Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the detail.
A woman trained in wax modelling, a London museum and a modern attraction on International Drive offer several ways into the story of Madame Tussauds Orlando.
On this page
A craft learned young
Marie Tussaud, born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg in 1761, learned wax modelling from Philippe Curtius and made her first figure, of Voltaire, in 1777.
She lived through the French Revolution, inherited Curtius’s collection in 1794 and took the name Tussaud on her marriage in 1795.
From touring show to museum
She came to London in 1802 and toured Great Britain and Ireland with her collection before settling in Baker Street, where her museum had opened by 1835. She died in 1850.
Her name now belongs to wax museums in cities around the world, among them Madame Tussauds Orlando.
On International Drive
Madame Tussauds Orlando opened in 2015 in the complex then called I-Drive 360 and renamed ICON Park in 2018. It is owned by Merlin Entertainments, which also owns the neighbouring observation wheel and SEA LIFE aquarium.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
