A Day at Madame Tussauds!

We got to go to the wax museum in Washington DC called Madame Tussauds. It was a fun break for my 3 kids and field trip for them. We went during the day which was right because it meant fewer crowds.

Madame Tussauds is a place that is very popular in Washington DC to go as an attraction and a lot of people go there to get to "meet the stars" that they admire up front... even if they're just wax people.

When we came up out of the metro and walked to the wax museum it was really cool because you could see some of the wax figures, Whitney Houston for example, in the window and then when you came around to the front door there was Michael Phelps creating you before you walked in.

My kids and I proceeded to go downstairs to the museum. What most people don't know is that the museum is downstairs because of the fact that these are wax figures so they have to be kept in an environment where they won't melt and you would think maybe it would be cool down there but it actually isn't which is great.

So you coming you sit down in the main room and you can listen to two videos as an introduction to the museum. One, which is learning about the history of Madame Tussauds and how it started which was very interesting actually because I didn't have any idea. Then the other video is Beyonce herself explaining the process and how they made the wax figure of her. How long it took, the entire process including down to the hair colour and the outfits from her videos that she donated. So it was cool to see that the celebrities that were approached so they agreed to do this which means Madame Tussauds respects the wants and needs of individual people before they just start making wax figures of them. But also that the celebrities got to be part of the process.

So Madame Tussauds sends people to actually comes out from London to do all the measurements and likeness before they go back to London and create the wax figure. So there is a lot that goes into doing each wax figure.

Once we were done watching the videos we met someone who walks with us throughout the museum which was perfect because my cell phone, of course, ran out of space for pictures which is every blogger's nightmare so she helped take pictures with us to post and then email them to me. And I helped convince her to get a wax hand done for herself!

The museum starts with a wax figure of an Indian and then the next one is George Washington and then it goes through history and time from the signing of the Declaration of Independence to Frederick Douglass to Abraham Lincoln to the Civil War to World War 2 and then it moves on to the Civil Rights Movement (which was a very cool exhibit). Then it goes to the very popular exhibit of the presidents both Barack Obama and Trump. I have to be very honest and say that I was highly impressed with the fact that they still had the Obamas along with Trump given all the political climate going on right now... and for that, they have earned a high level of respect for me because they did it was a very classy way.

Then we came across Uncle Sam and there we met with the person who helps run the whole museum and it was really cool to talk to her. Because I homeschool, I had had my daughter write questions that she would want to ask and it was really cool to see the look on her face when my daughter started asking her all these questions about the museum itself.

We moved of course into where the celebrities were and it was cool to actually see them in person so to speak because it was cool to see that they were not that much different in size than you because as a short person you look at some celebrities as being taller because of the way that they have a trade but when you realize that some of them are just as short as you are and it's actually nice.

The other really cool exhibit was seeing all the Bond men together in one area and that is really unique because I don't think I've seen that anywhere else and it's got to be one of the most popular movie sequences that there is.

This is an exhibit that is not only cool but also going to be here in Washington DC for a long while. So this is a cool one to see. The picture above is of us being "super Bond-like serious".

Then the next exhibit why is the Chinese exhibit which was really cool and absolutely beautiful. But I felt like it was a bit small and I would have actually like to see more of that because the American history and culture was absolutely fabulous but also seeing other cultures mixed in is super duper important and especially the nature of Washington DC is a hub for many people from around the world. When talking to Therese who helps run the wax museum she had said that a lot of people will come up and pose with the Chinese characters. At first, I was like "okay" and then people actually started to come up and posing with them in like "wow that's kind of cool". There is something great about seeing people who are coming into posing with the figures and having something that they can identify with. Which is why I would like to see it expanded so that way you see more of that but also knowing that the space is very limited.

The next thing that we got to do was that each of my three kids and myself got to make wax hands.  I know it's so much fun but if you do the wax hands give yourself a little bit of time because there's a process to it as it's definitely added time to the wax museum trip which I would say was well worth it.

My daughter did this cute little heart with both of her hands and then it didn't turn out right so she did like something with a fist. I could not choose between a peace sign or a scout sign. My youngest boy is made the fingers crossed sign and my oldest son did the Hulk sign.

I think that wax hands were probably by far the favourite part for my kids but they really liked to do this. I want to say that my teen was the most ambivalent about the whole trip but I think so enjoyed parts of it.

In going through the rest of the exhibit it was just overall fun because you got to pose with difference wax figures and just have fun with it. At first, I was really unsure about touching the wax figures because you know you grow up thinking that you can't touch and you still have to be very careful and responsible when you are doing some of your poses as to not mess with the wax figures because they take 3 months to make. However, it is fun to be able to do poses with some of the wax figures and pretend that you're dancing with Jimmy Fallon and realising how tall he really is! It's just fun to goof around which makes the experience all the better and I wish I had kind of gotten into that spare a little bit more before.

And oddly enough the two wax figures I probably immediately got super duper excited like a kid in a candy store wasn't the celebrities. It wasn't Abraham Lincoln, who is one of my favourite presidents. It was Lord Baden-Powell and Juliette Gordon Low and they were right next to each other. And since I am a scout leader of Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scouts, I completely got all three of my kids who are a Cub Scout a Girl Scout and boy scout together to take a picture as a family with them. And when I did my wax hands and did the Scout sign, I made it with three colours that I let my kids choose out which was green for Girl Scouts, blue in the middle for Cub Scouts and the bottom was red for Boy Scouts (because our neckerchiefs for our troop are red and gold). Needless to say, I got my Scout geek on even while I was at the Wax Museum.

It was great because also mean the person who helps run the wax museum, Therese, and she is incredibly sweet. She is most definitely about the community and I talked about even doing events for the scouts or for homeschool groups, so you definitely know that this is a place that once with the community. Even while we were there we had a high school group of kids come through so that was nice to see.

With all of those factors, I think that I'm looking forward to going back and think I am excited to visit the other exhibits that they have in the future!

I'm also going to give YOU guys a code so you can SAVE on your tickets today and also give away tickets so some people can go and guess who experience with we got to experience and hope you have a great time like we did. (Giveaway coming soon).

Have a beautiful time when you go!

* This review is of my honest opinion in exchange for admission *