A Merry Harry Potter Weekend

This is for all those Potterheads out there

“There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” — Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

My girlfriend loves Harry Potter, and by that I mean she LOVES anything to do with the little guy. When mask mandates came down for COVID, I bought a pair of the disappearing Marauder’s Map masks. She loved it and would wear it in the house whenever she had a bad day because it was pretty much useless during the pandemic (I didn’t read the fine print). We still have a wand that she selected at the Ollivanders in Disney World, still in its little wand case, relatively unused (I think, or should I say, I hope).

In 2019, pre-COVID (fortunately), I planned the ultimate Harry Potter fan trip to London as a birthday surprise. She only knew we were going to London, I didn’t tell her anything else. She fought me on it. She had a bad experience there previously and had no interest though I promised her this would be different. Though she finally relented, she was very antagonistic in the days leading up to our departure.

Every year, for her birthday, we watch the Harry Potter movies, which she knows by heart (yes, all eight; but that’s all right because she’s a good sport and every year on my birthday we watch all twenty-three Phase 1–3 Marvel movies — Just kidding!). So, we watched all the movies, and the following weekend we got on our plane to London. She still tells me it was magical to this day, so mission accomplished.

In case there are any other Potter fans out there, here was my itinerary.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

She didn’t even know there was a Harry Potter play! Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was a huge surprise for her and made her very confused. She kept asking if there was a new book and how could she not know about this. We arrived in London Thursday morning and checked into our hotel, then stopped by the theater to pick up the tickets for that evening.

In case you aren’t familiar with the play, it takes place 19 years after the final book and is about the next generation of Potter characters attending Hogwarts. It’s really quite good. The producers (and cast) did an excellent job making the magic look real and incorporating a lot of the details from the original stories. My one critique is that the Palace Theater is kind of cozy, and the seats are a bit on the small side. I wish they’d used a little of their magic to make it a more comfortable experience. Also, the play is told in two sittings because it is a whopping five and one-quarter hours long! You can see it in one night (which we did) and you get a dinner break, but be warned that it is a long night! You also have the option of breaking the experience into two nights. The Dementors are freakin’ fantastic though!

Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour

The Warner Brothers Studio Tour was next on our list the following morning. I ordered tickets on GetYourGuide, we met a guide in London and he already had train and events tickets which he passed on to me (I told everyone waiting there for the guide that my girlfriend thought we were going to Windsor Castle, and they played along). Apparently, we could just have easily got the train and event tickets ourselves, but this is a good way to go if you aren’t comfortable with the British train system.

This tour was really incredible and the guide we had was super enthusiastic. We purchased a guided tour, but you can walk the tour by yourself or be self-guided. Depending on what kind of fan you are, you can literally spend most of the day at the studio. They have a cafeteria at about the halfway point (they even had Vegan options available). The Hogwarts castle is really incredible (it’s not as big as you think).

Potion Brewing 101

After returning from the studio, I had already made reservations for potion brewing at Cauldron Co, where you are provided with ingredients and a spellbook. Basically, you have a role-playing server in costume, and with the use of your trusty wand and the spell book, you proceed to make alcoholic potions to drink. When you enter, you are given a cloak, and your reservation includes two potions per person, but you can order more. It’s a neat-themed bar, and the potion cocktails pack a punch, so be warned. The same company also has a superhero-themed bar, but that didn’t align with my theme for the weekend.

Wicked

The next evening, we finished the weekend by attending the musical Wicked, which is the Wizard of Oz story told from the point of view of the Wicked Witch. I think my girlfriend was surprised how much she liked this, she actually told me it was one of the highlights of the weekend.

U.S. Options

So, if you have a Potter in your life, I would highly recommend this itinerary, though I know that tickets to the UK can be spendy and difficult to obtain during COVID. Keep it in your back pocket for a special day.

All of these activities can be done in the U.S. except for the studio tour. Wicked and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are both on Broadway. Cauldron Co has a potion-making site in New York as well. So you could do a lot of this weekend, minus the studio tour, in New York for the weekend (and a few other things to boot). Wands up! Watch for the Pixies!