harry potter studio tour: part three

*Read part one here*

*Read part two here*

020: The Knight Bus

Parked outside opposite Privet Drive was the famous Knight Bus which transports any witch or wizard to a location of their choice. Most famously seen in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Knight Bus is one of the most exciting ways a wizard can travel (other than a broom of course!). "Take it away, Ern!"...

The bus is three buses high so yes, it was SO tall! Unfortunately, there was restrictions not letting people have a nosy upstairs however, I managed to focus my lense through the gate in order to photograph the beds.

021: The Enchanted Anglia Car

It was an absolute pleasure to see, touch and even SIT in the famous little blue anglia which saw Harry and Ron in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, driving themselves over Kingscross Station, over London and then above the chugging Hogwarts Express which is when all Harry Potter fans gasped with horror at the possibility that Harry was going to fall out. Even though for someone who's read all the books four times, knew this was never going to happen.

022: Hagrid's Bike

This was the only thing Andrew seemed desperate to sit on. Oh boys will be boys!

023: Goblins

We then headed into a large room which was simply wonderful. All around us were goblin heads, paint pots and thousands of paintbrushes. There was also little inspiration images dotted around everywhere; demonstrating drafts of what the goblins were originally going to look like, before settling on a final image. 

024: Mystical Creatures

025: Characters

There was quite a few of the Harry Potter characters lifesize models displayed behind glass cabinets; however I appear to only have photographed my favourites.

026: Diagon Alley

I was most excited to walk down the famous Diagon Alley which is just after the mystical creatures section. It was so weird walking from one end of Diagon Alley to the other. It all looked so real! In the corner was Gringotts Bank which was smaller than it looks. Oh magic cameras! The floor was even real stone; just like the old cobbled street we see in the films. 

027: Architectural Thinking

I was pleasantly surprised to see we was able to get an insight into the architectural thinking behind the designs of locations, sets and scenery. 

There was also some artwork on display which featured the artists who created visual representations of either characters or scenes. I took photographs of my favourites which included Dobby (by Rob Bliss) and the scene where Aunt Marge blows up (HAHA). 

028: Hogwarts

029: Building Sets

Another favourite part of mine, was seeing how the little buildings such as The Three Broomsticks and Diagon Alley itself were cleverly crafted together in little mini versions. I will never been an architect (my brother in law will hate me for saying that as he is one!) but I do appreciate the artistic thinking behind the scenes.

030: Filming Hogwarts

*SPOILER ALERT*

Sadly (and I express my sadness 100% here), Hogwarts doesn't exist. You would think they filmed in a gigantic castle somewhere but no. It's all just a set, filmed and made out to look like a real castle when in reality, it's just a large scale model!

031: The Wand Room

The last part of the tour (SOB!) saw us in the wand room. Thousands of boxes were stacked on the walls in little boxed shelves which was breath taking to see. A man was a host to the room and told us that each box had a name written on it. Each box was dedicated to every single person ever known to be involved in the making of Harry Potter. To the actors, to the makeup artists, to the camera crew to the special effects technicians. How lovely! I spent a good 15 minutes looking for names I knew.

*Read part one here*

*Read part two here*

And that's it! All in all, I had the most wonderful day ever. I'm so glad I finally got round to going! The price for tickets has recently changed to £29 for adults. Although this is considered quite pricey, if you're a HP fan, it's DEFINITELY worth splurging on a ticket and getting down there to see everything for yourself! 

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE

Have you been to the HP studio tour yet? Would you like to go? 

XO love, Ashleigh x

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