I had been thinking of visiting the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour for awhile now as I thought it would be a great day out and I loved the idea of seeing behind the scenes from the films. I was thinking of it being something for us to do next year but the studio got in touch asking if I would like tickets for me and Stuart. So it meant we could go sooner! If you are a big Harry Potter fan you may want to check out these 11 UK Harry Potter filming locations you can visit.
Getting to the studio by public transport is pretty easy we got a train to Watford Junction and then got a shuttle bus which takes you directly to the studio and return ticket on the bus is £2.50 per person.
We had a time slot of 10am so we had to get up pretty early as my Mum was looking after Blake for the day. When we arrived the place was packed! It's definitely advisable to arrive within good time due to this. Make sure to have your cameras at the ready, as the experience begins even before you enter the Great Hall!
There is a guided tour of the Great Hall which you see within your time slot but after you are free to guide yourself around the rest of the tour. There is so much to see and I'd definitely at some point would love to go again.
I loved that they had little boards up that explained more about the props, sets and characters. We wondered in taking in as much as we could and they have special events throughout the year. we visited during 'Finding The Philosopher's Stone' event. A number of the early versions of the Philosopher’s Stone was on display and we also got to see how they made Unicorn blood and there was a chance to play with Fluffys drool and troll bogies.
We chose not to do the wand training or broomstick flying as they were far too expensive at £14 for one photo or £40 for two photos and a video.
One of the places I had been looking forward to was the Hogwarts Express and platform 9 3/4. The area offers a glimpse into how some of the films’ most iconic scenes were created as well as giving you the chance to climb aboard the train’s carriage and to pose with a luggage trolley as it disappears through the platform wall. Although again you had to pay to have photos done. There is also the chance for you to browse a wide range of goodies inspired by the Harry Potter films and, specifically, Hogwarts Express in a train-themed souvenir shop which was open on the platform.
After visiting the Hogwarts Express there is the Backlot cafe where we decided to get some food. Unfortunately it is rather pricey we got two roles, a capri-sun and tankard of Butterbeer which in total cost just under £15. They were tasty but definitely overpriced and we would have brought our own food if we had known this.
We got one tankard of frothy Butterbeer to share which is an non-alcoholic beverage which is reminiscent of shortbread and butterscotch. We chose to get the Butterbeer in the souvenir tankard as we didn't plan on getting anything from the souvenir shops. I enjoyed the taste of the foam on top but not too sure how I felt about the taste of the drink itself as it was quite odd.
If we were to go again I'd definitely like to try out the Butterbeer ice-cream which is available to enjoy in a waffle cone for £4.95 or in a souvenir sundae dish for £6.95.
After having a bite to eat we headed out to continue the tour which is outside the backlot and includes number 4 Privet Drive which is open until 5th September. We got to also experience more magic with walking along Diagon Alley and seeing the scale model of Hogwarts.
Overall Stuart and I really enjoyed ourselves and had an incredible day. We were there for about approximately 3 hours or maybe longer. We probably would have stayed longer if we had been more prepared food wise, I'd definitely go again in the future.
*We were given tickets for the Harry Potter Studio Tour in return for this review. All thoughts, opinions and photos are of my own.
