Hello lovelies!
To celebrate the start of autumn (and a belated birthday present to him), my fiance, Jamie and I took a trip to the Harry Potter Studios in Watford, London.
We woke up at 5am, to get ready and get to the studios for 9am, luckily we took an early slot so we missed out on a lot of traffic and we also got to witness the beautiful start of the day.
Upon arrival we were greeted with the giant chess pieces from 'The Philosopher Stone' and pictures from the films. I felt so lucky we had such beautiful weather for the day.
As we stepped into the ticket checking lobby I couldn't help but notice the walls, a fantastic illustration of Hedwig and lots of Hogwarts letters.
When we got guided to the main lobby I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the Ukrainian Ironbelly, the actual dragon that destroyed a lot of Gringotts hung above me! The lobby contained all things sweet and foody, Starbucks, an eatery and the best of all...'The Chocolate Frog' cafe, I'll talk about that a bit more towards the end of the post.
At the start of the tour we visited Harry's first home, 'The Cupboard under the Stairs', it had every little piece of prop from the movie, even Harry's little figures that he played with.
After this you get shown into a mini cinema room and shown a wonderful video with some behind the scenes of the movies. Once you have watched this, suddenly the screen lifts into the ceiling and the grand doors that lead to 'The Great Hall' appear before your eyes!
The Grand Hall seemed so much smaller than in the movies, we saw all the characters costumes and props on the tables, it was one of the most magical moments of the tour!!
It felt cosy and inviting, especially with a roaring fire.
Another fun addition they added to the tour was spotting 'The Golden Snitch' hidden around the studios.
After viewing 'The Great Hall' you are lead into a huge studio with a mixture of all things from the movies, there was a lot to take in,
One of the first things we saw were props and costumes from 'The Yule Ball' in 'The Goblet of Fire', including Hermione's infamous pink gown and a decadent chocolate feast!
One of my favourite things about the tour were the costumes and make up, Fleur Delacour's beautiful blue dress and cape had a dedicated station, Luna Lovegood and Gilderoy Lockhart had a rail full of their costumes and it was so magical that they were the original costumes!!
Walking through we saw everything you could think of from the movies, the talking pictures, the Gryffindor common room and the Gryffindor boys room, you could tell who's bed was who's due to their trunks being under their beds with initials attached. They had a brilliant boxed frame containing every main characters wand!
They had a lot of props from 'The Goblet of Fire' around, including the 'Golden Egg' clue!
Another one of my favourite parts of the tour was seeing Dumbledore's office, it felt so special to be there, including seeing Dumbledore's pensive memories all bottled up and turning.
They also had a cabinet filled with all 7 horcruxes, which for some reason felt so satisfying seeing them altogether. You could really see all the detail that went into creating them.
Next we stepped into Professor Slughorn's potions class, they had buttons set up so if you pressed different ones something magical would occur, including spoons stirring a cauldron with no one doing it!!
Around the area we visitied Hagrid's hut, with Hagrid and Fluffy to welcome us, I adored the wheelbarrow and pumpkins beside his hut, it felt super autumnal.
Dolores Umbridge was one of my least favourite people in the movies, I found her utterly annoying, but my goodness, I do love everything pink! 'Shades of Pink' is where I felt most at home ;)
The Forbidden Forest set up was absolutely brilliant! We walked right through different pathways, with fog filling the air to mystical creatures, Buckbeak was 101% my favourite to meet, such a beautiful character.
They also has a pathway leading to...the spiders...I didn't realise this until I came face to face with it!
The spiders always scared me in the movies and it didn't change face to face! I have to say the way they made it and executed the whole 'Forbidden Forest' was absolutely amazing!
Even if you don't like the spiders it is really worth seeing, even if I was scared.
It seemed like every time we stepped into a new section I felt more magic than ever, it certainly didn't stop when we stepped onto Platform 9&3/4 and Hogwarts Express. We made the most of this part of the studio, taking photos with props and the express, they also had a mini shop here, with some gift shop items you can't purchase at the end, so it's definitely worth having a look in there, I made a little purchase!
We found ourselves halfway through the tour, so we stopped for lunch and tried the infamous...Butterbeer!! It was as delicious has I had heard, the best way to describe it is, the main drink is like a caramel fanta, with a topping of bubbley, caramel cream. Whilst drinking our butterbeer and eating lunch, we had a view of 'The Knight Bus' and 'Privet Drive', I had to get a photo on the bus and it was fantastic to enter Harry's home and see the Dursley's living room full of Hogwarts letters! We walked past Godric's Hollow, which felt quite somber, but understandable with the house's history. We got to have a walk across Hogwarts 'Wooden Bridge', we were so happy that we could, because I heard if the weather conditions were bad it can be too unsafe.
Just a little selfie at one of the make up stations, it was so interesting to see all the products they used from hair to make up, one thing I spotted was a very old 'Mac Studio Fix Powder'!
One of the newest additions to the tour is 'Gringotts Bank', they have done an absolutely marvellous job with putting the sets together here! They have an extra special segment within the bank, but I won't spoil that in case you haven't seen it yet!!
I was blown away with the beauty of it, the sparkling chandeliers, the architect and how they displayed every part of it.
I didn't think it could get anymore magical until I stepped onto 'Diagon Alley', my goodness I remember the first time I watched Harry step onto 'Diagon Alley' at 5 years old and wishing I could do that, now 23 and I finally got to and it felt so special.
We walked past 'Ollivanders wand shop', 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' and 'Florean Fortescue Ice Cream' shop!
Following on from 'Diagon Alley' we entered something super special...The real Hogwarts!
When filming outside shots of Hogwarts, they used this giant model, I can't imagine how long it must've taken to make, as you walk about the model you see every tiny bit of detail and it's really a work of art!
When you have finished the tour you find yourself in the best gift shop you could possibly think of, just as you enter you will find a wall full of wand boxes, each one has the name on of a cast member and there is one for every single cast member! I was overwhelmed looking at all the lovely gifts and collectable items, I especially loved 'Honeydukes'. To finish off our trip we couldn't leave without having a treat at the 'Chocolate Frog Cafe', I chose a chocolate brownie milkshake, it is quite possibly the best milkshake I have ever had, the gold sparkles was the perfect finishing touch!
In the lobby at the end we noticed they had a small costume display of the 'Fantastic Beasts' characters, which really ended the tour on a great note. I hope they add more features from Fantastic Beasts to the tour as a whole.
I thought I'd show you a mini haul of what I purchased at the studios!
One of the items I knew I wanted from the start was Hermione's collectable wand, so I picked that up. I also purchased a chocolate frog from Honeydukes and from the Platform 9&3/4 shop I picked up a train ticket! Jamie very kindly treated me to a collectable Dobby, whom I adore!!
I hope this post has put you in an autumnal mood and feeling ready for the season!
I highly recommend visiting the studios, it is an amazing experience!!
Have you ever been to the studios before? What was your favourite part?
Kellie xxx
