Madame Tussauds Orlando has turned its International Drive galleries into a crime scene this fall, launching a museum-wide scavenger hunt called The Great Wax Heist that runs daily from October 1 through October 31, 2026. The premise: wax-sculpting tools have gone missing from the attraction's archives, and guests are tasked with tracking down five missing artifacts hidden throughout the building during regular operating hours.
The mystery unfolds as visitors use their smartphones to scan QR codes scattered across the attraction, each one revealing clues and puzzles tied to the real history of wax figure creation, according to Tampa Free Press. Paul Gould said the experience gives guests a fun new way to experience Madame Tussauds Orlando, per the same report. The hunt is included with standard admission, meaning there's no additional fee tacked onto a regular ticket, which can be purchased at madametussauds.com/orlando.
A Fictional Crime, A Very Real Cast of Wax Stars
Guests hunting for clues will do so in the company of some of the attraction's most photographed residents, including wax figures of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Selena Gomez, Simu Liu, and Jeff Goldblum, all featured as part of the scavenger hunt experience. The QR-code puzzles also weave in real history, referencing techniques that Marie Tussaud developed more than 250 years ago as she pioneered the original methods of wax-figure making.
The Orlando location has been steadily refreshing its lineup with high-profile additions in recent seasons. Madame Tussauds Orlando debuted a new Beyoncé figure in March 2025, styled in a fringe suede jacket inspired by her Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album, according to WKMG. Months later, in September 2025, the museum added a Selena Gomez figure recreating her red beaded floral dress from the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, a build that took a 20-artist studio team roughly nine months to complete, per Amusement Today.
The Real Cost Behind Each Fictional Clue
The heist storyline is fictional, but the craftsmanship it references is not. Producing a single Madame Tussauds wax figure typically requires around 20 skilled artists working three to four months, with costs running between $200,000 and $350,000 per figure, according to CNET. That process involves more than 250 precise measurements and hand-inserted hair strands, underscoring just how much labor sits behind the figures guests are asked to investigate.
Madame Tussauds Orlando houses more than 90 wax figures spread across seven themed interactive zones, spanning music, film, sports and historical figures, per Orlando-Ticket.com. The venue has also invested in tech-forward presentation elsewhere in the building, including a 12-by-6-foot high-resolution LED video wall installed in its Music Stars gallery that plays music videos behind featured artist figures, according to Electrosonic.
Part of a Bigger ICON Park Push for Fall Crowds
The Great Wax Heist isn't an isolated experiment. It mirrors a broader trend across sibling attractions at ICON Park, the International Drive entertainment complex where Madame Tussauds sits alongside SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium and The Orlando Eye, all under global operator Merlin Entertainments PLC. Merlin brought the 400-foot observation wheel into that same ownership umbrella in March 2024, consolidating three major attractions under one roof.
Just down the promenade, SEA LIFE Orlando's own seasonal hunt returned for its third consecutive year this fall, part of a pattern of interactive, included-with-admission activities designed to boost family attendance without extra ticket surcharges. ICON Park sits at the center of Orlando's International Drive district, an entertainment corridor that captures a significant share of the region's more than 70 million annual visitors near the Orange County Convention Center.
Madame Tussauds Orlando first opened on May 4, 2015, as an anchor attraction for what was then called I-Drive 360, years before the complex was rebranded as ICON Park in 2018. The Orlando location has also taken on added significance nationally since Merlin Entertainments permanently closed its Madame Tussauds San Francisco venue in August 2024, leaving Orlando as one of just four Madame Tussauds locations still operating in the United States, alongside New York, Hollywood and Nashville.
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