{"id":130,"date":"2013-08-28T03:38:39","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T03:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/behind-the-scenes-the-magical-world-of-harry-potter\/"},"modified":"2022-04-21T00:08:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T00:08:36","slug":"behind-the-scenes-the-magical-world-of-harry-potter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/behind-the-scenes-the-magical-world-of-harry-potter\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes: The magical world of Harry Potter"},"content":{"rendered":"

All is quiet on Platform 9 \u00be. Trains pull into Kings Cross Station every minute but the Hogwarts Express isn\u2019t running today.<\/p>\n

What are wannabe wizards to do? You won\u2019t find them at Kings Cross \u2013 they\u2019re all waiting at Euston Station, where trains run every few minutes to Watford Junction. Spilling out onto a high street that looks like any other outside of London, we walk over to an ordinary bus stop, but the double decker bus that pulls up is definitely different.<\/p>\n

The black double-decker unloads wand-carrying, wizard hat-wearing passengers. This is the Warner Bros version of the Knight Bus \u2013 Harry Potter\u2019s late night transport in the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Order of the Phoenix and the Deathly Hallows. Ok, it\u2019s not the one from the movies. More on that later.<\/p>\n

Every day the bus ferries hundreds of muggles to the\u00a0Warner Brothers Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On board the commentary gives us more insight into the world of Harry Potter than the cookie cutter streets of Watford \u2013 any one of them could be Privet Drive. When the bus stops, we\u2019re definitely somewhere different.<\/p>\n

This is where the magic happened: for 10 long years the Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden was the base for much of the filming of the Harry Potter movies and is now open to the public.<\/p>\n

Allotted in 15 minute time slots, tickets sell out weeks in advance. In summer last year you had just as much chance of scoring a seat at the Olympics. If you miss your timeslot, you might miss out altogether. London is still one of the most popular European destinations for Expedia\u2019s Aussie Travellers. It\u2019s busy year round, but particularly in summer. So get your act together early and book now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All is quiet on Platform 9 \u00be. Trains pull into Kings Cross Station every minute but the Hogwarts Express isn\u2019t running today. What are wannabe wizards to do? You won\u2019t find them at Kings Cross \u2013 they\u2019re all waiting at Euston Station, where trains run every few minutes to Watford Junction. Spilling out onto a… Continue reading Behind the Scenes: The magical world of Harry Potter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,24,2,4],"tags":[89,235,90,210],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-destination","category-europe","category-experiences","category-explore","tag-england","tag-harry-potter","tag-london","tag-tours","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Scenes: The magical world of Harry Potter | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/behind-the-scenes-the-magical-world-of-harry-potter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Scenes: The magical world of Harry Potter | Expedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All is quiet on Platform 9 \u00be. 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