Orlagh and Sheena's Trip to London: Mamma Mia! and the Harry Potter Studios

---

Myself and Sheena had been planning to take this trip for a long time, and finally, we got around to it! We were so excited in the months running up to it and when the day finally came, we could hardly contain ourselves.



We got to Dublin airport in plenty of time, parked the car and headed in on the shuttle bus. We had a Burger King (durty!) and legged it to the gate only to find the plane was delayed. We were half an hour waiting to board and then another half hour or more on the plane waiting to take off. Finally, we got going and ordered a couple of drinks. After 2 sips, they announced we'd be landing in 10 minutes!

We got to Heathrow and made our way to the underground which brought us to King's Cross where we were staying. It was the longest hour of our lives; we knew London was hot in the summer, but the heat was unreal. We people-watched, commented on how busy it was ("Where to they all be going?) and Sheena made a fair point saying how she always meets the same people waiting on the bus each morning at home. That would probably never happen in London.

We had made loose plans to go see "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" in the West End, but Sheena, after researching, told me the show is in 2 parts and we wouldn't have had time to see both shows. So on the underground, we had look at some musicals online that we'd like to see, including "The Book of Mormon", which had rave reviews. We didn't get to the hotel until about 7. It was in a great location and the room was really nice. We chilled out for about 5 minutes then began frantically Googling shows to see. Most started at 7:30 and were a 10 minute taxi ride away, so we weren't optimistic. Then we spotted "Mama Mia!" at the Novella Theatre wasn't starting until 7:45. So we spruced ourselves up and with empty bellies hailed a cab outside the hotel.

We got to the Novella at about 7:30, where everyone was taking their seats. The security man stopped us to check our bags and we asked him breathlessly were there any last minute tickets going. He directed us towards the box office, looking skeptical. We arrived at the box office where a hassled punter was confronting an usher; Sheena launched herself at the desk... there were 2 tickets left! We overheard the lady asking about her free prosecco,looked around and saw loads of people with prosecco, and had decided very quickly on an interval drink.

We took our seats way up in the gallery and looked excitedly around. Even though we were starving, we didn't care. The show was started and before long we were dancing and singing along. The stage show was so much better than the movie, we laughed, we cried (especially to "Slipping Through my Fingers") and we sang. At the break, we joined the long queue at the bar to get a snack and a drink. We saw loads of people handing in their tickets and getting free prosecco. Happy days. The whole way up the queue, we debated. Are they people who got a special offer? Paid extra? Or does everyone get a freebie? Feck it, we said. Let's ask. So we got to the top of the queue where I smuggly ordered 2 proseccos. "Have you got your vouchers?" said the barmaid. I was halfway through sliding our tickets across the bar when I pulled them back and said, "No...". "You'll have to pay for it, then". So it was an expensive round, even after Sheena changed her order to a bottle of coke!

During the second half we nibbled on Maltesers and I drank by very expensive, very not free prosecco. We danced and danced, and when the show came to an end, the lead actress announced that we would all get a free goodie bag to celebrate the second "Mamma Mia!" film premiere that very same evening. We were like pigs in shite as we toddled off, delighted with ourselves for making the show last minute and getting free stuff!

We had a mooch around for somewhere to eat and found nice tapas bar which did the trick. We sat at the window and watched the world go by. After our tapas and wine we got a new lease of life, so we decided to look for a cocktail bar. We hadn't gone far when we spotted a nice bar, but it had a long queue and surly-looking bouncers, not to mention the trendy punters... we took a look at each other, with our jeans, flats and our Mamma Mia! goodie bags and thought better of it.

So we kept walking and were approached by a rickshaw driver who tried to flog us a lift. After we told him we were looking for a local cocktail bar he said "I'll give you a lift, I'll take you to Soho." We politely refused and continued on our way. We continued our search in which Google maps didn't really help us... when we found ourselves back at the Novella Theatre; we had walked in a complete circle! Disheartened, we decided to hail a cab back to the hotel, not before taking a cheeky selfie at the visitors entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Or as muggles call it, a red phone box. We got back to the hotel and had a drink in the bar before heading to bed to get a good night's sleep for the next day: our trip to the Harry Potter Studios!

The next morning, we got up in plenty of time to head for breakfast before getting the train to Watford junction. We were so proud of how we had so much time and didn't need to rush. We stopped of at a pub called O'Briens just outside the station. We had a cooked breakfast and headed to King's Cross to catch a train to Watford junction. I thought the journey to the studios only took 20 ,minutes, but it turns out it was 20 minutes to Watford and then another 20 minutes to the studios by shuttle bus. Never mind, we had just enough time to get there. We ran as we saw the next train to Watford was about to leave. We got on, delighted with ourselves and as Sheena and I do, started chatting. Next of all, mid conversation, Sheena comments that she thinks we've been on the train for more than 20 minutes. Maybe we missed our stop? No. We checked the chart. We were only half way to Watford. We'd managed to get on a train that stops at every stop, instead of getting the express one. We were never going to get there on time. We made a snap decision to get off at the next station, hop in a cab and head straight for the studios from there. We ran off the train, out of the station and found ourselves on a quiet street with not a taxi in sight. We checked Google Maps and started to walk towards the village where there were a couple of cab places. I rang a taxi company and ordered a cab and we stood at a junction waiting. After several phonecalls and crossed wires, he eventually found us. We clambered into the back and told him where we wanted to go, and then rang the studios to say we were late. We were really panicking because we thought we would miss our tour! As it happens, the girl on the phone was very relaxed and told us not to worry, just to get there safely and we could still have a tour.

We arrived at the studios in high spirits, greeted by a couple of larger than life chess pieces Harry, Ron and Hermione played against in their first year. When we checked in, I asked for a passport for each of us. The lady at the desk said "Oh, yeah you can have one..." but looked a little perplexed. The passports had to be stamped at different parts of the tour. The start of the tour showed us a mural with the words

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good"

written in the style of the Marauder's Map. Excitement mounted as we headed into the reception where we picked up our audio guides and joined the queue for the next tour. We passed the Cupboard Under the Stairs and took a quick snap, while admiring some of the imaginative costumes people had dressed in for their tour. We felt a bit underdressed in our Harry Potter tshirts.

The guide took us into a room with many screens which gave us a briefing about the studios. Then we were led into another room which was a cinema. We took our seats and watched a short clip which had all 7 movies squeezed into it. After the clip, the screen rose to reveal the entrance to the Great Hall. Everyone gasped in excitement. We headed into the Great Hall, which is smaller than it looks in the films. We saw the house tables, the house uniforms and robes, Dumbledore's podium, the teachers' costumes and the Goblet of Fire, which sparked a blue flame and spat out pieces of parchment with Harry Potter's name on them. The Goblet even had the Age Line around it, with Fred and George's costumes and grey wigs where they attempted to hoodwink it.

As it was a Goblet of Fire themed month, there were some extra props there from the movie. On into the next room, and there was a special feature on the Yule Ball, where there were displays of many costumes like the ones belonging to Madame Maxime and Fleur Delacour, as well as a massive table full of chocolate treats beautifully decorated. We also saw Luna Lovegood's wardrobe, including her horseradish earrings.

We saw a display of wigs, including those belonging to the Bloody Baron, Lucious Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy. We turned and saw a tall, looming wall with all of Umbridge's educational decrees nailed to it, as well as a staircase set often used to film the actors on, before using a small model of the stairs with pulleys to film the wider shots where you could see staircases moving. We saw the bath from the prefect's bathroom whose taps spilled out different colours, and the Gryffindor boy's dormitory, where Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville slept. Apparently, by the time they were filming the Order of the Phoenix, the boys were too tall to fit in the beds and had to lie in them with their knees pulled up. We saw the cauldron from The Leaky Cauldron, which was really impressive, as well as a small model of the corridor upstairs where there were guestrooms and where Harry stayed after he blew up his aunt Marge (who deserved it, by the way).

The portrait of the Fat Lady and the Mirror of Erised were a highlight for me at this stage (I was completely unaware of what was to come). The Gryffindor common room and cloakroom had Harry's Ron's and Hermione's costumes from all of the different films. It looked so cosy, but much smaller than it looked in the movie. The detail in the portraits and tapestries was amazing. In the cloakroom, we saw one of Harry's invisibility cloaks, which was green on the inside, so they could film Harry putting on the cloak and then appearing invisible. We saw Lupin and Tonks' costumes, as well as Sirius's Azkaban uniform. The entrance to Dumbledores office, with the spinning Griffin, was pretty impressive. Apparently they had two: one stationery and one moving upwards, for filming. A little display case of a few trinkets was next, some cool things like Slughorn's hourglass, the Remembral, Harry's first Snitch, the Time Turner, the Deluminator and the Philosopher's Stone! We saw another one of the many models of the Goblet of Fire which was carved from wood.

Next stop was Dumbledore's office, where we saw all the familiar things associated with that room; the Sorting Hat, the sword of Gryffindor, the Pensieve and the portraits of past headmasters snoozing in their frames. We headed over to the Potions classroom to see Slughorn and Snape's costumes, with hundreds upon hundreds of little potion bottles lining the walls, all individually labelled. On the desks, there were little cauldrons that stirred themselves.

After stopping at Hagrid's hut, we then moved on to the Quidditch section. There was a massive display of all the house Quidditch kits, the different brooms and the trunk full of the Quidditch balls; the Quaffle, the Bludgers and the Golden Snitch, as well as a little bottle of Ske-Gro by the First Aid kit! We had the opportunity to throw on some wizard robes and hop on a broom in front of a green screen, where the monitor showed us flying through London, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and finally Hogwarts. We also got our photo taken for a wanted poster! We saw a couple of doors, but not just ordinary doors, the door to vault number 733 at Gringotts and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets! We saw one of the many Ford Anglia models of the flying car, as well as Mad Eye Moody's costume and the chest that Barty Crouch kept with the really Moody in it so he could keep making his Polyjuice Potion.

The set of "The Burrow" was a real treat. None of the beams were perpendicular; apparently the set makers built the set perpendicularly and then used chains to pull the beams off-angle. The props were amazing; including a frying pan that was washing itself in the sink and a pair of mechanical (or bewitched!) knitting needles that were knitting a scarf.

A display of some of the grimmer props showed the Vanishing Cabinet from Borgin and Burkes, which played a big role in Dumbledore's death, and the Hand of Glory. Keeping with the darker side of things, we headed to the next set: that of Malfoy Manor. I definitely got the creeps while visiting this set, as it was the long table in Malfoy Manor with Voldemort and his closest followers torturing the Muggle Studies teacher Charity Burbidge, whos effigy was hanging upside down over the table. Grim indeed. The dark theme continued, with Tom Riddle's grave and the Black family tapestry, as well as the Ministry of Magic sets, including Umbridge's Office and the "Magic is Might" sculpture. Umbridge's office was sickly pink with cats and teacups everywhere. A couple of the Goblet of Fire special features were Harry's costume from the lake task and the 4 champions' (Harry, Cedric, Fleur and Victor) costumes from the maze task. Things got a bit creepier as we headed for the Forbidden Forest, even though Hagrid welcomed us as we went through the Hogwart's gate, with the winged boars on each pillar. We saw Buckbeak the Hippogriff, who bowed to us and Aragog the Acromantula who wasn't as nice... neither were his friends... who started to come down from the ceiling. Sheena almost swore when a staff member reminded her there were little ears present. We learned that in the first film, they filmed the forest scenes on location and then for later films, built a forest set in the studios. We saw how they made the trees look realistic, how they lit the set to make it look like day time or night time, and how they created the creepy atmosphere by adding mist to shots.

The next stop was platform 9 and 3 quarters which was a big highlight of the tour. You could get your photo taken while pushing your trolley through the wall between platforms 9 and 10, and you could actually go on board the Hogwarts Express, where each carriage was dressed like it was in each of the movies. The Prisoner of Azkaban carriage had a scary Dementor peering in the window from outside, and the Half Blood Prince one had Lavendar's heart that she drew on the window for Ron. The last carriage was a little emotional! They had the scene from Harry's first time on the Hogwarts Express where he meets Ron, to the last scene where Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny are dropping their children off to the train.

Next stop was the cafe for a well deserved rest, a bit of grub and a very questionable Butterbeer. Not the best thing we ever tasted but we pretended to love it for the photos! After our break we headed out to the outdoor lot which had a treasure trove of big sets and surprises. The first thing that caught our eye was the Knight Bus, which was made by sticking the top floor of a double decker onto another double decker, making a triple decker bus. On the Knight bus you could see the chandelier and the beds, where the passengers could snooze while travelling.

Beside the Knight Bus was Number 4, Privet Drive. We learned how each individual brick was made from treated fibreglass. It made the house light, so they could move it around the set as they wished. In the first movie, they filmed an actual house, but subsequently built one on set. Inside number 4, in the living room, we could see all of Harry's Hogwarts letters flying around amongst photographs of Dudley. Next stop was the Potter's house in Godrics Hollow, which was in ruins; that was a bit sad. After that, we took a stroll on the Hogwarts Bridge, where Neville fights off Voldemort's Army in the Deathly Hallows. The bridge itself is quite short, but the visual effects people were able to elongate it after filming.

The special effects department was next, where we saw so many bits and bobs, including Nearly Headless Nick's head, loads of goblin heads, a mermaid's head, Grawp's head (which was actually HUGE) a dementor (which was the size of a Barbie doll), Neville's favourite Mimbulus mimbletonia, poor Dobby, a Thestral, the Hungarian Horntail Harry defeated in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, Aragog, a mandrake, the Basilisk and many more besides. This was a great part of the tour, seeing how they brought these characters and animals to life.

Next was Diagon Alley, which was fascinating to say the least. We spotted a tiny model of Gringotts, which was used in wider shots, as well as Olivanders, Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkins and of course, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Afterwards, we visited the art department, where we saw one of the most expensive props: a bronze statue of the architect of Hogwarts, surrounded by the four founders animals: the lion, the badger, the snake and the raven. We learned that this prop was one of the most expensive, but barely appears in the movies at all.Harry, Ron and Hermione hide behind it in "The Chamber of Secrets" when they are waiting for Crabbe and Goyle to eat the buns they made with the sleeping draught. We entered a room which contained many paper models of the big sets; this is done exactly to scale before the big sets are built. On the walls, there were many framed paintings and drawings of concept art which were so beautiful and intricate.

The last stop of the tour was the model of Hogwarts which was used to film wide shots of the school. Every detail was there; the bridge, Hagrid's hut. the stonehenge, the astronomy tower; you could even see the lights on in the Great Hall, and the Beauxbaton carriage flying outside it. It was an amazing sight to see.

Lastly, we went into a room full of wand boxes, and each box had the name of each person who worked on the films, all the actors and crew. It was amazing to see the large room full of these names and really put into perspective the number of people it took to make these films. The Triwizard Cup stood tall as we headed out of the room.



Before we left the tour, a screen displayed the famous quote from JK Rowling:

The stories we love best do live in us forever, so whether you come back by page or the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.

Then we found ourselves back on the Marauder's Map corridor, where we took a photo of ourselves beside the mural that read:

Mishchief Managed!

We headed back to the hotel in high spirits after our great experience at the studios, already talking about when we would go back again. We got ready and headed out to a restaurant down the road for some dinner, then headed to The Big Chill nightclub for a couple of drinks and a dance before heading back for the night. Next morning, we checked out and grabbed some breakfast in a tapas bar in King's Cross before getting the train back to Heathrow and heading back to Dublin.

It was a great weekend and we can't wait to do it again!

---

Photos

Packed and Ready to Go
I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

At No. 4
Harry's home for his first 11 years.

The Iconic Bridge
It appeared for the first time in The Prisoner of Azkaban and became a key part in the Battle of Hogwarts.