I went with two girlfriends to Chicago, pretty much just to experience the Harry Potter Exhibition running now through the Fall at the Museum of Science and Industry. We are big HP fans and enjoyed the exhibit SO much! We walked through the whole thing once, which took us about an hour, and then before leaving we walked back through once more and took another hard look at everything. If you love the books and movies this exhibit is so neat! It is filled with props from all of the movies that have been made so far, including some items from this summers' Half-Blood Prince. I would recommend this exhibit to fans over the age of 7 or 8. It is not very interactive and there are many plaques to read. Younger fans and people who are just casually interested in Harry Potter may not feel they got a lot out of it for the money. I also highly recommend walking through the exhibit twice or even three times! Once you're in the exhibit you can stay all day if you really want to so make the most of it. We also talked with some of the employees who gave us great insider information to the items in the exhibit. Everyone was so nice and seem like genuine HP fans. A cons would be that you are not allowed to take any photos (you can bring in your camera but they will ask that you not use it). So don your Dumbledore's Army t-shirt, grab your house scarf and enjoy a Hogwart's style magical experience!

Other Museum of Science and Industry info: The Toymaker 3000 exhibit was neat, and we thought the Fairy Castle was super adorable. We didn't do much exploring of the museum beyond those attractions and Harry Potter.

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is large and does a great job of making technology exciting. If you are visiting Chicago, it is well worth a look and will be different from your experiences in other cities.

Visited over spring break with our two grade school aged children (8 & 10). The highlight for me was the U-Boat tour - really, just over the top. I'm still in awe. I've worked in coal, transport & oil and found all those exhibits to be very true to life and presented so all ages will enjoy & appreciate w/o feeling "educated." My husband & kids enjoyed playing w/ the robots in the toy maker room. The kids were awed by the transportation room, romped in the idea factory and liked the submarine room. My 10 year old kept going back to the DNA room. There wasn't anything that we didn't just absolutely enjoy doing and we'd stayed for almost 5 hours!!! Be sure to wear comfortable shoes!

Tons of stuff to see here - definitely devote a whole day to this museum! Lots of neat, modern and interactive science and technology related exhibits. The U505 sub was extremely interesting and definitely worth spending some extra time there. Take your time and check out all this place has to offer!