Madame Tussauds - Our last "must"

The last of the "tourist attractions" we had left in London was a visit to Madame Tussauds. When we first moved here (and during our visits here before that) we managed to do everything except go to Madame Tussauds. It wasn't deliberate or anything like that, it was just that there was always a queue, and the kids didn't know any of the characters, and honestly all these statues seemed a tiny bit creepy to me. Then after a while we finished our "must do and see" list, and got tired of paying enormous amounts of money just to have Yon (or Ron, or both) complain all the way there, or during, or on the way home, or when we got home because "they didn't have enough time to do other things", and Madame Tussauds just stayed there on the list in all its loneliness, waiting.

But it is still somewhat of a must, so to ease our guilt towards it we decided to make it a point - we'll go there before we leave London. That way, if we decide never to leave we don't have to go. Gradually it became "a thing" - a symbol of staying or going, so much so that we used to joke that we'd stop there on the way to the airport.
We didn't.

We went there because they had those big advertisement posters in the tube featuring their 4D Marvel Super-Heroes experience, and we happened to walk past them with our Super-Heroes crazed boys.
And also because my parents were visiting and we were looking for a nice indoor family activity (the whole making memories from the Emirates Experience post, but without the heights).
And because we had the vouchers from the Kellogs cereals so it was half price (and funnily enough, because everyone is so afraid of the queue and order tickets online their queue was longer, whereas we got our tickets within minutes).

It's funny how everyone looks at a place and notice different things. Tourists, teenagers, young couples, groups, pensioners, young parents, parents with toddlers and older children, people with disability - we all go into the same building but have a very different experience.
For us, it was a mixed emotions kind of experience. I mean, how can you say no to getting your photo taken with the queen? Or Shrek? But there really was something kind of creepy about those statues. All in all, for us it seemed like Madame Tussauds really isn't all that interesting for young kids because most characters are aimed at older generations, and if you have to bring kids than it is for families with older children (I would say more towards tweens) and is most definitely not suited for people with extra needs. Especially if your need is to sit down in the middle of the tour. There is just nowhere to sit. They do have kiosks where you can buy snacks, but you'll eat them standing up. Sitting is not permitted in Madame Tussauds apparently, mostly I think because they just want you in and out as quickly as possible. If, like us, you have a child that needs to take a break (and even kids without special-needs sometimes needs a break), you will have to do what we ended up doing - sitting on the floor in the hallway where other people and workers walk above your head, looking at you as if you are an alien or just plain weird. Not the best experience.

Don't get me wrong, it was fun for the most part, the boys recognised Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean's is Yon's movie of choice these days), One Direction, Shrek, most of the Athletes and the Royal Family, some of the musicians and politicians and obviously all the Super-Heroes. It has a very relaxed atmosphere and you can touch things and people, which is what Yon enjoyed doing, and the Spirit of London ride was so much fun that even Yon didn't care that the music's too loud. The 4D movie was amazing (well Yon didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of us, but that was not a big surprise. The surprise was that he actually managed to see the movie with his problems with 3D vision) and the fact that it comes at the end leaves you with a very positive experience.

We didn't go to Madame Tussauds with high expectations, and that way we weren't disappointed. Yes, they can do better - they can put in a bench or two, clean the toilets a bit more, lower the volume on the history-ride, charge less money for admission - but all in all, it was a very nice family day out in London.

And though we didn't go there on the way to the airport, It was a very nice way to finish our "must" list,
And it really was a lovely way to end our London Adventure.