Can't Keep a Wax Museum Down: Hollywood Wax Museum, Christ in the Smokies

Wax museums: great places, but becoming few and far between.  So, with the opportunity to take in two that have made a comeback in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, we were excited.

First, the Hollywood Wax Museum.  After a year or so absence from the scene, it's moved recently from Gatlinburg and has a Vegas-esque new facade near the Titanic in Pigeon Forge.  The exterior is quite impressive with a "Mt. Rushmore" of Hollywood legends.  While Tussauds it is not, we still had fun touring inside, taking advantage of many, many photo ops.  Expect some attention to classic shows like I Love Lucy but less attention to 90s phenomena (ex. Austin Powers) than the previous site offered. Before you go, read about the rates for various nearby attractions in "combination tickets," and know that it costs a pretty penny to climb to the viewing deck at the top of the facility (we skipped it). 

For a calmer tour, try Christ in the Smokies, the religious wax museum on the site of the former Christus Gardens.  When Christus Gardens closed in 2008 to make way for proposed condos, we worried--but the economy flatlined and a wax site is back.  The revised museum focuses on the Gospel accounts of Jesus; there's more information about the connections between the Old and New Testaments than on the previous Christus Gardens tour.  Expect a paced tour through dioramas beginning with the Nativity and ending with the Ascention.  If you take time to learn about the attraction, you can take advantage of opportunities to talk about it first hand with owner/artistic director, frequently working on site.  We believe the Jesus-in-film exhibit at the end of the museum is not to be missed.  Protestants and Catholics would probably be equally comfortable with the tour.  This site does not allow photographs of the main wax museum scenes, but you can take pictures in the garden and in the Tabernacle exhibit near the entry. 

If you are like us and you can't get enough of this stuff, two more notes:  Those interested on more about wax museums in general will be interested in Houses of Wax, and we believe you can still see the Christus Gardens figures at Florida's Holy Land Experience.