I am a Huge Harry Potter Fan and have been since before they even started making the films! With every release of a new book I would be one of the first in the queue at midnight to buy it! Luckily for me our wonderful Kiera was into Harry Potter when Steve and I got married so I was something we shared. With Mason I have read the books to him since he was very small and now he is reading them himself so Harry Potter is very special to our family!
Mason has been dying to go to the WB Harry Potter Studio Tour for so long so we decided to surprise him for his birthday! Tickets sell out so quickly so our first tip would be to book way ahead of time ideally! We booked for November at the end of the summer and the only slot available to book was the 5pm slot. The studio is open until 10pm so even if you can only get an evening slot don’t let it put you off! If anything I think the fact it was dark outside added to the magic!!
The Tour
The excitement starts as soon as you enter the studio with an amazing dragon model suspended from the ceiling! Even though it was later in the day it was very busy but the queues move pretty quickly and are well organised. The lovely thing about the studio is if it’s your birthday you get to come down to the front and open the doors to the great hall to start the tour! As it was Mason’s birthday it was something he got to do so he was over the moon!! The great hall set is SPECTACULAR …even without the enchanted ceiling you are completely in awe the moment you walk in. For Harry Potter fans it’s a real *pinch me* moment!! At the moment it’s the studio’s ‘Hogwarts in the snow’ so the great hall is dressed for Christmas which I think made it even more beautiful!
Once you’ve been through the great hall you go through to a big backlot where sets such as the Gryffindor Common room set, Dumbledore’s Office, Snape’s Potions Classroom and the Weasley’s Kitchen! Now this bit I’ve got to be honest feels a tiny bit cramped in. There seemed to be a bit overcrowded and was all a bit overwhelming for Mason.
It’s all so wonderful and everyone wants to see it all so I think if they spaced it out or the area was a bit larger it would improve this! Luckily this is the only bit of the tour that is like this and it’s only a small part.
There are so many fabulous exhibits from there such as the forbidden Forrest, The bank and Hogwarts Express which you can actually board! I don’t want to go into too much detail as I don’t want to give too many spoilers but I have to give a special mention to Diagon Alley! One of the highlights of my life now is that I got to walk down Diagon Alley!!!
Half way through the tour is The Backlot Cafe which has various options of both hot and cold food as well as Butter Beer!! Yes…Real Butter Beer!!! We HAD to try it and it’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before so hard to explain but it’s very sweet and quite nice! It costs around £7.50 per glass and comes in a plastic tankard which you get to keep as a souvenir! Mason had a kids hotdog which comes with chips and cost £6.99. It was a decent size and not too bad for what you get.
Just outside the cafe you will find some larger sets and props such as the knight bus, 4 Privet Drive, the flying Ford Anglia, Hagrid’s Motor Bike and the Hogwarts bridge! The really cool thing about 4 Privet Drive is you can actually go inside it and the set inside is dressed on the scene where all the letters arrive and Aunt Marg gets blown up like a balloon!
The end of the tour and the last exhibit will absolutely take your breath away but again I don’t want to spoil it!!
If you’re a Harry Potter fan or really even if your’e only a little bit aware of the films it is a must see! Is it worth the cost?? We would say absolutely! It’s not a huge difference in cost to most theme parks and it’s not a short experience. They recommend allowing at least 3.5 hours but we were in there just over 4 hours. If you’re thinking of going …GO and you won’t be disappointed!
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