We hopped on the Golden Tour bus to take us out of London and to the fantastic world of Harry Potter!
Kaleb and Gavin anxious to go.
Noé and Teague were just as excited.
All alone...Ali abandoned daddy to sit with mommy...
Noé is totally not a goof-ball.
Hiram, me, and Ali.
Are we there yet?
To make our long trip more enjoyable we were able to watch the first movie out to the studio and back. Hiram couldn't see over the seat, but found a feasible alternative...
We made it!
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, here we come!
We had to take pictures of us all in the movie poster.
No. 4 Privet Drive.
For the first film, they used a real home up in Berkshire (which was recently for sale). When they realized how much they would need to shoot at Privet Drive, they created these sets instead. The amount of work that went into just making the faux bricks was amazing!
The cupboard under the stairs...
yes, it is even smaller than it looked.
Do you know where I could find a letter from Hogwarts?
Do I see owls outside?
Having walked it, I'll never look at Diagon Alley the same again. Just brilliant!
The Wizard's Bank, of which my friend Aimee was a teller at (how cool is that?)!
Since 328 BC, true story.
Taking a moment of silence to remember the Weasley twins. We miss you Fred.
We're glad business is booming George.
Because it must be done.
Even little Ali had enough magic in her to push the trolley through the wall.
(This was the only outing she didn't nap at while we were in London!)
We made it to the Hogwarts station.
Honeydukes, I wish I could take the whole lot!
The Hogwarts Express is a mighty fine vessel.
All aboard!
They had each of the passenger cars set up for each year of the films. As part of the 15th anniversary of the first movie, they recreated a number of scenes throughout the tour. Here is Harry and Ron taking the whole lot (I'm so jealous!).
There was a massive, room-sized model of Hogwarts. Even Ali was blown away. She kept saying, "Look! Look! Look!"
The main entrance.
These fantastical knights were just awesome.
Did you ever notice that the sconces on the sides of the dining hall were held by the emblematic animals of the four houses?
Or notice the coat of arms not just above the fireplace, but inside it as well?
The owl stand and two of the professor models. They had Moody, Flitwick, Trelawney, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape, Hagrid, and Filch. But of course, we had to focus on Dumbledore and Snape.
The Sorting Hat.
The House Points. Go Gryffindor!
The Gryffindor Common Room.
The staircase to go up...
...to Harry Potter's room (and Dean, Seamus, and Ron's too).
The Griffin stairwell up to Dumbledore's office.
Part of the amazing and very large office of the Headmaster.
Cool wizarding instruments.
Paintings of past Headmasters. One of the most fascinating things of the tour was how many paintings and sculptures and book covers- even cereal boxes!- had to be created for backgrounds. And how detailed so many of the props were- details that could never be seen on film, yet made the world so rich and real.
Loved the potion room, of which this is less than half.
A closer look at some of the ingredients jars.
Plenty of room for lots of students...
and more professors.
Hagrid's.
A few kids caught peeking through his window.
Fang stands watch inside.
Some of his huge pumpkins.
Quidditch anyone?
Harry's first Golden Snitch.
The Mirror of Erised...
looking into the mirror shows the "depest, most desperate desire of our hearts."
Well, what do you know? It works! Our family together forever!
The Burrow (my favorite set, who doesn't love this wacky wizarding family?).
The needles still knit,
the iron still irons,
the knife still chops,
and the brush still scrubs. Love it all!
Fancy a drive in a flying car?
Or a flying motorcycle?
The triple-decker Knight Bus.
With a beautiful chandelier inside.
Ready for the ball?
Loved the details for the different drink potions.
Poor Ron and his hand-me-down dress robes.
Lucky for him, he was next to the desserts table.
Most of it was made from real chocolate. I'm ready to eat this ice cream sundae!
The Goblet of Fire!
I love pink, but not Dolores Umbridge's shade.
Leonard did like her Proclamation #31 though.
The Black family tapestry.
Borgin and Burkes...
...antique shop or dark magic retailer?
Outside the Malfoy residence.
While inside Nagini attacks poor Professor Burbage.
(They recreated a number of scenes that gave an amazing sense of how the set was used, and the physicality of it all.)
Death Eater Masks, which were even freakier in real life.
Outside the sad home in Godric's Hollow where James and Lily Potter met Voldemort and their demise.
Cute neighbors though!
Hogwart's Bridge.
A more detailed shot.
My 7 crossing the bridge. I'll always remember brave Neville crossing this bridge and fighting the Death Eaters.
We weren't able to visit Hogsmeade...
but we were able to taste...
some delicious Butterbeer...
and butterbeer flavored ice cream cones!
I can't wait to go back and visit again!
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