THIS POST IS FULL OF SPOILERS, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN OR ARE PLANNING TO VISIT THE STUDIO'S SOON AND WANT IT TO BE A SURPRISE/UNIQUE EXPERIENCE THEN I SUGGEST YOU STOP READING.
Luckily for us we had tickets for the last weekend of "Hogwarts In The Snow" which excited me even more. C'mon it's snow, snow is awesome haha. Here we are starting our day:
As we arrived at the studio our excitement was bursting, seeing the Harry Potter sign and some of the chess pieces out front with the background of the Harry Potter theme tune, it kind of felt like we were at an amusement park. The sky was so blue it kind of looked like we were in Orlando, but don't be fooled we were in London haha.
We walked through the entrance, where we joined the queue to start our tour. This took roughly 20 - 30 mins which I thought was quite a long time considering when you buy your tickets you are given a time slot. I guess it being a weekend and the last weekend to experience the snow it was that extra bit busier I'm not 100% sure.
We were then moved into a room which we saw all the posters from every country that Harry Potter had be shown in. Afterwards we entered a plush cinema style room where we watched a 10 minute feature film which was like a trailer for all the movies smashed into one at the end the screen lifted up revealing the big golden gates which was the entrance to the great hall. The great hall was magical, it was set just like it would have been for the films, I expected it to be smaller because near enough everything you see on TV is but I was actually quite shocked at the size of the hall, it was pretty huge!
I guess you could say the tour had probably started, we entered the exhibit room to the left of the hall in which at this point onwards you go round on your own, taking as long as you like. At times it got a little crowded which didn't do well with my anxiety, but I wasn't going to let it ruin the day. The one thing I didn't like about the main exhibit room is it wasn't planned out very well, everything was kind of just jotted about everywhere, it started off as a line, going into a circle but then there was stands everywhere, I felt a little bit like I was in a Harry Potter maze. There was so much to get around and towards the end I was struggling a bit and could really need a drink and sit down to calm my nerves but we were informed that once you leave the room and enter the court yard you can't enter back in so the last bit was a little rushed but nethertheless it was still amazing.
The courtyard was probably my favourite place, it was out in the open, there was refreshments, toilets and i just felt more at ease. Every 15 mins they would make it snow, which was pretty cool. Of course we tried butterbeer but we didn't like it that much. It's very peculiar because it's fizzy with a dollop of cream so I kind of thought it would be like an ice cream float but it wasn't, I think if the actual texture of the drink was more creamy like a milkshake then it would taste a lot better, but then I guess it wouldn't look like beer. Also in the courtyard they had the triple decker bus and the car which we got pictures with.
Now on to the second exhibit room, I prefered this one more because it was a clear path which you followed round and it was just set out a lot better. Each time you entered a new room there was always something mind blowing and spectacular to see. I really enjoyed Diagon Alley, I could just picture Daniel, Emma and Rupert running around in their uniforms on set for the filming of The Philosopher's Stone.
The most jaw dropping moment is when you're looking at cardboard models of Hogwarts and then you turn the corner and see the actual model used for filming. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it's crazy to think how they made this model look like a life size castle using green screen and a few special effects.
The gift shop was any Harry Potter fan's dream, you could buy everything from souvenirs to the actual uniform for each house, the only letdown was how expensive it was, I understand places like this make a lot off the merch but this was excessive. The scarves were £25 and the jumpers £70, I honestly think if they were to knock off 25% then they would probably make more money.
Overall it was an amazing day and I'm glad I was able to do it. Thank you to my sister for this amazing gift, and now when I watch the films I will see them a different way, all the hard work and effort gone in to them is hard to even comprehend. If you're a Harry Potter fan, even slightly then I would recommend you to go there at least once as it is a very magical and mind boggling place.
I have attached a widget which shows some of the picture taken on the day. I couldn't upload them all, there is far too many.
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