Does anyone know if there is a decent observation deck at O'Hare? London Heathrow has a decent one, but ATL, for example, does not have any. I am not sure which airports have them and which don't or what the tred is. I will be flying through Chicago soon and would like to spend a few extra hours at O'Hare and hope there's a decent place to watch planes.Thanks,Robb

no observation deck at ORD as far as i know of. there USED to be one, but it was closed many years ago.chris

How are observations from the terminal at ORD or from parking decks?Thanks,Robb

from inside the terminal is ok. there are several terminals tho, and lately i've only been thru the satellite United terminal. in that terminal there's no real "official" spotting area, but the gate areas are full of windows and its pretty easy to see the operations outside.in the main terminal building i dont think there are as many opportunities as in the new United concourse, only because the main terminal is older and there doesn't seem to be as many windows. if i remember correctly, the ends of the concourses that face 27L had pretty good places to sit at gates and watch ops.are you connecting there? cuz the outside perimiter of ORD has alot of great spots to spot from a car...chris

I will be connecting but will make sure I have 3 to 4 hours at the airport to look around.Thanks Chris,Robb

I agree with Chris here. I lived in Chicago for many years and there are quite a few off premise places to sit and watch. If you park along side any roads though, you might get "shagged" by the local police but sometimes you can sit there for over an hour before that happens. Along Higgins on the North Side I remember some commercial lots that you can sit in. On the South side there is Irving Park Road (I think) and you can try that and also Air Cargo there where you can use their lots.All the Observation Decks went away many years ago. They used to have one at O'Hare and also Midway. I remember going to them many years ago like back in the 50's and 60's. I remember one big reason they shut them down was because of smoking up there (legally or illegally) and people flipping cigarettes thru the chain link fences. Cigarettes either "flipped" or just rolling off the flat roofs ended up on the tarmac by the aircraft and obviously created a big time fire hazard.They were fun, as a kid, and you not only got to see a lot of gate traffic, varieties of planes, but also could hear and smell them also. Triggered all the senses, exciting! I have to dig into my picture crypt as I think I still have pictures taken from the deck at Midway in the 50's of some old Braniff livery.Go for a drive and take a look. I have not been there since Homeland Security got going so possibly parking around there may be more restricted than what it was 5 years ago when I left. Worth a shot!

Thanks for the Info! I will have to stay in the terminal. I might even consider staying at the Airport Hilton if there is a chance I will spend the night in Chicago. I will just have to make sure that I get a view of a runway and not a parking lot.Robb