House of Wax - Madame Tussaud's London
Written: Jul 18 '05 (Updated Jul 21 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of bang for your buck, great photo ops, nicely maintained facilities, fun ride
Cons: Chamber Live, expensive
The Bottom Line: It was a fun change of pace, but London has better things to offer if you're making a short visit.
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| chelledun's Full Review: Madame Tussauds London |
After a life-long curiosity about what exactly goes on in a wax museum, I will wonder no more after my visit to Madame Tussaud’s in London. Madame Tussaud’s international brand has five main locations which are London, Hong Kong, New York City, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam. The Tussaud’s group also manages several other tourist attractions around the world including the London Eye and Alton Towers Amusement Park. I visited the museum with my husband and while we had a really fun day, I doubt I will become a frequent wax museum visitor.
General Information
Madame Tussaud’s is located on Marylebone Road very near to the Baker Street tube station. Hours and prices vary according to how busy the season is but you can check the times for your visit at http://www.madame-tussauds.co.uk/planyourvisit_openingtimespricing.asp. We visited during peak season and the museum was open from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The cost was 21.99 pounds per adult including the Chamber Live attraction and 19.99 pounds without it. I recommend going without it, but more on that later. The costs for a child are about 4 pounds less. Severely discounted rates are available if you arrive at the museum later than 3:00 p.m. so this might be a good option depending on your touring schedule. Annual passes are a fairly good value if you live in the area and will be visiting more than once a year, but I’m not sure what one would do at a wax museum more than once a year.
My Advice – Book Ahead and Go Early!
The website offers an option to pay for your tickets online and arrange for pick up at a particular time. Your booking acts essentially as a ‘reservation’ and can be made for any half hour interval during the museum’s opening time. A credit card payment is made online and you are then able to arrive up to a half hour before that time and bypass the queue entirely. This can be done for either groups or individuals. We used this service and reserved the first time of the day, 9:30. As a result, we were able to enter the museum about twenty minutes before the official opening time. The charge for this service was about two pounds extra per ticket but I felt that it was worth it to avoid the line already building.
If you are visiting the museum, I think there are huge advantages to visiting as early as possible. Since we entered early we kind of stayed ahead of the pack for our whole visit, since the museum moves guests through in a linear fashion. This meant we could take photos easily and didn’t end up with a bunch of random people in our pictures. If you can’t arrive early, booking online for a specific time becomes even more important as lines can reach up to two hours to enter the museum. When we left at about 11:30 the group line had a couple hundred people in it and the singles line stretched well outside the building as well.
Museum Exhibits
The wax museum was truly like no other attraction I’ve ever experienced. Honestly, at first it kind of freaked me out because I was uncomfortable with the wax figures staring at me and standing around lifeless. After a while I kind of got used to it and enjoyed taking photos and examining their outfits. The wax museum is set up so everyone visits the exhibits in the order I describe, so there is really no use trying to plan your day like I did. Just go with the flow and take your time in each area, because you can’t really go back after you move onto the next zone.
Blush - Visitors disembark elevators to a barrage of paparazzi flash and calls to smile for photos. This exhibit took us onto the red carpet with the most contemporary collection of Hollywood celebrities. I assume this exhibit is updated frequently, because Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were cuddling up together with Jennifer Anniston hanging out well across the room. The room is set up like a Hollywood red carpet party, complete with fountains, restrooms, and open microphones. I actually found this area to be my least favorite of the three wax figure rooms simply because I wasn’t sure who some of the people were and the labeling is very difficult to find in this room. Don’t worry, it gets better as you go along.
Premiere Night - While the Blush room focuses on celebrities of the moment, this second room offers a look at artists with a bit more staying power. The celebrities pictured are some of the greatest screen stars from the last century. I really enjoyed this exhibit as it offered a chance to be photographed with everyone from Marilyn Monroe to John Wayne to Oprah. Some of the photo opportunities are quite imaginative and guests can sit on a motorcycle or in a director’s chair. I knew who almost everyone in this room was to begin with, but in case you don’t the labeling is very good. Plaques by each star offer names and a brief summary of his or her career. Most also state when the celebrity sat for their wax portrayal.
World Stage - This is the largest of the three rooms of wax figures. World Stage is a bit of a catch-all area. There is an emphasis on political figures but sports celebrities, religious leaders, and musicians can also be scene throughout the room. You can have your photo taken as part of the Royal Family or with the Beatles. The collection runs the gamut from Martin Luther King to Adolph Hitler, and seeing all these figures in one place is a truly bizarre experience. Don’t miss the wax figure of Madame Tussaud herself, she’s not really what I had pictured. As with the Premiere Night room I found labeling of the figures in this area to be very good.
Chamber of Horrors - This area is a compete change of atmosphere from the rooms discussed above. If you are a haunted house/horror movie type of person you will probably dig the chamber of horrors. The exhibit is in a dark, gloomy cave area and features views of various torture devices. There are also portrayals of serial killers behind bars and plaques detailing their horrible crimes. I’m not a person who likes haunted houses or Halloween so this didn’t do a lot for me. I did think the exhibit was pretty small for as much as it is hyped up in the museum’s advertising so if you are visiting hoping for a huge chamber of horrors you will be disappointed. There are probably fewer than a dozen exhibits in the chamber.
Chamber Live - I paid two pounds extra for this??? The museum website describes this experience as a deeper, darker dungeon where the serial killers will drown out your screams with their manic laughter. I think that is kind of vague but I thought there would at least be some wax figures involved. Nope. This is very much the garden variety haunted house type thing where visitors walk through and people jump out yelling “ooga booga” and people follow you around breathing on you and growling at you. No scenery, no wax figures, and its only about two minutes long. If you’re a wimp, like me, you’ll hate it. If you like elaborate haunted houses you will probably be bored because its pretty monotonous. Pregnant women and children under 12 are not allowed to experience this attraction, and I wish I hadn’t either.
Spirit of London - This is a nice little ride, basically Madame Tussaud’s answer to “It’s a Small World.” Visitors board little taxis for a whirlwind tour of London history. You’ll have to watch quickly as the ride goes pretty fast. The animatronic wax figures move convincingly and the attraction’s scenery is very full. Views include the plague, the great fire, various royalty, London Bridge, Shakespeare, and more. The ride is accompanied by an upbeat narration about London’s ability to overcome various challenges through history. There really isn’t a way to ride this more than once, which is too bad because I think I probably missed some of the sights since so much is going on at a time. Children will definitely enjoy this attraction.
Journey To Infinity - Admission to the museum includes one free show in the auditorium. I’m not sure what this little show about the solar system has to do with a wax museum, but it was nice. It lasts about twenty minutes and discusses all the planets in the solar system as they go whizzing by on the screen. To me this show felt like something that would be more at home at a science museum but hey, it was free. The show is on the round ceiling of the theater so we found the seats in the back center to be the best. If you sit in the front you may end up straining your neck to see the show.
Food and Shopping
There is only one place to eat amongst the exhibits at the museum and it is a Costa Café located in the World Stage area. Sandwiches, snacks, and coffee drinks are available but the food is sharply restricted to the seating area around the restaurant. A concession stand on the way out of the museum offers hot dogs, donuts, and sodas without much seating.
The gift store had some truly unique items but was quite expensive. One of the most unique offerings was a 3-D ‘photo’ which could be created in a glass cube. The cost was about 35 pounds but they looked amazing. Also available are a fabulous variety of movie posters and dozens of coffee mugs, post cards, and t-shirts with the museum’s logo.
If you forget your camera, (don’t!) there are several locations throughout the museum where a photographer will take your photo and you can purchase it later at a kiosk. During our trip these stands were set up by the Beckam’s, the G8 summit, and the royal family. A photo is also taken on the Spirit of London ride but ours was very unexciting since its not exactly a thrill ride.
Overall…
I had a good time at the Madame Taussad's, Chamber Live excluded. The wax figures creeped me out initially but I got used to them as I went on. The cost is a little high, but you really do get a lot for your money and can linger in each area as long as you want. I’d imagine once you’ve seen one wax museum you’ve seen them all, but I think the London branch was good one to pick. I don’t recommend this museum if you’re only in London for a few days because there are so many things to see. However, for a longer stay it was a nice change from the many serious art museums and historical galleries.
My pictures from the museum are located at http://community.webshots.com/slideshow?ID=398058080&key=pvUNPU&pos=0 if anyone is curious about this museum.
*Other London Attractions:
British Museum
National Potrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
London National Gallery
London Science Museum
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
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