So I know we went on the Harry Potter Studio tour just after Christmas, but I couldn’t not share some snaps and our experience. Since my momma was visiting, we decided to visit with her as she’s as big a Harry Potter fanatic as I am. Adam has only seen a couple of movies and never read the books (horror!) but he liked it as well.
Since we visited around Christmas, we got to see Hogwarts in the snow, as well as the main hall decked out for the holidays. I really want to visit again in the summer to see the changes, but honestly, it made it more magical to me being all Christmassy.
I thought it was really cool how they had so much stuff from the movies. Costumes, shoes, wigs, wands, even moustaches.
The fat lady. We tried saying Fortuna Major and Mimbulus Mimbletonia but she stayed put. Damn those password changes. 
We had better luck getting into Dumbledores office, you didn’t even need a password, you just walked around the entrance.
I was probably more excited that I should have been at seeing some of the major props from some of my favourite Harry Potter movies. The Tri-Wizard tournament stuff was so cool up close. 
{Assortment of wands}
About halfway through the tour, you can ride broomsticks against a green screen, and watch London whiz past you on the monitors. This is free to do, but you’ll have to purchase pictures or videos if you want them as you’re not allowed to take any while you are in the green screen area. It was pretty fun actually, and we of course had to get the pictures as souvenirs from our trip. Mom and I went flying on brooms, but Adam sat that one out.
{Enjoying a butterbeer} 
{Mom is moving in}
The creature shop had to be my favourite part of the whole thing. I loved seeing the intricate workings of the creepy characters that featured so prominently throughout the movies. Everything looked so lifelike, and the details that went into making things seemed unbelievable. 
Eventually you end up in Diagon alley! Here Mom is welcoming you. 
It really would have made it for me if you could actually go into the joke shop, you could only look in the open doors and windows, boo. 
You go through a little hall and end up mouth agape staring at a massive replica of Hogwarts. Now this is where it’s different around Christmas as they cover the whole thing in snow! I’m not going to lie, I was giddy walking around the entire thing. It’s so cool. I don’t know how many more ways I can say how impressed I am with all of the effort that went into the making of the Harry Potter movies, and how cool it was to be able to see these things first hand. I’ve got a whole new appreciation for movie making for sure. 
You end your tour in the wand room, looking for the actors and actresses names you recognise on wand boxes. I found Rupert Grint, but couldn’t see anyone else I recognised. It was getting late at this point as we had booked onto a later tour, so we stocked up on trinkets from the gift shop, snagged some coffees for the way home, and talked about how awesome it was all the way back.I took around 500 pictures, I know, ridiculous. I didn’t want to post too many things though and give it away for people who plan to visit, but I’ll just say this, GO! It’s so cool. Even if you aren’t a Harry Potter fan and are just interested in how movies are put together, it’s such a fun experience. You get to see sets, props, learn the inside secrets, and admire the handiwork of some very talented people.
I’d highly recommend a trip, in fact, I can’t wait to go back again, as I need to see it without the snow of course. Make sure you book your tickets well in advance, especially around Christmas and school holidays as slots get booked up quickly. Once you are through at your allotted time however you have as much time to stay there as you’d like. We made a day trip out of it, as it was about three hours from our house, and it wasn’t bad.
Have you ever been to the Harry Potter Studios? Which was your favourite part?
