Last year I visited Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour for my birthday with Grandad and the Big Kids and had the most amazing day! I love the Harry Potter films and had been desperate to visit Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour since the day it opened. I tried to avoid looking up too much about it as I wanted to enjoy the experience and WOW I’m so glad I did. So many surprises, the place literally blew me away! If you don’t want any spoilers before you go then stop reading this post NOW!
Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour has a huge free car park which was super easy to find and there’s a block of toilets there which were clean and tidy. The walk up to the studios is adorned with giant wands, the tips of which light up at night – very cool! There are some large statues from the giant Wizards Chess game in the Philosopher’s Stone outside the entrance. You will have your tickets scanned before entering the Studio tours building.
Once inside you are met by a HUGE dragon hanging in the foyer. It is so impressive! You start your self-led tour and the fun begins!
After a brief walk through area and introduction, you are led to the massive Great Hall doors. As it was my birthday I was one of the lucky few who got to open the doors which was very exciting! The Great Hall is amazing. It’s such an iconic part of the films and standing in there felt like you were truly at Hogwarts. There were lots of costumes to look at and an exciting experience to enjoy, I won’t spoil it though! One thing I would really love to do is return to Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour at Christmas time to see the Great Hall decorated. I bet it looks amazing.
Once you exit the Great Hall, you are free to walk around an array of Hogwarts sets from the films. Everything from Dumbledore’s office and the Gryffindor Common Room to Snape’s Potions classroom. There are costumes and props to enjoy and a huge interactive Marauder’s Map. The details in the different sets are amazing. If you’re a Harry Potter fan then it’s like being a kid in a toy shop!
Moving through this area of the tour you will find several photo opportunities, including riding a broomstick! The green screen behind means you can purchase photos with various different backdrops. We also enjoyed trying out the optical illusion set-up where you can make one person look much bigger than the others around a table.
After more exploring of the sets in this area, we headed into the Forbidden Forest. This is a fantastic part of the tour that completely immerses you in the Harry Potter films. It’s dark and full of mysterious creatures, including Hagrid’s beloved Hippogriff, Buckbeak. Will you be brave enough to face Aragog in his lair?!
Following on from your journey through the Forbidden Forest, you will find yourself arriving on Platform 9 and 3/4. The spectacular Hogwarts Express is at the station and there are fun photo opportunities to enjoy too. We loved doing the iconic shot of pushing the trolley through the wall at King’s Cross Station! There is a gift shop on the platform and benches to stop and take a break (which you’ll need by this point!) During our visit there was also a craft activity in this area to make your own Howler letter to take home. I love this fun souvenir from our visit!
This now marks roughly the half way point of the Harry Potter Warner Bro Studio Tour. You’ll find a gift shop, plus the Backlot Cafe selling Butterbeer, burgers and hotdogs. There’s a huge amount of seating so plenty of space to sit down and enjoy your lunch. We all really enjoyed our meals and the food was very filling. You can expect adult meals to cost between £8.95-£15.95 and children’s meals are £6.65. I was too hungry to take any photos, sorry!
Outside the Backlot Cafe are more film sets, this time including the Knight Bus, Privet Drive, Professor Sprout’s Greenhouse and more. You can climb onboard the bus and go inside the Dursley’s house. We also loved the Mandrakes in the Greenhouse. More fun photo opportunities include Hagrid’s motorbike and Mr Weasley’s car. Again it was so amazing to see so many iconic parts of the Harry Potter films in real life.
At the time of our visit the ‘theme’ of the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour was Special Effects. Lots of the displays showed how they filmed various stunts, how some of the animatronics work, costumes were made, etc. It was fascinating to see how the films were made and all of the hard work that gets put into every single tiny detail.
One of the biggest and most impressive sets on display at the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour (in my opinion!) is Gringotts Bank. It is incredible! This is one set that we walked into and all stood in awe. It’s an immense room and its grandeur is spellbinding (see what i did there?!). The towering marble pillars, the stunning crystal chandeliers and of course the goblin bankers. You are literally stepping into the movie.
The Gringotts Bank part of the tour isn’t just about the banking hall, the vaults are equally impressive. So many tiny details. Over 210,000 coins created for the final two films alone. There is a fun photo opportunity here where you are surrounded by silverware from the vaults (see below). Round the corner from here is another amazing experience but I’m not going to spoil the surprise as its one of my favourite parts of the experience!
Ever wanted to take a stroll around Diagon Alley?! I love all the quirky stores and buildings, the cobbled streets, the weird and wonderful items for sale in the shop windows and of course Ollivanders Wand Shop. Did you know the shop contained over 17,000 individually labelled wand boxes during filming?! There is an area further on where you can see many of the wand boxes. See if you can spot any well-known names from the films. It’s well worth chatting to the staff in this area too as they’re full of knowledge and will point out lots of hidden little ‘Easter eggs’.
Last on the tour is a large scale model of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It’s nice to spend a bit of time here admiring the model from all angles (its huge!) and watching as it changes. I believe if you visit around Christmas time it’s covered in snow!
Finally before you leave have a stroll through the gift store. There is absolutely everything you could possibly imagine here, it’s a real treasure trove. If you’re a big Harry Potter fan I recommend taking some spending money with you. Personally I would love a sorting hat!
Facilities Checklist
- Toilets / Disabled Toilet Yes
- Pushchair / Wheelchair Friendly Yes
- Dog Friendly No, service dogs only
- Refreshments available Yes several cafes
- Car Park Yes, free parking
- Gift Shop Yes
- Baby facilities Yes highchairs, baby changing and private room with nursing chair for feeding
Address: Studio Tour Drive, Leavesden, Watford, WD25 7LR
Price Band: £££
Website: https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk
Disclaimer: I paid for our tickets myself and I am not in any way connected with Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio tour. All words, opinions and photos in this review are that of my own.
And for any Harry Potter fans who want some themed birthday party ideas, check out my post here: https://mumsfamilyfun.com/activities-at-home/specialoccasions/harry-potter-party-ideas/
Hi how much are the photos
I think they are £14 per photo. There are various packages available for multiple photos/video.