# Marvel Exhibit at Madame Tussauds London and the London Dungeons



## davewasbaloo (Aug 3, 2010)

I thought you might be interested in my recent visit to the new Marvel Exhibit at Madame Tussauds London:



http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID513230.asp



That same day, I went to the London Dungeons.



Well on the 16th I went to the London Dungeons and Madame Tussauds and managed to get a good priority experience. I would never pay full price for either attraction though.

The Dungeons, it was the first time I have been since 1987. Back then it was more like a proper Chamber of Horrors and only had one interactive bit. It was a lot more educational. I hate to say it, I think I prefered the original experience.... See More

My group had a number of American teenage scouts, some Brummie Muslim girls and a lot of Irish families. The standby queue was massive. It was fun though. Good fun for 90 minutes and more ornate than let's say the Knott's Berry Farm Haunt mazes etc. 

After jumping after the first boo, I settled in and enjoyed the ride. The first cast member was funny, and very hammer horror camp, loved it. The mirror maze as always was fun, and I worked out how they managed the visitor throughput. At first I thought I lost my touch in finding my way through mazes, until I worked out how they manage this one. Then into the black death area, this was quite funny really. And it was amazing how little people seemed to know about it. Seeing the piles of bodies and the real rats was quite amusing.

The Great Fire of London part was interesting, but it would have been even better if they used the Backdraft/Armageddon technology. Because of the price tag, I was kind of expecting that level. But it was still good. Slightly educational, but in the older version, there was more to read and you could ask questions. Althoughthe attraction is still quite educational, it does feel more like an amusement park now. 

The Bloody Mary was a fun section, seeing a guest burnt at the stake was disturbing and entertaining at the same time. A guy from Germany (could have been anyone from the audience) was pulled out of the audience and tied to a stake. He was tried by Bloody Mary for heracy (though somewhat funny as she did try Germans in real life). Lighting and smoke effects with his pretending to scream made it very lifelike. When the smoke left, there was a charred corpse at the stake and the room smelt lik BBQ. 

He magically rejoined us in the next chamberIsn't it funny what brings enjoyment?

The torture chamber was funny though, and people got a chance to talk about torture techniques which was humourous. Also seeing some of the audience thrown in a cage and simulate castration was scarily amusing (scared at myself for finding it amusing).

The surgeons chamber was interesting, thechest cavity still moving when the liver and intestines were extracted, the still beating heart, and getting "splattered with blood).

I really enjoyed the court room where a very funny judge (she was like Queenie in Blackadder the 2nd) sentanced us to death for dancing naked. That was funny, then the march to the boat ride to hell. It was no Pirates of the Caribbean or even Maelstrom, but riding backwards down a waterfall was unique for people in my party. It was funny.

The Sweendy Todd section was hillarious, the use of binaural sound as we had our hair cut (a little like the early 2000's incarnation of Great Moments with Mr Lincoln at Disneyland). But I did not expect the seats to tip back, that was amusing.

The Jack the Ripper Section was probably most interesting. It set the tone of the time right, and seeing the bodies mutilated in the way the ripper did it was interesting. Then going through the list of suspects made me want to go away and research it again. Fantastic. However, I remeber Madame T used to have the original ripper letters in the Chamber of Horrors decades ago, where have they gone? They are no longer at Madame T's or the dungeons.

Then, the pub haunting was great, and although I kind of expected what happened, it made me jump. Being sentance to hanging was a high point. Although I knew what was going to happen, it was still great. Sitting on the bench, we rose up about 20 feet - looked at the hangman's noose, while a judge sentanced us to our doom. When the executioner pulled the lever, we plummeted to meet our maker. Or at least end up in the gift shop.

Overall it was a lot of fun, but it is overpriced. Glad I got in for free with my Merlin pass though. But it was fun. Also a bit disturbing on what can entertain us. Lol


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