Harry Potter Studio Tips Please

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I have tickets for DS (11), DH and I to go to the Harry Potter studios tomorrow.

It seemed like a great idea when I got the tickets 7 months ago- I thought it would be lovely to have something to fill the time between Christmas and New Year.

In reality DH and I have been working a lot and we are all a little jaded after a hectic Christmas and colds all round.

Our tickets are for 5pm, and I'm not sure how it all works.

Any tips or explanations as to what to expect would be brilliant. I feel if I knew what to expect I might feel a bit more enthusiastic!

I’m hoping to take dd (9) there when we are down on a London trip in March. I was thinking of sending dh and ds (6) off to the new Spurs stadium instead of the HP place...as he hasn’t seen the films or read the books.
Is it accessible easily from London via public transport?

I got a butter beer ice cream and it tasted good, and it also included the souvenir glass. That may be a better option if everyone is saying the actual drink is gross.

It sounds like the ice cream is a better vehicle for what is essentially a butterscotch flavour.
Basically butter beer is a very very sickly butterscotch soda drink. The first couple of mouthfuls are OK, but the sickly sweetness tends to accumulate after a while and it becomes overwhelmingly sickly.

dont worry about pushing the doors open, when you get in the great hall just wait for the other people to walk down a bit then stage your own photo of pushing the doors as they are the same on the back as the front of the door. if there are long queues to look at the photos at the places, keep your little photo ticket and ask at the end photo bit to look at them all. take your time! everytime you go you will see different things.

Please don’t lie about it being your birthday. I went on my actual 30th birthday and didnt get to open the door due to scores and scores of children (from the same families) all having their birthdays that day.
It’s absolutely brilliant though, do take food and expect to be there a while.

I've been over 25 times. Some of the statements on here are wrong, but OK.

Expect to spend at least 3 hours there. I've done 13 hours a few times, easily.

The audio guides are good, but cumbersome and annoying. I wouldn't bother.

Some things in the Forbidden Forest shop and the Platform 9 and 3/4 shop aren't available in the main shop at the end, and you can't go back, so if you see something you really love, get it then.

Butterbeer is delicious.

You can go early. You don't have to go in at your time slot. I've booked for 6pm before as it was the only slot available that day and arrived at 9am. It's fine.

The staff know a lot. Sometimes if it's quiet they'll bring out extra props to see and if you're really lucky, hold. They know lots of secrets and new information. Talk to them.

The shop is very expensive, but everything is good quality. My robes were £70 but they are outstanding compared to unofficial ones.

There are lots of little extra things to do, such as riding brooms, Weasley car, Hagrid's house proportion photo, interactive train carriage,wand skills etc. You can't take your own photos on the brooms or other green screen areas, but you can take photos of absolutely everything else.

People are very rude.

Lying about your birthday so you can open the doors is despicable.

We much preferred the butterbeer ice-cream to the beer.

We got the audio guide which DH and I enjoyed but the children got bored with. So, in hindsight, I probably wouldn’t have bothered but only because it detracted from the enjoyment with the children. If I was on my own, it would have been great.

Yes to buying anything you see from the shops as you go past. There was one thing my daughter wanted, we said wait till the end, and then it wasn’t available in the last shop.

Take your time and enjoy it!

We weren’t allowed in until our time slot when we went. They were being really strict about it:

We've been loads as one of mine is a HP fan. I can't face it again, it's not my thing but it is really interesting if you like films anyway.

Basically, four sections. Queue at your time slot and then you have the filmed section to watch and listen to.

Then the sets.

Then the outdoor sets

Then the props and a set.

It's interesting and they manage crowd control well. Shop is fiendishly expensive.

Ooh so there is an outdoor bit? Need to carry coats around then?

So my 11yo on her birthday outing because we couldn't get anything nearer to the date would be despicable? This is a big treat for her, we can't afford to go many times, it's a one off. She's wanted this for ages.

It's a long walk to the start, so get there at least an hour early and then you can probably go in half an hour early. If you have a picnic then that will save time and timing should be fine - I had 10 and 6yos and it was a late night for 6yo.

We didn't like the audio guide as there's so much to see and read and staff to speak to.

Chocolate frogs are 8.99 per frog. Lego is the same price as elsewhere so can be good to get. Other merch is expensive - I did get 3 photos of kids on broom/on a poster, which was 33 quid for a deal. So set a budget. However the place is beautifully done and despite MrNC being a pushover in the gift shop, we didn't feel ripped off.

You are not allowed to eat food on the tour.

There are restaurants at the beginning and end of the tour.

In the shop afterwards the knitwear is eyewateringly expensive, but also the best value. I bought DS a "school jumper" which was basically a grey pullover with a very discreet band around the bottom hem and cuffs in gryffindor colours. It basically functioned as a smart jumper for years as it was excellent quality and didn't shout HARRY POTTER WORE ONE OF THESE when you wore it. I also got him a Quiddich jumper, also eyewateringly expensive, but again, wore and lasted really well. This jumper did have a Hogwarts crest on the front, but small enough that he didn't feel he was wearing a novelty jumper - he continued to wear it even when he'd really grown out of Harry Potter. They were basically normal, very well-made clothes which also worked as a sort of stealth cosplay.

When you think about the cost and quality of them, and how well they were able to be worn, against a chocolate frog which can be eaten in seconds, I thought it was the best value.

Definitely take a picnic as food is incredibly expensive for what it is. Shop is also very expensive BUT there are some lovely items.

Yes, there is an outside bit so make sure you have coats/extra layer.

Agree that the staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a lovely chat with one of them at the end who told us all sorts of facts about the filming.

I was surprised there were a lot more adults than kids but when you think how old the books are now then a lot of the adults there grew up with the books.

Oh and you are allowed to take your own food. We ate it in the canteen where they sell the butter beer as did every other person in there.

Yes there's an outdoor bit.

So my 11yo on her birthday outing because we couldn't get anything nearer to the date would be despicable

Yes. You should have booked it in advance. If it wasn't her birthday, it wasn't her birthday. Lying is vile.

Update in case it's helpful to anyone.....

It was incredible and we loved it.

Took snacks and drinks and ate them in the cafe half way round with a butter beer each. Loved the butterbeer but I do have a very sweet tooth. I think it was the frothy top which was the very sweet bit.

The outside bit was quite small and we managed fine without coats but it was a dry evening. This bit was particularly magical as it was dark.

I'd suggest that if you're not very familiar with the films you watch one or two in the days before you go- this made it even more fascinating as we noticed lots of wonderful small details which we would have forgotten if we hadn't rewatched recently.

We were there for 3.5 hours. I could have stayed much longer just staring at the wonderful details. I'm not sure a small child would appreciate it as much as an older one who is able to understand the amazing detail and efforts that went into the film making and sets.

I have a renewed interest in HP now, and I simply cannot believe the amount of work that went into the film set and prop making. I was pretty ignorant TBH and thought much of it was computer generated- I now stand corrected!

The staff were brilliant, so polite and full of information that they were very happy to share.

Glad you enjoyed it.

We told you do

So even

Glad you enjoyed it, so did I and I'm not an HP fan. When we went it was summer, I'm starting to think about booking for this time next year as it does sound extra magical at Christmas.

Yes. You should have booked it in advance. If it wasn't her birthday, it wasn't her birthday. Lying is vile.

Apologies, my finances don't quite work like that.

Glad you enjoyed it OP