If you know me at all, you know how big of a deal this tour was for me. If you don’t know me, the fact that I cried tears of joy while riding Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey at Universal Studios as a full-grown, 23 year old adult should tell you everything you need to know.
In all seriousness, the Harry Potter series (books and movies) has been a huge part of my life since I was in elementary school. I’ve seen the movies more times than I can count, I’ve owned multiple sets of all seven books, and I have a playlist dedicated to each film score that I regularly listen to. So when my mom and step-dad surprised us with tickets to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London, it’s safe to say I was more than ecstatic. I’m going to try to do my best to explain how awe-inspiring this whole experience was, but you truly just have to see it for yourself.
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THE ENTRANCE AND LOBBY
Even just walking inside the building gave me goosebumps. Seeing the signage, the life-size Wizard’s Chess pieces, the murals covering the walls up to the door–it was all incredible. Once we got through the smaller main lobby, we were greeted by another life-size HP element: the Ukrainian Ironbelly. I felt like this model could have been used in a cooler scene on the tour, with more visual effects or dressing up rather than just having it hover below an unfinished ceiling in the lobby, but it was still awesome to see right as we walked in.
There were a few food & drink spots here, along with the gift shop, before you enter the tour itself.



POSTERS AND SMALL PROPS
Once we entered the actual tour, the first few rooms we walked through were filled with smaller props, sets, and movie posters (which were some of my favorite things to look at). The actual cupboard under the stairs, with the clothes and bedding and decor used in the movie, was right in front of me–even though it sounds cliché, it really felt hard to believe that these things were truly used in the movies. And keep in mind, I felt this sense of disbelief and awe probably 2 minutes into the 3 hour tour.
I absolutely loved looking at the progression of the film posters throughout the years and reading about their meanings, concept design, and really just why each set of posters looked the way they did. It was amazing to see the concepts grow with the characters and progress just like the storyline, especially with it all laid out in front of us in one room.






THE GREAT HALL
There were two visual rooms that we all queued into next: one with screens covering the upper walls on all four sides, and another that was more of an auditorium or movie theater with a large screen in front of our chairs. Both of these rooms were cool, but mostly seemed like filler rooms to keep us entertained while they spaced out each tour (kind of like in amusement parks where there are different rooms to go into while giving the people ahead of you more time to board the rides). The screens played lots of fan content, behind the scenes and interview clips, and more as we shuffled through each room. After our time in the auditorium was done, the screen lifted to reveal the doors to the Great Hall, which was a cool surprise.
We walked through the doors, and immediately I thought of how small the actual room seemed compared to how it looked in the movies. Granted, it was mostly empty except for the props lining each wall, but it still was bizarre to feel so big in a room that had looked so gigantic all my life. The props here were mostly costumes that the main characters used in the movies: headmasters cloaks like Dumbledore and McGonagall, the students’ school uniforms and robes, and more. Seeing everything up close was surreal, and I didn’t realize how short a lot of the actors actually are, which was a funny thing to notice.





MAJOR SETS AND PROPS
Through the side of the Great Hall, we entered a larger portion of the indoor studio that was set up like a large walkthrough–different costumes, props, sets and informative signs and displays lined the sides of the walking path, and by that point, it was just Harry Potter overload. There was so much to see and read about, it was hard to take it all in at once. There were countless wigs, makeup and other visual effects for all the characters, from fake eyelashes to moles to noses. There were actual movie sets like the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms, the boys’ dormitories, Dumbledore’s office, and more. The sheer amount of props in this huge room was unfathomable–from the mirror of Erised, to the Tri-Wizard Cup, to the Malfoy’s dining table.
Walking through each room, seeing each set and prop in real life, was unlike anything I could imagine. It’s one thing to watch the movies and read the books and feel like you’re a part of that world, but once you actually see the making of the movies right in front of you, there’s such a new perspective of the whole series to see. Realizing the insane amount of detail that went into every single prop, every costume, every shot of the movies was so eye-opening, too–looking at the memory cabinet in Dumbledore’s office was what made me notice that aspect. There were over a hundred tiny glass bottles, all dirtied and weathered, each with a unique label and filled with different colored liquids to represent all the different memories he had stored within the cabinet. Just thinking of the work that went into creating just that prop, let alone the thousands of others used in all the movies, was really amazing to me.












DIAGON ALLEY, GRINGOTTS, AND MORE
There’s a cafe a little bit more than halfway through the tour that gave us a chance to get some snacks, a meal, or some Butterbeer–it’s the only place at the whole lot to get it, so make sure you stop if you want a cold glass, or a Butterbeer ice cream cone! After the cafe, we headed outside to see some quick walkthrough sets, like No. 4 Privet Drive and the Hogwarts Greenhouse (where you can pull a Mandrake out of a pot of soil). There are some extras outside too, like the Knight Bus, the Hogwarts Bridge, Hagrid’s motorbike, and the Weasley’s car.
After getting back inside, there are more props focusing on the creatures in the movies, like goblins, werewolves, creepy baby Voldemort, and more. Then, we walked through Gringotts Bank, seeing the mechanisms that made the intricate vault doors move, layouts of the vault systems under Gringotts, and the Lestrange vault itself. The bank wreckage was on display, too, with a quick simulation and screen that showed the Gringotts dragon (the Ironbelly from the lobby) lurking around in the background. Diagon Alley came up next, and we got to walk down the main street with iconic storefronts lining each side: Ollivanders, Flourish & Blotts, Weasleys’ and more. There were also some really amazing concept art collections on the walls leading to the next area, which was definitely the showstopper of the tour.












HOGWARTS CASTLE
After seeing what we thought was an unbeatable collection of sets and scenes, we walked into a huge room and were stunned to see the actual model of Hogwarts that was used for all the exterior shots of the castle. You can see some people off to the sides in the first picture to get a sense of the size of the model–it was impressive, to say the very least. There were interactive screens along the railings that let us choose different scenes or parts of the castle, and the screen would show us how the shot was created with a side-by-side view of the model and the corresponding movie scene. As a photographer, a Harry Potter fan, and a huge film fan, it was like the collision of all my favorite things at once–such an incredible thing to see how they made the castle come to life on the big screen, and by far my favorite part of the tour.



GIFT SHOP AND FOOD HALL
Walking out of the tour led us through the gift shop and a small version of Honeydukes, where I got another bag of Fizzing Whizzbees (I got them three years ago when we went to Universal, and even though they’re unremarkable in taste, the nostalgia factor has had me craving them ever since). By that point, it was around 7:30-8:00pm, so we grabbed some dinner in the Food Hall and a quick dessert for the Airbnb once we got back. I’m never sure about cafeteria-style food, especially in such touristy, crowded places, but the menu options were pretty impressive (they sort of have to be at a place like Warner Bros. Studio, I suppose). We got a variety of the handmade pies and my mom got a really pretty salad, and naturally I forgot to photograph any of the food we got, including the desserts. Take my word for it, though–everything was great!
I’m sure there are lots of parts about this whole experience I’m forgetting to mention, and pictures I’m not posting–I could literally go on for days about it, and I have about 100 more pictures that would make this post far too long. But like I said: I could talk forever about it, so don’t hesitate to ask me for any more info or pictures if you’re interested! If you’re in any way a Harry Potter fan and you find yourself in London (or willing to take a trip to London), this is a must-see. Just an absolutely surreal experience that puts you directly in the magic of Harry Potter from a perspective you won’t get anywhere else!


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