Skip navigation.
Home

Museum of Science and Industry

AC rating

1

summary

I found this Museum difficult to navigate with a wheelchair as well as expensive.


review

The Museum of Science and Industry. The parking garage had ample handicapped accessible parking, and we found a spot right away. Thinking we missed the busy time arriving at the Museum of Science and Industry on a Saturday afternoon around 2:30, we were stunned at the crowds waiting to buy tickets.  The elevator we arrived at did not operate, and I needed to push the wheelchair to the opposite hall just to get down to the main floor. . The lines to buy tickets to the major Omnimax Theater showing of the human body called BodyWorld II were very long. MSI made everone wait in the same line regardless of whether you wanted to go to the special presentation, or just get general admission tickets.  No allowances were made for those with physical impairments. The theater closed on a Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm and that would only give us one hour to tour the museum. I hesitated to go at all. With a $25.00 admission to the general museum, and $12.00 parking it hardly seemed worth it. Unfortunately, I was right.At the entrance, I found the personnel working at the Museum a little unfriendly. We went into the train room which was interesting, but not a "Wow" exhibit. We traveled to the old Chicago street that should bring us back to yesteryear, but the wheelchair did not "like" the cobblestone street, or the fact the sidewalk ended for those with wheelchairs, but walkers could keep strolling down the old main drag. The parking garage was also not friendly for those with special needs as well. When visitors want to pay for parking, they have to put a credit card into a vending machine outside the parking garage entrances to the museum. This is tough on those with special needs for two reasons. The first is that they have to remember to bring their parking ticket with them from their car, and secondly for those in wheelchairs, it was necessary to stand up to get the ticket into the machine.


maps and directions

Museum of Science and Industry
57th Street and Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60637-2093 USA
(773) 684-1414