If you are going to the ‘The Making of Harry Potter’ Warner Brothers Studio Tour near London, my first suggestion would be to get there 1 or 2 hours early so you can get a few things done before you even start the tour plays get a good spot in line. Before you even enter the building you can see the chess pieces from ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’, which are always good to get a photo of. When you get inside you can see all the characters and even the Ford Anglia. I would recommend going to the gift shop first because after the tour, the lines are massive.
After the shop, start to line up so you can get a good spot for the intro. It takes a while to get to the front but have patience, because when you do it is totally worth it. You can see the cupboard under the stairs and in the room it has all the movie posters so you can see the differences. After the room is full, a lady will talk to you and ask your favourite house, (#slytherinpride) and you will be led to a massive cinema where there is a mini movie.
When the movie is finished, the great hall will be revealed in a self guided tour and there, all the teachers and uniforms will be shown. As you move through the studio, there are sets and other cool stuff, including a green screen room where you can wear robes and ride broomsticks for a video to take home. Sadly you do not get to choose your house and it costs £40 which is around Au$80! I mean you don’t even get to choose your own house!
Before the break in the tour, where you can eat snacks and drink butterbeer, you can see the world famous Hogwarts Express. It also includes a mini gift shop. The Hogwarts Express is not really worth lining up for, as it doesn’t include much more than a couple of seats.
One of the great attractions is butterbeer but I would just have a bottle of Sprite instead! Imagine a drink, which is melted butter, covered in sugar and melted marshmallows, now times that by 10,000. It is about ten times worse than that. I nearly vomited, and don’t get me started with the butterbeer ice cream!
After the break you can step inside Privet Drive and the Hogwarts Bridge, or even drive the ford Anglia and Sirius’s motorbike. When you get back inside you can see all the creatures and special effects. After that you, can see Diagon Alley and Gringotts. When you go up the stairs you can see designs for the quidditch gear and the music.
Finally, you can see the model of Hogwarts and every detail is perfect! It includes small stuff like rocks and bigger stuff like the astronomy tower. If you found that you didn’t see enough you could always go to Kings Cross or go to Florida or Orlando for their theme parks. It was an amazing experience and you will go home with great joy (unless you had too much butterbeer!)
Hey moo!
I loved going there! Well done for trying the butterbeer! I was too scared.
I agree it was disappointing that you couldn’t choose your house for the green screen flying thing. I am ravenclaw all the way and was put in Slytherin robes! I know you would’ve loved that though!
Miss u!
Amy