London (Watford Junction): Harry Potter Studio Tour

We took a short train ride out to The Harry Potter Studio Tour.  Look!  Lillian's best friend from Ottawa was there!  The girls were thrilled to see each other.  I don't think Lillian was willing to believe that Fiona was actually going to appear until she saw her with her own eyes.  The idea that she would get to meet up with Fiona and visit Harry Potter Studio was almost too much.  Sylvia is also very fond of Fiona.  I missed Fiona's Mom, who did not come along on the trip, and Sylvia missed Socks, Fiona's dog.

 The Harry Potter books made the first few months of moving to France manageable for Lillian.  She disappeared into the series and soon took her sister with her.  A year later, they are both experts and big fans.  However, to be honest, most of the later books are a bit too scary for us.  We will wait to watch the later movies for a few years.

Sitting in the Great Hall

 Fiona arrived with her brother James, her grandmother, and her father.  James was a great sport while hanging out with us.  I neglected to get any good photos of any of the adults and I can't seem to rid the kids' of their red eyes.

 The studio is very slick and very well done.  They only let a certain number of people through at a time, so it does not seem too crowded.  This is the smallest area of the tour and things spread out from here.  A lot of the filming was done here and there are many of the original sets.

 The kids were so excited to see each other and so excited by all there was to see, that I spent more time trying to keep my eye on kids than on taking pictures.  I am not sure the kids even saw all there was to see.  I am sure that they liked what they did see.

 

Buckbeak the Hippogriff



 They do a great job of showing you all that goes into making a movie.  I have a new appreciation of all of the jobs necessary and all of the different steps needed to make a movie.

 Diagon Alley

 Magic Wands

Each wand has a name written on the box.

 

Spoiler ahead...

At the end of the tour, you walk into a room with a scale model of Hogwarts.  This model was used for filming special effects and close ups and the detail is amazing.  I signed up for the tour because the kids were so excited about it.  I left impressed and pleased that we had gone.

The Fiona and Lillian reunion was a grand success...and don't worry it is not over.  We got to see them the next day, too.