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This is not the official website of Madame Tussauds, if you were looking for the official website you can find it here: www.madame-tussauds.co.uk I first visited Madame Tussauds as a child, and later as a teenager when we used to take disadvantaged children from Tower Hamlets out for the day. This was always a fun day out, one of the few real family attractions in London. On a recent visit however, I was struck by the changes that had taken place, particularly the high prices (we couldn't afford to take local kids there now), the ques and the obsession with "temporary" stars. After failing to get any response from the company to my requests for explanations I set up this website to air my views online. If you would like to air your experiences too, good or bad, please email them to me here at: info@madametussauds.co.uk Here are your comments to date: Comment » For what it’s worth here are my comments. Madame Tussauds is probably the most horrible experience I’ve ever been involved in. If you want to feel like livestock walking through an abattoir then Tussauds is probably the right place for you. I’m pretty sure that the organisation is breaking several laws relating to fire safety, but who cares? They probably take about £1M on a daily basis and don’t give a hoot about anything apart from milking the tourist or local for as much as they possibly can. If anyone ever reads this then do yourselves a favour and steer clear, it is not worth a visit unless you want to be milked and slaughtered. Comment by Martin Davies — May 23, 2009 @ 08:12 am Comment » After visiting the attraction yesterday morning i was absolutely disgusted in the tour, it felt like i was in a "cattle market" myself and my mother an elderly lady was pushed around like rag doll we could hardly see any of your wax works due to the outrageous amount of people there, after just 20 mins of being there we wanted to leave, and took us a further 30 mins to get out as we could hardly see the way out signs, there was no organisation there at all, perhaps it would be better organised like the london dungeon where your are taken round in a certain number of groups or like the london tower where it is nearly a single file system, what disturbed me the most was a mother and very young child walking down the stairs and due to the large amount of people pushing and pulling the child was pushed down the stairs. I certainly myself will not visit the attraction again and will not promote it to anyone i know, i feel thoroughly ripped off Comment by Sarah Holmes — May 22, 2009 @ 19:42 pm Comment » Thought I'd add my comments to your webpage as some comments are for it and some against it. Comment by Alex Anderson — April 17, 2009 @ 16:37 pm Comment » We went to MT this saturday and paid for MT and the london eye - when we got to the London Eye it was closed for maintenance work - when we went into the ticket office at LE we were told that they could not refund us the money because we had purchased the tickets at MT's we told them we were travelling back to Scotland the next morning and could not get our refund someone we were travelling with told us that the LE was usually closed for maintenance the first three weeks in January and MT should have known that. MT should put a notice up in their entrance saying that if you buy a double deal the process for gettinga refund should the attraction not be available. Now am back home and cannot find anywhere phone numbers of any place where we can get a refund. Disgusting Comment by Brenda Irvine — January 19, 2009 @ 11:16 pm Comment » I have a suggestion:
Stop filling your museum with American tweens i.e Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus and get some proper British bands in there! i.e McFly or Girls Aloud.!
Madame Tussaudes is supposed to be a British Museum don't ruin it! Comment by Alicia Beale — October 28, 2008 @ 23:04 pm Comment » Thank you so much for providing this information and website. We moved recently to London and wanting to do the touristy sightseeing were gravely disappointed on our first visit to Madame Tussauds due to the regular complaints about crowds and lineups. Since we bought the annual pass to London attractions, we thought to follow the advice of a staff member from MT that had written on your website and was that person right! Indeed, no lineups –infact no one at the door at 5:15pm on a Sunday afternoon in mid September. We walked right in and were pleasantly surprised to find one tenth of the crowd we were bombarded with in middle of August on a Sunday. So, do follow the advice the staff member wrote—after 5pm was perfect and we were in there till about 6:15pm-with plenty of other people enjoying the museum. No lineups anywhere and my child was happily able to explore the museum without getting lost in crowds. Infact, we were so pleased, we decided to try our luck at about 7pm at London Eye and no lineups there either..walked right in. Maybe there is a theme of beat the crowds and arrive at London attractions in the evening. Thanks to you, we were able to have this very pleasant past Sunday sightseeing experience! Comment by Sapna Aggarwal — September 15, 2008 @ 20:31 pm Comment » My two friends and I planned a day to London based around visiting Madam Tussauds to celebrate a Birthday. Hearing brilliant reviews and excellent feedback meant we were not reluctant to queue for over an hour or pay the twenty five pound entry fee; we were excited and eager to see the attraction. Although the attraction was extremely busy we were enjoying the museum and seeing the wax models of the film, music and sports personalities. When we reached the Chamber of Horrors we were told if we did not like ‘scary things’ then to move to the left. We stayed to the right and walked around to view various wax models of different forms of capital punishment. When we came out of this part of the museum we were again told if we did not like ‘scary things’ then to move to the left. We stayed to the right and queued under the impression we were going to be viewing more wax models.
As we arrived closer to the front of the queue we observed the signs and notices saying that you were not to enter if you were under the age of twelve years old, pregnant, suffered from a heart condition or could be affected by strobe lighting.
The member of staff at the front of the queue was entertaining and told us that we were going to be viewing ‘real serial killers’, we were not allowed to use cameras and that we were not to touch what we saw. When we entered it was pitch black and then a man dressed as imprisoned serial killer jumped out. We were shocked, startled and a little uncomfortable, yet we appreciated the humour. We then moved through the dark and another ‘serial killer’ jumped out and then started to touch our faces and act like a mental person. I became extremely distressed and upset and it was quite apparent to the ‘serial killers’ that I was not handling the situation well but this only encouraged them to harass and scare me. My two friends were also distressed and did not find it entertaining or pleasant in the slightest. We found the whole experience of the Chamber of Horrors distressing and this lead us to exit the attraction immediately. It ruined the rest of our trip to London. I, personally, am extremely angry that I was made to feel distressed and frightened. The experience brought back memories of some difficult times I experienced as a child and I find this completely unacceptable. If I knew we were going to be in a situation where we were going to be approached and harassed by people in the dark we would have not entered. The advisory information stated that we were not to touch the serial killers which we adhered to, however, they appeared to have to right to molest us. There was no indication or warning of what we were queuing for. When we exited the Serial Killer section I went and spoke to a member of staff, I was still panicked and upset but the member of staff just laughed. We are angry that this incident ruined the birthday celebration and our whole experience of London, especially one friend who had never visited London and has now gone back home to Derby with a negative experience. We would like to continue to visit attractions of Merlin Entertainment Groups; however, following the recent experience we have encountered I doubt that this will be the case. Comment by Liz Crump — September 01, 2008 @ 16:23 pm Comment » I visited M. Tussauds on Sat 2nd Aug 08 with my granddaughters. I had been before twice. It had always been busy and I knew what to expect but my last visit was dreadful. It was so packed we could hardly move or see anything. At times It felt very hot and airless. I found one toilet, the other was out of order, queued 20 mins and it was filthy. I don't want to hear the excuse about busy Saturdays, they should not let so many people in and spoil it for all. During the weekend we visited 6 tourist's attractions and we all voted M. Tussauds the worst. If I purchase anything I usually have the right to complain or get my money back; there does not seem to be an option for that. The thought of paying money to go through that. I will never visit again. Comment by Hazel McGovern — August 04, 2008 @ 09:50 pm Comment » I have just returned from a weekend in London we had a fantastic time apart from when we went to Madame Tussauds. I realised that it was a bank holiday weekend and that it would be busy. We arrived just before 10am and there was a short queue to gain entry to the building. It took us just 30 minutes to get in the door but this was just the start of the queue. We queued for 2½ hours. There was one disabled toilet on route which was dirty, the floor was very wet. There were no seats or perching places. Just as we reached the staircase there was an announcement (the first) to say that no-one would be able to move for at least half an hour due to letting pre-paid people in first and that we should all sit on the floor. (Not an easy feat for many people) We reasoned that although it was horrendous queuing at least it meant that we would be able to see the waxworks inside but we were wrong. Once through the tills there was a long queue for the toilets then into the "Hollywood party" there was no queue here just a ‘free for all’ not easy for a quiet 15 year old desperate for her photo to be taken by various stars. We couldn't leave the room either as there was no queuing system to get into the next room. This made several people feel quite panicky. The rest of the experience was not so awful but I would not recommend Madame Tussauds to anyone. The taxi driver told us that he never recommends Madame Tussauds and has heard lots of bad stories like ours. I left feeling that Madame Tussauds was out to get as much money as it could in a day and did not care at all about what experience visitors had. It was incredibly disappointing and I feel that it lets down the British as hosts. We were staying at the local YHA and other people equally had a bad experience. I felt that I really must write as there was no where and no-one to complain to at the venue. I would like to contrast this to our experience at the London Dungeons where they made the queuing fun. Staff let us know how long we would have to wait; they entertained us with jokes and quips. The queue moved steadily and a group were kept together. There were more toilets available and they were clean. There were plenty of staff and they seemed glad to be employed at the Dungeons. Comment by Claire Tidman — March 25, 2008 @ 13:55 pm Comment » I found your website and decided to add a little personal comment as well. I'm 37 week pregnant. Yesterday, I happened to walk along Marylebone Road towards the Royal Academy of Music. I desperately needed to use toilets facilities as you can imagine is pretty common at this stage of the pregnancy....! As I was passing MT (there was no usual queue!) I asked whether I could use their facilities emphasising the fact of being pregnant (which was rather hard to miss anyway!). I was told that it was impossible and was directed to the nearest toilets facilities in Pizza Hut or McDonalds' at Baker Street!!! I was so desperate and didn't really have time to discuss a disgraceful policy. I had to rush to the Royal Academy of Music where everyone was more than helpful in that matter! Comment by G. Kelly — February 19, 2008 @ 22:01 pm Reply » I would be very interested if anyone knows whether G. Kelly should have been allowed to make use of Madame Tussauds' toilet in this situation. Obviously anyone or any organisation with the slightest bit of common decency would have said yes, but what does the law say? I have searched quite extensively myself, but have been unable to come up with the actual law that covers this. I have even visited Police forums where they discuss whether a pregnant woman can use their helmets as a toilet, but nowhere can I track down the actual legislation that covers this. So if you do know where this can be found please do drop me a line. Reply by David Raymond — February 20, 2008 @ 15:33 pm Comment » Myself and a work colleague took two of our wheel chair bound residents to visit Madame Tussauds on the 27th of January and we all just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for all the help and support we received from the staff, particularly Leroy and Yasmeen. It was a busy day but the staff were able to guide us around the attractions, help us get to each floor and in to the dome and were extremely patient when we had to help the individuals use the toilet, they even guided us to the most suitable toilet and stayed with the resident who had to wait. We find that it can be very difficult taking wheel chairs to busy attractions and we usually don’t get to see every thing there is, we also find that most people talk to us and not the individuals in the wheelchairs, even if they are doing the talking! But the staff made this trip very easy and enjoyable, and made the effort to interact with the individuals we had brought along- which they appreciated very much and want to come again! We all agreed that we had never encountered such helpful staff before and hope that everyone else can follow the example. Once again, THANK YOU Madame Tussauds all so much!! Comment by Kelly Ward — January 29, 2008 @ 11:55 pm Comment » I found this site before I went, so thought I would share my positive experience in case others like myself were a bit concerned at all of the comments! I went to MTs on Saturday 12th January, and myself and a friend had arranged to go early because of the warnings on the MT site of 2 hour queues. We only had to queue for 10 mins if that, and this was right by the tills so felt like hardly any time. We used the Oyster card offer of BOGOF, so our tickets were only £12.50 each. The first room we went into was very busy, with queues by each celeb for photos. We wandered around for a while but once we went through to further rooms it was a lot better, with more room. At different parts it was very busy, but I think this is to be expected because groups gather at the most popular models. At the last room we waited for 8 mins for a star show in the star dome - this was rubbish to be honest! An animated short clip, with an enthusiatic guy making you do star waves and star smiles. To be fair to him, he was very good, but after 2 hours walking around no one could really be bothered. The only negative part was that the Chamber Live show wasn't on, and we weren't told this until I asked a member of staff. It was fine, because we were ready to leave (it was a really good morning, but 2 hours inside with quite a lot of people was enough!), but I thought it was strange they hadn't told us before as you can get cheaper tickets excluding chamber live. A sign at the door would've been appreciated! For anyone planning to go - at peak times, with the reputation it has, I would buy the fast track tickets online before going if you're not willing to queue. But we arrived at 11am on a Saturday morning and it was fine. It is expensive if you don't get a deal, but I viewed it as a one-off experience and thoroughly enjoyed it! Comment by Lisa Glass — January 01, 2008 @ 12:08 pm Comment » I visited MT last month with my 10 year old godson, his mother and my 10 year old daughter. Admission is expensive at the attraction but for people travelling into London by train, there is www.daysoutguide.co.uk/ where you can print out a voucher for one free admission with every adult ticket bought. In other words, when we went, we paid for two adults and the two children went in free of charge. We got there on a Monday for 2pm and “only” had to queue for 25 minutes. The museum was busy but not uncomfortably so and we were able to look at all the exhibits and take photos. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the experience and found the staff on the whole helpful and courteous. I would recommend this attraction if you can make use of the “buy one get one free” offer and if you can arrange to go off peak. If we had paid £92 for 2 adults and 2 kids for spending 2 hours being shoved and pushed around, I wouldn’t have been very happy. I don’t think it’s suitable for younger children as they won’t know who the celebrities are and because the place is too busy. Comment by Gaby Hill — November 07, 2007 @ 13:28 pm Comment » We visited recently as a family. The whole thing is poorly put together from queuing to the attraction itself. The prices charged are certainly not commensurate with what is offered. I would not go again. Comment by Nick Steeples — October 24, 2007 @ 21:28 pm Comment » We took our 10-year old son to MT on Sunday 19th August. Like many others, we queued for over an hour and a half. No staff tell you how long it will take when standing in the rain. Only one toilet for the entire queue. Like many others, it was full to the brim with thousands of sad folk taking photos with every "celeb". Don't people realise they're just dummies ! We were in and out within one hour, considerably poorer, hotter and utterly disappointed. Definitely the worst visitor attraction. An embarrassment of what this country has to offer. So what if each model costs £ 45k to make, what about the £ 1 million each week taken in admissions, plus all the items for sale. You can appreciate queuing if the experience is worthwhile, but this is one attraction not to be recommended. Comment by David Gee — August 21, 2007 @ 14:40 pm Comment » Hi there, Comment by Michelle Simonson — August 13, 2007 @ 19:09 pm Comment » I visited MT yesterday and thought I'd share a few notes: Comment by Paula Zymela — July 31, 2007 @ 11:07 pm Comment » We visited the "attraction" at the end of July 2007 and I have to agree with some of the other reviews. We went with 2 children 1 of ten years old and 1 nearly 2. For the children I feel the whole experience was a complete waste of time as the place was that busy they could not see any of the models. My wife also complained that she could not pick out the models as there was that many people in the attraction. She was actually stood next to lou and andy from little britain waiting for them to move out of the way. I had to laugh. Comment by Darren Mears — July 30, 2007 @ 21:09 pm Comment » Hi I have just been reading your website and i would like to share my experiance at tussauds with you. I went on Sat 17th and i am disabled and the service i got from the staff was great. I was taken in the staff lift to each floor and when i was done i would be taken to another place. Some of the staff kept on telling me how busy they were but they still were happy to help. One young lady in paticular was more than happy to assist, i however forgot to get her name. The only thing i would say is that i didnt see everything as we were taken into watch a show then shown the exit. this was a shame as i felt that we were rushed out but the time inside was great with some lovely models. I am hoping to take my children back at start of April to watch this space and i will see if the treatment is the same. Comment by Sue Green — March 18, 2007 @ 19:43 pm Comment » I have visited Madame Tussauds museum in London on 12 February 2007, along with my family and had a very traumatic experience. My mother came to visit for a week and as a treat I took her to see the museum along with my two children, 3years old and 2 months. We were asked to leave our buggies behind but were not allowed to leave any of our belongings, which as anyone can imagine one needs a lot for a day out with two children. We were disappointed to find out that there was not a locker facility to leave any of our things and had to drug everything in our arms. To get my toddler to the toilet (there is no way to know when she would want it and, because of her age, she can not do it beforehand or on request) on numerous occasions, once leaving the floor through a shortcut, we had to get back to the point we left from, from the beginning of the museum. To add to that, for me to breastfeed my two-months old baby, after being dragged all the way down from the top floor, I had to seat on the chair in the hallway to the toilets. After not very pleasant experience of looking after my toddler who really wanted to see everything, carrying the baby and the bags and other things, I realised that we’ve been charged the expensive tickets to which there could not be access because of my toddler. We had to wait for the manager to give as a refund; there were no apologies at the time. We were taken back to the till, where we had to wait for the refund to be done but after everyone in the queue served. I don’t even know if the person who sold me the tickets was going to be disciplined on the issue, he clearly saw we were with children and did not even bother of asking what tickets we wanted. Over all, the experience my mother and I had at the museum was of complete dissatisfaction: that is by management, by floor layouts and access to the toilets, by unavailable baby-room facilities, by not being able to give our things to cloak room, and most of all by giving up the push chair for a baby. I don’t suppose you take the wheel chair away from disabled people? My mother was told so much about the museum, but was disappointed by how badly it’s run. Once we left the museum, I felt like I’ve done a two-hour intensive work out in the gym, good for calories but bad for mental health. I can honestly say, that I’ve wasted £46 of hard-earned cash, and definitely would not recommend to anyone with children or come back there myself. Comment by Oxana Egan— March 04, 2007 @ 18:29 pm Comment » I found your website by accident but as a Tussauds employee I am very distressed to read of all the complaints on your site! Guests arre very welcome to make complaints to any member of staff during any part of their visit and there are staff members in each room except for the 'premier nights' section of the tour. Comment by Carly Woody — February 22, 2007 @ 16:39 pm Comment » I visited London for 3 week and had a great time. There is so much to do and see and Madame Tussaud’s was one of my highlights. The detail was amazing, real works of art and should not be dismissed as they must have taken ages to do. Comment by Jenny Streets — September 2, 2006 @ 16:39 pm Comment » Madame Tussauds is a real rip off. It was so crowed we couldn’t really see any of the models and we couldn’t wait to get outside so we could breath again! Comment by Shane Hunt — July 27, 2006 @ 8:08 am Comment » The London Planetarium can only be visited on a combined price ticket at Madame Tussauds before its closure later this month. I don't understand why visitors to the Planeterium are forced to buy this combined ticket. Comment by B Langridge — April 19, 2006 @ 22:41 pm Comment » My sister and I took our 5 children ranging in aged to Tusaud’s in the summer holidays. My sister had booked the tickets in advanced and we thought that this would mean it would be slightly quieter to look round. But it was so busy that we found it very hard to keep an eye on the children at all times. This is supposed to be a family attraction but we where so worried about losing our children that we did not stay long and the day was cut short as we had planned to spend longer looking around. Comment by Mrs Patel — September 19, 2005 @ 22:45 pm Comment » I went to Madame Tussauds during an off peak time so I could take my time and walk around and look at the statues. I have to say that many of them really didn’t look like the people they where supposed to be. Comment by Katharine — August 23, 2005 @ 20:49 pm Comment » I took my two children to the Planetarium today. When we finally got to the front of the que we were informed that changes had been made and we were only able to buy combined tickets for Madame Tussauds and the Planetarium. As I could not afford to pay £45.00 on top of our train fares, we came home extremely disappointed. Comment by Frances Mullins— March 05, 2005 @ 19:13 pm Comment » My visit with a friend to Madame Tussauds today 20/01/2005 was made all the more enjoyable by the helpfullness of the staff. As I am in a wheelchair, this assistance was really appreciated. Comment by Linda Baker — January 20, 2005 @ 19:26 pm Comment » My two grandchildren were brought up to the London Planetaruim during the half term by their other Granny. When she got there she asked the security guard outside where to queue and was told by the guard that she could only buy a combined ticket for both the Planetarium and Madame Tussauds. He also told her the price. Unfortunately she could not afford this and they had to turn round and go home again. Granny was very embarrased and the children very dissapointed. Granny wasted the fares up to London and finished up taking a walk along the river before having to go home again. Comment by Sue Chipchase — January 19, 2005 @ 19:30 pm Comment » I travelled into town on Monday to go to the planetarium after booking access all areas tickets (at a great cost to myself), only to find on arrival that the planetarium is now used to show warrior films. The whole point of our visit was the science aspect. Comment by GEMMA HOVELL — August 31, 2004 @ 13:02 pm Comment » i would like to know a contact number from you if you have one please, regarding the terrible time ive just had at madame tussauds, and making a complaint to this effect. thank you E jones Comment by Elizabeth Anne Jones — August 28, 2004 @ 15:24 pm Reply » Hi Elizabeth, the "General Enquires" phone number on the official Madame Tussauds website www.madame-tussauds.co.uk is: +44 (0) 870 999 0046 but in my experience you just end up going around and around a voicemail system. There is also a contact form here that you could try but I have not had positive experiences with this myself which is why this site exists. Please feel free to submit your full complaint to me for inclusion here. Reply by David Raymond — August 28, 2004 @ 22:12 pm Comment » I think its well out of order that you pay more for entry into the "chamber-live" at Madame Tussauds in London. Comment by Adriana — May 14, 2004 @ 15:25 pm Comment » My wife and I have an 18 month old son are currently visiting your country from Australia. I am here on business for 3 weeks and my wife and son are here on holidays. As we do not know anyone or have any child care, my wife is travelling around london sightseeing with our son whilst I am not. My wife has dreamt of travelling to London since she was a young girl and one of the places she really wanted to see was Madame Tussauds. She walked the 40 minutes from our Hotel, with my son (in his buggy) yesterday and upon arrival was informed that she could not bring the buggy in and that it would have to be left at the front door. She than asked how she was supposed to then get around with our son and was told that he would have to walk. An assuption made by the assistant that my son could walk when in actgual fact he suffers from development delay and can not walk. The assistant then informed my wife that she would have to carry him around. Carrting a 12 kilo baby for any length of time is not pratical. The assistant then informed my wife that buggies were permitted but only for children up to nine months. This policy seems odd buggies for 9 months old but not 18 month old. As a consequence my wife then left in tears. Thanks, Comment » On Friday 9th April 2004 I visited Madame Tussaud´s second time and I was very disappointed about the customer service. The price for entrance is very high and I think can´t offer so many attractions. Ten year´s ago I visited Madame Tussaud´s first time and at this time there were many attractive statues. Also many people in and they don´t care to another guest. Maybe so many people shouldn'e be let in at the same time. Better to close for a few hours than open again for new tourists. Actually a impudence! Very bad assessment. Comment » It would be good if Madame Tussauds did discounts for people for disabled people and those with and special needs. Comment by Terry Edwards — February 19, 2004 @ 15:53 pm Comment » I have been to Madame Tussauds a number of times, the last time I was not allowed to use a video camera. Comment by Barry — February 18, 2004 @ 14:35 pm Comment » i would like to e-mail madame tussauds about a slight complaint and would like to know how to contact them directly. if you could e-mail me this information i would be very grateful. Adam Comment by Adam Schmitz — October 29, 2003 @ 12:59 pm Reply » Hi Adam, the "General Enquires" email address on the official Madame Tussauds website www.madame-tussauds.co.uk is: csc@madame-tussauds.com there is also a contact form here that you could try but I have not had positive experiences with this myself which is why this site exists. Please feel free to submit your full complaint to me for inclusion here. Reply by David Raymond — October 29, 2003 @ 23:32 pm
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