Today we had to get up early, which wasn't too bad because we were so excited. We went to Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden for the Harry Potter Studio Tour!
We had originally planned to go Thursday after we rented the car, but we messed up and had forgotten to buy the tickets before it was too late. Getting there was still an issue (it's a good hour away), so we'd opted for a tour package from Golden Tours. It was a little pricey, but included bus transportation and tour tickets. It was also a all-day excursion, but in the end, we were glad we did it. It was something we definitely didn't want to miss, and even though we lost a day in London, we gained more time for Stratford-upon-Avon and Liverpool.
We took the Tube to Victoria Station, grabbed a quick bite at a little shop, and got on the Harry Potter decorated double-decker bus for the hour ride to Leavesden. It immediately reminded me of the Hogwarts Express at Universal Studios. The scenery leaving London was identical.
Golden Tours has their own bus stop out front, so clearly they've got a good thing going on. Basically, the studio (and very smartly, I might add), built two new "soundstages" named Stage J and Stage K (get it?) to house many of the sets, props, costumes and more from all of the Harry Potter films. They tell you there's nothing else like it, and they're right.
As soon as we hit the lobby, they corralled us right into the line to enter. The signs and recorded messages said we were supposed to wait for our actual entry time (we were about 30 minutes early), but they weren't having any of that. We'd thought we'd have time for lunch first, but that didn't happen either (luckily there was a place to eat during the tour). I actually had to get out of line to grab the audio tour and activity book for Madison (both of which they'd touted on the bus). Turns out the audio tour wasn't really necessary, but it wasn't that expensive and I liked that they used an iPod Touch. We had been worried we wouldn't have enough time, so we were really glad that we got an early start.
The first thing we saw (while still in line) was Harry's room under the stairs. Then it was off to a small room with a really short pre-show video played across multiple picture screens.
From there we went into a big, comfy "cinema" with a longer intro featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint in front of doors to the Great Hall. They talked about the ten years they spent growing up and working there before welcoming us and disappearing through the doors onscreen. Then the screen lifted up to reveal the actual doors. Our guide invited anyone having a birthday to help pull them open, and in we went into the actual Great Hall! Total A+ for presentation.
This was the actual set that stood for ten years in another soundstage, carefully relocated to this one. There was no ceiling (we'd learn later how it was added via special effects) and an assortment of costumes on display: several of the professors and a selection of Harry's Hogwarts uniforms from his first year to his last.
The next (very large) room was filled with multiple sets: the boys' dorm (the beds were small and never made any bigger even after the actors grew), the Common Room, Dimbledore's office, Hagrid's Hut, and more.
There were tons of props, costumes, parts of sets, paintings (many of which were modeled by people on the production) and so many other things, it was all so amazing. Also hanging from the ceiling was the Great Hall ceiling, significantly smaller than the set.
The next room was King's Cross Station and Platform 9 3/4. They had the actual Hogwarts Express, which you can tour. Several of the compartments were decorated to match scenes from the various movies.
They also had a photo opp where you could look like you were running your trolley into the wall, Hogwarts compartments with video screens where you see a chocolate frog and a Dementor (again, a little similar to Universal Studios), and a train-related gift shop.
Next we had lunch in the cafe. I was expecting some British dishes (like at Universal), but it was just burgers, hotdogs, and salads. Our dessert (a cheesecake parfait) was pretty darn delicious, though. We were tempted to get another.
In between the soundstages were the outdoor sets: the Knight Bus, the Dursley's house, a section of the bridge, the Potter's cottage, and the Weasley's little blue car, which you could sit in.
The second soundstage was dedicated more to production. The first room was all about make-up and had a life-size video of the make-up designer and actor Warwick Davis explaining the process. It also had several life-like figures of all the main cast members, though some were not life-size. The Dumbledore was 80% smaller for scenes to make Hagrid look giant, and there was a Hagrid head worn by a really tall body double to make everyone else look smaller.
We were treated to one more full-size set as part of the grand finale: Diagon Alley. Again, this felt a little like Universal, but it didn't make it any less cool. The lights changed periodically to go from day time to night time.
Next came a section on model building, which I loved. Madison also took lots of pictures, because she's going to be doing just that before long in college. Before every set is built, they start with a poster board model so that they can get a feel for what it looks like and test camera angles. There was also a lot of production art on the walls.
From there we rounded the corner to the grand finale: a truly ginormous model of Hogwarts that was used in all eight films. I can't begin to tell you how big this thing is. They added to it with each film as J. K. Rowling described more in the books and the filmmakers added their own touches (like the bridge).
Again, A+ for presentation. You start out at the top, then the walkway winds around to the ground floor. The lights change from day to night so you can see all of the lights in the windows, and the Harry Potter theme plays the whole time. Truly impressive!
We ended up finishing early, so we toured the gift shop and then just hung around until it was time to take the bus back to London. The ride back was longer because we had to make multiple stops to drop people off.
We got back to the room and freshened up before meeting Michael for dinner at Bumpkin in South Kensington near our hotel. For the most part, this was my favorite meal so far: the food and decor were great, and I finally found my equivalent to American tea: Breakfast Tea but without the milk. The only downside was the service: our waiter was great until we got our food, then he was a little harder to track down. It worked out just fine, though, because it gave us plenty of time to catch up with Michael.
Marsha and Madison were getting tired, so Michael and I headed out for a quick night-time tour of London. It was getting late and the Tube stops running at a certain hour, so we had to make sure to get back in time or else get stuck.
Our first stop was the Sky Bar at the top of Millbank Tower, which had (as Michael promised) the best views of the city. You're right in the middle with the Gherkin, the London Eye, and the Shard all around on each side. It was breathtaking.
Our final stop was London Bridge, where we had a great view of Tower Bridge and the Shard. Michael was impressed with my knowledge of the city, all thanks to watching Spooks (aka MI-5).
Luckily, we both made it back in time before the Tube shut down for the night. I was more worried for him since he had a much longer ride, but he made it in the nick of time.
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