Harry Potter attraction reveals plans for a brand new experience in the UK
And we tried out the little-known VIP tour
THE UK Harry Potter tour experience has revealed plans for a new attraction.
The current Warner Bros. Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter lets fans walk around beautiful sets just like the films.
And the Watford experience has submitted new plans for another exhibit.
The “Blackbox” exhibit is an 11 metre high structure similar to the current one.
There are no windows as it will be an “audio-visual attraction” with shows.
Inside will be cinema-like seating facing a stage with ground level and higher seating areas.
Little else is known about it as it has not yet been given the go-ahead by the local council.
However the submission said it hopes to keep the tour “fresh and exciting” for tourists.
The studio said, according to : “The proposed Blackbox will add another attraction to the studio tour’s long list of popular visitor amenities, helping to maintain its attractiveness, excellence in customer satisfaction ratings, and the length of time visitors stay, as well as creating demand for both new and repeat visits.”
The website has teased a number of other new experiences at the studio launching next year.
Currently just titled “Summer Feature,” it will run from May 7 to September 8 in 2025.
The website teases: “Get ready for a spellbinding experience in 2025, with the unveiling of a brand-new wizarding Summer Feature at the Studio Tour.”
Also returning next year is Magical Mischief.
Guests can learn about the filmmaking trickery needed to pull off the magical pranks, as well as the Halloween Dark Arts.
The attraction first opened back in 2012, and now welcomes around two million tourists a year.
A new experience inside the studio tour was launched this summer, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Guests could visit the Divination classroom for the first time ever.
And the Hogwarts in the Snow relaunched this week with trips around the Forbidden Forest and Diagon Alley.
If you want a real Harry Potter experience, you can stay in the Christ Church College in Oxford, which was used as a backdrop in the first Harry Potter film.
The university rooms open during the summer holidays as well as Easter half term, when the students go home.
The little-known VIP Harry Potter tour
The Sun’s Travel Reporter Hope Brotherton tried out the secret VIP tour experience.
Launched by tour operator International Friends, the semi-private evening experience at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter has groups of just 50 people every Friday evening.
Inside the Great Hall, I was given a glass of champagne and made to feel like a VIP.
I moved through the room which was far less crowded than my previous visits, so was easily able to take photos next to some of my favourite sets from the film series.
There were no lengthy queues for the green screens and at points, we practically had the space to ourselves.
Tickets don’t come cheap – costing around £199 for adults with transfers – it’s a magical experience for Harry Potter fans who want a crowd-free time at the ever-popular tour.
Or wait until next year for the new Harry Potter theme park land opening in Florida.
As part of the new Epic Universe theme park, the ‘world’ will be based on 1920s London.
