Anyone been to Chicago?

[greenclan67]

Hi guys, coming back for some more wealthy info. Only this time it is for summer vacation. Florida is our winter vacation.
We live in Northern ontario, and my hubby asked today about crossing the border at Sault Ste Marie and heading to Chicago. No plans so far, just wondering if anyone has any hints, tips, anything really about the Chicago area. I am completly blank. What areas we should be looking in to stay around, what there is to see and do in the area. I couldn't even name anything about Chicago except that Wrigley's field is there, and the hubby is a sports buff.
We have 2 girls thats are 7 & 9, and love lots of stuff. I am open to all suggestions. Our drive will be approx 12 to 13 hours from our hometown. Is there somewhere else we should be looking at besides Chicago that would be the same length of time travel wise?
Looking for help, from the great people at the DIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[disney0210]

your kids will love shedd aquarium, the museum of science and industry, hancock observatory and the navy pier. chicago is such a great city, very clean... we've been there twice and will probably come back again.

don't forget to try their deep-dish pizza. i am now no longer able to eat pizza pizza because i've been "exposed" to the "real thing"!

 

[greenclan67]

Thanks for your reply. Can you tell me where I should be looking to stay, what areas to target? I really like to look for some kind of deals on hotels. So I plan ahead. It is not until August, but summer will come soon enough. I was just looking at the Shedd Aquarium, it looks great, and that would be our main focus. Can you do that in a day? My girls are big Sea World lovers, so that will be right up there alley! Any other ideas, I would be greatful.

 

[dioxide45]

Chicago is great. We have been several times. Been to Wrigley field twice for Cubs games. There is so much to do in Chicago, you will never see it all. The Sears Tower, river tour, take in a Broadway show, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum and of course the Magnificent Mile (shopping till you can't shop any more).

Definitely go to Giordano's Pizzeria on Rush. The best pizza we have ever had. We now get it in Orlando as they have several locations there also. Though they don't compare to the pizza in Chicago.

 

[ChisJo]

If my husband had had his way, we would never have left chicago! He loved it! There are SO many museums there, and so many things to do. Definately hit the Rush street area, and as someone else put it, you have to hit the Giordano's Pizzeria off Rush. If I was on my home computer, I would post a pic of that pizza we had. Warning, it is filling, the wait to get into the restaurant can be up to 2 hours, and the wait for the pizza can be over an hour, but trust me - it's worth it!

Definately hit Sears tower - there is GREAT views of the city. You can always go to Harpo studios as a side trip. We did the whole Loop area, but its kind of an upscale downtown shopping area. We took the time to walk over to the lake area. We took in a game at Soldier Field (I don't even like football, but this was my FAVORITE part of the trip). There is a museum right outside the field that's great.

Look for travel Chicago websites - they are actually great and so informative. One thing that I will warn you about.....the traffic there is RIDICULOUS! You would think the interstates would be not so bad, but I wanted to rip every hair out of my head when we were driving (hence why hubby drove) - I guess I'm just not that used to it.

 

[calgarygary]

Hi guys, coming back for some more wealthy info. Only this time it is for summer vacation. Florida is our winter vacation.
We live in Northern ontario, and my hubby asked today about crossing the border at Sault Ste Marie and heading to Chicago. No plans so far, just wondering if anyone has any hints, tips, anything really about the Chicago area. I am completly blank. What areas we should be looking in to stay around, what there is to see and do in the area. I couldn't even name anything about Chicago except that Wrigley's field is there, and the hubby is a sports buff.
We have 2 girls thats are 7 & 9, and love lots of stuff. I am open to all suggestions. Our drive will be approx 12 to 13 hours from our hometown. Is there somewhere else we should be looking at besides Chicago that would be the same length of time travel wise?
Looking for help, from the great people at the DIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whenever we have driven back to Ontario, my girls look forward to a full day at the Mall of America in Minneapolis area and also Wisconsin Dells. The Dells must have more waterslides per visitor than any place I have ever seen plus a lot of other amusements to keep young ones very happy.

 

[dishguy1977]

Mary Poppins in playing in Chicago right now. We are planning on going in June!!

http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/shows_dyn.php?cmd=display_current&display_showtag=MaryPoppins

Was trying to find something cool to do while we will be there and we are very excited about seeing this show!

 

[dioxide45]

Warning, it is filling, the wait to get into the restaurant can be up to 2 hours, and the wait for the pizza can be over an hour, but trust me - it's worth it!

The good thing is that they will take your pizza order while you are waiting and start cooking it before you are actually seated, so you won't have to wait three hours for that pizza. They can usually get it to the table within about 15 minutes of being seated.

 

[ChisJo]

The good thing is that they will take your pizza order while you are waiting and start cooking it before you are actually seated, so you won't have to wait three hours for that pizza. They can usually get it to the table within about 15 minutes of being seated.

Not when we were there....we waited an hour and half to get seated, and another half hour after that for the pizza. The waiter said that we were lucky because there was only two of us. I wouldn't have wanted to be that table that was a large party!

 

[greenclan67]

Oh guys, thanks so much!! As I explore and find some stuff out, I will be posting for your opinions. Now I am craving pizza, and it is only 8 am!!!!!!!!!!! The driving in Chicago has me worried, but my DH is a great driver, and I do trust him, so I hope that helps.
First question, we will be more then likely doing the Shedd Aquarium should we be looking around this area for hotels? We want something nice, but not $200 a night nice. Or is there some other area we should look for lodging. Like when in Florida, we do the DD, or International Drive or areas that we know about. That is where I am having a hard time. I don't know what are I should be looking for lodging. I would suppose the Magnificient Mile would be pricey, what about the area they call "the loop". Have no idea what I am talking about, just somethings I have seen on Hotwire, and tripadvisor.
Thanks again, and oh PIZZA, can't wait!

 

[disneydreamgirl]

We were just there for three days (May 1-3) and loved it!!! Southwest had $39 flights one way and $59 on the return trip.
We got there at 7:15 am and went to our hotel on the transit from Midway (so easy and only $14 each for all you can ride for the three days on Elway, Subway and buses) and our room was ready at 8:15 am! We stayed at the Central Loop Hotel (Club Quarters) and I would recommend it. We then got on the bus and went to the Museum of Science and Industry which was terrific...what a great museum and the Harry Potter exhibit was just icing on the cake. We closed the museum and went for deep dish at Lou Malnati's for dinner - order a size or two smaller than you would normally because it is ridiculously filling! We then went back to the hotel and crashed as it was a long day.
Next morning we were up bright and early and had planned to go to the Art Institute, but it hadn't opened yet and it was such a beautiful day that we decided to do outdoor activities. We walked to Millenium Park (gorgeous) and then walked to Millenium Mile and soaked up the architecture and did a bit of shopping (Lego store is awesome) we then walked to Navy Pier and DH did the architecture boat tour while DS and I went to the Children's museum (both highly enjoyable). We met back up and wandered Navy Pier a bit including seeing the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows (stunning). We then headed back to Millenium Mile for a little bit more shopping and sightseeing and ended up at Rosebud on Rush for a terrific Italian meal. DH went to take sunset pictures while DS and I took the subway and then enjoyed Macy's on State Street (an historic Marshall Field's store) - it was so beautiful! By 9:30 pm we were back at the hotel, up again the next morning really early.
Sunday morning we walked to the Field Museum for their 9 am opening and thoroughly enjoyed the part of the museum we were able to see. It is massive and just unbelievable the scope of exhibits it holds. We had to leave there by 2 pm to head back to the hotel to collect our things and get on the El to go back to Midway for our 5:30 flight back home. It was a whirlwind trip and we didn't even scratch the surface of what we could do there. We loved the city - it was so clean and well laid out and the people were very friendly and helpful - the airport was really nice too. We plan to go back, absolutely.

 

[tkldisney]

I would suppose the Magnificient Mile would be pricey, what about the area they call "the loop".

Actually the prices aren't to bad. But this is definitely the area I would stay in. There's quite a few in the Downtown area that are nice too. I've stayed at several different places, Marriott Brand, Hilton, Hyatt, Palmer House (think Hilton) There are some that are really pricey, but with the economy the way it is there are some deals out there. Tripadvisor is good for info, but try hotels.com, expedia, etc.

I love Chicago. If your daughters like dolls, the American Girl store is great.

 

[Tabetha]

We managed to book great rooms in Chicago right by the Magnificent Mile (on Wacker) overlooking the river via Hotwire - definitely less than $200 a night. Personally, I'm not crazy about staying in the Loop because its a business district and is kind of boring/dead after business hours.

 

[sk8jdgca]

I got the hyatt for 65 a night on priceline. The river north or the loop area are both close to most things you will want to do. With the age of your girls go to American Girl. They have a personal shopper program and you can limit what you spend (cause you can spend alot here) your girls should love it. Spend a day exploring the parks along the lake. Bring a bathing suit and let the kids play in the crown fountain (the giant faces) You can get a chicago greeter for free too (just google it).

Crown Plaza at night-spitting faces

Getting wet

This was a small pizza