Warner Brother has kept its movie studio that used to shoot Harry Potter. The studio is not far away from London. By taking train and bus, it is only about 1.5 hour away. Most of the Harry Potter movies scenes were shot here and many of the movie sets have been kept. Getting the admission ticket is quite difficult however. Usually people have to purchase the ticket a month or 2 before the actual date. Only certain amount of people are allowed to enter each day.
We did not realize that the Warner Brother studio for Harry Potter is right here and open to the public. We were trying to purchase the ticket but it was all sold out. Then we had to keep on refreshing the page until someone cancel their tickets. Luckily, we were able to secure 2 tickets the day before. We were so glad.
On the day of the event, we took the train from Waterloo station to Watford Junction station first. Then there is Harry Potter Tour Bus that would take us directly to the studio. The cost of the bus ride is 3 pounds per person and cash only.
We got to Warner Brother Harry Potter Studio around 9AM in the morning. We went to pick up our ticket and the lady also thought we were very lucky to purchase the ticket the day before. We then had to line up at the entrance to wait for our turn to go through the security check to enter the studio.
Once we entered the studio, a large dragon was handing down from the ceiling to greet us. It looked so magnificent and real. The Starbuck on the side was also selling special drink cups with Harry Potter pictures on them.
Our visit to the studio was scheduled for 10AM, but they were fine to let us in at 9:30AM. The first part of the tour took us through the history of the Making of Harry Potter. It also showed the very original Harry Potter's bedroom under the staircase with all of Harry Potter's personal items.
We then entered a small theatre and watched a short clip from the actors and actresses. Then we finally entered the great hall of Hogwarts. The great hall was not as large as what it seemed in the movie. There were tables placed on both side of the hall, and a head table placed at the end of the hall for the professors. There were mannequins dressed up as professors and students as well.
After the great hall is the fun part of the studio. It was a huge room with all kinds of movie set scenes from Gryffindor's common room, Dombledore's office, to Weasley's dining room. We could recognize every movie set items and figured out where we have seen it in the movies.
On the side of the room, there was a photo shooting for people to dress up with wizard's robes. People could choose a robe from each of the 4 houses. Then people could take photos together and then also try the broom flying experience with green screen in the background. The broom flying experience was quite interesting. We could see the green screen background being swapped out with mountains, cities, and rivers. Afterwards, we could purchase the photos that we took, as well as the movie that was shot for flying the broom.
Before leaving the big room, there was this wand practice experience. We could try out swinging the wand and they would teach 3 different wand swinging techniques. It was quite fun and people should definitely try this.
We left the room and entered the dark forest. We were warned that there would be smoke and lighting effects in the dark forest. The smoke in the dark forest was made out of dry ice. Through the darkness, we could see the spiders and horror creatures in there. Initially we thought the dark forest would be quite large, but it was very very small.
As we continue along the tour, we arrived at Platform 9 3/4. It was a large platform with Hogwarts Express train parked on the side. There were also trolleys on the side that were partially inside the wall to illustrate how Harry Potter went through the portal on the wall to the platform. People could actually step onto Hogwarts Express. There were several rooms and compartments on the train just like the movie. All the scenes on the train were actually shot here.
Before we continue further, we arrived at the cafeteria, which was the half way point of the tour. We ordered 2 cups of butter bear of course. It seemed to be ice cream inside ginger ale. This butter bear however was not as good as the one we had at Universal Studio. This was a bit disappointing.
At the start of the second half of the tour, we entered the goblin bank of Gringotts. It looked exactly like what it was in the movie. The floor and the columns were pasted with wall papers, but it looked very real. The goblin's head also looked quite real except that it was not moving.
We then got to the second section with more movie sets. The goblin bank vault, the treasure room, and many other movie sets. The treasures in the treasure room looked so real. The golden coins and silver cups were so shining. After we made a turn out of the room, we arrived at Diagon Alley where the shops are. We didn't know it actually existed here! It was interesting to see all the shops here but it felt smaller than what it seemed in the movies.
After exiting Diagon Alley, we got to a giant room with a real Hogwarts model. The model was very detailed with doors, windows, and stairs. We were told that this was where the movie studio shot the scenes that involved the whole Hogwarts castle. Different lighting in the room would make the castle to appear differently.
Right at the end of the tour, we entered the wand store. There were so many wands in here! More than we could count! It was amazing to see the amount of wands here. It was funny that the security staff had to move around the room to let people to take photos from different angles.
We were so thrilled to be at Warner Brother Harry Potter Studio. It was such a fun experience to see how the movie sets and how the movie was created. We highly recommend this tour and make sure to purchase the ticket as early as possible.
EmoticonEmoticon