Experience Navy FEAR At Navy Pier
There's still plenty of time to get out and enjoy the many Halloween festivities this town has to offer. My pick for a ghoulishly fun time this year, if you're from out of town and looking for a scary, hip and happening celebration: Navy Fear at Navy Pier.
Navy Pier's Halloween Celebration includes Demons of the Deep and Ghostly Gardens. You can experience Demons Mild or Demons Wild, depending on your age (8 and above for Mild, 13 and older for Wild). The tents at Demons of the Deep will allow visitors to enter and find their way through a salvage facility that houses the remains of angry spirits, unwillingly recovered from watery graves. To get there, you've got to go through Shock on the Dock, a free series of scenes and live characters that will cross your path.
Ghostly Gardens at the Pepsi Skyline Stage is more kid friendly, where young ones can participate in lots of fun activities. Catch the Eerie Express haunted train ride, where ghost Edward Eerie shows you around his magical estate. Play inflatable games such as the spider climb, have your faces painted, get fortunes told and read and play along with the new Dragon Daze Adventure. Catch live entertainment on the Ghostly Gardens Theatre Stage (provided by Navy Pier's own magicians, singers and other performers). There's also a variety showcase with marionettes and juggling and other fun, plus strolling characters. New this year is Dr. Puupenschthink's Looney Laboratory, an interactive comedy show featuring a mad scientist who's trying to figure out the human brain. Also new is the Monster Bash, a musical celebration of Halloween with Navy Pier's mascot Patch the Pirate Dog and the Dock Street Singers.
All of Navy Pier has been transformed--even the Ferris wheel has been renamed to the "Scare-Us" Wheel and the carousel is now the Galloping Ghosts carousel. So don't miss out!
This event does cost: $14 will get you general admission to Demons of the Deep, $19 includes Demons and three rides at FEAR Park. Ghostly Gardens costs $9 apiece, with $16 getting you into all attractions, face painting, temporary tattoos and three rides. However, if you go to the http://www.navypier.com Web site, you can find coupons for $4 off Demons of the Deep and $3 off Ghostly Gardens. Ghostly Gardens is open from 11-7 p.m. tonight, and 11-8 p.m. on Oct. 31; Demons Mild is open 4-8 p.m. today and tomorrow; Demons Wild is open 8-10 p.m. both days.
Be prepared to grapple with crowds--Navy Pier gets eight million visitors a year and sometimes it feels like they're all there at the same time. But don't forget that Navy Pier has a lot to offer besides Navy Fear, including the Shakespeare Theater, IMAX Theater, the Chicago Children's Museum, dinner cruises and great restaurants like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Riva. Even McDonald's has a berth here, for families. There's some shopping, as well, which is actually the least interesting part of Navy Pier, and I've had friends who met with some snotty salespeople (one actually told my friend she was too fat to fit anything in the store). You can buy funny ties at Y-Knot, or collect refrigerator magnets, visit the Build-A-Bear Workshop, or pick up some fresh, warm, roasted nuts (yummy!).
I hate parking at Navy Pier. In fact, because of the parking (the lot is expensive and often full) and the crowds I avoid Navy Pier except when it has interesting events like this one. So save yourself the aggravation and take public transportation. Get off the CTA at the Red Line Grand stop and either walk it or take a cab. Or you can grab one of the buses: #29 State, #65 Grand, #66 Chicago or #124 Navy Pier Express. Navy Pier is located at 600 E. Grand Ave., in the Streeterville neighborhood.
