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Rob on Location
  • Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • Location Hunting – Getting Started
    • Location Hunting Guidelines
    • FAQs
    • Contact
  • TV Shows
    • American Housewife
    • The Big Bang Theory
    • The Brady Bunch
    • Cobra Kai
    • Coronation Street
    • Dance Academy
    • Dog The Bounty Hunter
    • The Drew Carey Show
    • The Fosters
    • Fresh Prince of Bel Air
    • Friends
    • Full House
    • Fuller House
    • The Goldbergs
    • The Golden Girls
    • Grey’s Anatomy
    • Hawaii Five-0
    • I Love Lucy
    • The Jeffersons
    • Jeopardy
    • Leave It To Beaver
    • Lost
    • Married… with Children
    • Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
    • Modern Family
    • The Office
    • Perfect Strangers
    • Schitt’s Creek
    • Seinfeld
    • Stranger Things
    • Tiny Pretty Things
    • The Tom Green Show
    • The Walking Dead
    • Will and Grace
    • The Wonder Years
    • Young Sheldon
  • Movies
    • 50 First Dates
    • A Christmas Story
    • Back To The Future
    • Billy Elliot
    • Blades of Glory
    • Blue Crush
    • Blue Hawaii
    • Dance Academy: The Comeback
    • Elf
    • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
    • Forgetting Sarah Marshall
    • Forrest Gump
    • From Here To Eternity
    • Ghostbusters
    • Ghostbusters 2
    • Hairspray
    • Home Alone
    • Home Alone 2
    • Isn’t It Romantic
    • It: Chapter One
    • Jurassic Park
    • Jurassic World
    • Kindergarten Cop
    • Lords of Dogtown
    • Love Actually
    • Love Simon
    • Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
    • Mrs. Doubtfire
    • My Big Fat Greek Wedding
    • Napoleon Dynamite
    • Notting Hill
    • Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
    • Pretty Woman
    • Sister Act
    • The Sum Of All Fears
    • Uncle Buck
    • Undercover Angel
    • Warm Bodies
    • Wayne’s World
    • The Wizard Of Oz
  • Film Studios
    • CBS Studio Center
    • The Jim Henson Studios
    • Kualoa Ranch
    • Lucasfilms
    • NBC Studios
    • Paramount Pictures
    • Sony Pictures Studios
    • Universal Studios Hollywood
    • Warner Brothers Studios – Hollywood
    • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Live TV Tapings
    • The Big Bang Theory
    • Late Night with Conan O’Brien
    • The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
    • The Late Show with David Letterman
    • Live with Kelly and Ryan
    • Mom
    • The Price is Right
    • Saturday Night Live
    • The Talk
    • Will & Grace
  • Museums
    • CBC Museum
    • Lucy-Desi Museum
    • The Smithsonian
    • Star Trek Original Series Set Tour
    • The Walt Disney Family Museum
  • Destinations
    • Atlanta
    • Chicago
    • England
    • Hawaii
    • Los Angeles
    • New York City
    • Toronto
  • Famous Graves
    • Benjamin Harrison
    • Billy Wilder
    • Buddy Rich
    • Carl Wilson
    • Carroll O’Connor
    • Colonel Sanders
    • Daniel Boone
    • Dean Martin
    • Dino Bravo
    • Don Knotts
    • Donna Reed
    • Doris Roberts
    • Eva Gabor
    • Fanny Brice
    • Florence Henderson
    • Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    • Grace Kelly
    • Harry Truman
    • Heather O’Rourke
    • Jack Lemmon
    • Jackie Collins
    • Jeanne Sauve
    • Joanne Carson
    • John Abbott
    • Johnny Rougeau
    • Leonard Cohen
    • Lester B. Pearson
    • Lucille Ball
    • Marilyn Monroe
    • Maurice “The Rocket” Richard
    • Mel Torme
    • Minnie Riperton
    • Miss Elizabeth
    • Muhammed Ali
    • Owen Hart
    • Peter Falk
    • Rene Angelil
    • Richard Dawson
    • Robert Borden
    • Rodney Dangerfield
    • Roy Orbison
    • Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
    • The Titanic Victims
    • Thomas Darcy McGee
    • Tommy Douglas
    • Truman Capote
    • Vaslev Nijinsky
    • Walter Matthau
    • Wilfred Laurier
    • William Shakespeare
    • Yousef Karsh
  • Interviews
    • Stephanie Davy – Ottawa Film Office
    • Tim Dolan – Broadway Up Close
    • David Morgan – Kualoa Ranch
    • Bill Sindelar – Warm-Up Comedian
  • Extras
    • Billy Elliot The Musical
    • McDonald’s
    • Location News
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Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter

The uber-successful Harry Potter movies were filmed at Warner Brother’s Leavenworth Studios, just outside London.  Once the final movie was complete, it was decided not to discard the sets.  Instead, someone had the brilliant idea of opening an attraction for fans to visit.  Good call!

The Leavenworth Studios is a very different experience from the Warner Bros. Hollywood tour.  The tour is focused entirely on the Harry Potter franchise.  While the studio is still used to produce other films, there is no tour of the studios. That being said, this is still well worth a visit!

The studio is about an hour north of London.  If you live in the area, the easiest way to get there is to drive.  However this attraction brings in visitors from around the world.  Many stay in London and head to WB as a day trip.  There are essentially two options.  You can purchase a local tour which will include round trip bus transportation as well as admission. The other option is to take the train.  If you choose to take the train, you will buy a ticket to Watford Junction and then there is a local shuttle bus from the train station to the studios.  The studio’s website has a page with on instructions on how to get there.

One tip I will share from personal experience is that there are express and slow trains from London. There is not much signage to differentiate between them.  Either ask someone for help or make sure you leave a couple hours before your tour time.  As you can imagine, I ended up on the slow train!

  • Harry Potter Warner Brothers
  • Harry Potter Warner Brothers London

Once you arrive, you join the queue.  The wait to enter can take a while, but the lobby has some props and decorations for you to enjoy as you wait. 

  • Harry Potter Studios
  • Harry Potter Studios
  • Harry Potter Studios

Once you enter, you will meet a host who will tell you a bit about what to expect and then open the doors to reveal the set of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, which is the beginning of the tour.  As you enter the great hall, you will be free to walk around for about 10 minutes, at which time they clear the hall for the next group to enter. 

  • Harry Potter Great Hall
  • Harry Potter Great Hall
  • Harry Potter Great Hall
  • Harry Potter Great Hall
  • Harry Potter Great Hall

After visiting the Great Hall, the tour is entirely self guided, giving you the chance to move at your own pace.  You will see a large assortment of sets, props, visual effects, and costumes.  Some of the sets include Dumbledore’s Office and Harry’s bedroom dorm.

  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter

There are occasionally some demonstrations going on.  When I visited, there was a demo by the woman who created all the food for the movies, both real and fake.  She was making “movie” cakes, and explained how the food she creates is only intended to be edible and look good on screen.  The taste of the item is not her responsibility, so the actors are sometimes eating bland or even unpleasant tasting foods.

  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter

Continuing on the tour, you come to a large room with the Hogwarts Express Train on display. You can see the engine, as well as some of the train cars that you can sit in.

  • Hogwarts Express
  • Hogwarts Express

After exploring the main indoor area, you come to the cafe, where you can stop for some food and a drink.  They also have the famous Butterbeer available.  Past the cafe, you head outside to see some of the houses and vehicles used in the film.  Not a large outdoor display but still cool to see. 

  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter
  • Warner Brothers Studios -The Making of Harry Potter

Then you head into the second building you come to Diagon Alley. You can walk down the whole set and see all the buildings up close. There is a lot of detail, but unfortunately it’s very crowded so hard to take good photos.

  • Diagon Alley
  • Diagon Alley
  • Diagon Alley

The last part of the tour brings you to the model of Hogwarts, which was used for filming.  The model is very large, and you will have the chance to walk all around it.  The detail on the model is incredible.

  • Hogwarts Castle
  • Hogwarts Castle
  • Hogwarts Castle
  • Hogwarts Castle
  • Hogwarts Castle

I will be honest, I’m not a huge Harry Potter fan.  I’ve seen the movies, once, and haven’t read the books.  That being said, I thought the studio visit was fantastic.  So if you are a big fan, I’m sure you will enjoy it even more than I did.  I was fascinated by the sets, props, costumes, and all the info about the movies.  It is really well worth a visit.

Unfortunately the rest of the WB studios is not open to visit, despite being a working studio with it’s own backlot.  It would be amazing if they offered a tour to visit the studios, similar to the Hollywood tour.  That being said, a visit is still well worth your time and money.

  • Warner Brothers London

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