A visit to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, Guinness Book of World Records Museum, and the Hollywood Wax Museum!
Hillary in front of the Hollywood Wax Museum
Be a tourist as a tourist or be a tourist as a local. Either way, own it. And absolutely bring your camera.
On the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave., there’s Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, The Guinness Book of World Records and the Hollywood Wax Museum. You can get into all three with the VIP combo ticket (https://tickets.ripleys.com/hollywood/) for $29.99. Is it worth it? Well, yeah, sure, yeah, it’s fun. All three are open on most days from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.
The museums are interactive. You can touch stuff and take pictures galore. Get in the mindset of having stupid, silly adolescent fun. Be respectfully rowdy, if you’d like; no employees were lurking around scolding anyone. Bring a group of friends, and have a drink before hand (if you’re 21 or older, of course).
This is where you’ll pick up your tickets, if you haven’t already printed them. Assessment: (2nd best of the trio) A lot of the museum is tacky, but there are a few things that make it worth the adventure.
- When you walk in, you’ll get a warm greeting from Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in medical history, who stands a towering 8’11.1”. His incarnation here is better than the one at the Guinness Book museum.
- In one of the first rooms, there is a mirror where you can see if you are hereditarily able to roll your tongue. Try it. This one is a must. Further revelations later.
- Reach for the big ruby in one room, cast your shadow against the wall in another, step onto the little wooden bridge in the room that looks like a scene from Legends of the Hidden Temple (shout out to our 90’s TV lovers), dance against the projector in the trippy 70’s rainbow disco and see yourself against the wall.
- In one of the final rooms, there is a tv screen with a live feed from the day. Go to it. Use the knob. Find you.
Guinness Book of World Records Museum
Assessment: (3rd best of the trio) Okay, honestly, this one was a little lame. Maybe we didn’t commit ourselves to enjoying the activities hard enough. It’s possible. Wouldn’t recommend this museum, unless you’ve got the combo ticket that includes it.
Assessment: (best of the trio) Make this museum your happy denouement. Remember, this is the Hollywood Wax Museum, not Madame Tussauds, which is just down the way.
There are no ropes to cordon off the wax celebs from your romantic advances. Cuddle up against Channing Tatum. Shake Obama’s hand. Grab Pink’s ass.
- Don’t come as a wax sculpture critic. Some of the sculptures are better than others. Looking up at Clint Eastwood, I could swear the handsome frontiersman was smolder-eyeing me, while he gnawed on the stub of a cigarette. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, however, nice as it was to see Bella and Edward together again, were not the glowing examples of wax sculpture likeness.
- There is a semi-horror house portion to the museums. It’s not scary, but it’s a little scary… especially if you're with a mischievous someone who likes to sneak up on people (kackle, kackle).
- Some of the celebs are dressed as themselves, some as their famous characters, some make multiple appearances. Some of the ones you can see, include: Meryl Streep,The Terminator, Channing Tatum, Brad and Angelina, Lucille Ball and her Vitameatavegamin, Nacho Libre, Ryan Gosling, Justin Bieber, JLaw, JLo, Ben Affleck.