Madame Tussauds the centre of the Merlin empire (Madame Tussauds)

Member Name: chrisc92

Product:	Madame Tussauds
Date:	09/08/09 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great looking lifelike figures

Disadvantages: Overcrowded with no noticeable controls - and potential dangerous

Tuesday, 4 August 2009 a date that will live in infimy - well unlikely, but it was the second day of our whirlwind tour of London and after spending the earlier part on The Original Tour (London sightseeing bus) and a quick cruise on the Thames we zoomed along on the tube to Baker Street underground station. It had to be spot on, so we used the Bakerloo Line so that I could show Sue (my partner) the pictures of Sherlock Holmes on the walls of this one line.

After turning left out of the station and with feet already aching we passed the giant statue of the man himself (yes about 9 feet high) as we headed to Madame Tussauds.

From the outside it was exactly as I remembered it on each of my previous 3 trips, but it was our first one together. I still feel saddened that the best part of the attraction held within this building was the Planetarium which closed many years ago and I still remember looking at the ant like projector. Still, everything changes at some point I suppose.

Unlike previous trips queuing was pretty light and no-one seemed to spend much time waiting. However, as we had Merlin Annual Passes our queuing was limited to less than 5 minutes.

Once inside you head towards the lifts which take you to the top floor where your journey begins. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect once inside, but Sue felt pretty uncomfortable once she got out the lift and saw the huge mass of people looking at a number of film stars and models. It did surprise me that with all the kids around and touching quite a few of the exhibits that none appeared damaged, particularly as some (like Tom Cruise) were there exactly as I remembered them over 12 years ago.

We took a lot of photos particularly in this first section including one with me next to Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard from Star Trek the Next Generation), Jonathan Ross, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, Davina McCall, Morgan Freeman (2 seperate figures), John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, James Bonds (Sean Connery and Daniel Craig), Harrison Ford, Robin Williams. The list is rather long and they all looked very impressive including those of many sports people (including Lewis Hamilton, Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Tiger Woods to name a few) and the royal family. Michael Jackson was still very popular and they had a competion for those willing to participate.

The most impressive though were world leaders - particularly the infamous ones (Adolf Hitler, Colonel Gadaffi, Robert Mugabi, Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein). One of the most popular was Barrack Obarma with scores of people queuing to get their photo taken next to him.

Unlike past visits to Madame Tussauds we did not go into the Chamber of Horrors, as from our perspective we like to see things and not have a number of amateur actors trying to scare us to death. My previous recollection was much more memorable with the bell tolling and the prisoner shot over and over again. I just find scaring people is not good, and I bet if these actors actually saw the real thing they'd run away just as fast as we would.

A new part of the attraction is a ride through time from Elizabethan England to the present day on what appears to be London Taxis. The real aim however is to increase their takings by photographing every car in a similar way to all their other attractions which we certainly didn't engage in.

It almost felt like we were being escorted by the great Benny Hill into the shop on our way out.

It is strange that I always felt that Madame Tussauds was in Baker Street, when in reality it's in Marylebone Road and it's actually the station that's in the wrong place. I'm not convinced at having the likes of Boris Johnson as part of the exhibition, but it is still fairly enjoyable.

However, one thing that does concern me is that this attraction is potential a serious health and safety risk as many areas are extremely crowded and there doesn't appear to be any control on numbers, more how many tickets they can sell in as shorter time possible.

As a Merlin Annual Pass holder we were limited in visiting Madame Tussauds after 3pm during August, however if we visit again we will definitely go earlier to avoid the masses! Adult tickets (on the day are £25, but like everything else there are a number of options available - for more information follow the link below).

Would I go back? Yes, but at a much quieter time and I want to see the Chamber of Horrors without the scare factor. The images are excellent, but this is one place where it is purely about making money. I have rated it 4*, 5* for the very lifelike figures and 3* for the overall experience which I feel has definitely declined in relation to previous visits.

http://www.madametussauds.com/London/BuyTickets/T ickets/Default.aspx

Summary: On a quiet day this is certainly a place that I would want to visit again