Two weeks ago I had a chance to go through Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks. I’ve posted about Tussaud’s several times, and it was nice to go through it. The first thing that you notice is that all of the figures are out in the open. You can put your arm around them and pose with them. After walking through some of the opening areas, you go up the stairs (or take the elevator) to the second floor. You are now in the middle of a celebrity cocktail party. You can mingle with Tiger Woods, Beyonce, and Christina Aguilera or sit down with Tom Hanks or Harrison Ford.
When you leave the cocktail party, you then briefly hit the talk-show circuit. You can sit down with Oprah or talk to Leno, Letterman, or Dr. Phil. At one point you even get to visit Hogwart’s. You can have your picture taken with Harry, Hermoine, and Ron.
There is a small horror section to walk through. There is still faint light, and very little that will startle you. Jack Nicholson’s character from The Shining looks great, and the Simpson’s spoof of the same movie also looks good (all work and no play make Homer go crazy).
Scattered throughout the building you also can see the characters from Star Trek, Austin Powers, Mother Theresa, a meeting of world leaders (it must be in Texas as George Bush and his father both look quite comfortable), characters from Bat-Man, and more.
Partway through Tussaud’s they have a setup where you can have your picture taken going over the falls. It is done on a digital camera and they show you right away. You can choose to have a different one done if you wish. The picture in a nice souvenir paper frame is $9.95.
Overall I quite enjoyed my time at Tussaud’s. I think I recognized virtually all of the people, although they all don’t look perfect. A few of them were dead-on, most of them were very good, and there were a couple that looked odd (I thought Arnold Swartzenegger’s head was going to burst!). I loved the fact that you could be right beside the figures, and the scenes were excellent. It is expensive to get in ($12.95 for adult, $5.99 for children 12 and under, children under 5 are free) but there are discounts if you combine it with their other attractions (Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum or Ripley’s Moving Theatre).
You can see many pictures in the Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks gallery.