The Making of Harry Potter Tour : Review

Hello readers!  Today we’re going on a magical journey through the Warner Brother Studios: The Making of Harry Potter Tour!

Tickets 

If you’re interested in going on the Warner Brothers Studios Harry Potter tour then you MUST book a ticket in advance.  There are no tickets sold at the studios. If you show up there without a ticket booked, you’re out of luck and not even felix felicis can save you.  I booked my ticket about a month in advance and pickings were slim.  Since this was for September, I’d imagine that tickets for the summer and winter breaks need to be booked a few months ahead of time.

Getting There 

The tour is advertised as “Warner Brother Studios Tour : London”. This is a little misleading since the studio is actually in Leavesden, about 20 miles outside the center of London.  Broomstick transport is currently unavailable but there are still a couple different options to get there.

• Private Transport
  • Bus services, such as Golden Tours, offer rides that take you from the center of London directly to the studios.  I checked out this option due to convenience, but the price tag is also pretty hefty.  Round trip service was 69 pounds.  This does include the price of the tour, but you’re still paying about 40 pounds for transport.  Given my spotty track record with buses, I opted for public transport instead.
• Public Transport
  • If traveling by public transport, you want to wind up at Watford Junction.  The easiest way to do so is by catching a train or bus from Euston Station in London.  Since I decided to avoid buses, I can only inform on the train options.  There are two train options:
    • London Overground from Euston to Watford Junction.  Travel Time: 50 minutes.
    • National Express from Euston to Watford Junction.  Travel Time: 20 minutes.
  • The Overground option is slightly less expensive but they both end up being significantly cheaper than private transport.  I ended up taking the overground on the way over and the National Express on the way back.  If you have an Oyster card, taking the trains is very convenient since it will work for both options and purchasing other tickets won’t be necessary.
• Bus Service from Watford Junction
  • Once at Watford Junction, the studio offers buses to take you to and from.  The buses cost 2.50 for round trip and play fun videos that help build the anticipation.

Overall, getting there took me between and hour and an hour and a half.  Tickets are timed, so leave yourself plenty of time to arrive in your allotted window.

The Tour (!) 

Thanks for sticking through that logistical slog.  Now we’ve arrived at the fun part!

I was as eager as a young Daniel Radcliffe to get started.

Eager McBeaver

The first three rooms of the tour are guided and after that the rest is at your own pace.  First we went through two pre-shows which explained a little bit about how the Harry Potter books became optioned to be a movie and then a little bit more about the moviemaking process.  After that, we were welcomed into the Great Hall.  This was an awesome place to begin the tour.  Most of the sets I saw throughout the day were much smaller than they appear on camera, but this one was just as large and grand as it seems in the film.

yes, that table really is as long as it appears

Dumbledore has a few start of term reminders

gargoyle details

After the Great Hall visit, I was off on the rest of the tour!

I was told that the average person takes the tour in 3.5 hours and I must be exceptionally average since that’s exactly how long it took for me to make it from the Great Hall through the gift shop.

I took about 200 pictures so I will try to narrow it down here but basically if you can think of a prop or costume that appeared in the films you’d like to see, it’s probably on the tour somewhere.

Mandrake?  Yep.

time to bust out your earmuffs everyone

That sparkly dress Luna wore when she went to Slughorn’s party with Harry? You bet.

possibly not prominently displayed due to Nargle infestation

Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?  Obviously.

I opened it so that exams can be cancelled

Given that this is a filmmaking tour, there are plenty of cool tidbits about what went into making the films. There’s a story to every set, prop and costume that’s displayed.  For example, when you see the Gryffindor common room on screen, you probably aren’t thinking “Oh yeah they must’ve deliberately worn down that couch for a few days to make it look extra lived-in.” But that is in fact what was done.

There are lots of plaques displaying information, but the best way to find out neat info is to ask the guides who are stationed throughout the tour.  Seriously, ask them!  I spoke with one of the guides who worked on the set of the movies as well as the tour and had excellent insider info on the wands.  He told me that when Daniel Radcliffe was young, he had a bad habit of drumming with his wand between takes and had to get his replaced a lot.  Tom Felton was the only person on set for all eight movies that never had to get a wand replacement since he was vigilant about taking care of his.

wands at the ready

At the Goblet of Fire station I stopped to talk to one of the workers there about why we love Harry Potter.  She told me that no one ever stops to talk to her so she gave me a name that had erupted from the Goblet of Fire.  (It said “Harry Potter” on it in case anyone was wondering).

One part of the tour I thought was really convenient was that next to every piece of the set there were quotes from the book describing that particular setting as well as movie clips that showed the set in action. This was a neat way to tie in the book-to-movie process.

Now, on to some of my favorite sets!

Did you know that Dolores Umbridge’s outfits get progressively pinker as she gets more evil?  Neither did I.

I would be lying if I said this wasn’t an awesome set and I must not tell lies

Pure pink evil

The Forbidden Forest set was new for 2017.

okay yeah that’s pretty creepy

In one section giant animatronic spiders literally descend upon you.

where’s a flying car when you need one

The potions classroom set was awesome.  As I mentioned earlier, most of the sets are pretty tiny in comparison to how large you think they would be, but this one was huge and filled with so much detail.  All those random ingredients lining the walls are carefully hand selected.  .

Of course, Platform 9 3/4 was also a favorite.

I could hardly “express” my excitement

There were also some neat outdoor sets including Privet Drive and Godric’s Hollow.

looking ordinary as always

Shout out to that part of the movie I always skip

Halfway through the tour you hit the Backlot Café where there are sandwiches, snacks, and Butterbeer products sold.  I decided to spring for the Butterbeer ice cream and I am sad to report that it was not that good.  It was great as far as vanilla ice cream cones go.  But Butterbeer ice cream? Not so much.

One of the great things about the tour is that there are SO MANY opportunities for great pictures.  If you’re like me and traveling by yourself this means you’ll probably be asking strangers for pictures.

Thank you kind stranger for capturing this moment

Table for one, please.

wait, but all the destinations I want to go to are underwater

never mind, they’re actually not.

Some of my favorite parts of the tour are the details that you may not even notice in the movies.  Detail is essential to world building and there were thousands of newspapers, books, and paintings created especially to appear in the movies.

a little light reading

There was also an abundance concept art, set models, and one particularly incredible model of Hogwarts.

straight up magical

Overall, the tour is an amazing experience.  The price tag is a little hefty,  but if you’re a Harry Potter fan or interested in the filmmaking process, the tour is a totally worthwhile way to spend your afternoon.

This weekend I’m headed to Bath so keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming post about that trip.

See you later!

Claire