By Laura Weaver
Let me make one thing clear. I am a Potter fan. Books and films, I am a fan. So when it was announced that Warner Brothers was opening The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour, it was a done deal. I'd be in England anyway, so there was no choice - I'd be going. A presale offer popped up through the studio's Facebook page, so I booked my ticket. There is a choice to do a self-guided tour or upgrade and do the digitally guided tour. With the upgrade, you receive the ticket, guidebook and a digital guide (which is narrated by Tom Felton and returned at the end of the tour). I opted to go with the self-guided tour (£25).
Let me make one thing clear. I am a Potter fan. Books and films, I am a fan. So when it was announced that Warner Brothers was opening The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour, it was a done deal. I'd be in England anyway, so there was no choice - I'd be going. A presale offer popped up through the studio's Facebook page, so I booked my ticket. There is a choice to do a self-guided tour or upgrade and do the digitally guided tour. With the upgrade, you receive the ticket, guidebook and a digital guide (which is narrated by Tom Felton and returned at the end of the tour). I opted to go with the self-guided tour (£25).
July 15th, 2012, the day of my tour, arrived. I journeyed to Watford Junction, where I hopped onto the waiting, specially decorated shuttle bus, paid £2 for a round trip and was soon on my way. I arrived about an hour before my tour was due to start, as recommended by the site. They show a small movie during the journey (about 20 minutes), explaining where we were headed and some of what we would see. We arrived at Leavesden Studios, where I got off the bus, thanked the driver and headed to the entrance. I will admit, my eyes may have leaked. I took comfort, after looking around, to see there were quite a few others brushing away tears. After picking up my ticket, which featured Hedwig, from the ticket office outside, I ventured inside and took a quick look around. Don't panic, there is a Starbucks.
After a quick, overpriced lunch, I glimpsed around the store before I went onto the show. While in line, I moved past The Cupboard Under the Stairs and a few props, including family portraits of The Dursleys, school trunks and Dan's (Radcliffe) first pair of glasses. After waiting for approximately 15 minutes, a group of us were shown into a small standing room, where more clips from the films were screened. Soon, we were led into a small movie theatre, where cameras were prohibited. We were shown a quick movie, where the golden trio explained what to expect. We'd first have a quick guided-tour after which we’d be free to wander.
The tour is split into three sections - the first building, which houses the majority of sets and props, followed by the outdoor area, before heading into the creature department and display area. Loud laughter and cheers went up when Dan mentioned that Crookshanks looked like he'd run into a frying pan. The screen went up, revealing the doors to The Great Hall (the only non-self guided part of the tour). The hall was just like in the movies, except lined with costumes and props. The tour guide gave us some quick fun facts, (though Snape's costume remained basically the same throughout the films, slight changes were made to represent how Snape was changing).
The tour is split into three sections - the first building, which houses the majority of sets and props, followed by the outdoor area, before heading into the creature department and display area. Loud laughter and cheers went up when Dan mentioned that Crookshanks looked like he'd run into a frying pan. The screen went up, revealing the doors to The Great Hall (the only non-self guided part of the tour). The hall was just like in the movies, except lined with costumes and props. The tour guide gave us some quick fun facts, (though Snape's costume remained basically the same throughout the films, slight changes were made to represent how Snape was changing).
The first part of the tour contains primarily sets and costumes, with props along the way. It's not particularly laid out in any set way, so one just walks around in circles until you've seen everything. While there, I got a look at racks of costumes, ranging from numerous pink outfits of Umbridge's and Dan and Rupert's (Grint) first year jumpers from Mrs. Weasley, to Evanna Lynch's wardrobe (including the radish earrings). There was an entire rack dedicated just to Kenneth's (Branagh) costumes. Close to the costumes were The Mirror of Erised, and a long wall holding Ministry posters. I weaved my way through, seeing sets like The Leaky Cauldron, Dumbledore's office, complete with hidden portrait of Snape, along with both Michael's (Gambon) and Richard's (Harris) costumes, and the lower floor of The Burrow, which is interactive, but I'll leave that to the imagination.
Props ranged from Rita's feather quill and Lily's letter to Sirius, to the Sword of Gryffindor and the Invisibility Cloak. Oh, there may have been some Horcruxes too… The Black family tree hung on a wall, above costumes belonging to Ralph (Fiennes) and Helena (Bonham-Carter). I skipped the souvenir photo portion (you sit on a broom in front of a green screen), as there was a 45 minute wait and the photo cost £30. In skipping this, I completely missed the Quidditch section of the tour. Oh dear… Before heading outside, I found the first Snitch to be used in the films. Look up. They mean it.
Moving onto the outdoor section, I found some of the larger props, such as The Knight Bus, large chess pieces, Godric's Hollow and 4 Privet Drive. Butterbeer and Starbucks are available for purchase. Neville's "bridge" from the final film is open to walk across. Several items, including the bus, are accessible and provide for a great photo op.
Moving onto the outdoor section, I found some of the larger props, such as The Knight Bus, large chess pieces, Godric's Hollow and 4 Privet Drive. Butterbeer and Starbucks are available for purchase. Neville's "bridge" from the final film is open to walk across. Several items, including the bus, are accessible and provide for a great photo op.
Venturing on to the creature (and animatronic) department, I was greeted by multiple wigs and prosthetics, including those for the actors portraying the goblins, as well as John Cleese and Pam Farris. Also spotted were full size, working, animatronic models of Hedwig and Buckbeak. The area with Hedwig is also interactive, but again, up to the imagination. Little things that I had no idea about were revealed while I toured around this area, like how Robbie Coltrane had a body double for full body scenes, to place emphasis on Hagrid's height.
I then made my way through Diagon Alley (complete with cobble stoned roads), into an area showing preliminary sketches and models of scenes, sets and props. While in this area, you wind your way up a ramp, which leads the visitor to another room holding a full-scale model of Hogwarts. The model was used for overhead and wide shots in the films. The lighting changes from "day" to "night" and when at "night", the lights in the castle come on. This was my absolute favourite part of the entire tour, as the castle is just so perfectly detailed; I spent a good half hour looking at it.
I then made my way through Diagon Alley (complete with cobble stoned roads), into an area showing preliminary sketches and models of scenes, sets and props. While in this area, you wind your way up a ramp, which leads the visitor to another room holding a full-scale model of Hogwarts. The model was used for overhead and wide shots in the films. The lighting changes from "day" to "night" and when at "night", the lights in the castle come on. This was my absolute favourite part of the entire tour, as the castle is just so perfectly detailed; I spent a good half hour looking at it.
From there, I proceeded into the wand room, which contains a copy of every wand for every single cast and crewmember who ever worked on the films. There's usually a man who knows where every single wand is located, but he was off the day I went. It took me sometime, but I found every wand except Rupert's unfortunately. The wand room leads into the store, where I had a look around and purchased an extremely overpriced Hufflepuff scarf, before heading back to the bus.
Would I go again? In a flash and with no questions asked. Overall, the tour took me about 4 hours to get through. The tour itself has everything and is everything a Potter and film fan could ever ask for. For the cost (ticket, food, souvenirs) it is more than worth it. The work alone that went into making the tour makes it worth going. This Potter fan will be back.
Would I go again? In a flash and with no questions asked. Overall, the tour took me about 4 hours to get through. The tour itself has everything and is everything a Potter and film fan could ever ask for. For the cost (ticket, food, souvenirs) it is more than worth it. The work alone that went into making the tour makes it worth going. This Potter fan will be back.
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