Tuesday, May 22, 2012

My Birthday at The Making of Harry Potter


Hi everyone. It's was my birthday on the 12th, and my husband took me to WB's The Making of Harry Potter Tour. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a huge Harry Potter fan! My husband also took me to Hever castle (the childhood home of Anne Boleyn) - I love British history and am a massive Tudor fan, so it was a wonderful birthday surprise!

There are hardly any pics of me in this post. Had really bad insomnia and only had 1 hours worth of sleep the night before! So basically, I look terrible! I also must warn you that there are a lot of Harry Potter references, so apologies to those who aren't Harry Potter fans!


The Great Hall.


Props from the Yule Ball  (The Goblet of Fire).


Harry Potter's bed!


I love this - all the key wands, framed.


The Gryffindor Common Room.


Some nice pendulum. I can't for the life of me place where this is supposed to be. Most probably somewhere in Hogwarts. 


The class I would love most to participate in has to be Potions with Professor Snape,


Umbridge's office at The Ministry of Magic





Death Eater costumes. Including my favourite character - Bellatrix Lestrange. In fact I dressed up as her once for Halloween. I've managed to locate a couple of pictures of this event. I must warn you - it is a poor effort on my behalf. It took me 10 minutes to put together using an old dress and belt, some stockings and a garbage bag


Not sure who the guy next to me is meant to be. All in all, everyone put in minimal effort. Must try harder in the future! 



However, I managed to locate a couple of girls dressed as Harry potter and Hedwig (the Hedwig costume was great!). Here is our 'duel' using twigs from a branch, with Hedwig caught in the middle. 




The Weasley's kitchen



Can anyone help me place where this door features in the films? I read the sign next to it, but forgot what it says. 


The Broomsticks. The highlight of our day was we got to ride on one of them! With fake wind blowing in our hair, and a green screen behind us, we were transformed onto film flying over The Black Lake and Hogwarts.



Another highlight was sampling Butterbeer! Doesn't quite look the same as it does on screen, but tastes really good. Quite sweet like ice cream soda with a bit of a butterscotch taste. 



The Potter's House in Godric's Hollow. 


The Hogwart's Bridge


Goblin Masks. 


Diagon Alley.



The tour also included detailed sketches and great artwork.



Massive model of Hogwarts. Incredibly detailed and highly impressive. 



I highly recommend the tour. It was really well done and great value for money. A must for Harry Potter fans. 


TIP: We went on a Friday to avoid hoards of children. There were a handful of kids, but the crowds were mostly adult Harry Potter fans. We even saw quite a few old age pensioners. 


My husband baked me a birthday cake last year. It didn't turn out so well, so he bought me one this year. Love the cute candles he got me.

 

 Me at Hever Castle. 


As I mentioned earlier, I love Tudor History - I probably have well over 10 books on the subject!

46 comments:

  1. belated happy birthday penelope:)

    how i wish i can visit there.
    thanks for sharing those pics.
    cuz i'm a huge fan of HP too.

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  2. belated HAPPY B-DAY :D and *jealouz*, looks like you had a great time :)

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  3. belated happy birthday beauty!:)

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  4. Oh my Squeeeeeeee! I'd give a finger like Peter Pettigrew to go on this tour! Massive HP fan - been to the theme park in Florida twice (and I don't live anywhere near Florida). Happy Birthday - and you were a really gorgeous Bellatrix :D

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  5. aw didn't know it was your birthday, but Happy
    Super Belated Birthday! :p I never read the books,
    but I did enjoy the movies. I love visiting places
    like this, where everything just comes to life
    in front of you from the movie :p The ButterBeer
    sounds yummy :) and you looked great as Bellatrix!

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  6. Happy belated birthday! I wan't to visit this Harry Potter tour too! It looks so exciting and I'm a huge fan of HP :D That door isn't it Harry Potter's "safe" in the Gringott Bank? Or the door that lead to the roller coaster to get to the safes? :)

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  7. aaah, belated happy birthday! :D omg, it looks so nice there! Did they really filmed there? :O

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  8. Happy birthday!! You look like you had lots of fun! The WB Harry Potter looks so amazing!!! I have to go check it out one day! xX

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  9. Happy Birthday!!! WOW! I can seriously not think of a better place for someone to take me for my birthday. We went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter last year and didn't want to leave. I am SO going to make my way to The Making of Harry Potter next year!

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  10. Happy belated birthday!

    I would so love to visit this Harry Potter place after visiting it vicariously on your blog. I'm a fan of Harry Potter movies too. Fans of books would hate me but I'm totally for the movies.

    I wished I could see video of you flying on the broom.

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  11. Your word verification is smart. It had the word "howar" which reminds me of "Hogwarts". It must have sense the content of this post. lol

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  12. Impressive tour. They built those house just for the movie? I always wanted to go to Harry potter universal in Orlando, but no chance so far.

    Thanks for sharing and happy belated birthday!

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  13. Happy Belated brithday Penelope! I'm a huge HP fan too. I would have loved to see all of this!

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  14. Happy Belated Birthday, Penelope! It looked like a fun one.

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  15. Really cute pictures sweetie~~ Happy Birthday God Bless you ever~~

    Sakuranko Blog
    My Facebook Fan Page

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  16. What a great way to spend your bday!! I'm a huge harry potter fan too...I'll love to drink butter beer one day too...

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  17. Glad you had the chance to visit the place! The exhibition is coming to Singapore next month and I can't wait to go. I reckon it'll be on a much smaller scale, and I wanna try Butterbeer!

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  18. Belated happy birthday :) and thanx for sharing the pics, if i ever went there i would squeal like a kid, just loooovvvvvve harry potter books

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  19. First off, Happy Belated Birthday! secondly, you look great - no worries. thirdly *dies of jealousy*
    OMG the Harry Potter props looks great, wish i was there! *kicks feet in the air, rolling on the floor*

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  20. happy belated birthday, Penelope!

    i didn't know a place like this exited! how fun!!
    you look beautiful in the pictures as always. ;)

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  21. Oh WOW this is such an awesome birthday!!!! Your husband is sooo sweet and romantic :) And happy birthday!!

    ang-closet365.blogspot.ca

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  22. awww what an amazing birthday! I would have loved to do that! I like your outfit on the pics too >.< hope your doing well sweets xxx

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  23. Happy belated birthday! The door was from the vault in gringotts

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  24. what a nice decoration! love it!

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  25. Hy!Játék nálam: http://tundercica.blogspot.hu/2012/07/giveaway-nyeremenyjatek-nalam.html

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  26. wow such a nice day and looks like you had a great day <3 and wow happy belated birthday <3
    Mi_Mi
    x
    mi-miworld.blogspot.co.uk/

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  27. Beautiful place! Amazing photos!

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  28. I have been following your blog for a quite a while, it is really cool and inspiring.

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  29. I love your Blog!!! your outfits are amazing! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  30. I wanted to say thanks to you for this great read!!

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  31. Amazing way to celebrate the birthday.
    I am so envious you having such an amazing birthday.

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  32. WOW! Great pics! I'd love to be there! The best birtday ever! :)

    please, visit me on:
    www.veraspop-upworld.blogspot.com

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  33. I'm so jealous! Hopefully I'll get to go there soon :) xx

    thewondersofwardrobes.blogspot.co.uk

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  34. Oh dear, have you gone on a hiatus?

    ANyway, I've wanted to say that I'm hosting my very first giveaway and I would really love to invite you (one of my earlier followers) to try your hand at winning something.
    http://iamjolene.blogspot.sg/2012/07/jos-100-followers-giveaway.html

    Have a lovely week!

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  35. Dying to go here!!! Been to the one in Florida but this looks more authentic.

    I’m also running a giveaway so would love if you could enter! http://champagnelambinibudget.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/happy-friday-giveaway.html

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  36. omg it's amazing !! I love love harry potter ! You look amazing too :)

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  37. looks sooo fun! I want to go see it too!
    glad you had so much fun!!
    xx
    vnikali

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  38. cool pictures!
    Would you like to follow each other via gfc and bloglovin? Let me know!
    http://walls-cant-stop-you.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  39. so cool!

    check out my blog, i gossip about the youtube gurus :)
    follow me and i will return the favor ;)
    guruchatter.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
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