I would have really enjoyed this when my son was a kid. The show and displays are very much geared toward school age children. They had tons of activities going on for the kids. There wasn't much to interest an old married couple who has been to many planetariums over the years. It's a beautiful facility and the vew of the Chicago skyline is not to be missed. The admission was included with our GoChicago card or I would have been a bit upset with the expense. Glad we went nonetheless.

Based on the very positive reviews it received in the standard guide books, we were eager to check out the Adler Planetarium. We wished we hadn't. We were stunned by how amateurish and dull its offerings were, particularly given Adler's high ticket prices. The technical quality of the exhibits is poor and they impart little new or interesting information to either children or adults (e.g., the exhibits include two pup tents, one air conditioned, and the other heated, to demonstrate the difference between hot and cold...It wasn't clear to us who needed this demonstration to understand the difference). The "3D" movie of the Milky Way galaxy sounded intriguing, but its execution was embarrassing. It was not 3D (it was a messy, 2-color blur, and everyone in the audience was in constant motion, trying out different points in the small room to see if they could find a "sweet spot" that would yield the promised 3D experience), and it shared no more than the scant information that was presented tediously in 5 or 6 other exhibits in the Adler. The guide books rave about the 30 minute movies presented in the pseudo-planetarium "StarRider Theater," and we assumed that seeing one of these movies ("Black Holes") would make up for the disappointments we'd experienced touring the other exhibits. No such luck. There's not much technical wizardry to be seen here, the information shared can be fit on two 3 x 5 note cards (and was presented in 5 other Adler exhibits), and it was a fairly soporific experience (we weren't the only ones in the audience who were trying not to fall asleep...and judging from some nearby snores, not everyone was as successful as we were). Avoid the Adler, and spend your time and money at the vastly superior and far more engaging Field Museum.

The planetarium is O.K. The staff isn't very friendly but I did not find them to be terribly rude -- I guess you would say they are indifferent.

The exhibits are somewhat interesting but unfortunately the featured shows were disappointing. Overall it was subpar compared to planetariums in other major cities and a bit overpriced for what you are getting.

The staff was So darn rude, it was borderline criminal that I paid to be treated like this. I asked polietly where the theatre was, just to have a finger stuck in my face, Ma'm it's over where I told you. Umm she never told me anything execept my total. There was a group of Japanese tourists their as well, and their group was treated worse than me. 2 of the ladies on that group asked where the bathroom was, and the cashier told them" You don't have time, this is the last show of the day, so if you miss it too bad". So they looked utterly confused, and just waited in line to get into the theatre for about 15 minutes-tons of time to use the facilities! The show itself reminded me of a boring highschool film strip. The narration was BORING! After the show some guy came in and said-Get out. Nice huh? So as we are leaving I see the bathroom ladies go to use the ladies room, and guess what - the cashier told them, sorry we are closed. I glared at the cashier & told her that I needed to use the bathroom too, and she is not going to stop us. So off we went into the bathroom. Which took really 3 minutes, people were still exiting the theatre from the show we were in. As we walked out the cashier was there with a group of employees furious with us. I didn't care at this point I really felt angry that I spent any money here at all.