Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter gets ready to reopen to wizarding fans following Coronavirus closure
Harry Potter fans will not be waiting much longer for the reopening of the hugely successful Warner Bros Studio Tour in London.
The Making of Harry Potter – a look behind the scenes of the wizarding films – will reopen on Thursday, August 20.
It was forced to close earlier in 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
The attraction is at the actual Warner Bros studios near London where a lot of the filming for the eight Harry Potter films took place.
It includes sets like the Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts Great Hall, Diagon Alley and Gringotts Bank alongside thousands of props and costumes.
The Great Hall (Photo: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter)
And from the opening date, the Slytherin Common Room can be seen for the first time along with iconic costumes and props belonging to some of the house’s cunning characters.
The Slytherin common room in the Harry Potter movies
So what will be different when Harry Potter Studio Tour London reopens?
There will be a number of Covid 19 safety measures in place.
The attraction has made some changes to manage social distancing and keep everything extra clean.
Do you have to wear face masks?
Visitors aged 11 and over must wear a face mask unless medically exempt. They can be taken off when the wearer is sitting down in a cafe.
How will social distancing be managed?
There will be less visitor numbers and there will be a one-way system around the studios.
The shops and cafés will only accept cashless or contactless payment options .
Cars will be parked with spaces in between.
What will not be open?
Hogwarts Express (Photo: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter)
The Hogwarts Express train carriage
Inside Privet Drive
The cloakroom and left luggage facilities
The Studio Tour shuttle bus service to and from Watford Junction Station will not be available
Will the toilets be open?
Toilets will be open with extra hygiene measures in place.
Will the studios be cleaned more regularly?
Yes, there will be extra cleaning throughout the day, especially of touch-points such as door handles and barriers.
And hand sanitiser stations will be positioned throughout.
Gringotts (Photo: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter)
Will the cafes be open?
The Hub cafes, Food Hall and Backlot Cafe will be open but there will be less menu choices.
Seating in the cafe will be spaced and visitors must not pay with cash.
We have loads of useful Harry Potter Studio tour information and tips for you
We take our children on a family trip to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
What is it:
The Harry Potter Studio Tour is a magical long look behind the scenes of the famous wizarding films.
It is at the actual Warner Bros. studios near London where a lot of the filming for the eight Harry Potter movies took place.
This is nothing at all like a theme park – there are no rides.
Instead, fans can explore the sets, see the thousands of props and costumes and have their pictures taken with iconic memorabilia and backdrops.
It has won lots of travel awards hailing it the best UK attraction and best family day out.
What did we think?
Harry Potter fans will adore this attraction. There’s absolutely LOADS to see. It’s a four-hour (or so) look at how the films were made.
It makes you appreciate how much work, talent and creativity goes into making films like these.
It’s a really memorable day out – our oldest child is a fan but our youngest – who is too young for the books or film yet – also enjoyed it.
Our highlights
*When you first enter the main lobby before the tour, a huge dragon hanging from the ceiling gives the wow factor. (Apparently it’s Ironbelly from Deathly Hallows Part One, but we haven’t watched that far yet)!
*The tour starts in a room where people in ‘pictures’ on the the walls are talking to you – fans, actors such as James and Oliver Phelps (who play Fred and George Weasley) and Harry Potter writer JK Rowling. Then you go into a small cinema and watch a short film with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson talking about making the movies. At the end, the screen lifts up revealing the door to the Great Hall.
*The Great Hall – the iconic heart of Hogwarts Castle is the perfect area in which to start the experience. The space in the middle is clear for visitors but tables are laid for dinner along the sides. Sadly we didn’t get to enjoy a great feast!
The Great Hall
Models of the characters wear some of the costumes. It’s great to see the size of Hagrid at the front, next to the other teachers. The ceiling is arched but not enchanted (this was created afterwards with special effects). A guide comes in to the hall with you, pointing out areas of interest, you are free to explore on your own from then on.
Gringotts
*Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Although this part is a reproduction of the actual set, this room takes your breath away as you walk in – it’s vast. And sparkly! With marble columns, huge chandeliers and goblin bankers sitting at their desks.
*Diagon Alley – you don’t get to go in the shops, but can peep in at the famous store fronts like Flourish and Blotts, Mr Mulpepper’s Apothecary and Ollivanders wand shop. One shop even has a broomstick floating in the window.
Diagon Alley
*The Hogwarts Express. You see the train at platform 9¾ and can climb on board, walking along the narrow corridor but not going in any of the small carriages. This train was the one used on location for exterior shots only.
But you do get the chance to sit with your family in a carriage nearby with a green screen for a window. You have your picture taken (to buy if you want afterwards) and are given emotions to act, which is great fun. A video then plays on the screen/window to simulate the train moving through different landscapes, but be warned – Dementors appear at the ‘window’ at one point which can be scary so sit younger children nearer the camera.
*Wand training – our children loved being taught how to use a wand. Participants stand in front of mirrors and follow a demonstration video, learning wand moves, with help from a guide.
*The guides – they are fabulous. They are spaced around the attraction, are friendly, approachable and very knowledgable. They know loads of fascinating facts so make sure to talk to them.
*Green screen photo areas. You are put in Hogwarts robes, in the house of your choice, unless you have your own. You can pose for a ‘Have you seen this Wizard’ poster picture, ride a broomstick over London and buy the resulting pictures and video.
*Dobby the house elf interactive motion capture experience – stand in front of three different stages of the CGI process and watch Dobby reflect your movements – my daughter loved this bit and didn’t want to leave.
*Seeing the animatronic versions of creatures like Buckbeak the Hippogridd and how they were made.
*The props – there are so, so many amazing with such attention to details. For example in Snape’s Potions Classroom there are more than 950 potion jars with weird and wonderful props inside.
*The tour ends with a stunning model of Hogwarts Castle. There are interactive screens here showing how it was built (in 40 days) and how it was used in the films.
*The shop at the end is huge with lots of quality (expensive) merchandise.
Top tips:
*DO NOT turn up to the Harry Potter Studio Tour without pre-booking a ticket. Buy one in advance from the website.
*Book tickets as far ahead as you can as, even though 6,000 people a day take the tour, they sell out quickly.
*Tickets are timed entry, to control the amount of visitors entering. You can take as long as you want going round so it can get busier throughout the day. We booked our tickets for the first time slot of the day (9-9.30am the day we went) and didn’t have any crowds or queues to face – even half an hour behind us, people were queuing for things we hadn’t.
*Opt to have your tickets posted then you can go straight in on arrival, otherwise you have to collect them from a ticket window and there might be a queue.
*Arrive at least 20 minutes early to park and get through the security checks – bags are checked and people are scanned with metal detector wands.
*After the security checks you enter a room where you can collect a handheld digital guide for £4.95. These enhance the tour for adults and some children, they give extra details and facts for visitors as they walk around.
*Also in this first room you can collect a free children’s ‘passport’. They can be stamped around the tour and make for a nice memento. They also give clues for spotting the golden snitch.
*When leaving the door with the talking pictures to enter the cinema, go through the door on the left and then you can sit on the front row of the theatre and be first into the Great Hall. If it’s your birthday you may even get to open the doors.
*A couple of parts can be frightening –
The Forbidden Forest – it’s only a short walk through, but it is dark, there is fake mist rising and eerie sounds and movements.
Buckbeak in the Forbidden Forest
If your children would be scared by big spiders – take the first turning on the right inside the forest to miss a part complete with a big Aragog and family.
If you have children who don’t want to enter the forest at all, ask a member of staff and they will take you another way round. Once through the forest, you come out at Platform 9¾ and see the Hogwarts Express – if you tell them this it might get them through!
The other frightening part for some children is at the end of the fabulous Gringotts section where a dragon appears to run at you breathing fire.
You can hear the roar from the room before, which causes the walls to ‘shake’. When you look in, it’s a set of a destroyed Gringotts made to look deeper than it is with a clever screen. A digital but very realistic Ukrainian Ironbelly moves towards you, setting the bank on fire. It’s a short sequence on repeat and anyone who doesn’t want to see it has about 10 seconds to run through this room before it starts again. Our children were worried so a heroic member of staff brandishing a sword to ‘defend them’, led them through.
Wands for sale at the shop
*Be prepared to spend money once inside – we are normally careful but here we ended up paying for two green screen pictures and two green screen videos (£50), food in the café as we were away so couldn’t make a packed lunch, plus a little gift in the shop at the end, totaling £90 on top of already expensive tickets.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter information
Food
There are a couple of cafes at the entrance/exit (Chocolate Frog Cafe and Hub Cafe) along with a food hall.
Half way around the tour is the Backlot Café with seating inside and out. Staff will supply hot water for heating up bottles here. This is also where to buy butterbeer and butterbeer ice cream. You can queue separately for this.
You can take a picnic, but you must eat it at the Backlot Café half way round.
Opening hours: vary throughout the year, check here.
Cost:
2019: Adult £45, child aged 5-15 £37, family (2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children) £148,
2020: Adult £47, child aged 5-15 £38, family (2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children) £150.
Children aged 0 to 4 are free but still need a ticket. Carers are also free.
You can also buy a complete studio tour package which includes a studio tour ticket, digital guide and souvenir guidebook. An adult package costs £54.95 for 2019 and £56.95 for 2020. A child package costs £46.95 for 2019 and £47.95 for 2020. These give a saving of £4.95.
There are also deluxe tickets including studio tour entry with a two-hour guided tour, reserve parking, a souvenir guidebook, a butterbeer, four free photographs and a video at one of the photo opportunities and a hot meal and drink.
The Deluxe ticket includes entry to the Studio Tour with a complimentary two hour guided tour, reserved parking, a souvenir guidebook, a Butterbeer, four free photographs and a video at one of our photo opportunities and a choice of hot meal and drink. They cost £225.
Best for: Harry Potter fans aged eight and above and equally interesting for adults!
Time needed: Around four hours but you can stay as long as you like.
Access and restrictions: Most of the studio tour is suitable for wheelchairs but some areas are difficult including the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley. It is also suitable for buggies/pushchairs/prams or these can be left in the cloakroom.
Address: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, Studio Tour Drive, Leavesden, WD25 7LR
