This wind tunnel study was conducted to investigate the similarity laws involved in the reasonable simulation of the wake characteristics of a full-scale wind turbine. A 5 MW scaled wind turbine model was designed using an optimization method based on the blade element momentum (BEM) theory. Subsequently, wind tunnel tests were carried out on the geometrically similar model and the thrust-optimized model, with different yaw angles and under various upstream flow conditions. The results indicated that the wake development of the wind turbine model was closely related to the thrust forces of the wind turbine, and both kinematic and dynamic similarity laws should be observed to achieve wake characteristics that are reasonably similar to those of a full-scale wind turbine. This study investigated the aerodynamic similarity principles of small-scale wind turbine models to develop a more effective method for simulating full-scale turbine wake characteristics in wind tunnel tests. The outcomes of this study revealed the limitations of the anomalously low thrust coefficients in geometrically similar wind turbine models and present reasonable model design methodologies for small-scale wind turbine models in wind tunnel tests.