DIARY OF AN ADVENTURER: THE DAY I WENT TO HOGWARTS

larissajodee
Jun 20, 2015
3 min read

Warner Bros, The Making Of Harry Potter | larissajodee BLOG

Today was the best day of my life! No I mean it. It was all the birthdays and all the christmas's I have ever had rolled into one with a big fat bow stuck on the top. Today was the day that I had dreamed about since I was 9 years old and mum first started reading to me and opened my eyes up to the world of Harry Potter. I spent so long getting ready this morning, like way longer than usual. I had to look my best for the 300 million photos I was planning to take later on in the day!

Katie, Kayla and I arrived at the Warner Bros Studio Tour of the Making of Harry Potter at 8.30am. We were booked in for the first tour of the day which was starting at 9am. We got to be in the front of the queue! The tour is self guided and recommended to take you about two and a half hours. We managed to spend a good seven hours there, exploring every little aspect of the sets and listening to all that the audio guide had to offer!

Standing in front of the doorway to the Grand Hall, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was such a sureal feeling, like I was actually about to go through those doors and be sorted into my house! As the doors opened and we were able to enter the Great Hall, I almost cried! It was so... magical!

The Great Hall Doorway, Hogwarts | larissajodee BLOG

The tour is set adjacent to the working film studios where all eight Harry Potter films were made. Consisting of two soundstages and a backlot filled with original sets, animatronic creatures and breathtaking special effects, many of the artifects were kept as they may have been needed to appear in later scenes. From wands and costumes to the Knight Bus and entrance to the Chamber of Secrets you can see almost anything related to the Harry Potter Universe.

The original sets include the Griffindor Common Room, Hagrids Hut, Snapes Classroom, Dumbledore's Office and The Ministry for Magic. The original Hogwarts Express had just been added onto the tour and you could walk inside the corridor and then sit in the "internal carriages" used for the film shots. They had recreated platform 9 3/4 and had the school trunks on the trolleys as well as them dissappearing through the wall.

The whole of Diagon Alley had been created, on an indoor stage, complete with sound and lighting. All of the original models were on display, including a huge model of the Castle and surrounding grounds. This model was expanded throughout the films as more of the castle was revealed in the books.

We got to ride an electronic broomstick, like the actors did in the movies. They added in the backdrop to look like we were flying through the streets of London and over the Hogwarts Grounds. You could buy a picture of you flying over the Castle. There was also the Ford Anglia where you could pretend to be flying the car and have your picture taken inside.

The Hogwarts Express | larissajodee BLOG

We also had a chance to try Butterbeer which I found to be very strange. It was a mix of fizzy/creaming soda with foam on the top, which was almost like icing. I didn't hate the taste but it also wasn't my favourite drink.

At the end of the tour, after pasing through the wand room, where the walls were lined with boxes of the wands of every cast member, you reached the gift shop. It was enormous, and so expensive! You could buy everything imaginable from t-shirts and scarfs, books and sweets to jewellery and wands, posters and diaries. I was very restrained and only brought Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans. They really do mean every flavour though! I ended up giving mine to the kids as after getting a really yuck tasting one, was seriously put off from trying any more!