Follow the Spiders....#harrypotter

As every Harry Potter fan knows……follow the spiders! Follow them down to the Forbidden Forest. That’s right at the start of this month the ever-fabulous Warner Bros Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter in London added a new dimension to their tour; the Forbidden Forest.

Personally, I adore the tour and have been around it a good 5 or 6 times in the past errr 5 years and I love it. Every time I come and visit we find new facts and information and are one again spell bound but the amazing work it took to turn book to film. 

So just imagine how excited we were to discover that we could now visit one of the most amazing parts of Hogwarts! We took the boys along on the preview evening and being the youngest Birthday he was granted the honour of opening those magical doors to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall is one of our favourites – do make sure you visit it at different times of the year! And after we soaked it all up we scooted around the corner and discovered the Hogwarts Gate now form the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. Once you’ve stopped gazing at these you slowly notice just how much amazing detail has gone into the experience!

As you walk through the gates the temperature drops and cools and the floor has become soft and spongy and the forest becomes denser as you follow the path. Just inside the gates is Hagrid’s original costumer displayed holding up a lantern as he welcomes you in to his forest…

 Nearly 20 enormous trees feel the space with a huge diameter! (over 12ft!) and huge roots entwine to your left and right and form a tunnel for you to walk through. I could have stayed at the start of that walkway all night and not haven taken in all the details. Venturing down the first twist and a you’re greeted by Buckbeak and he turns to greet you and slowly bows!

Once you’ve introduced yourself to him the path splits in to two. If you’re mortally frightened of spiders take the right path otherwise venture deep in the Forbidden Forest and take the left! Aragog sits in his nest here and I stood at the back not being overly fond of 60 ton spiders. Expecting Aragog to move I braced myself and nearly jumped out of my skin when spiders started to descend all around me!! Oh my goodness me it’s amazing!!!!!

Once we had recovered our wits and got out the Forest alive we continued to explore the tour; visiting the ministry of magic and the superb 9 ¾ platform and Hogwarts Express. We loved taking the tour abroad the train and the boys landed on our laps pretty quick after the dementors came up to the train!

Outside it was great to see Dobby visiting Privet Drive and I adore the letters flying out of the fire place. As ever we were could have spent far more than the guided 3-4 hours exploring. Not only are the props and rooms amazing but every time we come there’s new and exciting things to discover!

Find out more and book your own experience over at WB Studio Tours