A trip that was two years in the making, magic that lasts a lifetime..
This was our first visit to Harry Potter World and it was simply incredible. I loved the entire experience; from the moment we arrived in the car park to dancing around in the gift shop. I just had to squee with delight. We had a lovely time and were very lucky to receive a few snippets of behind the scenes information from the wonderful tour guides!
Here is a lot of pictures and an overview of our visit to Harry Potter World!
Ok so lets get this out of the way… I am a very proud Slytherin and my patronus is a hedgehog. Honestly a century ago when I took the Pottermore (now Wizarding World) quiz I was just as surprised as you, but before you judge, go and have a look at the description of a Slytherin, in fact I will even link it here—>> https://pottermore.fandom.com/wiki/Slytherin
If you are interested Jon is a Ravenclaw, and here is his description—>> https://pottermore.fandom.com/wiki/Ravenclaw
Now that is out of the way…
Here is our visit to Harry Potter World.
When we first arrived, I was very excited and raring to go, we managed to get the first slot on a Monday so the place was quiet and I wasn’t sharing my personal space with anyone. As we entered the tour we had a brief welcome message from a few familiar faces and then went through and saw the doors to the Great Hall. Then the face opposite happened. Scary. I know, definitely a Slytherin face… Anyway I was bewitched at every corner and it was the perfect start to our experience!
The Great Hall was very special. As we walked down the Great Hall there were robes, models of the professors, the fireplace and my house crest. Incredible! After our tour guide revealed some trade secrets about the place we were able to venture off on our own to explore.
My first stop was one of my favourite set designs from the films that we only catch a glimpse of in The Goblet of Fire. This is the fountain in the prefect bathroom where Harry takes his golden egg. I love how it has each of the house colours and Jon took a really great photo of it as well.
Then we moved around a wide space that had Dumbledores office, the Gryffindor common rooms, Snape’s Potions class, the Burrow, the Ministry of Magic, everything my heart could desire and take in, right there in front of me, as if it had come to life.
What I really loved about this place were the little things that were hidden around the room, such as making things move in the Burrow, or seeing the golden snitch, Gryffindor Quidditch robes, time turners and another of my favourite pieces, Professor Slughorn’s hour glass; which sadly we did not get a photo of…next time.
The beauty of this place is that there is so much to do and see at any age, I mean I am 27 and I loved it! You can geek out like I did at all of the small, delicate things, or you could ride a broom stick, learn how to duel with wands or make yourself appear to be as big as Hagrid (forced prospective set). It was truly a place of wonder and we spent a great deal of time there before I noticed a closed gate to The Forbidden Forest…
Then it opened and I was elated. Although it was small, I really loved the Forbidden Forest. This is where they introduced us to my favourite creature from the films; Buckbeak. Love that guy. Once we made our way through the forest we came out at the most magical sight… It was the Hogwarts Express on platform 9 3/4. I gasped with excitement and completely fell in love with this! We got to explore the platform before heading into the carriage to see scenes laid out from the various films. There was also a railway station gift shop and a chance to shop from the sweetie trolly!
It was then on to butter beer. Now I had caught wind of a rumour which stated that Harry Potter World sold butter beer and I had heard from a few people that it is like marmite you either like it or you don’t. I fortunately, really enjoyed it and found that it tasted like a mixture of Irn Bru, cream soda and butterscotch sauce. Weird, yet wonderful. We then headed outside to see the famous Wooden Bridge or Covered Bridge as it is also known, Privet Drive and the Knight bus!
Once we had thoroughly explored outside we came back in to see the background and meticulous work that goes into creating a world like Harry Potter. We saw the animatronics, set and costume design and the delightful creatures that were expertly crafted for the film. After some MORE gasping and amazement, I pretended to be Dobby and then we continued on to what was my favourite part of the tour.
Gringotts Bank and Diagon Alley. These were simply breath taking, I don’t want to give away too many spoilers for people who are looking forward to a visit, but Gringotts Bank was very, very well done. *Applause*. Then it was onto Diagon Alley! Now, little 11 year old Graceless had always wanted to walk down the cobblestone streets, Hogwarts letter in hand, and purchase her 11″ Cherry Wood wand with unicorn hair core (thanks again Wizarding World) from Mr. Ollivander. I think I must have had an amazed look on my face as it was here that we were approached by a friendly Ravenclaw tour guide who happened to have the keys to Ollivander’s shop!
She very kindly opened the shop for just Jon and I (after asking which house we were in) and brought out a destroyed wand box from the set where they blew up Ollivander’s shop. It was incredible. We then moved on to Flourish & Blotts book shop where she pulled out a copy of Gilderoy Lockheart’s book and told us that this is the only image we have of a Ravenclaw Quidditch uniform. She also told us that Rita Skeeter’s and Lockheart’s books had a snake skin-like texture to symbolise that they were untrustworthy characters. Amazing! Thank you for that unique experience! As we finished in Diagon Alley we moved on to the final part of our tour and emerged into a room that contained the Hogwarts castle.
This was quite wondrous. We took our time imagining how long it must have taken the very talented artists to create. It really is a sight to behold.
I hope you enjoyed this post.
If you have been to Harry Potter World why don’t you tell me a little bit about your trip in the comments below!
Until next time.
Graceless Living 