arcticbunny

On Monday, March 19, we will have an 8 hour layover at ORD. Me, my husband, two kids (5&7). I've never been to Chicago.... Will we have time to go into the city?

I've read lots of the layover/connection threads, and the consensus seems to be to allow 2 hours of travel time using the blue line (?). Our flight leaves at 19:25 (we arrive at 11:32), and I'm assuming we want to be back there 3 hours ahead. By the time we get out of the airport and get going, is there any point?

Thanks in advance for your help!

FindAWay

Generally, an 8-hour layover is plenty of time to go downtown, have several hours downtown, and get back. However, it might depend on how much you'll be carrying with you and how well your young children will likely be on the excursion to downtown.

The blue line is the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority - runs public buses and trains) train (it is a subway, but it is above ground more than below) that connects directly from O'Hare to downtown Chicago. The ride is ~45 minutes each way (but, factor in some time waiting for the train to leave & getting all the way to the station from the terminal). To find the train once you get to ORD follow the signs that say "Train to City" and "CTA".

I don't think you need to be back at O'Hare 3 hours ahead of your flight, you might want to leave downtown 3 hours before your flight (but, even that is more time than needed IMO). There is certainly a point - the Chicago Loop and River North have a lot to offer in a relatively small, walkable area.

Assuming everything runs on-time, you could be downtown around 13:00-13:30 have a nice lunch, do a couple of activities and start back for the airport around 16:30 (which should be plenty early for a 19:25 flight and probably leave you enough time to grab a bite for dinner at ORD before boarding your plane).

cheltzel

The only thing I would suggest is that you make sure your bags are checked through to MCO and you have your ORD-MCO boarding passes.

That way you can get off the CTA (on your return to ORD) and just go straight to security and on to your gate.

And welcome to FlyerTalk arcticbunny

arcticbunny

Thanks for the reply!

We usually travel with a small backpack, small bag with "bedtime buddies", and a small laptop bag, as far as carry on goes. The kids... well, what we do will depend on them, really. I'm totally not into starting my vacation with a bad day of my own doing!

Will there be time for the Sears tower/Hancock tower? I'm thinking maybe late lunch or snack at the Hancock? Kids meals look reasonably priced! How busy are these things on a Monday?!


Yes, they'll have to be, or activities are out of the question I need to do a search on luggage storage at ORD....

Thank you!

glg

Sears is easy because it's only a couple blocks from the blue line Jackson stop (just walk west on Jackson 4 blocks and you're there). Hancock is over a mile from the nearest blue line stop. I guess it really depends on what you want to see besides that. If you want to see Michigan Avenue shops, then just get over there and do Hancock. If you want to see Grant Park/Millennium Park/the bean, then do Sears.


I've seen others mention using the bell desk at the Hilton (with a tip, of course), but have never used that myself.

Note that you'll come into Terminal 5 (unless google is failing me and YXE does have pre-clearance, appears it does not), clear customs/immigration there. Assuming you're staying on United for ORD-MCO, your bags should be through-tagged, so you can give them back to United right after customs.

From T5, take the tram to the domestic terminals (that's where the blue line stop is). Get off at the first stop, Terminal 3/American, but go into the parking ramp instead of the terminal. Take the elevator in the parking ramp down to the basement and follow the "Trains to City" signs to find the blue line stop.

Anyone know what immigration is like at 11:30 AM on a monday?

arcticbunny

WHY didn't I find this place years ago?

cheltzel

I don't think google failed you, unless the CBP is lax updatng the pre-clearance list.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/c..._locations.xml

I haven't come in at that time on a Monday but have on other days and it
was a little heavy, but not terribly so. I'd guess about 20 - 30 minutes at most.

toomanybooks

You might enjoy a stroll the length of the Magnificent Mile if the weather is nice. Along the way you could stop at the LEGO Store, the Disney Store, Ghirardelli/Hershey, American Girl if appropriate, etc. See the Hancock at the north and then the Bean and Millennium Park at the south end.

3-4 hours should be enough to do that; if you run short, break it off and get to the Blue Line a few blocks away.

Much better than sitting at ORD for 8 hours.

arcticbunny

Thank you all so much! It's so hard to imagine what there is time for! I think Lego and chocolate would definitely go over better than American Girl, cause yeah, they're boys.

And no, I don't think there's pre-clearance at YXE. I've actually never flown to the US without pre-clearing, but there's a first time for everything! Good to know we'll be coming into 5, though.

PhotoJim

Definitely no pre-clearance at YXE. You'll make a quick stop at YQR to pick up passengers, then head off to Terminal 5 at ORD, where you'll clear Customs. I'm flying YQR-ORD-MCO on Saturday and I flew YQR-ORD-FLL last May. I don't know how long Customs usually takes because I'm in the NEXUS trusted traveler program so I got to use the Global Entry fast track line.

Have fun in Chicago and Orlando!