Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A Magical Journey: Harry Potter Studio Tour

On Christmas Morning I awoke to find a ticket to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour, courtesy of my amazing boyfriend (who is very thoughtful, and I am very lucky, but I won't bore you with that now).


So ticket in hand, last Saturday I arrived at Leavesden at my allocated time slot, wanting to dance with excitement but maintaining a cool exterior as I queued to enter.

As a dire fan of the series, I was eagerly anticipating the tour, yet was slightly apprehensive at the same time. My worry that it would be a disappointment (like so many of the movies) was thankfully however, unfounded.
From the moment you step foot into the studio, it truly is magical. To see things so familiar to us after 8 films, in real life was quite amazing, and unlike the Harry Potter Walking Tour of London (Which, is a gigantic waste of money), I felt like I was experiencing a part of the series first hand.
From Neville's infamous cardigan, the revolving staircase of Dumbledore's office, the destroyed Horcruxes, the flying Ford Anglia.. It was all there in front of me, just how I imagined it.
The sets, while surprisingly small, were decorated with such attention to detail that I got a new-found appreciation of the films. Every portrait featured in Hogwarts was painted especially for the films, including a portrait of a young Professor McGonagall (and her animagus) for the Gryffindor Common Room.
The final part of the tour brings you through Diagon Alley (OH if only you could go in the shops!) and through to the spectacular model of Hogwarts that was used during filming. It genuinely took my breath away.
The only negative thing I have to say about the tour was the abundance of children, many of whom were not even born when I fell in love with the series, pushing to the front to see things leaving me peering at the back. It also annoyed me that the children all get special Hogwarts Passports where you can go and collect golden snitches throughout the tour (sometimes being an adult stinks).
And so, my magical day came to and end, inevitably via an expansive gift shop full of merchandise - from Extendable Ears, to Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, yours to take home for £14.95 and £8.95 (respectively). I did treat myself to a Chocolate Frog (I got Dumbledore) and a Gryffindor Coffee Thermos - but couldn't help but marvel at Warner's marketing machine. Not a child was leaving without a bag filled of wands, robes and Pygmy Puffs. The tour will undoubtedly make the company millions.
Putting my cynical self aside, I would thoroughly recommend the tour to both fans of the series, and Muggles alike.

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