This Friday the 31st March sees the official opening of the new permanent exhibit at the WB Studio Tours London, The Forbidden Forest. I was lucky enough to receive a sneak peak last week when we got to go behind the curtain and experience the Forbidden Forest for the very first time.
When you are ready to enter the Forbidden Forest you walk through the Hogwarts gates guided by one of the Hagrid costumes holding up a lantern. Stepping on to the forest floor you feel the difference beneath your feet and are transported somewhere new.
The trees in the Forbidden Forest span 12 to 14 foot and make you feel very small as you walk beneath the branches. You soon across Buckbeak who is hiding in the forest. If you bow to him he may decide to bow back. As you face Buckbeak make sure you turn around and change the time switch from day to night (or night to day). Buckbeak looks different under each lighting and it is really atmospheric.
When you leave Buckbeak you walk through some more trees, these ones however are full of some very large cobwebs. The cobwebs are made with fishing wire and they make some really impressive decorations between the trees. Once you turn the corner and you will come face to face with the amazing Aragog and his many children.
There are a few other switches to find which will show some more amazing special fx including how they created the glow of the stag patronus. There are also opportunities to see how the set was built including the aging of the trees (image below). It was great to see the back of the trees to see how they were created.
If you want to join me as I experienced the Forbidden Forest then watch the video below.
You can buy tickets to the WB Studio tour on their website https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/
Ahh! I saw this advertised on TV earlier today for the first time and thought it looked brilliant!
It looks such an amazing place to visit x