[千奇百怪] 哈利波特夢工廠

The magic of Harry Potter: See inside the studios where the movies were filmed (and the biggest disappearing act will be £100 for a family ticket and a wand)

You don’t need a password, a cauldron or a spell book to gain admission. But you may need rather deep pockets.

Muggles are being granted access to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts as the Harry Potter film sets are opened up to fans.

But the three-hour tour of the Warner Brothers studios comes with a somewhat less magical price tag – £83 for a family of four.

Grand opening: The attraction is due to open its doors on March 31 - just in time for the Easter Holidays

Great Hall: Inside Hogwarts Castle at the studios near Watford, north London. The film set opens to the public for the first time on March 31 - but tickets will cost £83 for a family of four

Details: Original costumes from the films line the walls of the refectory and (right) a close up of a table with cutlery props laid out

Dumbledore’s office: Built for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the room is home to the Sorting Hat, The Sword of Gryffindor and Dumbledore’s desk

Add the cost of travel to the site in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, plus food, drinks and merchandise from the gift shop, and the day out could cost parents more than £200. Critics have accused Warner Brothers, which grossed £5billion from the Potter films, of exploiting the ‘pester power’ of children desperate to go on the tour.

To get out of the building, customers will be forced to walk through the gift shop, where one of the items on sale costs as much as £500. Children will see replica wands for £24.95 and T-shirts from the Hogwarts school houses priced between £20 and £35.

An exact remake of headmaster Albus Dumbledore’s robes will set you back £495.95, while a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans costs £8.95.

Even a small glass of non-alcoholic Butterbeer, the drink of choice for young wizards, is £2.95.

Ed Mayo, former chief executive of Consumer Focus and author of Consumer Kids: How Big Business Is Grooming Our Children For Profit, said parents may feel it is an attempt to make a ‘cheap buck’.

He added: ‘This is probably going to be the biggest site of pester power in western Europe.

‘It’s no surprise the sets have been turned into a commercial enterprise but this will be an expensive morning or afternoon out. Part of being a parent is being able to say no, but having to walk through the gift shop to leave the tour makes it very difficult.’

Harry Potter High Street: Visitors can enjoy a spot of window shopping in the brilliant stores along magical Diagon Alley

Retail wizardry: Visitors can read a few spellbooks at Flourish & Blotts book shop or perhaps choose new wand at Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment

Tickets for the 150,000 square foot attraction will cost £83 for a family of four. Bought individually, they are priced at a staggering £28 for adults and £21 for children

Attractions: Another view of Diagon Alley (left) and the purple triple decker bus used in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Attraction: The 150,000 square foot Warner Bros studios are due to open their doors to the public on March 31 - just in time for the Easter holidays. A family ticket will cost £83

Mumsnet co-founder Justine Roberts said: ‘It is a shame that something so popular with children as a Harry Potter tour is going to cost quite so much.
‘It would make a lot of sense in this climate for Warner Brothers to help make families’ lives easier.’

Despite the criticism, the studio is expecting around 5,000 visitors a day to flock to see the haunts of witches and wizards.

Beginning at the ‘cupboard under the stairs’ where Harry lived before he discovered he was a wizard, the tour allows fans into the studio where the franchise was filmed.

They will be able to peer into sets including Hogwarts’ Great Hall, Diagon Alley, Dumbledore’s office, the Gryffindor common room and the purple Knight Bus – but will not actually be permitted to venture inside them.
A single child ticket is priced at £21 and a single adult ticket at £28, while a group ticket for a family of four will set you back £83.

The tour opens on March 31 and tickets must be booked in advance

The tour opens with a film about the Harry Potter phenomenon. Visitors then enter a separate auditorium to see footage of stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson

Harry's hang out: Gryffindor common room is recreated to the finest detail

Film set: The Weasley family kitchen - set ready for dinner - with a bowl of fruit on the table. the studios open their doors on March 31 and tickets can be pre-booked

Magical: Professor Umbridge's office inside the Ministry of Magic at the Harry Potter film studios

Visitors will also be able to see the animatronics used in the series in the Creature Effects workshop, including Buckbeak the Hippogriff, Aragog the giant spider, Fawkes the phoenix and the fearsome Basilisk head.

Inside, visitors can wander around, take pictures, and sit on the benches studying graffiti carved into the tables by young wizards. Fans can explore Hogwarts - and even the cupboard under the stairs where Harry grew up before he discovered he was a wizard.

There are costumes, animatronics, and props such as Harry’s Nimbus 2000 for Quidditch. Josh Berger, president of Warner Bros UK, said it was delighted to showcase the 'creativity and craftsmanship in British film'.

Now you can see it: Original costumes from the film including Harry's cloak of invisibility

In the classroom: The potions room at Hogwarts school with textbooks laid out on the table, left, and some of the animatronics which were used in the films