On the 23rd of May, we paid another visit to the Warner Bros Studio (our 3rd one to be exact!) before travelling up north for our holiday.
Even though myself and Joe have been twice before, I was still so excited to experience it all again. I'm not a huge film fanatic however the Harry Potter films are definitely my all time favourite films!
The tour is spread over two hangers (conveniently named 'J' and 'K') and once through the queue to get in, you are free to roam and experience the magic yourselves. The three times that I have gone, the place has been full of people of all different ages and cultures - yet we all have one thing in common; the love of magical world of Harry Potter. Despite the amount of people, the queue moves quickly and you will soon find yourself in the room where the tour begins to unfold. Before entering the Geat Hall, the friendly staff entertain you with video clips of where JK Rowling started her story about the boy wizard and the huge fandom it created all over the world.
Once in the Great Hall - which is an incredible start to the tour - you are guided by staff and given more facts and secrets about the making of the films. This only last for a few minutes and then you are free to take yourself around the rest of the film sets. When in the Great Hall you are faced with original costumes once worn by Daniel Radcliff, Robert Pattinson and many more. Secrets are revealed about how they filmed certain parts and staff point out things you may never have noticed in the films. It is incredibly surreal to imagine that at one point in that Great Hall, it was full of Hogwart's students, Dumbledore, Snape and Professor McGonagall.
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| I love Hermione's ball gown! |
When continuing the tour, you will find more costumes, wigs, props and facts about the making of the films. You'll witness the Gryffindor coomon room and bedroom, Dumbledoor's office, the Weasley's house and Hagrid's hut (plus so much more). Once again, it was very surreal to imagine that it was actually, really filmed in these sets.
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| Sherbet lemon! |
In the first hanger, you also get the opportunity to ride a broomstick and learn some spells!
The next part of the tour was the reason for our return visit. The Hogwarts Express was added to the tour recently and as Joe has a love of steam engines (they are part of my family and childhood too) we couldn't not check it out.
Whilst in this part, you can go through the carriages that are set out with more props from the films and adjacent to the engine you can be involved with 'interactive' carriage, whereby you can sit down with friends and family whilst a green screen in the window makes you feel like you're actually on the Hogwarts Express, travelling to Hogwarts.
There is a gift shop in this part of the tour that sell memorabilia that is specific to the engine and platform 9 & 3/4. I strongly recommend if you find something you want to purchase, make sure you purchase it there and then! I made the mistake of assuming the main gift shop at the end of the tour would stock the same items so rather than carrying it around the rest of the tour, I'd buy it later. I was wrong and as the tour works on a one way system, I couldn't go back :( :( :(!
After platform 9 & 3/4, you get a chance to purchase some food and drink, have a sit down and maybe even try a Butterbeer!
The next part of the tour is outside, where you can see the Khight bus, the Dursley's house and the giant chess pieces.
After this, you get the chance to experience hanger 'K'. This is where you'll find more props and special effects secrets. In this part, Warwick Davis will talk you through (on a video) the animatronics of the film, including how they created Hagrid's robot head; but my favourite part of this was seeing Buckbeak and finding out how they made him and watching him move. It was like he was a real life Hippogriff and I wish I could've stroked him! Personally, I wish Hippogriff's were a real thing!!
The first time we visited the studio, I was amazed by this next part! After witnessing Buckbeak, we found ourselves in Diagon Alley.. Once again, it was amazingly surreal and I couldn't quite contemplate that where I was stood, was really where they had filmed the film!
Next, you'll find walls covered in drawings and plans for building and vehicles. It really shows, just how much work goes into these films even before the camera starts rolling. As well as illustrations, you'll find models made out of matchsticks and paper. These were so detailed and incredible to see.
We knew we were nearing the end of the tour but I was not prepared for what I'd witness next (first time visiting as obviously, I knew what was coming on the second and third visit). This is by far my favourite part of the tour.
This is the Hogwarts castle. You get a 360 degree experience over two height levels and every little detail is incredible. As well as this, the lighting will change to represent sunrise and sunset. I was blown away by this part and find myself looking at every detail and imagining/wishing I could see some of the characters in the windows or walking around the grounds.
The tour ends with the gift shop, where I found numerous items I wanted to buy, however, personally I felt a lot of the items were quite expensive.
I highly recommend this tour to everyone and anyone as it is suitable for most ages! It will definitely be a day to remember!
If you have already been, leave me a comment telling me what your favourite part was! I'd love to know!
Emma
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