If you like to be scared, startled, look like a fool, you'll do all 3
Disadvantages:
They're Not Actually real .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
If you're afraid of wax and glass eyeballs, here is not the place to drink your coffee. On 234 W and 42nd St, there's a giant hand beckoning you inside... And inside we went. Samuel L. Jackson will meet and greet on the door (a little shy and entirely speechless, I think he mistook me for Angelina Jolie, and suddenly, weirdly, got bashful) and after the clamour of "ooohhh"s dies down, you'll look up and see the prices. Then you'll die a thousand deaths. Fortunately, as you're heading back out again, there's a kind American on the door who will shepherd you towards him with an almighty bellow of "hey guys, where you going?". Upon which you cower slightly and mumble "us poor *students/ scrooges/ people-on-benefits-happening-to-be-in-New-York can't afford that!". Kindly, he'll give you a discount (surely they didn't PLAN for that?).
Once you're finally past the cash register, you'll head upstairs and get your picture taken (I tried to run away but failed) within the embrace of the incredible, monstrous, green wax Hulk. Whoopee, I hear you cry!
Moving upwards and around a little bit, lost, (if you did anything like we did), you'll come to a lift where you're taken upstairs. With a Ding! and a swoosh, you're out onto a balcony, gazing down at a melee of stars in gowns, tuxedos and pointy bras (that's Madonna, cave person). Here I met, amongst others, Julia Roberts (even her wax likeness takes a better photo than me), George Clooney, Whoopie Goldberg (who we saw again later, getting around a bit), Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt whose crotch I had to fondle repeatedly (it wasn't up to me, honest!) for a friend's photo opportunity.
I get the impression that many of the stars are moved around a bit (having spoken to other people who have visited on trips), depending on the current theme, while there are fixed room styles, just changing wax content.
You exit here and move around various rooms; a music one, where you can sing and record your own tune, with an unwitting audience who casually pass by and suffer your wails; a political/ artistic-content room, where you can fulfil your dreams of touching Dali (or is that just me)... Strangely, Beyonce Knowles had a gammy toenail, and it has perplexed me ever since as to whether or not it was true to life. Twas all short and slightly brown... Perhaps the sculptor guy (yes, a guy, and not Madame herself, who is dead but immortalised forever in the gallery, all 4-foot-nought of her) had a venegeful streak on him at the time.
There's some interesting information on people when you walk about (I'll forgive you if you miss out reading about the extensive range of American politicians- my friend poked George Bush in the eye- yes, surprisingly, you can touch and interact with them), but I found it intriguing to learn more about our historical influences, and it's slightly strange to come face-to-face with the people you see so often on television. Similarly, in some places you can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality. I sh*t my pants on many occasions (excuse me) when I realised a previously stationary object was actually an unsuspecting bystander. (The problem with visiting a NY Madame Tussauds, I guess, is that you might not know every single one of the featured models!)
A not-quite-comprehensive list of stars: Artists/ Scientists/ Historians/ Politicians: Albert Einstein, Dali, Picasso, Warhol, Martin Luther King, Princess Di, Gandhi, Bill Gates, Arafat, General Tom Thumb (he actually existed! Who'da thunkit), George Bush, Malcolm X, and the communist revolutionary guy whose name I always forget... Che Guevara.
Singers/ Actors/ Director(s): Madonna (twice), Shakira, J.Lo, Beyonce, Spice Girls (minus Geri), Jessica Simpson, N*Sync, Lenny Kravitz, The Beatles, Michael Jackson (genius, I tell you) Bob Marley, Bob Dylan (mmm), Bruce Springstein (sweet heaven on earth), Julia Roberts, Marilyn Monroe, Whoopie Goldberg, Jennifer Anniston (who is teeny tiny, cruel, unfair chocolate-filled world of contradictions), George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, and finally- Spielberg.
There's also a house of mirrors as well as a haunted house, where you walk around and get accosted by hidden actors. It's best to go in here with a few friends (preferably a bulky one you can hide behind) or small children (just to see them cry). It's best NOT to go in here with a faint disposition or a heart weakness. It made me shriek. I bet you will too.
If you're going to take me up on my bet, can you bring me back some Hershey's Peanut Butter Cups too, please?
LIKENESS OF HERSELF AS FRIDA KAHLO WHICH SHE PORTRAYS IN THE FILM FRIDA SALMA HAYEK WITH STATUE OF HERSELF AS FRIDA KAHLO AT MADAME TUSSAUDS, NEW YORK, AMERICA - 2...
OF HERSELF AS FRIDA KAHLO AT MADAME TUSSAUDS, NEW YORK, AMERICA - 24 OCT 2002 SPAIN OUT, FRANCE OUT, GERMANY OUT, ITALY OUT, FINLAND OUT, NORWAY OUT, USA OUT, AU...
