Endless Bliss | Happy Lifestyle Blog: A Harry Potter Nerd's Dream Come True.

A Harry Potter Nerd's Dream Come True.

Most people go to London seeking fish and chips, laughter from the Queen's guards or unrequited love from the Prince. But I'm not like most people. What was I most looking forward to in London? Experiencing everything Harry Potter. I bought tickets for my sister and me to visit the Warner Brothers Studio where actual filming took place, but our time slot wasn't until our last day in London. In  the meantime, we visited Platform 9 3/4 in Kings Cross Station where I got to fulfill my dream of acting like I was a Gryffindor (which I totally am, by the way). 
Sorry for being so cute. This was after a 10-hour direct flight from Houston to London and a two-hour car ride to the hotel, where we were informed that we couldn't check-in to our rooms yet, so all we could do was freshen up in the public hotel bathroom. This was all that could be done.
There was a person there whose job was to flip the scarf so it looks like you're moving into the wall. My initial thought, "dream job." My secondary thought, "that has to be freaking boring." Regardless, I love how it turned out. 
There was also a little store in Kings Cross Station where you could purchase the professional picture that someone takes of you at the platform. There's also a bunch of other goodies. I just bought two postcards for my collection. 




Fast forward to two days later when all of my Harry Potter dreams really came true. Touring the Harry Potter Studio in London should be every HP lover's dream. Visiting the actual sets where scenes were filmed, touching the actual props that were used in the movies, learning all of the secrets behind filming. There's so much more that went into those movies than I could have imagined, and now all I want to do is have a Harry Potter movie marathon and annoyingly point out all of the things I learned on set. 
It took us one taxi ride, two tube changes, and a bus to get there. London is pretty dang huge. The bus we took was a double-decker Harry Potter bus. While we were the last ones to get to the bus stop, we were the first ones to get on the bus because the bus pulled up to the end of the line. Sorry we weren't sorry. We got prime seating - top floor, front seat. It was awesome. 
As soon as we pulled up, my stomach was in knots with excitement. The studio looked huge from the outside, plus there were these three huge chess pieces in the front. Pieces from the actual set when Ron won the ultimate game of wizard's chess in The Sorcerer's Stone


I could go into detail about every little thing we saw on our 3 1/2 hour tour, but that would turn into the longest blog post ever, so I'll just let the photos do the talking. Apologizing for my quality of photos from here on out. The lighting was weird in there, and my camera takes awful pictures in the dark, even with flash. I took a few pics with my phone too, but iPhones can only do so much.
The entrance and waiting in line:


Harry's room under the stairs
When it was finally our turn to enter, a number of us were shuffled into a large room where we watched a short intro video with the famous trio then the screen went up, and we entered into the front doors of Hogwarts.

Gryffindor uniforms. Look at little Harry's hat!


Ron's dress robes. How tragic.



Hogwarts gates.

The Leaky Cauldron.

Gryffindor boys' dormitory

Gryffindor common room

Pendulum from the clock tower


A few of the horcruxes

Entrance to Dumbledore's office

The sorting hat

Dumbledore's office - one of my favorite sets to visit. There were just so many interesting things to see. Too bad the lighting was quite horrible, and I couldn't get any decent pictures.

Hagrid's hut

Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets

Very important textbook from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Potions classroom


Umbridge's office. So pink and full of cats. A girl walked by and said that this is what her dream bedroom would look like. I almost threw up. It's so creepy.

A lot of the props were hand-drawn and hand-painted. There were so many neat things on display, and it's crazy to think that all of these things took so much time to design, make and decorate and they're barely seen in the movie.




Taking a ride on the knight bus

Tom Riddle's grave


Visiting Harry's first home on Privet Drive
We ate lunch about mid-tour when we took a Butterbeer break. Butterbeer is not my favorite. It has this strange caramel-y taste with marshmallow foam. It's just not my cup of tea, but at least I can say that I've had it! There are only two places in the world where you can get it - at the Studio Tour in London and at the theme park in Orlando. It's so ironic to me that I live in the US and haven't been to the theme park, but I somehow managed to go to the tour in London. 
In London, if you order a burger or a hotdog, instead of asking if you want ketchup or mustard, they ask if you want sauteed onions. My answer was always 'yes.'

Here are more pictures from our post-lunch continuation of the tour.
Hogwarts bridge






This textbook was just lying there when I went to take a picture, and then it jumped out and scared the crap out of me.


Diagon Alley! Or as Harry says," Diagonilly."



If I could dream up the perfect dollhouse, it would look like this.

Tripod pic.


Daniel Radcliffe and I have the same size hands. 

I already want to go back! Sorry about my squinty eyes.
If you ever find yourself in London, you have to visit the studio. It's totally worth the money, and you can spend as much time as you want there. 
Are you a Harry Potter fan? Have you ever visited the London studios?

40 comments :

  1. Ahh wasn't it the best day of your whole life?? Visiting the studios was hands down my favorite part of going to London!

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  2. This is such a dream! So much fun & so cool to see everything!

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  3. SO JEALOUS! That's amazing that you visited. I can't believe the tour is 3 1/2 hours, but I couldn't imagine spending it in a better way (: I definitely want to go now. I've been to Harry Potter in Orlando, but they will very soon or already have opened Diagon Alley over there and I can't wait to go back to see it! I also wasn't a huge fan of the butterbeer.

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  4. Ugghhhhhhhauwibaifiewalhue, dying of jealousy! That looks like a fun fun trip, I really hope I get to experience that one day!

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  5. You have NO clue how jealous I am! Was it expensive??
    I'm going to London asap now. Literally so jealous.

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  6. I have been wanting to visit the Harry Potter studios for a very long time... it was so nice to see the whole experience through your eyes:)

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  7. that is so awesome! looks like a lot of fun at the studio. (:

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  8. After seeing this post. This is so going on my bucket list. I did the universal studio Harry Potter a few year ago and loved it. Which We plan on going back at the end of the year and doing it again. The butterbear there tasted like butterscotch cream soda.

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  9. i love this! it brought back so many memories from the books/childhood. when did you visit king's cross? cause when i was there it was absolutely deserted!

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  10. OHMYGOSH! This is amazing. I wish I could go <3

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  11. This place looks like so much fun, too bad I was never too obsessed with Harry Potter. But I also buy a postcard from every single place I travel, carrying real souvenirs gets to be too heavy after a while :)

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  12. Well that's most definitely on my bucket list now! I've been to HP world (before they added Diagon Alley.) There were SO MANY people! And the Butterbeer was just as weird as you described. You got some really great pictures from this trip, and I'm sure even more great memories from the whole trip! :)

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  13. Umm, well, this is AMAZING. I mean... just seeing all your photos from the HP tour in London makes me want to go and experience it for myself because I'm a huge fan. I suppose I'd bring the husband along, too, since he introduced me to the books and stuff. ;)


    What fun! It sounds like y'all had a great time, and it must have been breathtaking seeing so many props from the movie in person!

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  14. This looks so great! How does butterbeer taste? Haha, I'm so curious!

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  15. It was tons of fun! Butterbeer isn't that great to be honest. It has a caramel-y taste, but I love caramel and didn't like this haha. The foam tasted kinda of marshmallow-y, and I like marshmallows too. I couldn't finish my cup though.

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  16. Your husband is awesome for introducing you to the books! I adore Harry Potter so much, and it was absolutely amazing getting to see all of the behind-the-scenes stuff. It made me appreciate the movies even more.

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  17. It definitely should be on your bucket list, because it was the absolute best experience of my life! So awesome! These aren't even half of the pictures I took haha. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

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  18. Maybe just try reading the first book and see how you like it. I refused to jump on the Harry Potter train when it first came out, but my fifth grade teacher convinced me that I had to read it, and when I did, I was hooked!

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  19. Souvenirs take up so much room, and I didn't want my suitcase to be too much heavier than it already was, so postcards are so perfect!

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  20. You should if you ever get the chance. The best 3 1/2 hours of my life. No exaggeration.

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  21. You should definitely put this on your bucket list! It was an amazing experience, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I still haven't been to the one at Universal Studios, but it's most definitely on my bucket list.

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  22. I visited Kings Cross during lunchtime. Some people in our group actually went later in the day, and there was no one and nothing there other than the sign and the cart.

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  23. It was an absolute BLAST! I didn't want to leave!

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  24. You should definitely go! It was so much more than I could have ever imagined and made me appreciate the movies a lot more than I already did.

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  25. You should go to London because it's so so awesome! I loved London! It cost 31 pounds, which is $53.19. It was definitely worth it. You get to see and experience so much, and there are lots of things shown there that I didn't even notice in the movies.

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  26. It was a blast! I think all HP fans should experience it! Trip of a lifetime!

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  27. The only guided part was at the very beginning, and everything else is self-guided, so you can take as much or as little time as you want. I could've spent so much longer in there. There's so much to see and experience. Truly amazing. I haven't been to the one in Orlando, but it's on my bucket list!

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  28. It was an absolute dream come true! I want to go again already!

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  29. It wasssss! I'm so happy that I did it! Do you take over 3 hours too? I could've stayed longer!

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  30. I think we took between 3.5 - 4! We had scheduled ourselves for the last tour of the day and would have only had 3 hours before the last bus left, but thankfully they let us in right away when we got there early! I never wanted to leave - the whole time I was plotting a way to sneak back to the Great Hall and spend the night there!

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  31. AGHHHHH. I am so in love. So so in love. And totally jealous. I want to go there so badly! I actually have gone to the theme park though and love it! I really like Butterbeer, though. I found a recipe on Pinterest for Butterbeer jello shots. My friend and I have had plans since freshman year to make them when we turn 21. If you and I were to ever go on a blate, I vote it be the theme park in Orlando. Just sayin.

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  32. I want to go to the one in Orlando so bad! On my bucket list, duh. Butterbeer jello shots?! I would totally try them even though Butterbeer wasn't my favorite. Definite YES to the Orlando blate. That would be the most epic blate ever.

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  33. This is so amazing!!! I want to go!! Luckily I was able to go to Harry Potter World in Orlando a few years ago for my senior trip but I want to go back there so badly. It was one of the coolest places I've ever been to, I can't even imagine how awesome a set tour would be too!

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  34. Haha I wish! That would be so fun! Lock in in the Great Hall! What an adventure.

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  35. That looks like so much fun. I'm so jealous! You'll have to go to Orlando next. The frozen butter beer there is really good! And I think they just opened a new Harry Potter section.

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  36. That just makes me so happy to hear! And yes, I agree. My husband IS awesome for introducing me to the books! Sounds like you had a blast, and this is absolutely something we need to add to our to-do list!

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  37. The set tour was amazing - just being able to see all of the things they did to make the world of Harry Potter come to life. I want to go back! I really want to go to HP World in Orlando though! I need to make a trip there!

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  38. I definitely want to go to the one in Orlando! And looks so incredible. I loved seeing all of the behind the scenes stuff at the HP studio tour, but it would be so fun to kind of live in the world for a few hours in Orlando.

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  39. Just now seeing this. Ah! But YESSSS! I want to go to HP world in Orlando so much. On my bucket list!

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  40. I'm soo jealous! You are the second blogger I read that's gone here! Someday I'll make it there! Can we just leave for Blogcation a few days early & go to Harry Potter world? Hahaha. That would be amazing!

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