We recently visited Madame Tussaud's with our Merlin Annual Passes. Having not been for years, I wasn't sure quite how it was set up these days but, if anything, there is more to see than before, with lots of interactive opportunities, such as 4-D film, rides and guided experiences.
We breezed through the first Party and Fashion sections not having a clue who most of the people depicted there were. Not watching soaps or reality TV, keeping up with popular culture, or listening to music does that. We did spot Patrick Stewart and Daniel Craig, so maybe we're not completely hopeless! The girls liked the film section and recognised lots of characters like ET and Shrek, although the very impressive huge animatronic King Kong was declared rather scary. Those teeth are pretty fierce!
The YouTube and Sport sections were also rather over our heads, although the teens and 20-somethings were all over it. In the Royals area, lots of foreign visitors and tourists were grabbing selfies with assorted members of British and international royal families and it was incredibly busy, so we left them to it and headed to the Culture section, much more our cup of tea!
Sophia was delighted to 'meet' one of her heroes, Vincent van Gogh, and we saw lots of famous writers and scientists, most of whom they recognised. Charles Dickens' beard held a particular fascination.
We missed the Spirit of London ride and The Sherlock Holmes Experience due to a combination of at least two members of our party being too young, plus Lara's autism, which was a shame. It would be nice if there were at least one activity suitable for younger children, and a bit less loud noise/strobe lighting/flashing images to make an activity suitable for people on the spectrum.
Lara and Tatiana loved the Marvel comic area and were delighted to get up close to Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, as well as making Daddy be an X-Man!
The 4-D Marvel movie was also unsuitable for younger children and the effects would have had a bad effect on Lara's condition, so we had to skip that too. The bonus of doing so was that we got the Star Wars section to ourselves, and were able to make the most of examining everybody and everything there.
The girls loved playing at shooting into hyperspace with Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon, interacting with Luke, Han and the droids, and telling Darth Vader to stop being so mean!
Lara loved cute little BB8!
We did enjoy our visit to Madame Tussauds, but felt it was shame we couldn't do any of the extra things which no doubt take the tour to another level. Touring the waxworks was fun (when we recognised them!), and the highlight of our visit was definitely being able to explore the Star Wars area so thoroughly.
Elsewhere it was very busy (summer holidays, of course it is!) and quite hot and stuffy, which the girls struggled with. I think if you are visiting with adults and/or teenagers, there would be much more to do and would make the most of you visit. I'm not sure I would bother visiting with young children or an autistic child again though, which is a shame.
We have received complimentary Merlin Annual Passes which were used for the purposes of this review and visit.
We breezed through the first Party and Fashion sections not having a clue who most of the people depicted there were. Not watching soaps or reality TV, keeping up with popular culture, or listening to music does that. We did spot Patrick Stewart and Daniel Craig, so maybe we're not completely hopeless! The girls liked the film section and recognised lots of characters like ET and Shrek, although the very impressive huge animatronic King Kong was declared rather scary. Those teeth are pretty fierce!
The YouTube and Sport sections were also rather over our heads, although the teens and 20-somethings were all over it. In the Royals area, lots of foreign visitors and tourists were grabbing selfies with assorted members of British and international royal families and it was incredibly busy, so we left them to it and headed to the Culture section, much more our cup of tea!
Sophia was delighted to 'meet' one of her heroes, Vincent van Gogh, and we saw lots of famous writers and scientists, most of whom they recognised. Charles Dickens' beard held a particular fascination.
We missed the Spirit of London ride and The Sherlock Holmes Experience due to a combination of at least two members of our party being too young, plus Lara's autism, which was a shame. It would be nice if there were at least one activity suitable for younger children, and a bit less loud noise/strobe lighting/flashing images to make an activity suitable for people on the spectrum.
Lara and Tatiana loved the Marvel comic area and were delighted to get up close to Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, as well as making Daddy be an X-Man!
The 4-D Marvel movie was also unsuitable for younger children and the effects would have had a bad effect on Lara's condition, so we had to skip that too. The bonus of doing so was that we got the Star Wars section to ourselves, and were able to make the most of examining everybody and everything there.
The girls loved playing at shooting into hyperspace with Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon, interacting with Luke, Han and the droids, and telling Darth Vader to stop being so mean!
Lara loved cute little BB8!
We did enjoy our visit to Madame Tussauds, but felt it was shame we couldn't do any of the extra things which no doubt take the tour to another level. Touring the waxworks was fun (when we recognised them!), and the highlight of our visit was definitely being able to explore the Star Wars area so thoroughly.
Elsewhere it was very busy (summer holidays, of course it is!) and quite hot and stuffy, which the girls struggled with. I think if you are visiting with adults and/or teenagers, there would be much more to do and would make the most of you visit. I'm not sure I would bother visiting with young children or an autistic child again though, which is a shame.
We have received complimentary Merlin Annual Passes which were used for the purposes of this review and visit.