A Whole New Dimension Of Ghostbusters

The infamous wax museum Madame Tussauds turned out to be quite a stressful and gruelling experience in the end. And no, it had nothing to do with our walk-through of all the famous wax models from Johnny Depp to Kim Kardashian, Anne Hathaway to Scarlett Johansson or Barrack Obama to Donald Trump (who we avoided like we would spores, moulds and fungus), but more so to do with the action we were thrust into in the second half of the tour: a Ghostbusters walk-through tour and a revolutionary virtual reality experience. Okay, stressful and gruelling might be a bit of a lie but saving the world – or the day – is no easy feat!

The tour starts with a slime-soaked subway sign and a news report detailing ghostly activity in the city, followed by an awe-inspiring (projected) image on the wall of the trademark white ghost (known as Rowan in the new movie) dancing around before morphing into the iconic logo. Then after descending into the “subway” we found ourselves in “Aldridge Mansion” as seen in last year’s the reboot, where a picture of ghastly ghoul Gertrude Aldridge herself turns to look at you before transforming into a monstrous version of herself! 

Still looks cleaner than the London Underground

Inside the ECU

I didn't have time to read it all but much to Sian's annoyance I did try

*Gulp*

Then arrive at the Ghostbusters’ HQ and workshop – the apartment that sits on top of a Chinese restaurant – where we were lucky to meet Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon who play Patty Tolan and Jillian Holtzmann, respectively. Okay, they were just wax models but it was still cool. Even cooler though was the attention to detail in here: newspaper clippings strewn across desks, ringing phones, an Ecto-Containment Unit in which you can see a floating and unhappy apparition, a work bench and much more.

Just chillin' with Jillian

So quiet I think she may have been possessed

And I certainly did

Yes, I was hiding behind Sian

In the next room, we saw Kristen Wig’s Erin Gilbert and Melissa McCarthy’s Abby Yates ready – but clearly not that ready, wax and all – to do battle with Slimer. Oh boy, Slimer. A hologram, of course but let’s just say you just can’t see the strings. That's how holograms work, right? The ugly little spud looks like he is just there, as he makes childish noises and even snaps a selfie. Sadly none of the videos seem to work on this blog but I'll see if I can fix that in the meantime.

They're definitely going to get stiff necks

I gave her a kiss when Sian wasn't looking

Ugly little spud, isn't he? Wait - this isn't the Trump picture

So is she like Barbie underneath, or...?

Slimer appeared again as we headed downstairs to the VR experience, materialising in a thin layer of mist just overhead. Needless to say, he was starting to get on my Sedgewick. Along with two other players, a mum and her young son, we were then equipped with VR masks, vests and our proton blasters (looking more like laser guns though, but still), and we entered the virtual world of the Ghostbusters. We first headed into a living room, where you could touch a sitting chair and feel a real chair under your fingertips. I approached a kitchen sink in the corner, and lo and behold, I could feel a sink. But then tiny little purple ghosts started popping out and flying all around us, so we fired our proton blasters at them and somehow even got away with crossing the streams like a billion times.

I also took advantage of being able to damage the environment with the streams, and I did just that. Then a larger of the purple ghosts led us into a lift where we felt the vibrations during the ascent, and even the wet splat as Slimer suddenly phased through the lift gates and through us! But if you think that might be scary, it wasn’t as half as bad as seeing young Gertrude Aldridge enter shortly after him. Cute? Yes. But only before turning into a terrifying little demon who then disappeared into thin air just before we exited the lift. We saw her again around the corner though, before walking out onto some scaffolding on the roof of a skyscraper. But actually, as I led the way, my first step was a very reluctant one as I sensed I was actually on top of a towering building. There was even some vertigo, and as I grabbed the railing it rattled horribly, as did the wood beneath my feet. Looking down into the streets of New York below we even saw busy traffic and from it realistic noises. 

Around us there were dozens of other skyscrapers, the most noticeable one being the Mercado Hotel from the new movie, while a supernatural storm cloud gathered above it. Then we battled gargoyles with our streams, before facing off with the one and only StayPuft Marshmallow Man. Naturally we had to cross our streams to put the big sailor down and as he started to s’more, we could actually smell real marshmallow! Once victory was achieved, I shouted, “I love this town!” But then I realised the noise was all virtual and in our headsets only, so I must have sounded like an idiot as I stood in the middle of a dark room where there was no sound besides that of the four of us shuffling around and giggling between perfectly-placed furniture.

Not bad for a Curious Rookie

Starship Troop_ I mean, Ghostbusters!

Tron_ I mean, Ghostbusters!

I deliberately left out the parts where the game glitched out twice though and we had to return to the beginning to start again. That’s because I wanted you to walk-through the experience with me. And to be honest we got much more for our money because of it. I guess VR might have taken off in the last year but it’s all new and like any game, it faces its technical challenges. It didn’t spoil our experience at all. In fact, it was simply fascinating to see this virtual world before your eyes and in your peripheral vision and all around, and your teammates as virtual avatars in flight suits, before the tour operator lifts up your visor and then you realise you’re just standing in a dark room. If there’s anything spookier than the ghosts we battled, it was this.

When it was over, we took some pictures on Kevin Beckman’s (Chris Hemsworth) Ghostbusters motorbike from the new movie before continuing with the rest of the Madame Tussauds tour which included Kong: Skull Island and a 4D Marvel movie. Understandably I can’t provide any pictures of the VR experience, besides those above of us both suited and booted. In fact, all I have to go on are mental images, because technically none of it actually existed. But the StayPuft still came stomping along, and whether virtual or not, and we came, we saw, and we kicked his ass. Either way the whole experience was unreal. The strange part is that applies both figuratively and literally.

Okay, I look damn cool

As does this one

Ah, now there's my Trump picture

Okay I did kiss Erin Gilbert

But I only kissed her once...

That's what you get, Sian. They're not all up for a flirt

As I can also testify