Madame Tussauds, New York

...quite a new attraction at Madame Tussauds New York – which we neglected to enter into. From the website it does sound rather entertaining, promising a “multi-sensory environment with gothic architecture, blasts of bone-chilling wind, and blood curdling screams, all of which are heightened by a cast of live actors lurking behind every corner waiting to scare unsuspecting visitors.”

Adjacent to the biography channel room is a huge white ...
...it does have a few Madame Tussauds-specific items.


♣ The verdict ♣

When we arrived at the end of the tour, we were really disappointed. In less than an hour we had seen the entire contents of the museum. We shook our heads at the fact that this would normally have cost us over $30 per person, because we did not even feel that it was worth half the price. In all honesty, $10 per person would have been ... more

We are not the kind of people who really enjoy tourist attractions, but finding ourselves in New York , at temperatures which made your blood freeze in your veins, forced us to abandon our marathon walks down the avenues and to find some indoors entertainment. We had walked down 42nd Street and passed Madama Tussaud’s several times – and were indeed very impressed by Samuel L. Jackson standing outside the door, looking so real that one would want to go over there and ask for an autograph. It was enticing enough for us to one day decide to enter the glass doors shortly after they opened.

Once inside, we looked around for prices. At first we could not see any. There was only one woman in front of us. I overheard her asking for three tickets – and I then thought I overhead the cashier asking for something in excess of $90. I panicked slightly and surveyed my surroundings again. It was then that I spotted a TV screen on the right-hand side, advertising adult entrance fees at $27.99 plus New York sales tax. I signalled to my partner to have a look – and we made a bee-line for the door.

Suddenly, a young NewYorker shot out of a corner and stopped us. “Hey, folks! Where are you going?” My partner was silent, as ever. I did not know what to say at first, but then I croaked, “This is even more expensive than in London!” That is when the man offered us a special deal. The two of us for $30.40 – about half the price. I still was a little sceptical, but at 50% off we decided that we could not decline the offer.

We went up to the till, where the cashier at first wanted to charge us the full price – until I pointed at the New Yorker cowering in the corner and told her that we had been offerered the deal. She reduced the price, I handed over my money – and off we went.

♣ The museum ♣

You have two choices – you can either head straight for the elevators – or you can walk up the stairs. We decided to walk upstairs. That is a bit of a mistake if you are photo-shy! The next moment you are faced with a gigantic green Hulk and a cheerful young lady who directs you to stand in front of the monster to have your picture taken. Two cheesy poses later, she sends you off with ticket stubs to collect your photos later.

After posing with the Hulk, you have to take the elevator upstairs. There is an elevator operator who will instruct you that you are being taken to the top floor and that you are not to re-enter the elevator, or else you may miss parts of the museum.

The elevator doors open – and you are actually faced with a gigantic ballroom full of celebreties, all dressed up fancy, like you would expect at a Hollywood party. Most of the celebrities in this room are film stars and muscians, although I do seem to recall a couple of politicians. It is slightly claustrophobic, to say the least, because a lot of these wax figures look very real and you often actually feel like you are being watched by them as you walk by. But once you get used to the impressive overfilled room and take a look at the celebrities one by one, you see that not every figure has the same level of detail and quality. I found that Whoopi Goldberg and Selma Hayek looked scarily real. On the other hand, Brad Pitt and Madonna looked rather fake and disappointing. Other celebrities that I remember seeing in this room included a rather fake-looking Michelle Pfeiffer and an odd-looking Jody Foster, but a rather impressive Clint Eastwood. I would estimate that there are over 100 figures in this room. I was actually rather disappointed at this stage that I had not brought my camera – especially when I saw that the stand selling disposable cameras was closed.

Moving onwards, you come into a little room that has little to do with wax figures and is all about the weather. This is your chance to play weatherman: You can stand in front of a weather map and see yourself on a camera, pointing to the different parts of the United States and making up sunshine and rain as you go along. Adjacent to this room you have a chance to sit in a chair with the “Biography channel” tapestry background behind you. You can pretend to the world that you are a world-famous celebrity yourself – and tell your life history (if your loved one will let you!)

In another adjacent room you can meet the Osbourne’s. Sharon and Ozzy are sitting on a couch – looking rather life-like. They really succeeded in capturing the elegance of Sharon, but for some reason the artists decided to be overly flattering to Ozzy and make him appear a few decades younger and less wrinkly than in reality.

Next to the couch is a room that is covered with a curtain and which you would not dare to venture into if you were epileptic, as it has strobe lighting. This is aparently the Van Helsing Torture Chamber, quite a new attraction at Madame Tussauds New York – which we neglected to enter into. From the website it does sound rather entertaining, promising a “multi-sensory environment with gothic architecture, blasts of bone-chilling wind, and blood curdling screams, all of which are heightened by a cast of live actors lurking behind every corner waiting to scare unsuspecting visitors.”

Adjacent to the biography channel room is a huge white room. They were filming a commercial in there when we visited, so we could not look at the figures in any great detail. There were some political figures, such as Yassar Arafat, but for the most part the room contained historical figures, long dead, and certainly not modelled in the presence of the actual human being. There are some old presidents in here, for example, some writers and freedom fighters as well as jazz muscians. There was not, however, a single figure that would have stuck out as impressive.

You then have to venture down a flight of stairs. While walking down these stairs – you can already here it from a distance: The all-familiar American Idol theme tune. You know what to expect. Around the corner is Simon Cowell, again, looking about 10 years younger than he really is. In front of him is a stage with the “American Idol” logo in the background. But is there anything else to it? Frankly, we did not know, as there was no staff around to tell us. On examination of the area we believe that you can actually get up on the stage and sing a little karaoke in front of waxy Simon Cowell – your chance to sing loud and false without him being able to make you feel bad!

Venturing onwards, you come across a little food court. Again, this was not staffed when we were there, but if you are tired, it presents the ideal opportunity to have lunch or a beverage – and if it is as empty as it was that day, you may actually have the opportunity to sit with Robin Williams or with Barbara Streisand. Quite impressive, both of them sitting there on their own.

After the cafeteria follows another larger collection of figures. There are a lot of muscians on the remainder of the tour – including the Spice Girls, the Beatles and N’Sync. About half of the Spice Girls were impressive, the other half was not so realistic. The Beatles display looked very neat –with the four band members lounging about on a couch, but they did not look too real either.

Besides musicians, the room also contained a number of sports personalities. I am not very big on names outside tennis – but there was definitely a Martina Navratilova and a Billy Jean King there – and I think a John McEnroe. I also think I saw Michael Jordan and a Babe Ruth baseball player figure. All in all, there were not enough celebrities in these four corners to keep me interested long enough.

And then suddenly – that appears to be it! You end up in the gift shop – you see the stand where you can collect your pictures with Hulk – but you can also venture to your right, where you have two final attractions.

For one, they had a Jessica Simpson display. We have been told that they usually conduct a Jessica Simpson quiz show when more people are around – but with a whole 4 guests, there was really no point. I have not seen this advertised on the website, however, so it might have been a temporary attraction.

Secondly, you can watch a movie! Oh, a bit of excitement, we thought. You go inside this planetarium-shaped room and sit on a wooden bench, which is rather uncomfortable. You look upwards and see the screen – it is a horsecarriage driver. Once the doors shut, the horse-carriage driver takes you on this odd virtual tour of New York City, partially in he 50’s, partially today. It is actually rather boring, apart from the final part of the movie, where the horsecarriage starts flying and you find yourself travelling over the skyline of Manhattan – which oddly enough still contains the Twin Towers.

After the movie is over – that is the end of the tour – and the museum. You can shop in the gift shop, which does not contain much more than the usual New York tourist stuff that you can get elsewhere, though it does have a few Madame Tussauds-specific items.

♣ The verdict ♣

When we arrived at the end of the tour, we were really disappointed. In less than an hour we had seen the entire contents of the museum. We shook our heads at the fact that this would normally have cost us over $30 per person, because we did not even feel that it was worth half the price. In all honesty, $10 per person would have been the absolute maximum I would have been prepared to pay if I had known what to expect. I really think that the full ticket price is outrageous. If I were you, I would try and see if you can get a special deal. If you do end up paying the full price and finding it as disappointing as we did, I would simply go back and ask, “Excuse me, Madame. Is that really it?”

♣ Further information ♣

Madame Tussauds is open 365 days a year. Monday through Sunday - from 10.00am. The last ticket is sold at 8.00pm. You can hire out parts of the museum for private functions – ranging from 20 people to 1,000 people. Further information can be found at www.nycwax.com

♣ Location ♣

234 West 42nd Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) in the heart of Times Square.

♣ Prices ♣

- Adults (13 - 59): $30.40
- Children (4 - 12): $23.89
- Seniors discount (60+): $27.15
- Children under 4: Free

 

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