Happy (late) Halloween!
I have been obsessed with Harry Potter every since I have read the first book years and years ago.
This is why when my friend asked me whether I wanted to go with her to the Dark Arts special tour at Warner Bros Studio, I must have given her my fastest ‘yes’ ever.
I have been to the studio for the first time ever last year in September, but I’ve been thinking of returning for a while. The Dark Arts special was a perfect excuse to go and experience the magic all over again.
We bought our tickets well in advance as the tour gets booked up quite quickly. Last year my tour was booked for 1pm and it was absolutely packed inside. If you are looking to book a tour I would recommend booking the earliest time slot available. This time we booked the 9am tickets and it was much less crowded and you could wander around without bumping into people and queuing up to see the exhibitions. Your time when you start the tour is unlimited so you can be there all day, although in my experience it takes about 3h to see everything. If you’re with kids or would like to stop for lunch, then it may take you slightly longer.
Sorry in advance for the long post but my friend takes amazing pictures so we took plenty.
The tour starts with a quick introductory video and then then visitors enter the Great Hall. This time it was beautifully laid out for the Halloween feast. The inspiration for the Great Hall comes from the Great Hall at Christ Church College in Oxford which I have visited a while ago. Please see link here.
Next you enter huge room with plenty of movie props, costumes and different movie sets.
The Gryffindor common room
Take your pick!
Dumbledore’s office
I had to take a dip into his pensieve!
Hagrid’s Hut
The Burrow
Ministry of Magic
Entrance to the Forbidden Forest
My new pet
On board the Hogwarts Express
Last year I didn’t have the chance to try Butterbeer as the queue was extremely long and I thought there may be another cafe later on. This is the only one so when you get to this point make sure to join the queue. In all honesty, it was not my favourite thing however, the Butterbeer ice cream was heavenly!
Wishing I was Hermione…
The next part of the tour was the animatronic department. The attention to detail was incredible.
At last we strolled down Diagon Alley
And at last, Hogwarts in all its glory!
Our last stop was Ollivander’s so I could pick my wand (or should I say so the wand could pick me!)
Hope you guys enjoyed this and are booking your tickets asap. I had the most amazing day, I feel like a little child every time I’m there and get to experience the magic.
K.
