Winning London - Part 7 (STUDIO TOURRR 2)

On we went in the Warner Bros. The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour (boy, that is a long title for an attraction). At this point 3 hours had passed and we were starving but since we could not exit this part of the tour to go to the café and thereafter return inside, we had to stay until we had seen everything, haha.

!!:::WARNING:::!! This contains detailed descriptions of the studio tour, so do not read on if you do not wish to be "spoiled".



The displays were so beautiful though, so we did not mind all that much. I really loved this concept art for Ravenclaw's diadem and I was actually a bit disappointed that it did not make it to the film, since this matches the version I had in my mind while reading better. But still, the film version is splendid.



The potions classroom was amazingggg!



I was completely mesmerized about the Triwizard cup...



Great installations! And the before-mentioned telescope belonging to Dumbledore.




Special effects section! Lupin's wardrobe was wonderfulll.



The Quidditch stuff was great and so nice to see on display, since I had thought it would be a bit "irrelevant" for the big tour.



The counting box was hanging so far up and I wanted desperately to touch it, haha.



Hagrid's huttttt. The funny bits of the tour was seeing the backs of the sets. They seemed so impermanent, fragile and unfinished, haha.



A fraction of the Burrow. So cosy!



Kristine was marvellous at wizardry! You could wave a wand and knit a scarf and she made it go quick as lightning!




Graphics all around. Dazzling work, just phenomenal. We talked about really wanting some Ministry of Magic visitor-styled Studio Tour-exclusive badges in the shop, haha.



Marauder's mappp and tons of Hogwarts letters addressed to Mr. Harry Potter



Kristine basically started crying when she saw Lily's letter, haha.




Gilderoy's terrible books, haha. And they had placed 15 Golden Snitches throughout the tour - we only found 9 or 10, but it was still such a fun game! It was a bit hard to concentrate on it while having so many visual impressions sinking in all while on the brink on fainting (remember, we were hungry).



The Ministry of Magic sets were great! I would have loooved to see a bit more of them though, haha. It was only a fraction of them.



The Magic is Might statue was splendid and Umbridge's clothes horrible. All them kitties.



Urg, pink explosion.



Alastor's eye and Kristine being a Malfoy-fangirl. After going through this part of the tour we went back to the clock for some Liv-fangirling.




We exited the montage hall and went to the outer areas! And we had luuuunch! FINALLY. Tears of happiness. But almost more important... We tasted BUTTERBEER! And oh boyyyyyy, it tasted amazinggg.



Privet Drive! Fun fact: The "4" beside the door is the only thing in the tour that is not original material from the films, since Rupert Grint took it home with him after the shootings ended not knowing anything about the Studio Tour plans.



Admitted, the Knight bus was brilliant.



Kristine being killed (?) by the massive statue behind her, and us driving in the Ford like pros.



Potter Cottage was creepy as hell!



The Hogwarts Bridge is probably one of my fave spots in the whole castle and the fact that it is not in the books makes it all the better to me.



Nice chess pieces. Niiice.



But of course we went inside again. It was actually quiet cold and we had not thought to bring our jackets with us. So in with Luna's lion hat we went!



Fawkes was simply astonishingly crafted.



Hello there, monster book of monsters. Hey now, EASY!



The mermaid + Thestral were beautiful! And so was Astrid.




Yuck, Basilisk and Aragog. We did not notice Aragog at first, so it was quiet a chocker to see him hanging from the ceiling.




Buckbeak <3
And guess what happened now? Yes, that's right. My camera ran out of batteries. But after 6 hours of constant use and no recharging in 5 days it was probably bound to happen. I was quiet unhappy, as you could imagine, haha. I managed to squeeze a few more photos out of it though - because I COULD NOT not take a few in Diagon Alley.



It was honestly a magical atmosphere to be in. But then. We walked into the finale. And we were appalled. We had not seen anything about the featuring of the Great Hogwarts Model. And there it was. In all its beauty. And no more battery. Thankfully there's such a thing as the internet.



They played the most beautiful soundtracks from the films and we just walked around it in awe. In the end I could not help myself and I started crying - I blame 7 hours of emotional impressions and then this final push - and the other girls had to fight the tears as well...

It was SUCH a good experience. We were completely worn out from all the greatness and watching our childhoods run before our eyes in hyper speed.



We did not even have the energy to find a place to eat, so we just ate at Kings Cross station. Riiight, girls? But we had to pack our things when we returned to the hostel and managed to gather some energy. Aaaand Monday we went home. DONE. FINITO. TRIP OVER.

<3**