Museum of Illusions Chicago — Attraction in Chicago

A Complete Disappointment – Stay Away from This Place!

I had a terrible experience at the Museum of Illusions in Chicago, and I feel compelled to warn others before they waste their time and money like I did.

On a freezing, snowy night, I took my two daughters to the museum, expecting to enjoy our visit as advertised. Their official website clearly states that the museum is open until 8:00 PM. We arrived at 6:50 PM, only to be told that there was a private event later that night and that we would have to leave after just 20 minutes. No prior notice, no announcement on their website—nothing.

If that wasn’t frustrating enough, the staff member in charge showed zero empathy for the situation. After making the trip all the way there, we were basically told, “Too bad.” When I asked about compensation for their lack of communication, they initially suggested they could offer something. But when I went to purchase tickets for the following day, their “compensation” turned out to be a laughable $4 discount. Just to be clear, we spent $25 on transportation alone to get there and back, for an experience that was abruptly cut short due to their incompetence.

This place has absolutely no customer service, no accountability, and no respect for visitors’ time and money. They arbitrarily change their hours without notice, leaving customers stranded with no proper compensation. If you’re considering visiting, I strongly recommend calling ahead to make sure they haven’t randomly decided to close early for another private event—because clearly, they don’t care about the people who actually pay for tickets.

This was a complete waste of time and money, and I would never recommend this place to anyone. Avoid it...

We went to the museum of illusion on Saturday and had a wonderful experience. We bought the tickets online and went there when it was time. When we got there, they scanned the QR codes and because of covid they checked our temperature. There is coat room (free of charge), so we left our winter jackets in there and started our tour.

There is a rest room right by the gate so you can go before you start the exploring. Right from the start they started explaining to us which way we are going and what each piece is and what causes the illusion. Most of the items and/or drawings have explanation posted right next to them but it was always very helpful for the people working there to explain some of those things to us. They also told us where we can take the best pictures and videos and also took our pictures when we asked.

It took us about an hour and half to complete the whole tour while taking our time to take pictures and videos. It is a really fun activity to do if you are into optical illusions. I didn't look at any pictures because I wanted to experience it first hand but now that I have been there, I am gonna look at some pictures and videos so I can have an idea on how to take pictures and record videos the next time I go there.

I'm gonna say this again, if you like optical illusions and wanna spice up your social media with some mind bending pictures then you should definitely check it out. You will not be...

My time at the museum of illusions was wonderful. I went for Valentine’s Day with my beloved and we had no idea what to expect. Boy were my socks knocked off - we come in and there is a giant board of pegs begging to be made into an art piece. We went to town on that board and even got a compliment from an employee. The kaleidoscope exhibit was also quite the thrill. An employee named Syd swooped in like an eagle and offered to take a picture of us, which was great because neither of us could take a picture because one of us had to be at the other end of the kaleidoscope because at the kaleidoscope we had to have Syd take the picture and thank god because it turned out AWESOME. Not only did Syd bestow upon us her grace, positive vibes and servitude, but Noah came in clutch at the upside-down room exhibit where, again, we wanted a picture of the two of us but could not stretch our arms out long enough to take a good picture. Noah snapped a flick and it turned out amazing! Finally, we went to the gift shop to sit down and write these reviews. I could not for the life of me remember the name of the first fellow who complimented our art project, so I asked Naomi who answered with a smile on her face. Thank you, Ian, for giving me the push I needed to disown my parents, leave business school, chase my passion and become a starving artist - I was in such deep denial but after making our peg board project I knew it...