You may already be aware that I am a massive Harry Potter fan. I grew up with the books and fell in love with the Wizarding World when I was ten. I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando in 2016 and had the most amazing time. Then in 2017, I visited the Warner Bros Studio Tour near Watford for the first time. Since my first visit, they’ve added the Forbidden Forest and Gringotts so I’d been wanting to visit again for a while. Luckily for me, Kariss had been gifted two tickets to the Warner Bros Studio Tour Dark Arts event featuring the Weasley twins and she invited me along.

Warner Bros Studio Tour

The Warner Bros Studio Tour is situated at Leavesden Studios, where the majority of filming took place for the films. This is situated just outside of Watford. If you’re travelling by train, then you can get off at Watford Junction and catch one of the shuttle buses to Leavesden Studios. Alternatively, you can drive or you could take a coach tour. We were provided our tickets to the special evening event by Golden Tours.

The Studio Tour first opened to the public in 2012. Since the opening they have gradually expanded, with several new sections to explore. The tour includes the original sets and props from the Harry Potter films. Entry times are staggered and it takes around three hours from start to finish. You can go at your own pace and you’re able to stop for a famous Butterbeer halfway round.

Visiting the Warner Bros Studio Tour

As we were travelling with Golden Tours, we got on a coach from central London. Their office is located between Victoria Coach Station and Victoria Rail station. We left at around 4:45pm, getting to Leavesden Studios at around 6:15pm.

The whole entrance of the tour has changed since my first visit. We had our bags searched on the way in and then we dropped them off in the cloakroom which was free of charge. We then made our way towards the start of the tour. One of the new additions is the giant dragon right by the main entrance. It’s situated next to the Starbucks and the shop.

Another new addition is the Chocolate Frog Café. If we hadn’t been so excited to go into the tour, we would have stopped for something to eat. The café offers plenty of Harry Potter themed sweet treats, hot drinks, milkshakes and ice cream. Next time I go, I’ll definitely make the effort to go a bit earlier than my entrance time so I can visit the café.

One of the highlights of the Studio Tour this time around was that I opened the doors to the great hall all by myself. I knew from the last time I was there that they usually ask if anyone is celebrating their birthday. Seeing as it was 6 days after my 30th birthday, I immediately shouted “YES! I AM!” and I was invited up to the front of the crowd. They usually pick children to open the doors but there were no children there at the time which was lucky for me. I was grinning from ear to ear when I opened the doors. Luckily, Kariss managed to capture it all on video!

Warner Bros Studio Tour Dark Arts event

Between September 27th and November 10th, Warner Bros Studio Tour are putting on a Dark Arts event. During this period, you can expect to find death eaters, wand duels and slime making demonstrations. When we went, we got to see how they made the unicorn blood, the snot from the troll and Fluffy’s drool in Philosopher’s Stone.

It was all really interesting and a lot more simple than I thought! We also got to see a demonstration of how they made the death eaters’ masks. The staff seemed to love their jobs and were really passionate about each bit. I especially loved the wand duel, where we were shown four moves and then had to battle it out with a few death eaters. Of course, we all managed to take them down and win!

Meeting the Weasley Twins

The main attraction for this particular Dark Arts event was meeting the actual Weasley twins. James and Oliver Phelps were at the event and were doing a meet and greet on Platform 9 and 3/4. Kariss and I were so excited to meet them! We went to The Backlot to grab ourselves a complimentary Butterbeer before joining the queue. We were actually right at the back of the queue and were one of the last people to meet them. It’s a good job we’d picked up our Butterbeers beforehand as we queued for just over an hour!

When we finally got to the front of the queue it was around 10pm. The twins were both really lovely as we awkwardly introduced ourselves. We had a bit of a chat, they said they loved our hair and we took a few photos. The staff were also really nice and took photos on both of our cameras for us. We didn’t feel like we were being rushed at all and although we were told they weren’t doing autographs, the twins were happy to sign things. I wish I’d taken something with me to get signed! Kariss and I both came away with huge grins on our faces, it was definitely a great experience!

The new features

The two new features that I was excited to see were The Forbidden Forest and Gringotts. I absolutely loved the Gringotts ride at Universal Studios as you got to walk through the bank before being seated in one of the carts. There was also a small part of the Forbidden Forest at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on one of the rides.

Just before Platform 9 and 3/4 was The Forbidden Forest. The Forbidden Forest was a bit smaller than I anticipated. However, it was just as spooky as I’d hoped. With Argagog and his pals hanging from the ceiling, Buckbeak and a centaur. I loved walking around and it felt even more creepy with the Death Eaters just outside!

Gringotts Bank

By the time we got around to Gringotts, there were only around 10 of us left! This means that we were able to take a lot of photos without other people in the background. We had a bit of a photoshoot in Gringotts! I was so pleased to see that the new Gringotts Bank at the Warner Bros Studio Tour looked just as fabulous as the American version. After walking through the main part of the bank, you get to see how it was made. There’s also one of the carts and a section where you can pretend to hold the sword of Gryffindor.

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Something that really took my breath away was the final part of Gringotts. Here you see Gringotts in ruins after Harry, Ron and Hermione went in and stole Hufflepuff’s cup. There’s a screen showing a dragon stomping around who then starts breathing fire and it is amazing. It was almost 3D and seemed so real to me that I took a step back when the dragon came towards me.

Overall, I was completely blown away by the experience. I’d definitely recommend you visit for the Dark Arts event if you can. I’m hoping that I can go back again soon. The Warner Bros Studio Tour is somewhere that I could go to again and again!

Our tickets were gifted to Kariss by Golden Tours. I was under no obligation to post. A few of the photos and the video were taken by Kariss.