Yesterday was seriously one of the best days of my life.
We booked a spot on the Harry Potter studio tour as Lucy's birthday treat back in March. We wanted a specific date and even that far in advance, the earliest tour they had available spaces on was 4.30pm! It was VERY hard to keep it a secret from Lucy, but I knew that if someone had become ill and we'd had to not go (we have a history of this kind of thing), it would have broken her little heart.. as well as mine. Plus, the bonus of keeping the trip secret was that we got to see this face as we pulled into the car park and reality dawned on her!
So, we printed out our tickets at the self service machine, and went inside to queue. We only had to wait for around 15 minutes - the doors to the tour open every 12 minutes. Once inside the tour we were treated to a little speech, some video clips about how the film makers stumbled across the book and fell in love with it (tear to my eye #1), and then we were ushered in to a very comfortable cinema for a short introduction from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. And then we were off to the Great Hall! I thought Millie's eyes would pop out of her head..
The tour was absolutely amazing. I can't even put into words how fantastic it was to see all those sets, props and costumes right there infront of our very eyes. It was busy, but never too busy - they manage the timed ticket allocations very well. There were SO many things to photograph. I dread to think how many times I appeared in the background of other people's snaps!
One thing that struck me, and it's probably pretty obvious because people always say this, was just how small everything was. There film maker types are very clever. The detail that goes into things is outstanding and so much of it totally passed me by when watching the films. Things like Ron's slightly tatty handknitted blanket..
And even the glaringly obvious things, like the mismatched chairs around the long dining table at The Burrows, which blatantly say "we're poor and nothing coordinates but we're warm and friendly and that's what matters". You take so much for granted when watching the films but the film makers put SO much effort into making it all believable.
There was just so much to see. So many costumes..
And props..
Many, many amazingly detailed sets..
Photo opportunities galore..
Butterbeer on sale (it was vile, I tried so hard to like it, mainly because I'd spent £5.90 on 2 cups full, but it really wasn't very nice. The foam was tasty, like melted marshmallows, but the actual drink was a sort of cream soda flavoured drink, possibly sugar free, or maybe it was just that it clashes horribly with the sickly sweet foam, I'm not sure. And visually it just reminded me of a certain scene in American Pie, which is offputting to say the least. Still, I am glad I tried it!)
Halfway through the tour there's the opportunity for some professional 'green screen' photos which we just had to take advantage of. I don't normally let anyone photograph me but as a massive Harry Potter fan, this was just too good to avoid! First we had a photo of our weird little family in the Ford Anglia (actually just sat on some green benches)
The girls both wanted a broomstick lesson. I really thought Millie would change her mind at the last minute - she's the sort of child that begs to go on a carousel and then cries and has to get off before it even starts moving. But she was SO excited about riding a broomstick and spent the entire time grinning and doing all the little tricks that were asked of her. Of course we had to buy all the photos, but they were a very reasonable £18 for 3, so I didn't begrudge paying that at all.
The best bit of the tour, for me, was the model of Hogwarts. Tears in eyes #2. It was just SO beautiful and detailed and, combined with the music, it was a very moving experience. I'd seen photos before, and I took dozens while we were there, but NOTHING can really prepare you for how wonderful it really is. Even if you don't like Harry Potter (are you actually mad?!), the castle model will blow you away. It goes through a cycle of night and day, changing from it's daytime pink..
to a stunning night time vision, when lots of little lights come on in the windows, and you'd give ANYTHING to be able to transport yourself inside.
Even Lucy said "it's getting to me a little bit!" and we had to have a cuddle halfway round :) The cashier in the gift shop told us that although it took 40 days for a team of them to put it together, that was just the moving and assembling. If it had been down to 1 person to build and assemble the entire thing, it would have taken 74 YEARS!
The final highlight was the shop. This was one of the things I'd been looking forward to the most. There was just so much stuff and it was all brilliant! Some things were clearly way out of our price range, like the Nimbus 2000 (£199.95) and the Firebolt (£249.95) - they'd sold 4 this week!, and the jewellery and costume replicas. Other things were much more affordable. We came home with a wand for each girl (Millie chose Hermione's, Lucy opted for Luna's, on the understanding that at £25 a pop they WILL be keeping them safely in the boxes when not in use and they WILL look after them!). They also got a sports bag each (Gryffindor for Lucy, Ravenclaw for Millie). I got confused, as is the norm, and ended up not buying a t-shirt, even though I really wanted one. I'll just have to go back one day ;) I did buy the tour book (£10) and this very funky fridge magnet (£5.95)
Apparently they're going to run the tour for as long as people want to pay to see it, so I think EVERYONE should go along :) The girls both said it was the best day of their lives, and they were absolutely exhausted by the time we left at 8.30pm!
Best day ever :)
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