DO" NOT do the trolley tour!! (eta - dont confuse with the free trolleys , the tour is the double decker bus, its horribly long, the guides are humorous and entertaining, but they wait at each stop over 20 min, and once waited while a lady went to the bathroom at McDonalds!! )
I recently hosted a gathering of internet friends in Chicago...
1. AG store, I suggest you call and reserve a tea time, its such a lovely time (they have info and directions on the website!)
2. Navy Pier, its just great!! There is a Children's museum, that IMAX theatre, the hUGE ferris wheel... and stores, and food, and boats you can tour... BUT
3. I would reccomend the Wendella Boat tour! Down the Chicago River, gives great history of all the buildings, and some famous landmarks and what's happened (including the new trump tower!!) some of the movies showcasing the landmarks...
4. Now, I love the Art Institute, I cant say enough, I just learned one of the reasons I love it, is as a kid I played the board game Masterpiece!! LOL, but I found a gem... while waiting for some of the group to meet up with us at Crate and Barrell, I saw a Terra Museum of Art, right there on Michigan Avenue - so wonderful, and FREE!! And they had some neat stuff for KIDS!! I was very very impressed!
5. Sears Tower - they force you to watch a lame movie (sorry purely my opinion, the movie broke down, I had a train to catch, and just wanted to get up to the deck!) well, I was so surprised at how easy the ride UP and down the elevators!! Its kinda expensive, but the view is breathtaking!!
6. If you are a teacher, make sure you bring your ID, not all but quite a few of the museums, including the Shedd Aquarium let teachers in FREE!! The Shedd is expensive, to just see the fish tanks area, and its a great time, its one reasonable price, to get in to see the Beluga Whales, another charge, and they do a short show, then another charge, but its where all the excitement is, and it is very crowded when we went - the Shark area, its downstairs, and done very well, but the crowds are huge! and its expensive... you can check out the metra.com site and put in where you are , say Shedd Aquarium, and then where you want to go, say American Girl and they'll tell you how to get there by bus, which is like $2 a piece, if there are 3 or more of you it is reallly cheaper to go by taxi... or again I dont have the web addy, there are now FREE TROLLEYS!! A shopping Trolley, A museum Trolley, and a NAvy Pier Trolley - free... the signs are where the stops are, its really fun to get around Chicago that way, jsut read up on the internet site... again by Metra
Water Tower, there is a water tower across from Americaan Girl Store that survived the Great CHicago Fire, but cady corner from there is the indoor mall - overwhelming - the food court there is even confusing, but great food, I took the high school youth group there - you order the food, at differnet places and pay when you're finished...
Navy Pier is really really close to American Girl Store - and again take the free trolley, the people at the AG store will be more than happy to tell you where and how to get there too...
Museum of Science and Industry is very kid friendly, but it is so far away from downtown, I think for me alone it was a $20 taxi ride, but then, there werent the free trolleys... it is an all day adventure at the museum, so wonderful, the coal mine, the Colleen Moore Dollhouse...
I've probably given way too much info!!