Adventures in London: The Harry Potter Studio Tour: My Favorite Day in London

Our Harry Potter double-decker bus!

So, today was Harry Potter day! After some travel stress and a phone call to the Harry Potter Studios customer service (which plays Harry Potter music and gives you Harry Potter facts while you wait! Awesome by the way!) we made it to the studio. We rode a black double-decker bus to get from the train station to the studio and it was awesome!

FYI, I just finished writing about this experience in my journal and it took 13 pages. So I’ll try to keep this relatively short. I’ll just stick to the major parts. And if when I get home you want to see all 728 pictures/videos that I took while there, you just let me know. J

Ok, back to Harry Potter. I was so giddy all the way there and when we walked off that bus I was bouncing everywhere. I was so happy!

The Great Hall!

So, everything that was in the studio was the real deal. It was the actual stuff they used while filming. No replicas (except for the #4 on Privet Drive, because Rupert Grint took that home). So while we were in line we saw the cupboard under the stairs. It was awesome! Once we were inside the tour officially, we watched 2 movies about how Harry Potter started and how it impacted the whole world. It was a great intro for the tour. The last shot of the movie was of the entrance to the Great Hall. The screen rose up and the doors were right there! They opened them and we were standing in the Great Hall. We were walking on the stone floors that they used in the films. It was fantastic!

Magic is Might statue

Bit of background info, they had 2 buildings full of stuff, named stages J and K. They also had an area outside with outside stuff (obviously). Anyway, after we left the Great Hall we went into the rest of stage J. They had all sorts of stuff. Costumes, wigs, classrooms, the Gryffindor dormitory and common room, J

Dumbledore’s office, the Horcruxes, the Triwizard cup, the golden egg, the goblet of fire, the kitchen from the Burrow (which was awesome, because the “magical” stuff actually worked. The knitting would knit on its own, the pan washed itself, the knife cut the carrot, and the ironing was done by itself), stuff from the Ministry of Magic too (the fireplaces, the Magic is Might statue, Umbridge’s office, etc. At this point, my camera battery died (I should’ve charged it last night, but that didn’t happen), but luckily I had my phone! And my phone lasted throughout the rest of the tour. That was a really quick summary of stage J, but I have hundreds of pictures, so yeah.

Outside Privet Drive

Next we went to the outside area. It had the Knight Bus, Tom Riddle Sr.’s tombstone, Number 4 Privet Drive, Harry’s house in Godric’s Hollow with the roof blown out, the chess pieces, and the Hogwarts Bridge (where Lupin and Harry talk in the Prisoner of Azkaban). They sold Butterbeer in that area too. While it was good Butterbeer, I prefer the Butterbeer that they sold in Florida, the slushy kind. It was so good. Anyway, we got to walk across the Hogwarts Bridge and it was amazing! That was where the actors walked. So many big moments occurred on that bridge. The chess pieces were HUGE! It was amazing!

Diagon Alley!

Stage K started with the art/creature department. They had masks, Mrs. Norris, Lupin’s werewolf, wax figures of various characters (Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore, Katie Bell, Hagrid, Dobby, Draco, and Fred. They had an animatronic Voldemort soul baby thing (the creepy Voldemort baby thing under the bench in the Deathly Hallows part 2 – I took a video. I actually took lots of videos on the tour). They had thestrals, Aragog, the Basilisk, and Buckbeak! Buckbeak moved! It was wonderful. The next part was Diagon Alley! I walked down Diagon Alley you guys! I saw Gringotts and Ollivanders. The ice cream shop, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and lots more. It was awesome! I didn’t want to leave. I did in fact tell Diagon Alley, “goodbye” on my way out.

Then we wandered through the area with blueprints, concept art, and cardboard layouts of various locations. Don’t you worry, I took pictures of everything. Everything. I have 728 pictures. I took them all in just over 4 hours. Impressive, huh? I think so.

Next was the best room in the whole place, in my opinion. They had the giant replica of Hogwarts in this huge room. It was Hogwarts. It was right in front of me and I loved it! It was so detailed and perfect and wonderful. We stayed in there forever. Examining every inch of it from every angle. I learned some cool facts about the replica (which they used for filming the outside shots of Hogwarts). 1. They put every shingle on individually. 2. In every scene they shot, they changed the time on all the clocks to match the time of the scene. 3. The trees on the grounds were made of tree roots, which they then attached miniature leaves to. 4. The castle was given 6 coats of paint in order to obtain the correct color and texture. Basically, it was amazing and I was in shock and awe and I was giggly and it was great.

Hogwarts

The last room was full of wand boxes. Each box had a name on them. The names were of those who worked on each of the films. I would’ve loved to stay there forever and read all of the names, but I found several cool ones while I was skimming through. Rupert Grint, Jason Isaacs, Maggie Smith, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Fiona Shaw, David Heyman, John Hurt, Tom Felton, Imelda Staunton, Oliver Phelps, and J.K. Rowling. It was an amazing experience. I loved it so much!

Then we went into the gift shop of course. I have so much Harry Potter stuff already, but come on, it’s Harry Potter so obviously I bought more. I bought a t-shirt with a Luna Lovegood quote on it (“I can see them too, you’re just as sane as I am” – she says this to Harry when he realizes that he can see the thestrals). I got two key chains (the Deathly Hallows symbol and a chocolate frog). And I bought Voldemort’s wand. I wanted to buy his wand in Florida. It was the only thing I regretted not buying while I was there. So, I had to buy it while I was here, even though it was more expensive.

Basically, this was the best day of my entire time in London. I know I’m only 2 weeks in, but I don’t think that anything will top this day. It was perfect and wonderful and spectacular and any other marvelous adjective would describe it perfectly. Today was wonderful!

Here are a SMALL selection of the pictures that I took on the in the studio.