I still remember the first time that I read The Philosopher’s Stone, I wanted to go to Hogwarts. My school days were over but for some weird reason I wanted to go back to school, but not any school – Hogwarts. From reading J.K. Rowling’s stories I fell absolutely into full Harry Potter geek mode. When the films were released the stories had new energised life but more that the images that had formed in my head of what Hogwarts would look like were now on-screen exactly (or as close to) what I had imagined them to be like.
When it was announced that they would be opening Leavesden Studios where Harry Potter was made for “The Making of Harry Potter” I was already near bouncing around. It was all over our local news and radio and the day the tickets went on sale I sat hitting refresh on the website waiting for tickets. I fully expected to get some date in September but once one of my computer refreshes finally got to the “Choose date” section my eyes widened and I selected the first available date. April 5th. The Tour opened the weekend previously. Tickets were booked and we were going in the opening week. Lots of excited phone calls later and then we just had to wait. November to April isn’t long is it?
There has been a lot of debate about how expensive it is to go the studio tours which are in Leavesden, not London even though the advertising all says London! The tour is not cheap, an adult ticket alone is £28 and if you want the full package with guidebook and digital guide it is £37.95. The tour is mainly self guided but you will have a time start time and you have to pre-book. No tickets are sold on the day. There have been many forum debates on the cost and some have said the high price could be to get true Harry Potter fans into the tour. In comparison this family day out for four was cheaper than our previous family day out at Alton Towers.
The start of the tour is guided as you watch the short video of Harry Potter around the world before going into the cinema for another video with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint explaining they are not the only stars of the show. From there you get to see your first glance of The Great Hall, this made me cry. What an absolute girl I am. Through the Great Hall you have a tour guide and then through the rest you can work your way around. This first look around the Great Hall was quite rushed, they have tours coming in all the time so obviously you have an allocated time and that’s it. For me I could have stayed there for a long time but this wasn’t allowed. You can take photos around the tour, except for the cinema parts and the green room areas.
From The Great Hall you’ll then see the Boys Dormitory, the Gryffindor common room, Dumbledore’s office (spot the sorting hat!) walk down Diagon Alley and more of the other main sets from the film franchise. As well as the sets I found the Creature Workshop fascinating, in fact I spent over an hour in there. This was also the place that made me cry for the second time of the tour, Dobby! I somehow managed to not cry when I saw Hogwarts, taking pictures of it as I went around you could spot every single detail and how real it was. After seeing the model of Hogwarts you are taken to the final room, every single person in any of the Harry Potter films has a wand box in the room. The search begins to find them, I shrieked when I found Daniel Radcliffe.
Overall I absolutely loved the tour, as did the family. We have booked again for late Summer but the next time we won’t need the guidebook or the digital guide so the cost would be reduced for next time. We now know the price of the things we have our eye on in the gift shop, I bought a wand and a Marauder’s Map on this visit. Oh and a chocolate frog, you must have a chocolate frog (which I might add is not hollow it’s full of chocolate).
Some pointers for the tour;
- The café food was reasonably priced, sandwiches were about £2 with main meals about £6. They also had the most gorgeous cupcakes!
- As soon as you get in the Great Hall, get taking pictures. Your time in here is so short so make full use of it.
- If you get the digital guide, use it. There are so many hidden titbits of information and they are in there. You’ll see as you go round a headphones sign and a number alerting you to listen. Younger fans might think they are cool but they won’t keep them on and will be off looking around rather than listening so if you are taking young children the cost of the digital guide could be wasted on them.
- The kids will be off snitch spotting anyway. Pay attention to the end of The Great Hall as you’ll miss out on the snitch discoveries which are handed out. I think most adults join in, well I did!
- Try some butterbeer, it’s about £2.95 to sample butterbeer (think tizer with cream on top!) as you sit in the cafe that’s midway round on the tour and your view is Privet Drive and the Night Bus!
- I’d have liked the staff to be wearing robes, it would have given it that extra Hogwarts feel!
- I mentioned the gift shop earlier and I had read a lot were unhappy over the prices of the robes, £500 were amongst the numbers I saw. Dumbledore, Snape and Voldemort’s robes are expensive but the house robes worn by Harry etc are £75. This is still not cheap, but when you put that in comparison to a football shirt price these days there is not much difference.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day around the studios, yes the day was pretty expensive and it’s not somewhere I could frivolously go and visit at the slightest whim. Harry Potter fans are flocking from all around the world to Leavesden, we spoke to a few people from Japan and another couple from France. The tour was everything I thought it would be and more. Through the books and then the films I felt like I had been to Hogwarts but now I can actually say I have been. It’s definitely not the cheapest day out but Harry Potter fans of all ages will enjoy this, there really is something for everyone.
For more information or just to sit and listen to the soundtrack – wbstudiotour.co.uk/
Have you been? Or have you booked to go?