Harry Potter experience at Watford

skateykatey

Hey, looking for some advice. We've booked a visit to London for the weekend of 10 October and the plan was to go to London on the Saturday to see the poppies and then spend Sunday at the Harry Potter experience in Watford.

The only issue is that the HP exp only has booking slots from 16.30. Has anyone been and can offer advice on whether it will still be worth us going at that time or will it be really rushed. We'll need to be back on the road home for about 19.30 at the very latest and it's only me and hubby going. We're not really bothered about having a butter beer or spending a wodge in the gift shop so it will be just looking at the set.

Thanks in advance

Edited to add that I've also posted this in the UK holidays board but this board gets more traffic

millysg1

Im going tomorrow so i can comment afterwards for you. We are booked in for 12:00 so wont have much comments on what its like at your time but i can let you know how long we are there for.

moomoomama27

We went round in three hours with two children in tow, we looked at everything, didn't feel at all rushed, got loads of pictures, had a tea break and a good amount of time in the gift shop in that time

ladymarmalade

When I went in August, it took about 3 hours but we wever very leisurely about it; we had butterbeer and queued for photographs on broomsticks.

Also, our tickets were for 1.30 but we arrived at midday. I went to the queue inside and asked what time I would need to get in the queue for that time and they said that we could go in then....there were only two of us too.

skateykatey

millysg1 wrote: »

Im going tomorrow so i can comment afterwards for you. We are booked in for 12:00 so wont have much comments on what its like at your time but i can let you know how long we are there for.

If you could that would be brilliant. Hope you have a great time.

skateykatey

ladymarmalade wrote: »

When I went in August, it took about 3 hours but we wever very leisurely about it; we had butterbeer and queued for photographs on broomsticks.

Also, our tickets were for 1.30 but we arrived at midday. I went to the queue inside and asked what time I would need to get in the queue for that time and they said that we could go in then....there were only two of us too.

Ohhhh, we might try that trick. I understand that the gift shop can be accessed at any time so if needs be we can go in there first. Will give hubby charge of my bag so I'm not tempted to buy the whole wand and cloak set :rotfl:

Flossie.

skateykatey wrote: »

Hey, looking for some advice. We've booked a visit to London for the weekend of 10 October and the plan was to go to London on the Saturday to see the poppies and then spend Sunday at the Harry Potter experience in Watford.

The only issue is that the HP exp only has booking slots from 16.30. Has anyone been and can offer advice on whether it will still be worth us going at that time or will it be really rushed. We'll need to be back on the road home for about 19.30 at the very latest and it's only me and hubby going. We're not really bothered about having a butter beer or spending a wodge in the gift shop so it will be just looking at the set.

Thanks in advance

Edited to add that I've also posted this in the UK holidays board but this board gets more traffic

Hey Katie!

We have been - twice actually. It's brilliant! :j

But anyway, both times we spent two - and two and a half hours there. You can get around it in that amount of time OK. They show you around for the first 20 minutes or so, and give you a bit of a talk about the studios, and then they let you go off on your own to do what you want.

Only thing is, if you're planning on getting the bus back to the station in Watford (the Harry Potter bus that takes you the 3 miles journey from the railway station to the studios,) sometimes the last one goes at 6.30-7pm.

But if you're driving there and back (and parking at the studios,) no worries!

I would recommend early-ish arrival. If your slot is half four, get there for half three. You can EASILY spend half an hour to three quarters of an hour in the gift shop! Also, there is a high chance that they will just let you in early. The 4.30pm timeslot isn't set in stone; it's a kind of a crowd control thing, to make sure that 1000 people don't all arrive at 2pm and half of them can't get in IYSWIM.

So, as I said, it can't hurt to get there an hour early, as you can have a damn good look at the massive gift shop, and the chances are high that they will let you in maybe half hour early.

Have a great time. Oh, and maybe take a backpack in case you decide to get some stuff from the gift shop first, and then you can put it in the backpack.

clayton16749

We went a couple of years ago - think it was about 2 and a half to 3 hours going around at a leisurely pace - similar to what others have said.


We then also spent a very long time in the gift shop!


Make time for a butter beer - really nice! Have fun!