Selfies With the Stars, at Madame Tussauds London

A little while ago I was in London, and had a free day to myself, so I decided to use my Merlin Annual Pass to visit Madame Tussauds for the first time.

I had been looking forward to going for a while and was excited to take a selfie with Kim Kardashian, as you do, but as I got nearer I suddenly started to wonder if it would actually interest me once I was inside, particularly on my own. It is not like there is loads to actually do there, and when I thought about it, it did seem slightly weird going to look at replicas of famous people for fun.

Madame Tussauds London is really easy to get to – it is located on Marylebone Road, just a minutes walk from Baker Street tube station.

As I took the lift upstairs and walked into the first big room I felt a little bewildered due to all the people and non-people. I wouldn’t say it was overly busy but there were figures everywhere and I couldn’t immediately tell who was real and who wasn’t until they moved (or didn’t!).

But it was really cool wandering around the room and checking out all of the models of the celebrities and snapping a few selfies with my favourites. Most of them are just incredible and look exactly like the real celebrity, and so real and lifelike, some not quite so much. But the detail that goes into all of them is astounding (which I’d learn more about later!).

At one point I did feel like the absolute biggest plonker – I (obviously) wanted to take a picture of the wonderful Britney, so I stood waiting until a lady had finished taking her pictures, me being polite (lots of the tourists in there bloody weren’t!) and standing to the side whilst I waited, but growing more and more frustrated at how long this damn woman was taking and that she didn’t let anyone take a quick snap in between her many shots. After a few minutes (yes I really wanted a pic of the singer) I got very embarrassed and felt like a prize twonk, as I realised the ‘pap’ was also a bloody model!!!! I had a little giggle to myself and probably turned a bit red; however I did feel a bit (lot) better when a couple did the exact same thing afterwards! Good work Madame Tussauds creators, good work.

After that experience, I wandered around, had the obligatory selfie with Kim and my love, Leonardo Dicaprio and moved on to the next room. The whole place was pretty busy, as I’m sure it often is; with people moving around in different directions, but I didn’t find it too bad, and never had to wait long to see my favourite celebs up close (except for bloody Brit). I did however walk straight in the door with my Merlin Annual Pass, so I am sure that it gets MUCH busier at weekends and other popular times.

The next area was slightly more interactive, and you could walk the red carpet and take fashion pictures with Kendall in the showbizzy mirror.

I was obviously on my own but I do think kids would quite enjoy Madame Tussauds as well. There are characters like Shrek and E.T that you can take pictures with as well as a ride in a ‘taxi’ around London, and a 4D movie which was fun, that would break it up a bit for them. I can’t imagine them wanting to spend ages there whilst their sad supercool mums take selfies with people half their age, but I think there’s enough to keep them entertained for a good while.

In one room you can learn all about the process of how they make the waxworks, and it was actually fascinating – the detail that goes into each one and the research that they do, and then the process of making the model is crazy, and really interesting to learn a bit about.

Towards the end there is another huge room, full of popular singers, bands like One Direction and The Beatles, as well as politicians. I don’t know why but it just does feel pretty cool seeing these waxworks of some of your idols or famous people you love, and getting to take a photo with them! I really enjoyed wandering around on my own and getting up close to some celebs I love. It was pretty cool seeing lots of inspiring sports stars as well like Jessica Ennis-Hill, whose waxwork is amazing and so realistic!

hiii Harry.

I think if you are doing some of the other Merlin attractions in London, then it would be good to include a visit to Madame Tussauds, especially if you have never been before. I wouldn’t personally make a trip just to go there again, but it was really fun for a couple of hours, and I would happily use our passes to go again to see what is new if we were in the area.

We have absolutely loved having our annual passes over the last year and a half – it’s allowed us to visit new places and have experiences as a family that we wouldn’t have been able to afford individually. It’s also encouraged us to make more special trips together which I love. If you are interested in getting passes for your family, then you can find out more here. Check out Nikki at Yorkshire Wonders’ post about another Merlin attraction; York Dungeons to find out what that’s like.

I am a Merlin Annual Pass Blogger Ambassador, I was given a Merlin Annual Pass to do this review with my family and I was not paid to do this post. If anyone would like to confirm any details in the post, please email [email protected].