Watford is located in the London commuter belt just inside the Motorway 25 (M25). The M25 is the beltway that circles around Greater London. They call freeways motorways over there.
An important note...you must order your reservation in advance online. You cannot arrive at the kiosks without a reservation or paying for the ticket. Here is the link http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/.
A few weeks before I left I went online and purchased a ticket for myself. I was traveling in London with my mom and aunt but they are "muggles" and went off to Kent for the day. Anyway when ordering tickets you have the option of having your tickets mailed to you, or printing out the reservation with booking number, then, picking them up at the kiosk at the studios. I opted for the latter since I had no idea how long they would take to get here to the USA. If you happen to be abroad and decide you want to visit you can still order tickets but you must do it online.
There were several ways to get to Watford. The easiest way for me was to take the London Overground (part of the Transport for London system) up to Watford Junction (the last stop). It took about 35 minutes from London Euston Station to Watford Junction. Just outside the station a Warner Brothers employee will direct you to wait for the Warner Bros. bus to take you to the studio. The trip cost two pounds for a return fare. Its a short drive from the station. I will note that most of the London Overground is well overground and you can catch it at many stations between Euston and Watford.
My reservation was for 11 AM. Timed tickets helps regulate the crowds so it won't seem so crowded when touring. I had no idea how long it would take me to get there and it was still rush hour. So I left a little after 7:30 AM. Yes that's slightly early but I had no idea how long it was going to take me to get there. There was a tube station around the corner from my hotel (near Marble Arch). I would have to take the Central Line (red line) to Tottenham Court Road stop and switch to the Northern Line (black line) to Euston stop. I had an Oyster Card with about thirty pounds on it. I must say it was still rush hour and I probably set a world record for how many people you can fit into a train!
I arrived at Euston Station where it was hectic with everybody getting off the trains headed into London. Soon enough I was on the train and headed for Hogwarts. It wasn't very crowded since most people were headed into the city and I was headed out. I passed the suburbs and Wembley Stadium with no trouble and arrived in Watford a little after 9.
I got off and went outside to see plenty of fans getting in line for the bus. In front of me were a group of Japanese girls jumping up and down. Behind me were a group of young Germans. About 10 minutes later we were off to Leavesden. When we made the final approach the Japanese girls starting crying and everybody else got really excited. I had seen all the movies SO many times so this was quite special. It was overcast that day and a bit chilly while I waited in line to get my tickets. Behind me were two middle aged couples from Los Angeles and Portland Oregon. They said they were Harry Potter fans (all ages love Harry Potter) and we mostly chatted about flying over to the U.K. and the time change. I still had an hour until I could start the tour. So I went to the cafeteria and got something to eat and waited. It wasn't crowded there yet. I had my iPod touch so I was able to get the free WiFi to get online and that was the first time since I had been there that I went online. (Below is the cafeteria).
Now to the good parts. The Making of Harry Potter starts off with a short video interviewing David Heyman the producer for the films about how he decided that the books should be made into movies. Then next video, Daniel, Emma, and Rupert gave a short speech how this studio had been there second home for the past ten years. It was here that they were shielded from the paparazzi, worked with Britain's finest actors, made friends with the crew, were tutored on set for six years, and made so many memories. They knew they were any ordinary kids but here they were able to live normal lives.
After that the screen lifted and the doors to the Great Hall awaited us. An outgoing employee greeted us and welcomed us to the spectacular Great Hall set. He gave us the background and told us how to proceed on the tour.
There were three Stages were now filled with props, sets, costumes, green screens, and photographs depicting ten years of making the Harry Potter franchise. The audio sets were basically iPods that Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) narrated. Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, and David Yates also gave interviews about their approach to each film.
No comments:
Post a Comment