It’s not cheap and it was a 4 hour drive through terrible traffic on a cold, wet January day, but was it worth making the trip to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios Tour just north of London?
I would gladly have paid double just to experience the wonder and awe of my kids as they opened the giant Hogwarts doors to get their first glimpse of the Great Hall.
The real Great Hall, complete with stone floors, wooden tables and flaming torches as seen in the movies. The costumes and figures of the Hogwart’s staff were waiting for us at the far end, including over 8 feet of very impressive Hagrid.
Hang The Expense!
Our journey is all about making memories. It’s about experiencing things we would never have a chance of experiencing if we had stayed at home and about learning from them. There is no way we were going to miss the Harry Potter Studio tour while we were in the UK.
That is how our budget works. We save money on things that aren’t important to us and spend big on the good stuff. Life is all about personal priorities, I think. We’re running out of money, but what the heck, it’s been a blast! Maybe later this year we can make it back to Asia and start living on under $50 a day again to stretch this trip out a bit longer, if not, someone gets a job. No dramas.
My elder son, D ( age 9) is a huge Harry Potter fan, he claims to have read all the books 19 times. I think I believe him, he’s always going back to those books when he’s got nothing new to read.
This day was primarily for him, a gift that he will always remember.
My younger son, Boo ( age 7) is the Doctor Who fan, he’d already had his treat at The Doctor Who Experience in London and in Cardiff. He was suitably impressed!
It’s all in the detail. The amount of work that went into those films was absolutely incredible, you can only appreciate it fully when you see the sets, props and costumes for yourself. Everywhere you look there are new surprises.
I’d assumed that the movies relied heavily on computer generated images. I was really surprised by just how many of the creatures and objects were real, animatronic creations of stunning intricacy.
You can take a lesson in wand craft, ride a broom over London and sample Butter Beer.
The kids had loads of fun collecting stamps in their Harry Potter passports and spotting the hidden snitches. Spotting Nearly Headless Nick sitting high on a shelf was a highlight for me.
That looks just like real chocolate doesn’t it?
You can climb aboard an enchanted car, motorbike or night bus.
You can learn about the creative processes that brought the characters to life through loads of interactive displays and super helpful and friendly guides.
The sets were the most magical part for me. They’re all there, Hagrid’s Hut, Gryffindor common room, Dumbledore’s office and the shops of Diagon Alley.
You can learn about the magic of movie snow. Boo was totally captivated by it.
I almost don’t want to post too many pictures on here for fear of spoiling the surprise for those of you who will make it to the Harry Potter studio tour. I have so many more, I took almost 500 photos in our 4 hours there. I’ll just give you a few, a taste of what was there and I hope you can share some of our joy. I’ll post more over on the World Travel Family Facebook page, something to look at while we’re on our 10 day Atlantic Cruise next week, we’re going quiet for a while through lack of internet.
If you haven’t already, you can sign up to follow the next part of our journey through the Americas here.
It is so worth making the journey to see the Harry Potter Studio tour, do it if you possibly can!
