Planning Trip to Chicago. Things to See, Stay, Affordable?

Someone posted this question a week or so ago if you want to check the archives. I second most of the posters, but also would recommend the Children's Museum on Navy Pier. My son loved it when he was about 8. It's also fun just to run around and see the fountain in Grant Park and see the sculptures in Millenium Park. I don't know if anyone has recommended Lincoln Park Zoo, but it always used to be free admission. It's the perfect zoo for little kids. Do you belong to any zoos or museums in your hometown? Some of the attractions might have reciprocity. When we were there 5 years ago with our kids we stayed at a very family-friendly Embassy Suites right off of Navy Pier. It wasn't cheap, but we saved money on food because breakfast was included and they had a complimentary happy hour with a buffet every afternoon/evening. The rooms also allowed us to have some food and meals in the room. We were able to walk or take public transportation to most attractions. There is also a Hampton Inn downtown very near the American Girl doll store that is pretty family friendly and includes breakfast. Have fun!

one way to make it more affordable is to stay outside the city. any hotel inside the city limits is going to be buku bucks. but if you go even 20 minutes outside the city it cuts the hotel cost in half. Stay in say naperville or lisle and you can find rooms for less than a hundred bucks a night but if your inside chicago its going to be closer to two hundred.

things to see in that area, the shedd aquarium, the planatarium, field museum, a little outside chicago the legoland place is cool, naperville has the childrens museum which is great all of your kids ages are perfect for that. yorkville has a really great water park

We love to go to Chicago and it sounds like you already have good advice. We went to Shedd's last year and got a membership. I wouldn't do that again but it did avoid the lines. It was only a good deal if we returned within the year which we did I just wouldn't want to limit what we chose next time based on the previous purchase since there is so much to see/do. We have always gotten great deals through priceline bidding. We often get a 50/night room at a Hyatt or something like that - the trick is that parking can end up being another $40/night so it is good to do some research on that. It is prime season so perhaps it won't be as easy to get a good deal by bidding but we have done so several times a year in different areas including Chicago and it is the rare exception that we don't get something for a good price. Good luck and have fun!

I just discovered Apartments on Trip Advisor. Check it out, they are closer to the Wrigley Field area but super affordable!!

We just took a trip there last week. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Suites(not downtown, so it was a little bit of a drive), and paid about $150.00 for the 5 of us. We went to The Museum of Science and Industry and there were people of all ages there. They also have a nice Field Museum that we didn't go to on this trip. We also went to the American Girls Place downtown, which has a big Lego store next to it upstairs.

Navy Pier, Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum, up the Hancock or Willis (Sears) Towers, boat rides (not necessarily the tours for these ages, but you can even take a water taxi that will get you where you want to go and double as a boat ride for the kids), Cubs/Sox games.... There are many more things to do, but these would be my top items for your kids' ages. Check out a CityPass or a Go Chicago Pass: http://www.citypass.com/chicago?mv_source=rkg&creativ...
http://www.smartdestinations.com/chicago-attractions-and-...

These give you admission to many locations for a super discounted price rather than paying admission to each place. It also might give you some other ideas of places to visit!
If you don't want to stay within city limits, like the other poster suggested, check out closer suburbs that are on the Metra train line. Naperville and Lisle are far from the city! Have fun- we have a beautiful city!

You can get a city museum pass if you decide to stay longer, it really makes it all more affordable.

What to see would depend on how old your kids are. There is tons to see!