VISITING THE HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!

Happy New Years Eve! 

December 31, 2012: The day the will be remembered by the greats. The day historians will deem worthy of a worldwide holiday. 

The day I went to the Harry Potter Studios!

Okay, so maybe it won’t become a worldwide holiday, but it seriously was the best day ever.

Today will be one year on since I went to the Harry Potter Studios, and I still get a huge grin on my face every time I think of it! This studio tour is a Harry Potter fan’s heaven. It’s a beautiful, lovely, perfect place… I want to go back! Visiting the studio was a very cathartic moment for me; after all these years, I finally got to go to Hogwarts! I finally got to live my girlhood dream of visiting the sets and experience the magic first hand! Nothing will trump this as the best day ever!

It was a bit of an emotional day for me. You would have thought I had just gotten engaged or had a child… Nope, just going to the Harry Potter studios. So, I cried a bit on the [Knight] bus ride there. I was just really excited, okay? After you queue to get in, the first thing you do is watch two short movies. First you watch a video with everyone saying how much the loved working on the films and everyone is like family… The usual. At this point I’m getting a little choked up again, but I pulled myself together. Then, you are taken into a room very similar to a cinema, with nice comfy chairs and a big movie screen. Here you watch a short montage of all eight films, allowing you to relive the magic over again. And what should happen next, but our lovely trio appears! They say the standard things: how much the movies have meant to them, growing up on a film set, and how they are like family. As the clip comes to an end, they leave through the entrance to the Great Hall. Just as the door is about to close, Daniel Radcliffe pops his head out, and says something along the lines the lines of, “Come along and visit my home.” Once the clip finished, the screen flew up to reveal the doors leading to the Great Hall. Our guide then came out on stage and said:

“I’m going to say to you what Harry heard in his first year,
 ‘Welcome to Hogwarts!’”

That was it. I lost it. Tears everywhere. Sobbing uncontrollably. Those were literally the best words I could and will ever hear! It was beautiful. I’m getting choked up just writing it! See Jo, this is what Harry does to people!

Needless to say, the rest of the tour was absolutely perfect! When you watch any sort of behind the scenes video all you hear is compliments about how much detail and hard work went into the sets and props and costumes. You can’t really appreciate it until you are literally a foot away from it! From the wall of the Great Hall to the scale model of Hogwarts, everything was so lavish and beautiful it’s hard to believe it was just for a film and not real!

Here are a few of my favorite snaps from the studios! 
(Mind, I took like 900 pictures there... I get a little picture happy sometimes... Especially for Harry Potter!)

What a beautiful place to be! How do I get a job here?!

You are fully encased in Harry Potter from the moment you enter. These gorgeous photos line the walls of the main entrance. Look at how adorable baby Daniel is!

 

Even in the queue you get to see fun set pieces and photos! Here you'll see the Dursely Family photos and the iconic bedroom under the stairs that belonged to young Harry. And of course, inspirational quotes are scattered all throughout the tour. Not going to lie, I choked up a little when I read that in the queue. 

AND Welcome to Hogwarts! 

Such a wonderful moment! I couldn't get any good pictures in the Great Hall because I was crying and shaking and geeking and just enjoying the magic so much! Guys, I was literally a mess!

Like, look at me! I look crazy! So much sobbing! But, it was absolutely beautiful in there! 

The studio was set up for Christmas at the time! It was so beautiful! Christmas at Hogwarts!

 Throughout the hall, the fire holders were in the figures of each of the houses animals!

Look at how amazing that detail is on that fire place! The Hogwarts crest and each house's symbol. The pictures I picked out are to show you guys all the amazing details you can find at the tour. There was so many things there that you never even saw in the movies. The work that the art/ prop department put into these films is incredible!

OMG! Daniel Radcliffe's first Hogwarts uniform! It is so adorable and small! Look at how little he was! Well, he hasn't grown that much more... Just kidding, Daniel! 

Following the Great Hall, you enter into Studio J. Here are all the props and costumes used in the films from the Deathly Hallows to Gryffindor Common room to Dumbledore's office.

This section was cool for a makeup lover like me! These are some of the products that was used on the actors during filming.

So, when you first go into the studios they tell you not to touch anything... Well, of course, I wasn't going to listen to that. Plus, I'm American, and we like to break the rules. The one thing I did touch was Dan's final costume from Deathly Hallows Pt.2. I was so scared to touch because I didn't want to get kicked out, but I wanted to touch Dan Rad's clothes so bad (Is that creepy?!). So, I touched the sleeve really fast than ran away like a school girl who just kissed a cute boy. It was very exciting.  

The Boy's Dormitory was such an amazing set... There were so many little details; it felt like a bunch of boys really did live there. 

Ok, I am obsessed with these two guys! They are so adorable! 

OMG! It's my dream to sit in the Gryffindor Common room! Unfortunately, this was a set that you couldn't go on, but it was still amazing to look at!

Dumbledore's office was so amazing! It get's REALLY crowded in that small set, but it is still amazing nonetheless. Imagine, fitting a whole film crew in there...

If you look closely, you can see the Sorting Hat up on his shelf. 

Okay, so the green screen room was the coolest thing in the whole world! You go into this little area, and you can go on two green screen sets. First, you can get into the Ford Anglia and fly around. Secondly, you can fly around London and Hogwarts on a broom stick. 

Here's me and mom in the flying car! Aw, so cute!

So much pink! It was radiating off this set!

This case was absolutely amazing because it contained the little details you don't get to see in the movies. Look, the note Umbridge wrote to Professor McGonagall when she gave Harry detention. AND, the letter Lily wrote to Sirius on Harry's birthday. These are the type of things that appeared in the books, but didn't make it into the movies. At least we get to know that they did acknowledge these special moments.

As well as some fun jokes from Fred and George!

The Black Family tapestry was so huge and beautiful! Absolutely outstanding!

The Magic is Might statue was amazing! To see that up close was incredible!  

Once you finish in Studio J, you are sent outside to a fun playground where to can touch everything. Outside you get to see the flying car, Sirius's motor bike, the Hogwarts Bridge, the Knight Bus, Tom Riddle's father's grave, Number 4 Privet Drive, and the Potter's home.

Plus, you get to taste the famous Butterbeer!

Next, you go into Studio K (get it, Studio J&K... J.K. Rowling... Clever). Here you get to see the technical side to the films. Like above, you get to see dummies (and get selfies with them! Woot!), the creatures, and goblin creation! And you get to walk the cobble stone streets of Diagon Alley. 

Buckbeak was gorgeous! And he bowed to you too! It was soooooo cool!

*Hagrid voice* Welcome, to Diagon Alley! *Insert John William's score*

 And finally.... The big moment! 

Hogwarts!

This scale model of Hogwarts is breathtaking! The detail and diligence that went into building this is incredible! Wow! This is definitely the showstopper of the tour! I nearly cried again seeing this! It was so beautiful!

Finally, the very last place you go into is this room FILLED with wand boxes! And I mean filled... There had to be thousand's of them. Each box has a name of someone who has ever worked on the Harry Potter films. That is amazing! I found Daniel Radcliffe's box, but his was the only one I could find... There were so many boxes! Which just shows how much work went into these films. Each name on those boxes was someone who cared so dearly about these films to make them incredible. They all put their heart and soul into a series of films that will live on for eternity. 

My favorite quote from Jo!

Look, there were even props in the gift shop! This was the Quibble printing press... Something else that never made it into the films, but still amazing!

Sorry this is a long post! But, there is just so much to see there! Ah, reliving the memories! I love the Harry Potter studios so much, and want to send so much thanks to Warner Brothers from making these studios happen! If you haven’t gone, book your tickets now because it is absolutely worth it! This tour is an experience needed to be have by any Harry Potter fan! I mean, William, Kate, and Harry have been there, so should you! This will definitely forever be the best day of my life! Hopefully one day I will get to go back!      

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