Victoria Part 06: Royal Wax Museum

After a visit to the Undersea Gardens, The GF and I headed to the Royal London Wax Museum, also on Victoria's Inner Harbor.  It was my first visit to a wax museum and a I enjoyed it, though not as much as I had hoped.

The museum is two levels, and people file through the exhibits almost like they're on a conveyor belt.  The limited space makes it challenging to step out of the flow and contemplate a piece.

Of course, with something at kitschy as a wax museum there's not going to be a whole lot of deep contemplation anyway.

That pace, combined with the darkness, makes it challenging to take pictures.

The other thing I noticed is that the figures don't appear as lifelike in person as they do in photographs.  I didn't get the eerie sense that I was looking at an actual person; there was no doubting the artifice of it.

Yet when I looked at the pictures later on I got the sometimes creepy sensation that I was looking at a picture of a real person.  I guess since I am used to mostly seeing famous people in pictures, seeing pictures of their wax doppelgangers would seem to be the more genuine experience than seeing the wax live.

They had their assortment of British Queens, of course.










Anthony and a topless Cleopatra made an appearance.






American figures were well represented.













Canadian heroes like Gordie Howe are enshrined with wax, too.






The original Commander Adama showed up dressed as a cowboy.






And they include both Jesus and the Pope.







On the lower level, they have a section depicting torture. Some of the wax figures are pretty grotesque, but still well done. You receive plenty of warning so you can skip that part of the museum if you'd rather not see that. Among other items, it includes a basket of severed heads.




But it was outside the torture wing where they had one of the creepiest statues. This portrayal of Walt Disney is the one I'm most likely to have nightmares about.






I think its the mustache.

The museum is worth seeing if you're okay with the crowds. Visiting at a more relaxed pace is a great way to pass some time.

Unless, of course, those glass eyes staring back at you send shivers up your spine.






More of my pictures are here.