The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Shedd Aquarium

Yesterday morning we took the bus down to the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. They are pretty much across the street from each other and we chose to do the Shedd Aquarium first.

Once again, the ticket pricing is a little confusing. There is the General Admission price of $8, which easily presents the best value because it then jumps to $28.95 for The Shedd Pass which only gives you additional access to the beluga whales and the dolphins, but you still don't get to see the shows until you pay yet another $4 on top of that. Anyhow, right off the bat we can say that paying the $8 is the best way to go. Compare that to the $12 General Admission at the planetarium and this is FAR better for the money.

http://www.sheddaquarium.org/ticketprices.html

For the $8 admission you can spend about two hours seeing a lot of different and interesting stuff. How it then jumps to $28.95 for the next level, I have no idea. Further more, there was absolutely nothing stopping anyone with general admission from walking into the Polar Play Zone or the Abbott Oceanarium which you're not supposed to be able to do without the more expensive pass. Very strange.

But for $8 it's a great time and money well spent.

First, there is an Amazon exhibit with snakes and frogs as well as fish. Pretty neat stuff living out there!

The Giant Monkey Frog. This guy didn't even look real. You couldn't see any movement the whole time we watched him.

The Blue Poison Dart Frog. Sorry for the fuzzy picture, but you get the idea. 

The Red Bellied Piranha. Tried to get a pic of his teeth but he wasn't cooperating!

The Emerald Tree Boa. I'm watching you...!

Don't know what it is, but this is the largest fish caught in the Amazon. 10 feet long, and 350 pounds!

Only one problem the day we were there. School kids! It was a little too crowded for my liking. I wonder if it's actually better on the weekends??

Midas Cichlids.

The penguins are fun to watch.

Ruth watching the beluga whales.

Nemo?

Colorful.

Very colorful.

So The Shedd Aquarium is a neat place and the displays are very well done. Totally worth the $8 general admission price, however we'd have to say that it's NOT worth the $28.95 upgraded admission. Good stop for a fun couple of hours.

Now, on to the Field Museum of Natural History, which is right across the street.

6 comments:

  1. I understand that May is the busiest month for school groups to visit museums and zoos. Anything to help keep them occupied until school lets out for the summer. The colors on those frogs and fish are amazing.

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  2. I have to tell you two that this blog just cracks me up. After seeing you two on the most gorgeous hikes, this place just looks like somewhere you would never go.
    It looks awesome there but so opposite of what I picture you two doing.

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  3. Nice posts all around! Chicago can be happy for your recommendations.
    So looking forward to the European part...

    Cheers, Peter.

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  4. The Shedd Aquarium is a great place to go but typical of Chicago there are fees for everything plus it's always changing. The Shedd Aquarium is one of my favorites to go to. It would just be nice if we didn't have to figure out the pricing each year we go!

    Erik

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  5. butterbean carpenterMay 11, 2012 at 4:59 PM

    Howdy R&K,
    That was a nice experience!! The fish and frogs were very colorful, but I wonder how they blend into the environment in the Amazon with those colors?? If ALL of the up-grades of tickets are that high I don't see how they ever get any customers, except maybe some Canadians with lots of moola!! I'm just glad that I'm past dragging my kids around to 'educate' them.. I couldn't afford it then and at the prices y'all are finding I surely couldn't today.. Let's go across the street, PLEASE!!!

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  6. Thanks for this info. Planning a trip with my kids and I was trying to decide whether to upgrade admission.

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