museum of illusions' chicago christmas tree adventure 2024

The Museum of Illusions is designed to captivate and question your senses, challenge your perceptions, and ignite your imagination. It provides unique, interactive, and mind-bending experiences to both educate and entertain.

This winter, the museum challenges you to take a new look at the Christmas tree tradition and find some of Chicago’s best examples. 

Be sure to share your photos online, tagging @museumofillusions_chicago with these hashtags: #museumofillusionschicago #moichicago

When you complete this Adventure correctly, a MOI discount offer will appear before the last stop. 🏆

The Merchandise Mart is the largest privately held commercial building in the US. Built in the 1930’s, Alfred Shaw used an Art Deco Style design to seamlessly combine a warehouse with a department store and an office skyscraper. Shaw used architectural slight of hand (including chamfered corners, minimal roof setbacks, and corner pavilions), to disguise the building’s bulk, and alter the perception of its rectilinear shape.

A peek into the lobby will reveal even more challenges to your perception, as the stripes on the marble pillars disguise their actual slightly fluted shape, and the terrazzo floor chevrons reveal the building’s initials.

To complete this stop, find the Christmas tree and take a photo in front of it. Be sure to tag  @museumofillusions_chicago #moichicago #museumofillusionschicago 

Return at 7:30pm to watch the “Season of Light” visual display of digital art that will be projected across the building’s south-facing façade. http://www.artonthemart.com/ 

Merchandise Mart Tree

Built in the early 1920’s by chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley Jr., and designed by Charles G. Beersman, the Wrigley Building has long been a Chicago architectural standout. The combination of Spanish Colonial Revival, Beaux-Arts, and French Renaissance styles on an oddly trapezoidal shaped lot, makes for a truly unique building. One look at the building’s color makes it is easy to see the inspiration Wrigley drew from the shining White City of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Six subtly different shades of white terracotta form a gleaming white façade, creating an “airy effect” that draws the eye up and makes the building seem even taller. At night the effect is emphasized with bright lights. In fact, the building has been continuously floodlit at night since it first opened, with only 3 exceptions: World War II, when the lights were replaced in 1971, and in 1973-74 during the energy crisis. 

To complete this item, find the Christmas tree and take a photo in front of it. Be sure to tag @museumofillusions_chicago #moichicago #museumofillusionschicago 

Wrigley Building Tree

Pioneer Court (and the adjacent Tribune Tower lot) is thought to be the location where Jean Baptiste Point du Sable (the founder of Chicago) built his first home and trading post.
The courtyard itself is generally a blank space, requiring visitors to imagine historical scenes, and providing a perfect backdrop for the occasional temporary art installation.

To complete this stop, stand in front of the tree and select “guess”

Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum

The Pioneer Court Tree

Find Chicago’s 110th “official” Christmas tree in Millennium Park. Chicago’s iconic park sits in the heart of downtown. While the tree itself is very traditional, the park offers numerous unique visual and interactive experiences. From art installations, to the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, to the interactive Crown Fountain, Millennium Park challenges the limits of what a park can be. 

To complete this challenge, find the Christmas tree and take a photo in front of it (if you want to do it with ice skates on, that ok too!). Don’t forget to tag @museumofillusions_chicago #moichicago #museumofillusionschicago 

Millennium Park Tree

You’ve reached the halfway point of the Adventure! It's time for a break. Find Millennium Hall Restaurant and reward yourself with a hot cocoa or other treat.

You can place your order at the bar or stay and enjoy it at a table.

To complete this stop hit the “next” button to move on,

Hot Cocoa Break!

The Palmer House Hotel is perhaps the most extravagant wedding gift of all time, built initially by Potter Palmer for his new bride, Bertha Honoré Palmer. Unfortunately, it burned down 13 days after opening, in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1873. 

The hotel was the birthplace of the brownie, and home to many other firsts, including the first hotel to incorporate lightbulbs, telephones, and the vertical steam lifts (elevators).

As you enter the building, check out the grand peacock door—the delicate filigree disguises the fact that the door weighs more than half a ton!

To complete this stop, find the Grand Lobby Holiday Tree and answer the following question: what color is the bird that sits near the top of the tree?

The Palmer House Tree

Once the tallest building in the world, the former Sears Towers stands a jaw-dropping 1,451 feet high. It was designed as a cluster of nine square "tubes" of various heights, and its unique shape has been an iconic part of Chicago's skyline since it was competed in 1973. The Tower is open year-round, and visitors can take the elevators up to the Skydeck and experience the one-of-a-kind view from The Ledge. 

You won't need to go to the 110th floor to complete this stop! You'll find the Christmas tree much lower down. Take a photo in front of it, and don't forget to tag @museumofillusions_chicago #moichicago #museumofillusionschicago 

The Willis Tower Tree

The former Marshall Field & Co. building was designed by Daniel Burnham and built over several years from 1901-1906. The 2006 merger and conversion, made the building into a Macy’s.

As you walk through the cosmetics counters, look up to see the Tiffany Dome. This is the world’s largest example of an unbroken Tiffany favrile iridescent glass mosaic, creating the illusion of shimmering skylights. 

If you stroll through the store you’ll see plenty of holiday decor, but the Great Tree has a place of honor on the 7th floor in the Walnut Room, a tradition that is 116 years old. The tree is 45 feet tall, and this year its theme is “Sweet Treats.”  

To complete this stop, take a look at the menu to find out what favorite dish has been on the menu since the Walnut Room opened. When you complete this stop correctly, a ticket discount offer to the Museum of Illusions will appear. You can find this prize in "Prizes" under "My Profile" in the app.


The Macy’s Tree

Home to a fascinating world of illusions, where nothing is ever quite as it seems. The museum is an edutainment destination where you can truly experience the impossible.👀 Discover a new kind of Winter WONDERland this holiday season at MOI!❄️

To complete this stop, visit the museum and take a photo in your favorite exhibit!📸 Post your photo online, and don’t forget to tag @museumofillusions_chicago #moichicago #museumofillusionschicago

...And don't forget to check out our Smart Shop—our unique Dilemma Games make perfect stocking stuffers! 🎁 'Tis the season to give the gift of an experience! Gift cards are available both online and in-store. See you soon! ✨

The Museum of Illusions

Explore Chicago’s best Christmas trees while challenging your perceptions!

Museum of Illusions' Chicago Christmas Tree Adventure 2024

museum of illusions loop adventure 

Museum of Illusions Chicago is designed to captivate your senses, challenge your perceptions, and ignite your imagination which is exactly what we have in plan for your adventure today. Are you ready to embark on a journey of wonder and discovery?

User tip: To expand any photo, hit the diaganol arrows button in the top right. You can also flip your phone to see landscape photos better.

Be sure to share your photos online with these hashtags! #museumofillusionschicago #moichicago

Don't forget to follow the Museum of Illusions for more mind-bending fun!
Instagram: @museumofillusions_chicago    
YouTube: @museumofillusionschicago    
Tik Tok: @museumofillusionschicago    
Facebook: @Museum of Illusions - Chicago

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