A London tourist attraction is ofter deemed an intimidating prospect; large queues, expensive prices, cattle-hurding and general tourist stress.
My recent (and first) trip to Madame Tussauds could have been all of these things had I not been previously tipped off about a few stress busting ideas.
I now share these ideas with anyone thinking of attending the world famous house of wax. I hope they are of some use.
The first thing you need to do when waking up on the morning of your visit - is have a good wash, pluck, shave, trim - do your hair, fix that make-up and find your best outfit! The reason for this is that you will be spending your entire day in front of a camera and you will want to look your best! The pictures you'll take in the Wax Works Museum will be shown to all your family and friends - so make sure you smarten up!
If you really want to show off... dress formally. When you eventually take pictures of the wax works, most of them are dressed as if at the Oscars - so the smarter your appearance, the more realistic the photograph that "you were actually there!"
Go a step further and take several clothes! I know it sounds barmy, but there are several sport stars, pop stars, politicians, royal family and film actors. Why not take a bow-tie, a football shirt or a tiara? I took a pair of sunglasses which came in handy for my pictures with The Terminator and other cool celebs.
The next thing to do is double check you have your camera(s), pleanty of film or memory space - and lots and lots of battery!
If you run out of any of the above you will be disappointed and it will be expensive for you to purchase new ones inside the museum. It is a simple thing - but important so double, triple check!
Now you need to jump on a train (if possible)! National Rail have a special offer available until the 3rd June 2007 which allows National Rail travellers the opportunity to save 50% on entry into several attractions - Madame Tussauds is of course one of them! All you need to do is present your ticket at the venue when buying your tickets and you will get a great 2 for 1 discount.
For more information visit www.2for1entry.co.uk
The Tube Station you'll need is Baker Street (not Picadilly Circus, as I first thought)!
Opening hours are 9 - 6pm, Monday - Sunday.
If you can't travel by train that day then you will probably expect to pay the full £25 entry fee (£21 children & £78 family) - sorry senior citizens but it's the full £25 for you!
There is the option to pre book your tickets as to avoid big queues, but most people tend to show up on the day. If however, there are large queues into the general box office, they do have a gentleman selling "queue jump" tickets. I actually used him on my visit because I didn't want to spend half an hour in the rain and cold.
ADVANTAGES - You get in to the attraction as soon as you buy a ticket from him. And - he accepts credit and switch cards on his hand held chip & pin machine!
DISADVANTAGES - He doesn't give you all the information, such as; how much the tickets cost before you agree to buy from him. He also charges an extra £2.50 for the service (which we only learnt afterwards meant "per ticket")! So that was an extra £5 for us!
So now you have your tickets and probably a large hole in your wallet! All that remains is to go have your bag searched and go in.
I shan't tell you any more about the specific attraction because the joy of this visit is all about surprise. If you can avoid reading about "who" and "what" happens in the museum, I think you'll have a much better expereince.
We were shocked by the size of the venue and the scale of attractions which feature a lot more than just photo's with celebs.
Other things to note are -
They will try and sell you novelty items (such as photo's with certain stars) - generally these are expensive, but it is worth getting at least one or two as a gift.
If you purchase a novelty photo - there is an option to pay a pound or two more to have it emailed to you. We did this so that we could have our favouite picture saved on our computer.
Most of these novelty ones you don't have to buy and the photographers are all kind enough to take pictures of you with your camera too. So if there is a special set-up and you are in a couple - don't feel bad about asking them to take one with your camera - it will save you £7 or more!
Finally, don't be afraid to laugh at yourself as you stand next to people you assume to be real. Although some 'characters' are better than others, there are some which you will mistake to be alive. Look out for the photographer in the first room...she tricked us good!
Everything else in the museum speaks for itself. It is a very enjoyable day out that takes about 2-3 hours to go around. you are not restricted in anyway from touching the models, photographing them or roaming back and forth. If you miss something - go back and see it later. There is a coffee shop for your refreshment, there are several mini-shops selling camera's, batteries, bottled water and snacks. At the end of the visit you may be hungry and there is a fast food outlet with very tasty hot dogs - although we also went to the slightly cheaper eatery over the street. The staff are very helpful (almost Disney), and the amount of activity, wax works and surprises were second to none.
Please don't be disappointed if a particular waxwork is missing, just make sure you visit there other locations in New York, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Las Vegas and Hong Kong. Oddly there is no model of "Ruby Wax" - strange hur?
I hope this guide was helpful - let me know how you enjoy the experience.
Kind Regards, Andrew
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