Sharing Navy Pier's Negatives
Written: Jul 12 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great view of the city. A couple nice restaurants. Good trade/business facilities.
Cons: Dull smaller shops. Crowded at times. Little repeat value.
The Bottom Line: It's okay on occasion (and good for photography), but it really needs some reconsideration/restructuring.
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| chicago24m's Full Review: Navy Pier |
As an amateur photographer, there are few better views of the Chicago skyline than at the end of Navy Pier. The end provides a clear and unrestricted view of the skyline and on a cloudy/dramatic day or a bright Summer day, this can result in some stunning images.
However, enjoying the long walk down to the end of the pier is a mixed bag.
First, the Pros:
* There are a couple of good restaurants scattered throughout, and a few nice places outside to enjoy a drink.
* Boat rides.
* Events - there's mini-golf set-up at times.
* IMAX: This used to be a positive when the theater was owned by Loews/Cineplex. Since that company seems to not own the theater anymore, service at the theater has gone down, although presentation quality remains the same.
* Good business facilities. I've been to a couple of trade shows here and the Pier offers clean, well-furnished rooms/auditoriums.
* Occasional events - there's things like antique shows and other public events on occasion.
* Empty in the mornings. During weekday mornings, the Pier is often quite sparsely populated or occasionally, simply empty. It's nice and peaceful to take a stroll during these times.
* Stained glass museum. There is a very impressive stained glass section. However, it's strange to me that there's little or no supervision in this area. Instead of being set up in a room, they're sort of just out in a hall.
* Ferris Wheel: Eehh...I mean, who hasn't been on a Ferris Wheel. This one does offer great views of the city, though.
* Fireworks: Occasional fireworks during Summer nights.
* Chicago Children's Museum.
* Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
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Cons:
* Seagulls and lots of other birds constantly overhead. They really seem to be monitoring the pier during many days. In other words, definitely don't look up. Thankfully, the Pier seems to be cleaned well and droppings never really have become an issue.
* Lots of shops of questionable value. I'm all for someone's right to own their own business. However, Navy Pier seems to be full (mostly made up of, in fact) small vendors selling souvenirs/toys/small jewelry items. This may be nice for tourists (and even if I was a tourist, I doubt I'd care), but it really doesn't give people from the area much motivation to come back that often. In fact, the whole place seems to be set-up more to cater to tourists than people from the city. Personally, I think a much better idea would be to do away with these booths and have the "Taste of Chicago" festival (which happens in the Summer) continue year-around, with local restaurants setting up permanent or limited-run booths throughout the Pier and allowing Pier-dwellers to sample their food. This would be good for both tourists and those from the city. These little shops currently there really add very little to the pier experience and are its major flaw.
* Parking: Parking is limited during rush times (weekends) and expensive.
* Crowded: the sometimes fairly narrow path down the pier can seem more narrow during crowded weekend hours.
* Expensive vending machines.
* Skyline stage concerts seem unusually high priced.
Recommended:
No
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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Epinions.com ID:
chicago24m
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
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