Hello, all!
I hope you’re all well, and that 2015 is treating you well so far? 🙂
For today’s blog post, I thought I would blog about a recent trip I made. It’s going to be a bit of a lengthy blog post— which I’m looking forward to doing, since I feel like it’s been a good while since I last did a blog post I could proper get my teeth stuck into!— so take a seat, get comfy, and pour yourself a butter-beer!
Yes, that’s right. Last weekend I visited the Harry Potter Studios Tours, which is located on the outskirts of London. If you’re visiting London on a holiday (many people at the Tour was; some people had even come as far away as Australia!), it’s not too far to travel. For me, however, the day started just after 5 in the morning, but it very much worth it.
As soon as you pull into the car park at the Studios, you can instantly tell you’re in for a treat. Large billboards are plastered on the outside of the building that match all of the films, as well as the Harry Potter logo, too— and even Harry Potter-themed buses, for if you’ve had to catch public transport into the place (for visitors who are holidaying. 🙂 )
Once inside, we were each given a ticket. The youngsters were also given a Harry Potter passport, which I thought was pretty snazzy— they would make something great to keep and look back on; a little souvenir if you like, since they were really well-made and of high quality— like everything else that is at the Tour. If you’re an adult— boo hoo, I wish I had been a child just for the Passport!— then you get a standard ticket, but even these were cool. Mine was one with the Mandrake on it, but you can see one with the Basilisk above it.
Each ticket is only valid for 30 minutes, which allows the Studio to make entry into the Tour very efficient and stress-free. We were able to get in smoothly and calmly, so they definitely know what they were doing. This meant that we didn’t feel flustered going into the Tour, and it really did make our first impressions very positive, building us up for the Tour itself. It was Hogwarts in the Snow when we went, since it was just after Christmas, but I am aware that the Christmas theme is be taken back down now for another year, so here’s a couple of snaps to show you if you haven’t before.
Once in the Tour, they were so much to see— and the Tour was full of twists and surprises! Half of me wanted to discuss them here, so that I can share the experience, but then I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who haven’t been yet and plan on going one day. (If you would like me to do a full Harry Potter Studio Tour “walk-through” kind of post, then just let me know down in the comments.)
The Great Hall was done magically, and it was so surreal to be able to walk through one of the locations I’ve grown up loving and always dreaming that I could walk through it. It a fantastic experience. Apparently those peas pictured below were made out of metal ball-bearings, and they even set the giant Christmas Puddings on fire, which was the cherry-on-top of the experience. Because it was Hogwarts in the Snow, it was even snowing behind the windows! How they managed to do that, I have no idea!
After the Great Hall, you’re able to enter a large room which is just FULL of so many scenes and props and bits and bobs from the movies that you just didn’t know where to look first, or where to go first— it felt very much like being a kid in a candy shop! I could write a blog post the length of Jane Eyre about everything I saw, so I thought I would share 10 of my favorite things I saw in the room instead. 🙂
The attention to detail was amazing. I think one of my most favorite scenes was The Burrow, in which the Weasley family lived in— but, of course, you already knew that, right? I had always loved The Burrow, both the one in the books and the one in the films, and so it was strange and surreal to be able to just look around it right in front of my eyes. The nice thing was that the Studio Tour didn’t just showcase the scenes— which would have been amazing regardless— but they also managed to bring the scenes to life.
They did this by having dummies which the character’s costumes on, which were then positioned to look like the character, which helped bring the characters to life, and really added to the scenes. For example, below you have Molly Weasley, stood in the kitchen of The Burrow, which her hands on her hip! Additionally, they also made certain props move— for instance, the pots in the sink were really washing themselves, and they were knives chopping up vegetables on the table!
We then stopped off to visit Professor Umbridge in her office, before popping into the Ministry of Magic.
The Studio Tour then took a break, as something exciting was introduced— but I’m going to take this as an opportunity to stop myself, as I’ve decided to split this post into more than just one part.
So check back on Monday for Part 2 of my thoughts on the Studio Tour, and please let me know down below in the comments your thoughts. 🙂
Thank you for reading, and take care.
All the best,
Joshua 🙂
joshuajstories 