Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum - Review (updated 5/1/10)

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum is located at the front of The Venetian Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, right next to Sephora and directly across from The Mirage volcano.

The museum features an assortment of wax figures from current-day celebrities and historical figures to Las Vegas legends. Each of the figures is presented in it's own area with plenty of space around it. This allows visitors to get up close (and sometimes very personal) with each of them; it's an opportunity that is usually verboten in most wax museums. You are encouraged to kiss George Clooney, get into bed with Hugh Hefner, or strike a pose with Madonna, just to name a few.

While the presentation of the figures in this sort of setting is ideal for those who've always wanted to touch, feel, and grope their favorite celebrities, I had a germaphobe moment and didn't want to touch any of them because of what I'd witnessed some of the other visitors doing. Also, while this is a unique setting and the opportunity to pose for photos with your favorites is great and could lead to some very funny souvenir photos, the total number of figures in the museum was pretty low for the price of admission. Coming from a city with a large Tussaud's museum, I was disappointed that more people were not represented in the collection. Still, some of the figures are rotated out seasonally, so the exhibit is never quite the same.

Another factor of my disappointment was that they did not allow me to pay for a half price admission as a solo visitor. I had a 2-for-1 coupon and was on a solo trip, so even though a 2-for-1 would've given the same admission price for two people as for one at half price, they wouldn't budge, and I was a little put out.

That's not to say that the figures are not incredible. Truly, they are very good reproductions of the real people, and they had no shortage of guests on the day I visited, so people are visiting the attraction and keeping it busy. The figures are all represented very well and their displays are really nice and have a lot of detail. I did have to stop and wait for some people to take their posed photos with certain celebrities, and after awhile it got a little annoying...probably because I was by myself.

I would take a friend and use a coupon in order to get a good value for your tourist dollar, but personally I don't think I'll be visiting again. Given that I have a far superior wax museum in my home town and all coupons or special entrance rates are honored for its visitors, it's not worth it to me to go back to this one.

As a Las Vegas attraction, I rate the wax museum as a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Tickets are $22.95 each for adults, and 2-for-1 coupons can be found in the 24/7 magazine (available in your hotel room or in taxis around Las Vegas).

Update: May 1, 2010 - I experienced the museum again with Hayley during our March trip, and it was definitely much, much more entertaining with someone else. Plus she had some great ideas for poses with the characters, and I spent almost as much time laughing at her as taking photos. Be sure to take someone along for maximum enjoyment.