Volo Museum — Attraction in Volo

Not an altogether pleasant experience. It's easy to reach and the staff is very friendly, but there are downsides too.

Pro: The parking is free and right there by the museum entrance, so no long walks or hidden expensive parking fees.

Con: It is EXPENSIVE for what you get. $100+ for two people and that includes no food or drink. I was expecting a little more for all that money.

Pro: They have a big selection of classic cars, mostly from the 1960s, but a couple from the 30s-50s. Mostly it's muscle cars with a couple trucks and some authentic Hollywood cars.

Most of the Hollywood cars are reproductions, not originals.

Con: A lot of the rooms REALLY stink. The car buildings reek like gasoline, the Military building stinks like damp and mold, and the dinosaur building stinks like industrial plastic or rubber. It got overpowering at a couple points and was really distracting.

I had to leave the Military building after just a few minutes because I'd just eaten and I couldn't stand the smell any longer.

If you're sensitive to strong smells, you're going to hate much of this place.

Pro: You can easily see the whole place in one afternoon at a leisurely pace, but I'd actually arrive no later than 11:45 - 12:00.

Con: Other than the cars, a lot of the other buildings are pretty lame, in my opinion.

The "Titanic exhibit" is nothing but a couple of old cars and old dresses. There isn't a single authentic Titanic item in the building, which takes no more than 5-8 minutes to view.

I don't expect a wealth of precious authentic valuables, but there's not a single thing that piqued my interest. They definitely make sure you hear "My Heart Will Go On" plenty of times, though.

The "Dinosaur exhibit" is a bunch of roadside-attraction rubber dinosaurs standing on plastic leaves going "rawwwrrr" every couple of seconds, attached to a tiny gift shop. It smells and I'm not impressed.

The Military building has some cool vehicles and some authentic war inventory, like armbands and daggers and other artifacts, but the disgusting reek in there drove me out after a couple of minutes.

It's sad, because that's one of the more interesting displays in the whole park.

Pro: The carousel building and its functioning carnival organs is amazing. My wife and I loved that room, and it doesn't smell bad. Get some tokens and listen to those old self-playing carnival organs - it's something you won't hear anywhere else. A totally unique experience. THIS is museum-quality entertainment.

The kiddy ride exhibit is also awesome, including a fully-functioning, mint condition "The Beagles" animatronic band that plays Beatles songs. Very cool, totally unique.

I wish Volo would focus less on smelly old muscle cars and work toward acquiring more actually interesting historical artifacts like this stuff. More vintage video games, pinball machines, TVs, clothing and artifacts from the 70s-90s, etc.

Get one of those full-size bowling arcade games. People would go nuts for that. And why not an arcade featuring vintage video games and pinball machines? It would smell less and you could make it look like an 80s arcade.

Con: The food is lousy and overpriced. They charge $2.50 for a can of soda, $8 for a slice of pretty much the worst pizza I've ever had in Chicagoland (it's barely Pizza Hut quality), and $6 for a half-stale hot pretzel. Not impressed.

I get that food will be a little costly at these places, but $2.50 is excessive, and at least make your overpriced food tasty and decent quality.

Pro tip: feed the family (and yourself) for much cheaper before you come to the museum.

Overall it would have been better if it were about $20 cheaper and without the gross smells. It makes you not want to linger long in the buildings, and really, the other buildings are nothing you haven't seen before.

Honestly, you can probably skip the Titanic and dinosaur attractions and spend like 90 minutes total here. Just check out the car and carousel attractions rather than spending your whole day (and half your...

I purchased a 1966 Chevelle from Volo, it was advertised as a Body off Frame RESTORATION. The car wouldn't start when it was trying to be driven off the trailer, once fired up and off of the trailer I got in the passenger seat and told the delivery guy to go ahead and drive it around the block to see if it just needed to be warmed up. It kept shutting off till we got back to the house so I told him to go ahead and just pull it directly into the garage. When we got out, I noticed that the trunk lock was missing. I got in my other car and drove around the block and found the trunk lock laying in the road, so I got out, picked it up and drove back to my house. The delivery guy was about packed up and then shortly after he drove off. There was NO paperwork with the car that was supposed to be delivered with it. I started checking to see why the car wouldn't run... Vacuum advance hose disconnected from the distributor. I reconnected it to the distributor and then disconnected the other end of the hose and reconnected it to its PROPER port on the Carb. I then noticed that the PCV hose from the valve cover was not connected to its proper location either so I reconnected it. I now tried and the car fired up and ran. The engine that was said to be rebuild isn't properly cammed for the engine. Inside the car (4 speed car) I noticed WTF there's no parking brake pedal and release assembly. I got out and looked under the car and there are NO parking brake cables except for the cables hanging out from the rear brake drums. I drove the vehicle around the block a couple of times to warm it up and then back to the garage. I now checked and found that the heater didn't work, under the hood I saw the heater hose was kinked and not allowing coolant to flow but upon feeling the other hoses with my hands i found that the thermostat was not opening either. I decided to check the car over a bit more. Grey non-GM seatbelts for the front seats and they were improperly mounted to the seat mount rails. I then noticed that the driver’s side seat was mounted on passenger side seat rails which places the seat adjuster between the seat and the shifter console. The shifter boot is torn in half. The heater controls are not functional and the blower doesn't work. There is body damage on both doors because of misalignment of both fenders and doors. There was spot paint on the lower corners of both doors, to cover up the body damage. Rust is on both doors where the cracks in the doors and the cracked paint is peeling off. Dry rotted body to frame mounts and door weather stripping. I find it personally difficult to properly adjust a fender that's NOT even bolted to the frame... (see the video) and yes, I have many, many pictures of all the BS that's wrong with this restored car... And the appraisal that people are charged for when purchasing a car from Volo is nothing more than an inhouse, Volo created checklist that's complete BS when it comes to a proper appraisal, it’s filled out by none other than Jay Grams... I bought this car so that I could have fun driving a completed car without having to do a load of work on it in order to drive it, it's STILL in the garage until it can be safely driven which might be after I replace the broken exhaust manifold!!!!! All of this can be yours too for only $63K, which is what I paid for this train wreck. ...

We visited volo auto museum recently and overall had a nice experience. However, I wanted to share some feedback as a parent of a child with sensory sensitivities, especially to loud noises. While the space was fun, the volume of noise at times was overwhelming for my child, which made it difficult for us to fully enjoy the visit.

It would be amazing if volo auto museum could consider implementing some sensory-friendly accommodations, such as offering designated quiet hours, creating a calm/quiet space, or even providing noise-reducing headphones for children who might need them. Small changes like these can go a long way in helping all kids feel included and comfortable. I would also recommend making sure on your web page you make a note for family’s to be prepared. There was nothing indicating that the museum was as loud as it ended up being, so going in we did not prepare or anticipate that my child was going to be overwhelmed and overstimulated.

I did see a review where you said replied that you have a quite time for the Jurassic park area, but it is only limited to that area during the time you allotted and again there is nothing on your web page stating which times you have this. This does not make your park inclusive to children with sensory needs.

We truly appreciate what you offer the community and hope to see even more inclusive options in the future. Thank you!

Edit: While I do appreciate them reaching out to outside organizations to seek advice on sensory disorders, and accommodations , I do think that adding notes on not only their public pages, but also around their facilities will help enhance awareness for family’s who have children with sensitive to certain sounds and visuals. I also do believe that making it more known of their sensory days (maybe promoting it more so more family’s are aware of this date and times) and expanding it to the whole museum will be much more inclusive to all individuals who are on a wide array of needs over only having it in one portion. My child was very overwhelmed and overstimulated during their visit and was begging me to leave (which we did after only 2 show rooms). It is unfortunate that this was not made more clear to the public. While I am glad that it can be deemed as acceptable for some, in my experience (and another review that I sow) it feels as if we are being told that our experience was not valid. For future I do hope they are able to be more accommodating, and that they do decided to make some sort of improvement on making it more knowledgeable for family’s about this potential issue that family’s...