Oh, and Harry Potter.
The Harry Potter euphoria started in 1997 and is still going strong. Books, additional books, movies, wands, clothes, action figures, whatever you want can be bought somewhere. But sometimes, you have to leave your house to get to an important milestone in the life of a wizard or witch... I mean fan!
One of those places is for sure the Warner Bros studios in Leavesden near Watford. Just a train ride away from London (best via Euston) you can get on the Harry Potter studio tour bus that drops you off right in front of the doors of a rather ugly yellowish building. But be careful, you need to buy your ticket in advance online!
I've already been there in 2013 and didn't plan on going again simply because it costs 33 pounds and I didn't think there would be anything new. But another au pair invited the rest of our group as part of a group organized by her agency. In the end, we were four people going.
I'm not going into too much into details about the tour/exhibition. The Great Hall was the same except for a few Christmas trees and that the food displayed was different. They had the in Britain usual Christmas crackers for each house, plum pudding with inpressive fire effects and of course the clothes from the different houses as well as some professors in the front. As a bigger fan of the books than the movies I again was very happy about the house point hourglasses in the back counting the house points.
The rest of the tour is a mix of costumes, probs and explanations. They show you how the floating candles work, the different wigs for the characters and tricks to make hallways look way longer than they are. Every once in a while a mini TV and the wall shows short film sequences of the main actors, but mostly Daniel Radcliffe, and other important persons like the producers talking about their experience on set and behind the scenes. At one point hree interactive marauder maps show you behind pictures of different rooms and how they were re-used. They also show you examples to explain the difference between visual and special effects.
Throughout the tour you can visit the Hogwarts Main Gate from part 6, the Gryffindor common room, the Boys dormitory, Dumbledores office, the potion classroom, the dining room of Malfoy Manor, the Burrow and Hagrids hut. There are also small sections of the Ministry Hall, Umbridges office, Borgin & Burkes and the Yull Ball. Everywhere in between there are small sections for things like armor, books, signs, skulls, Lupins suitcase and Crouch Jr. box where he keeps Mad Eye alive.
The last part of this half of the tour is an interactive one. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to sit on a broomstick, this is your chance! You get a maybe 40 seconds movie playing and an employee telling you what you have to do and how to move. It's really comfortable and you even have a Hogwarts cloak on which makes really good pictures (even though they are really expensive - take your parents with you!).
This was the main tour you could say. Two years ago you went straight outside after that, but by now they added another feature: King's Cross plattform 9 3/4 with the Hogwarts Express!
And you can actually walk through it. With compartments dedicated to the different school years you feel like you are actually on your way to another year of dangerous potions and Quidditch matches. There are also three parts where you can take photos that look like you are halfway through the wall. Right next to it is a sweets shop with Harry Potter themed candy.
After a quick lunch in the cafeteria we went outside. There are only 4 things: The Night bus, the creaky wood bridge that collapses in the last movie and the houses of the Dursleys and the Potters. This time even with soup fake snow coming out of the sky!
Back inside you get a look into the mask department. There you have everything from goblins, the Fenrir, to animatronics like Lupin's werwolf, Hagrid's head and Buckbeak. And like always, the staff is more than happy to answer questions.
Through the next door you walk straight into Diagon Alley. With Gringotts on one end and multiple stores left and right until you come to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I can't even discribe it, you actually have to see it yourself. You just feel like you are actually there to buy your wand or broom or just to get a few extra books.
Sadly, this was the last actual set. After this are only two more rooms with architecture sketches and small modells of different rooms and buildings like the Burrow or the Great Hall.
Talking about which, One last thing is there. And it's gigantic. And now, even covered in snow! A complete modell of Hogwarts that was actually used for flying and establishing shots. You can see small details like the telescope on the Astronomy tower, every little window and door (some even with light), trees and stones and connections you weren't aware of until now.
It is amazing. Now matter what, if you are a Harry Potter fan you are entitled to go and see this piece of art. It took us 6 hours to go through everything (Partly due to me taking too many pictures...) and I swear to god, you feel inspired and out of the world once you come out again. Maybe even with presents and souvenirs thanks to the fan shop in the end. Go and treat yourself with a bit of magic.
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