Harry Potter Exhibition New York
On October 7, 2023, we got to experience the Harry Potter Exhibition that’s located in Harold Square in New York City. As you walk into the exhibition you immediately sign in as you pick your house, wand, and patronus using a wristband that you will use for the exhibition. From there you go into a room where you see the first edition of the Philosopher Stone from there you are guided into a room that is the Marauders Map. Using your wristband, you enter your name and somewhere your name will appear on the map. After a while, the room comes alive as a 3D rendering of Hogwarts Castle appears on one of the walls that move through the many seasons including a sighting of dementors.
The Tour
The tour then becomes a self-guided tour as you move through the rooms. You start off with a hallway of moving portraits that ends with the Fat Lady before entering the room of all the houses. Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. Going to your house you scan your wristband and gain points for your house. In here you also see costumes worn by fan favorites.
After this room, you tour through all the different classrooms as you earn points by scanning your wristband. Throughout the tour, you also see various movie props and clothing worn by the cast. You get to experience casting spells, making potions, tackling a boggart, planting a mandrake, gazing into a crystal ball, and walking through the forbidden forest before finding yourself in Hagrid’s hut. You’re then transported into Fantastic Beasts where you can take a portkey to an undisclosed location. Then moving onto the Ministry of Magic through the floo network you see a few proclamations of magic rules before facing Dolores Umbridge’s office, so much pink.
From there you move onto overlooking Harry’s Cupboard and a portrait of Dumbledore’s Army. As you walk through another hallway decorated with the Black Family tree, along with Author and Molly’s clothing you move into the Chamber of Secrets. With more movie props, and Lord Voldemort’s cloak you are greeted with the Deathly Hallows, they even include the invisible cloak.
The last room is the battle of Hogwarts where you and a friend can battle it out as Harry and Voldemort. As you exit the tour, you see how many points your house has earned since the opening of the exhibition. I don’t think I need to tell you who is currently winning… Gryffindor.
My Rating
My rating of the tour is 8 out of 10. As there is some room for improvement. One section I was very sad that they didn’t include was the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, they didn’t even include Fred and George clothing. Also, I’m not sure if it was just us, but the tour itself was very hot, and sometimes felt like other patrons were rushing us. As for the overall experience, I jumped with joy at seeing and experiencing the little things of the World of Harry Potter exhibition. There’s no doubt that I would enjoy experiencing the exhibition again. In my opinion, this is definitely something that every Harry Potter fan and/or Wizarding World fan would enjoy a lot.
Get your tickets to the Harry Potter Exhibition here.
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