The World of Harry Potter

We are big Harry Potter fans (though not in a stupid way, we just enjoy the books and films) so I decided that it was time for us to visit the Warner Brothers Studio Tour - only about an hour away from us, and the kids were keen to go.  So I booked tickets for over the Christmas holidays, and off we went.  We got there before our time slot, so we had a browse in the shop first - here's Alex being sorted - sort of. We didn't buy the sorting hat, mind you, but we had fun playing with it.

The studios have tons of props on display - from the larger ones, like the flying car (Chamber of Secrets), which hangs in the lobby area, 

to things like one of Neville's cardigans

gowns from the Yule Ball (Goblet of Fire)

a model of Jason Isaacs' hair for styling

the penseive, in Dumbledore's study

the Triwizard Cup (Goblet of Fire)

to quite small props like a golden snitch (and you can see the edge of Dumbledore's deluminator)

and the Time Turner (Prisoner of Azkaban).

There were a number of actual sets you could view, or in the case of the Great Hall, walk through.  This self-knitting jumper was located in the set of The Burrow (the Weasley's house)

as was this clock, which is one of my favourite gadgets from the series - I particularly love that it has "mortal peril" on it. 

We also we able to tour the Back Lot, where some of the exterior sets were located - behind Sarah, who is showing off a Butterbeer mustache, is the Knight Bus (Prisoner of Azkaban), 

while here are Sarah and Alex riding in Hagrid's motorcycle and sidecar.

All three kids in front of the Dursley's house in Privet Drive

and boarding the Knight Bus. 

This is a section of the bridge at Hogwarts - only a section exists - the rest is added into the relevant films by computer effects. 

There was also a section with animatronics and creature effects - for instance the Monster Book of Monsters (Prisoner of Azkaban)

in various states...

Dobby the house elf is largely special effects, but in the 7th film (Deathly Hallows, part 1) Harry has to carry Dobby's dead body and this is the model used. 

Enough said perhaps about this model, hanging from the ceiling in one room...

We were also able to visit Diagon Alley (though unfortunately, the shops weren't open - shame!)  -

here's Olivia outside Ollivanders, wishing she could step in and chose a wand (or have a wand choose her - after all "The wand chooses the wizard")...

We also saw a good display of model and artwork for various sets and concepts, which I enjoyed, 

and then visited the proper model of Hogwarts, used for exterior shots not involving people, and zooming views, etc - it's HUGE. Takes up a whole room. And not a small room. 

Finally, before being shuffled back into the shop, we visited a room full of wand boxes - each label features the name of someone from the cast or crew of the films - we had fun for 10 minutes spotting names we knew and chatting to the two guys working in the room about the different actors.

It was a lovely trip out - it's not a cheap experience, but there is lots to see there, so if you are a Potter fan at all, I do recommend it as a treat. (Forgot to say, we did get to "ride a broom" in the green screen room - none of the photos turned out well enough to buy - but the kids had fun with it...)