't enter at where you think you would instead at street level you go through doors then down stairs. There is the ticket sales & gift shop. You head up the escalator to enter the museum. 3 of us were there 4 hours & we didn't see everything. For me the coolest part was the submarine & the glass cases showing the different body sections. Would love to come back & spend more time here someday.

Had a quick weekend in Chicago and while looking for something to do during the day, my husband stumbled upon this museum, specifically the U-505 exhibit. The museum itself is massive, with tons to explore with your general admission ticket. I was a bit bummed that it was extra to see the Pompei exhibit, so we skipped that one, but did pay extra for the tour of the U-505 submarine. I strongly recommend booking tickets in advance on line - I had forgotten and we ended up waiting a bit longer than anticipated for an open tour of the submarine. Live and learn, ya know? The museum overall was fantastic, and the holiday display of all the different Christmas trees from around the world was really beautiful.

The museum is educational and there are lots of interactive displays. You definitely need a whole day to see everything, or at least half a day if you don't plan to go into the timed exhibits. We were lucky on the timed exhibits where they let us in early because it was not full. Some exhibits cost extra but you can certainly enjoy the museum without paying for the special exhibits. It is disappointing to have so many paid rides in the back where they could be displaying more educational exhibits... but I am guessing the museum needs the extra revenue.

We came to see the Christmas trees, which was a nice event to do with the kids. Their play place (Idea factory) is open again, and the kids really love splashing the water about and playing with the balls. The tornado cabin is also open again, and the kids loved experiencing that. There's lots to see in addition to the trees, so you could easily spend a day here. Plus, they've got underground parking, so no matter how terrible the weather, going to and from isn't a problem at all.