Allison Abroad: Day 1

Hello from London!!!!

For my free day in London before meeting up with my tour, I decided to go to Harry Potter Studios. It was so much fun!!! I had to take the "Hogwarts Express" bus - which is a double decker bus decorated to look like its from Harry Potter. They even announced on the train I had to take to get to the shuttle stop to "Alight here for the Hogwarts Express".

Once I got there, I picked up my audio guide - which was awesome because the whole thing is narrated by Tom Felton. First we watched a video about how the movies came to be and then we watched a video from Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson who introduced the whole exhibit. From there we entered the Great Hall. After that, the exhibit was divided into three areas. The first had set pieces, costumes, props, etc. There was the Gryffindor Common Room, the Gryffindor Boys Dormitory, Dumbledore's Office, the Potions Dungeon, the Burrow, the Ministry Atrium, Umbridge's Office and more. There was also the Quidditch section - where I got to ride a broomstick in front of a greenscreen.

Great Hall

Yule Ball

Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory

Fat Lady

Gryffindor Common Room

Door to Dumbledore's Office

Triwizard Cup and Golden Egg

Dumbledore's Office

Potions Dungeon

4 Potions from first Potions class in Half Blood Prince

Hagrid's Hut

Door to the Chamber of Secrets

The Burrow

Umbridge

Umbride's Office

Broomstick Making Booth

Draco Malfoy's broom and one of the men who helped to design the brooms and the rest of the props for 10 years during the movies. This particular broom took 2 and a half weeks to make and weighs over 50 pounds.

Harry's Hogwarts Letters

Black Family Tapestry

Then I went outside where the large pieces are - Number 4 Privet Drive, the Hogwarts Bridge, the Knight Bus, the Potter cottage in Godric's Hollow, and the Weasley's flying car. They sold Butterbeer out here which was awesome :)

Knight Bus

Number 4 Privet Drive

Driving the Weasley's Flying Car

Butterbeer in front of 4 Privet Drive

The last section started out with the creature shop - where I saw Buckbeak, Fawkes, the Hungarian Horntail, and the basilisk. Then we could enter Diagon Alley where there was Ollivanders, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Flourish and Blotts, Gringotts, etc. Then there was the scale model of Hogwarts. It was amazing. The details are perfect - every door has a miniature doorknob, there are lights inside and everything. The last room looked like Ollivander's Wand Shop. Every actor (and I think crew person) had a wand box with their name on it. Then there was the gift shop - which had everything imaginable. I definitely recommend going here :)