This time, however, it really is because reading my blog posts again reminded me how much I loved the studio tour back then, so revisiting it while I was in London earlier this month made perfect sense. And this time...

That's right! We recently popped over to London after the entry restrictions were removed and decided that we would happily splurge £49.95 per person to see all the magic behind THE magic happen. Looking back, it's obvious that prices have gone up since my visit 7 years ago, but the experience felt just as magical as before - if not more.

Unbeknownst to us, the studio hosts a variety of themes just to keep things fresh for visitors who are lucky enough to pop by Leavesden often enough. This, however, also meant that some of the displays we saw may not be the same that you will see if you're hopping on the next flight out to feel the magic for yourself. I thought this was a brilliant idea to keep visitors coming back for more, but it also meant we may have to drop by London again if life permits.

Our visit this time was aptly named Magical Mischief as it took us behind-the-scenes of how some amazing shots from the movie was taken. As we entered the Great Hall, we were greeted by the iconic scene from Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix where the Weasley twins pulled a prank on students undertaking their O.W.L.s exams under the watchful eye of the despicable Professor Umbridge. What was truly fantastic was how they now had handfuls of guides who would take you through storylines and feed you fun facts throughout the otherwise self-guided tour.

For instance, it was here that we learned Professor Umbridge first appeared in the franchise wearing baby pink clothes before gradually changing into bright, shocking pink ensembles. This was to show how she wanted to be seen as an innocent character who could do no harm before she showed her true colours of a power-hungry witch...no pun intended.

Numerous iconic pieces continued to stay the same, such as setups from the boys' dormitory, the Weasleys' burrow, and Professor Dumbledore's office. As a beautiful tribute to the late Alan Rickman, we could also see the Potions Class in all its glory - complete with the first lines he said as he strutted into the scene in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

A beautiful addition to the experience was the animal actor and actress section, where we could see the numerous animals that played a variety of pets in the franchise. Each pet had their own description along with their name, and it tickled us to the bones seeing how cats always had such a sassy description against their dog counterparts. They also featured some write ups about the owls that played Hedwig, unfortunately not pictured here.

Another new piece that was never seen before was the addition of the Forbidden Forest, with details eerie enough to scare any first year Hogwarts students...and possibly "muggle" students. I say this because I came across a group of school-going children on a trip during my visit, only to see one of the girls from the group crying and hyperventilating after going into the Forbidden Forest. She obviously didn't walk too far, as her friends tried hard to calm her down and took her away promptly.

Luckily for her, the staff members could offer an alternative route to bypass the Forbidden Forest but I can only imagine she'll be thinking of that moment for a while now. To that, I do wish that the studio would consider putting up warnings about how that section of the visit isn't for little kids or (spoiler alert) anyone who fears spiders because it did get quite creepy even for me. 

As we braved through the Forbidden Forest, we were greeted by the familiar sight of Platform 9 3/4 where we would see the majestic Hogwarts Express on display. The locomotive is supposedly the same one used during shoots, so it felt truly magical when we could see the steam huffing out of it. Carriages in the train were designed to mimic every train scene from the first to eighth movie, so it felt like a real ride down memory lane.

Unfortunately, I've undermined how much I could fangirl about a trip I'm revisiting and as I'm looking at this post now, it would seem to be way too long. I'll probably do a part 2 instead of going on and on here, so do keep a lookout for what else was new at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter!