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Spirit of Monterey Wax Museum the
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
700 Cannery Row Ste IIMonterey, CA 93940
(831) 375-3770
- Good for Kids:
- No
17 reviews for Spirit of Monterey Wax Museum the
17 reviews in English
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Review from Tiffanie L.
Monterey, CA
2/9/2012
That museum is scary as hell. Thank god for the half off discount because it was a waste. We went down there and it was EMPTY. No living person was down there, so the whole place was dark. In order to light up a certain part of the room you have to click on the buttons to tell you a story. There were twenty or forty buttons. We were like oh yeah let's do it we have balls. Got to number five and ran out because it was creepy as hell.
These wax figure are really creepy guys. There was this one native american wax girl facing the wall, so we can only see the back of her head. It was moving right to left really subtly and it freaked me OUT! There were also wax figures in the background being all like hey qurls I'm creepy and gonna kill you. We got to number five and I don't know why but I just couldn't do it anymore. My friens saw someone in the mirror or something. So we both ran of there.
I get shocked/scared easily. THAT nearly gave me a heart attack. Go alone or with someone down there if you wanna get creeped out.
I guess part of it was SNLs fault. That one skit where the couples ride gets stuck near these robots. Then the robots move in slowly and tries to kill the guy but flirt with the girl.
That place is scary!! If you WAANT to get creeped out. This is a great place to go. I'm gonna give it five stars for being scary. -
Review from Samantha T.
San Jose, CA
10/14/2011
ooh my god...
it looks and sounds like fun from above the stairs but as soon as you hand the woman your ten bucks and head down into the dark, and creepy basement full of poorly taken care of plastic mannequins you will be EXTREMELY disappointed and definitely want a full refund.
so, basically there's different stations that start with a press of a button. as soon as you press the button, light shines down, audio plays, and these plastic anamatronic style mannequins start moving and mouthing the words to the audio. now, this goes on for about twenty minutes, station after station. the mannequins are junk, the audio doesn't match up with the stations, it's old, pretty dirty, and definitely overpriced.
I gave it two stars because the first ten minutes my boyfriend and i just laughed hysterically at how lame it was, and the last ten minutes we just made out and that was fun.
overall, we won't go back next time we're in monterey and wouldn't suggest it for others (unless you want a good laugh/make out session). -
Review from Sonia M.
Santa Clara, CA
10/5/2011 1 Check-in Here
What can I say? It's a good concept but needs LOTS of work. It's self guided tour through 500 years of history of the area but it's done extremely poorly.
My husband and I left after the 6th station...i think there's 15. We just couldn't take it anymore. We had a good laugh making fun of it tho!
All-in-all I wouldn't recommend it or ever go back unless it was redone. Sorry. -
Review from Jennifer N.
San Francisco, CA
1/17/2012
This place was...odd...and a little creepy as the other reviewers stated. However, the creep factor was exactly what we wanted and the wax museum didn't disappoint. And for $8 a pop its definitely worth it.
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Review from Sara P.
Livermore, CA
8/30/2011
DON'T GET RIPPED OFF!
We tried to go visit the wax museum this weekend and what a disaster and waste of money it was.
We walked up to a stairway with signs pointing downstairs to go to the museum and then as we were looking around curiously we got a frantic greeting from a woman in the booth at the top of the stairs. We figured out she was selling the tickets and asked a few questions about the exhibit and it sounded interesting so we decided to give it a try.
We were advised to wait on a bench 5-10 minutes to let the group ahead go farther through, so we did, and then we got started. We made it down the stairs and thing started to look a little shady.
The first exhibit was ok but a little hard to hear, the second didn't work at all even after we gave it a few tries (you have to push a button to make it turn on, light up and the narration to begin)
We ended up giving up on that one and tried number three.
Well, it turned on but the sound quality was so terrible and the noise from the other group ahead was so distracting that we couldn't make out what the recorded narration was saying at all.
This was disappointing and aggravating so we went right back upstairs to inform the lady of the issues and ask for a refund. We were told she couldn't help us with that but we should call tomorrow to speak with the owner. Never were we told that they DO NOT GIVE REFUNDS and neither of us saw a sign. the only thing I saw was the prices sign and something stating that if you weren't given a receipt your tour was free, hmm sounds like a refund to me.
Well I left a message for the owner and then followed up twice the next day before finally reaching him only to be greeted with accusations and rudeness. Basically he said that our scenario didn't happen and that the lady said we simply didn't enjoy it. Um, we didn't get a chance to enjoy it! So basically after indirectly calling me a liar he said THEY DO NOT GIVE REFUNDS and that our only recourse was to go back and try again.
He was gruff, rude, accusatory and very non professional. Terrible business practice and a complete rip off. If you don't give refunds maybe you could use the money to do some repairs.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE, SAVE YOUR MONEY AND AVOID THE CREEPINESS OF THE WAX MUSEUM -
Review from Johnna B.
7/23/2011
I'm going to be the asshole that gives the wax museum 5 stars for its general creepiness and its vague historical value.
I'm a bachelor of history and I know how hard it is to get people to think about the past. I think this account of the area's history was somewhat inaccurate but interesting nonetheless and definitely amusing overall considering I had a California primer... I can see how someone with no California history education might get annoyed because there is no continuity between the scenes. But if you have any interest in history this is very much worth the price of admission if you can be content with the reality that there is an element of truth in everything.
If you have a claustrophobia issue, however, I would pass. This is in the dark basement of a very old building. No one else was down there with us so the scenes weren't playing all at the same time, thankfully. I think that in itself may have influenced my high rating more than any other aspect of this adventure.
Final thought: this wax museum is very, very creepy. I'm almost certain there are ghosts in here. Five stars. -
Review from Jenny G.
5/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place is informative but super creepy! For $9.95 a person you get a brief history of the Monterey Bay area. But it isn't something you can't find out for free on google..
The wax figures are creepy looking and it gave me chills at times. -
Review from Eugene B.
Davis, CA
7/19/2011
we wandered into the mall mostly looking for food, and saw a set of stairs going down to dark mystery. We were a group of five, I poked around the top step while my friends started walking down. I asked them if we needed to pay, or if they saw a person up ahead to pay because, frankly, i wasn't interested. my friend yelled that he didn't see anyone below to pay, and "who the hell pays for a wax museum anymore". I left down the stairs and through the turnstyle (where i was sure i was going to be trapped into paying). downstairs was deserted and we walked through the very dark, dusty, and creepy walkway past the exhibits. nothing was lit or talking, maybe some button needed to be pushed.
the second half had buttons to activate the "scene", but out of 4 only 2 were working. we entered the gift shop at the very end with a bunch of screenprinted goods. we had yet to see a single other soul in this "museum", and figured we were about to be attacked by latex gold miners in some sort of b-movie horror fashion. all the items being sold said to bring purchases to the window for payment.
anyways, we exited with nothing and started walking up the stairs. at the top we saw a woman working what looked like a news stand looking at us. my friend asked "are you the window?" and she started berating us for not paying (which is ridiculous because i stood at the top of the stairs no more than 3 feet from her register asking loudly to my friends if we needed to pay and who we needed to hand money to). She told us that "next time, pay before entering". sure, next time...
this attraction was worth maybe 2 stars for the price we paid. we spent about 5 minutes quickly walking through it bored and confused. for $10? don't be ridiculous, i'd give it negative stars if possible. -
Review from Frannie N.
Kailua, HI
9/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
This was the creepiest place I have ever been, no kidding. The wax museum is in the basement, and all the lights are off. It probably didn't help that I was the only moron in the wax museum on a Thursday night, but it was creepy. The figures light up and move when you push the buttons and tell you a bit about Monterey history, but the don't STOP moving when their little 'scene' is over. I made it through 3 'scenes' before I booked it out of that place.
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Review from Angela P.
Livermore, CA
5/26/2010
I would give zero stars if I could, $9.95 per person!! They should be wearing masks!!! This is the biggest waste of money EVER with all caps, period!
As we were walking through different portions started lighting up and going off when they obviously weren't suppose to because the scene we were watching was still going. All in all it was extremely cheap and tacky we left half way through.
Also, I don't get why it's called a wax museum, the figures did not appear to be made of wax at all, it looked like rubber or plastic.
Do yourself a favor and just don't go! -
Review from Robin Z.
1/11/2010 4 photos
There must be something to the last exhibit being a bunch of prostitutes laughing and thanking you for your business. Or perhaps it's irony or the proprietor has a sense of humor. Whatever it is, you can't help but feel like you've just been ripped off and left wanting.
Caveat emptor, friends. There's nothing of cultural value here...not even with John Steinbeck's name in the title. -
Review from Kate P.
Marina, CA
6/24/2008
Ohhh....this place is awful! We were amazed at how the adult ticket taker could look you in the eye with a straight face and demand the $7.95 per ticket. What a scam. Not only is the whole thing poorly put together, but it's boring as hell...and way too long.
You'll have A LOT more fun if you head upstairs to "Taste of Monterey" & plop down with a nice glass of wine, chatting, sipping and overlooking the beautiful Bay instead of wasting time in this dump of a "museum". -
Review from Donnie R.
San Martin, CA
4/13/2009
I'v been curious about this place for the past 15,or there about, years.
So now I know. It was kinna informative. But not for $7.95
I Did get a free complimentry cupon for a free apitiser at Willies Smokehouse. So I gave it a 3 instead of a 2. -
Review from Leopard S.
Sacramento, CA
10/27/2010
For $9.95 a person, they should really spruce this thing up. It was very hard to hear and very hard to follow. Nice gift shop at the end, but not much that you won't see at other touristy shops on Cannery Row.
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Review from Anj D.
Wildomar, CA
5/11/2011
Beyond creepy. My husband loved it for that reason... but I hated it! Haha. The figures are really poorly made, and many look like they're corpses themselves. Ick.
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Review from Synthony T.
Los Angeles, CA
1/20/2008
Walking down Cannery Row, we come across a sign advertising a wax museum of Monetery's History. Thinking this could be interesting, and being the tourists that we were, we decided to check it out. The "museum" is tucked away on the 3rd floor of this little mini mall. We walk down and stop at this little window where there was a man sitting while reading some sort of magazine. We ask him a little bit about the museum, and he basically sells it to us as if he had made it himself. He tells us it's "The History of Monterey through Steinbeck's point of view." I myself, thought it sounded boring, but my bf looked genuiely interested so I went along with it. He asks me if I'd like to try it out, and not wanting to be a downer tell him sure. The man tells us it'll be $9.00 each. We should've known right there. The place was probably the size of a double garage, and each scene had "wax sculptures" depicting different acts in history. What were supposed to be "wax sculptures" looked like defect manikins from JC Penny from back in the 70's. In fact, I don't think that place has changed since the 70's. You're supposed to follow along with a barely audible soundtrack as each "scene" is lit up by a big spotlight. The tour was supposed to be 20 minutes, we stayed for about 10. We had to get at least 1/2 of our moneys worth! We decided to sneak out the side door so the man in the booth wouldn't see us... we didn't want to hurt his feelings. If that wasn't a tourist trap.. I don't know what is. At least it was an experience we can laugh about now.... and encourage our unsuspecting friends to check out as well. This really deserves no stars, but I decided that it's so lame that it became cool again. So.. 2 stars it is.
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Review from Suzanne S.
Walnut Creek, CA
6/14/2009
OK - this is not the quality wax museum like in San Francisco, but hey - the kids love it and it's cool inside, you can walk at your own pace, check out the details of the very dusty scenes... It does provide a good history of the area. In today's electronic world with 3D and instanteous surround sounds - take a moment and 'read' a book with this museum.. Slow down, lower expectations to the1960s and think about how living in these times might have been. $8 - 2 starbucks - it's worth it. You're in Monterey - everything here is expensive. Ice cream down the street is $4.50. Let yourself relax in the slow and non-technical displays. It's better than walking through those pricey art places where you can't relax in front of a piece of art without being interrupted or moved along. Anyway - check it out - then get an $4.50 cone and do the tidepools right in front of the building. It makes for a wonderful afternoon expecially if the Brazilian flute players are playing in the center of the stage area. Beautiful area, beautiful ocean, sea otters playing and seals lazing around - we are so lucky to be able to experience this area. Have fun!
