Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
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A few weeks ago on my first adventure into London in a few years we decided that a trip to Madame Tussauds was in order. It had proved to be a day where we couldn’t decide what to do. Having been at the Dungeons earlier in the day we were going to go to The Millennium Eye. Due to a low cloud covering over London we decided it’d be a waste of money so we headed for Madame Tussauds instead. As it comes included in my Theme Parkannual pass was just a bonus.
If you’ve not heard of Madame Tussauds it’s a large museum containing a number of wax works based on famous people. The wax works started in 1835 when a French woman moved into a bizarre in Baker street with a number of wax mouldings of heads from people punished by the guillotine in France. She died in 1884 and her son carries on her small exhibit, which slowly grows through the years into the museum we can visit today.
We got the tube from Westminster to Baker Street on the Jubilee line and as soon as we were through the barriers we could see the signs. Its only a five minute walk from the station to the front door of Tussauds, which makes the tube the ideal way to get there. The signs weren’t really needed as you can see the dome from just outside the station. They’ve got a huge advert for the new Spiderman 2 exhibit draped over the dome at the station end, which makes it incredibly easy to spot.
With my Tussauds group pass I got straight into the museum rather than having to queue for a ticket. The two entrances make it a lot easier for people with pre purchased tickets as they don’t have to wait in the same queue while other people are buying. As it was a Thursday there was a relatively short queue, however I
can imagine on weekends and holidays it’ll be an awful lot busier. So I’d certainly recommend going on a week day out of term time.
Id never been to Tussauds before, but have to admit I was shocked by the prices. If you just want to view the museum itself and not take advantage of the extras its an extortionate £19.99 for adults and £14.99 for Kids. If however you want to visit The Chamber Live and The Warriors Show it’ll cost you about £21.99 and £16.99 respectively. It seems extremely high for what it is and I have to say I’m glad I didn’t have to pay to get in. It’s open from 9.30 till 5.30 so you can spend a fair bit of time in there for your money, but I still don’t feel it was worth it.
So with the initial rip off out of the way you can take the elevator to the third floor in order to start the tour. From there your pretty much left to your own devices to wander through the exhibits as you please, which I think would have been better at London Dungeons as well. The first room is full of random celebrities from Jerry Springer to Simon Cowell, Billy Connolly to Samuel L Jackson. I was really rather amazed by just how realistic they all looked, however I found the eyes following you round the room very disturbing.
At one point I was walking between two models, one of Sarah Michelle Gellar and the other of a photographer. My mate suddenly grabbed my arm and told me to watch out that persons taking a picture. I pointed out it was actually another wax work, but they really do look that realistic.
I noticed that Tussauds money men had been thinking quite wisely when they were designing the layout of the museum. In two of the four corners were little stalls selling camera’s and chocolate. In a third corner was a cordoned off area where you can have a photo taken with J’lo all for the slight sum of £4 a time. This wasn’t the only photo opportunity either. It was obvious Tussauds wanted you to spend a fortune.
From here we moved onto the next room, which features a number of movie stars and famous characters, passing Posh, Becks, Brad & Jennifer on the way. Each actor is shown as a famous character from one of their films such as Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. They all look very realistic and the attention of detail on each Wax work is astonishing. It almost explains the extortionate price, when you see the work that’s gone in, but not quite.
It’s then down a flight of stairs into the biggest room in the museum. In this room you’ll find a bit of a mixture of historical figures from all walks of life. As you enter the main hall to your right are modern day world leaders, including our own Tony Blair. On the opposite side are a few sporting heroes and of course, the Beatles who are the only proper band featured within Tussauds. This was a bit of a disappointment as I thought there may be a few other bands to have been captured in Wax.
The rest of this room is taken up by various members of the Royal family from across the years. There is another paying photo opportunity and for just another £4 you can have a picture to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee. There are a few religious and American leaders before you reach the end of the room and yet another paying photo opportunity. This time it’s a Bollywood scene and features two people whom I can only assume are huge stars. And yes you guessed it, another £4 for the photo.
Just as you leave this room there is a small Café, so they can charge you an extortionate price for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Then just as you walk out the door another money spinning idea. There’s a small stall offering to make a wax cast of your hand for a fiver. I personally think all these extra’s are a rip off but you’ve got to hand it to the person who laid the museum out. They obviously earned their bonus with the amount of extra’s Tussauds sell.
You then head down another flight of stairs into the part of the Wax works I found the most interesting. A small part of the information here was a repeat from London Dungeons, but Tussauds dungeon is far more interesting. The main exhibits in here focus on implements of torture and famous figures such as Vlad The Impaler. I thought that more effort had been put into this section as there were numerous wall mountings and stands explaining in great detail what each exhibit is about. I thought this would have been a much better idea throughout the Wax works.
At about the half way point of the Dungeon comes the first “extra” part of the tour. You’ll only be able to get in if you have a yellow stickered ticket. The Chamber Live is a small walkway off to the side of the main museum. As you walk through various “Live” cast members dressed as prisoners jump out on you and generally try to shock you. It certainly isn’t worth the extra money and if I’d had to pay for it I think I’d have been after a refund.
There are a few more villains after your visit to The Chamber through the rest of the crime and punishment section. At the far end of this is a reminder to the early days of the museum and a few exhibits focussed on the French Civil War. It also features an exhibit of Madame Tussaud and a little bit of history on her as well. All in all this whole floor is probably the most interesting part of the tour, just don’t bother with the Chamber.
It’s then time to head back up stairs and in a similar principle to London Dungeons, Tussauds have a small ride for part of the museum. It consists of a continuous stream of cars all decked out to look like Black cabs, to take you round. Each car contains an audio commentary in English, French, German or Spanish to explain each of the exhibits. The ride gives a brief history of London, using wax work models to create each scene. I thought they would be better doing more scene like exhibits rather than just having the models stood there in the other sections of the tour.
As there hadn’t been one for a while it’s no surprise that during the ride another £4 picture is taken and that still isn’t the last one. As you head up the stairs to leave you come across a rather disappointing Spiderman exhibit, where you can have another photo taken. The exhibit itself was a real let down after the advertising on the side of the building.
If you’ve opted for the standard ticket that is the end of your trip to Tussauds. If however you have a ticket for The Warriors show, you get to go upstairs and sit in the auditorium. The show itself uses a few members of the public for an early scene and features a short film on Greek Mythology. Like the Chamber its not really worth the extra money and you aren’t really missing much by missing these out.
So that was my trip to Tussauds, but did I enjoy it? I thought it had a number of positive points and was quite an interesting place to visit. I couldn’t help feeling though that it had so much more potential than the tour currently available. It was a nice way to spend the day but it doesn’t lend itself too easily to being an interesting attraction you would like to go back to. In fact there were a few parts of the main hall where I was rather bored. That said the detail that goes into each and every wax work is worth going to see on it’s own.
I felt the overall price of a day there was a bit extortionate, especially when you think that all the extra’s added on come to £25 just for pictures and a hand cast. On the end of that there is also the extortionately priced gift shop as well. It can be a very expensive day but if you’ve never been it’s certainly recommended, simply for the work that has clearly gone in. I think I’ll go back sometime next year, but only because of Tussauds inclusion on my Season Pass.
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Advantages: Indoors, quite a lot to see Disadvantages: It is a walk-through place, so not a place for little kids who might be overcome by the need to touch
Oct 30th, 2004
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